My family wants me to throw away my most favorite toy. I don’t want to do that. This toy, that I call Bugs, was given to me when I was adopted. I slept with it the first night and it gave me great comfort being in a new, strange place. We were as “snug as bugs in a rug” that night and ever after. This is partly how he got his name. When we go camping for a week, I bring him along.
Dad says “Rufus, Bugs is old and dirty and probably very germ ridden.” Only a doctor would think that way.
Mom says with a laugh “I would wash Bugs in the wash machine, but his stuffing would all fall out.” That’s no joke.
Holly says “Bugs looks weird with just one ear.” I sometimes wonder if she looks at herself in a mirror when she goes out.
Tad offered me one of his old teddy bears. I don’t want his hand-me-downs.
I say “Bugs is my buddy and I am going to keep him.”
I am afraid one of them will take Bugs from me and put him in the trash, so I have hidden him under the big, heavy couch in the living room. That couch only gets moved and vacuumed under it twice a year; at Christmas time and during spring cleaning. So, I have a few months to keep him hidden there before I must find a new hiding place. When the family goes out, I crawl under the couch to get Bugs and we play together. I throw him up in the air, carry him around the house and take a nap with him in my bed just like before. Pure ecstasy!
It is great to play with Bugs. He is an old friend and I love him. Like Hugh Hefner, I love bunnies. Every hound dog should have a stuffed bunny.
June–Your differentiation of each person’s response is perfect. And the last line? Aha! Well done throughout.
Thank you.