Stuffed with love and care

If you can prevent yourself from bursting in to a loud laugh,  and control the urge to make fun of me so badly, I have something to confess here, and that’s nothing but my uncontrollable love for fluffy and lovable soft toys, especially those medium and huge sized ones that are so cute and huggable, and never fail to induce a huge amount of positivity an pleasantness in to the person who owns one of them, or even watch them sitting next to one another on the glass shelves of those beautiful toy shops.

Although I have more than one stuffed toys, I sleep with a softy and plush teddy bear that I’ve not named yet,  not because I don’t have any, but to enjoy the freedom to call him all those cute names that I know. He is my best friend, and by far the only one worthy of sleeping beside me, curling softly to my belly. If you see me speaking him while I am in my room, or when am back from the office, asking him how they are feeling and how his day went, you wouldn’t take even a second to call me downright crazy, but can never succeed in taking away my liking for stuffed toys. Sadly my friends and the rest of the world can hardly understand this, or are rather very much prejudiced about this love of mine, the reason why most of them call me child-like and silly. So I’ve never dragged him out of my hostel room, and always want him to comfortably remain in the privacy of my bed. He has seen me crying myself to sleep, waking up happily, shouting and howling crazily, staying up all night reading or chatting with people, and doing all sorts of nutty stuffs that no one else in my life would have even imagined in their wildest dreams.

I know I am well past the age where I could have had a huge number of soft toys around me, to play with them, to hug tightly while I sleep, to kiss them on their soft and tender cheeks, to talk to them when I am all alone, to tell them stories that I have heard, or to give them those adorable names like Pinku and Tinku. Still those lovely looking teddy bears, Winnie The Poohs, and large Penguins that sit hand in hand on the shelves of the toy stores always keep draw me towards them as I pass-by, extending their tender little hand through the glass window, welcoming me to befriend with them. I turn behind and smile at them helplessly, saying I am past that phase of life when I would have run towards them and grabbed them the very next moment. If I forcefully turn my eyes away from looking at them, I feel as if I keep hearing their sobs asking why I unkindly avoided them and walked away.

There is a really big toy shop just a few meters away from our bus stop, with glass panes on the first and second floor, where soft toys are kept neatly arranged one after the other, like sweetie little babies sitting next to one another, and smiling adorably at the passersby.

Soft, cuddly, and every smiling,  softy toys make me happy like no one else can. I love being in their company, as they are always there for me whenever I need them, hugging me tightly, taking away all my sorrows and anxiety, and in return giving me immense happiness that no one else can offer. And above all, they never let me down or harshly judge me like the rest of the cold and cruel world. But given that I am in my thirties, as I said, my fondness for soft toys has always been a reason for constant laugh and ridicule, as people around call me crazy for loving the company of soft toys. However, I continue to keep giving deaf ears to all those who call me childish, as I have more than one good reasons to love my soft toys. Being alone in my room most of the times, they are the ones who keep me happy forever, the reason why I keep calling them the most wonderful friends on earth.  More than the beauty of their softy faces and adorable little eyes, they are the absolutely trustworthy confidants and the ever-ready-to-listen friends that I have every had so far in this busy and fast paced world where no one, not even some of my best friends, can take out ample time for me.

A special day

He was sleeping like a kid, resting his head on her bosom, but Jack suddenly woke up from sleep, wondering if he had overslept yet again. Lying motionless on his bed, he looked at his watch and muttered, "It's kind of too early!". It was just six in the morning and sun rays were just beginning to peek through the olive trees outside his room. “Why did I wake up so early?” He couldn’t help but wonder why and how he woke up suddenly from deep sleep, as there was about one more hour to hear the blaring noise of his earsplitting alarm. Snuggling cozily into his pillow, he was about to sleep for an hour more, as he felt he wasn’t fully awake. But sleep was gone! To surprise him more was the unusual kind of freshness that he felt, which made him whistle one of his favorite songs, the one that he has sung many times while in college, especially to woo Debbie, his then girlfriend and now wife of two years. He felt unusually happy and excited for the day, but had no specific reasons to mention. “Is the day special; an important one in my life which I can’t remember?” Although he kept asking this to himself several times, he couldn’t find anything special about the day.

Looking besides him, he saw Debbie sleeping peacefully, hugging him tightly. Is she smiling in sleep? For a moment, he felt as if he saw an adorable smile on her face. Planting a tender kiss on her forehead, he left the bed and reached near the window pane. The morning was as beautiful as his wonderful wife, he thought. Being busy with his night shifts and back to back meetings the whole night, for more than a month, he had almost forgotten the last time he enjoyed the beauty of a pleasant morning, as he used to hit the bed by early morning and used to sleep till late noon. The busy schedules finally got over the day before, and now, he is back to his ‘normal’ days.

By the time he was at the dining room, after a refreshing bath, he saw Debbie near the table, ready to serve him a scrumptious breakfast. She was looking so beautiful that he couldn’t take her eyes off her for a few minutes. “Is today a special day?” he asked her while sitting close to her for the breakfast. As always, she just smiled adorably, but her blue eyes kept telling him that the day is indeed very special and he is forgetting something important about it. He kept wondering what it could be, but nothing came in to his mind. Cursing his workload and tensions, he managed to finish his breakfast and reached for the car key and his bag. It was time to leave for the office and he hugged her as usual. She smiled and gave him a peck on his cheek, but again Jack felt he was missing something that he should have remembered.

Even after reaching the office on time, he was still in dilemma, as he was almost sure that he has forgotten something about the day, something he should have remembered, but didn't know what it was. It was almost ten in the morning when Nick, his brother, called him asking for suggestions to help him select a gift for Debbie, his beautiful sister-in-law. Yes, that rang the bell in his mind! “Oh! My god! It’s Debbie’s birthday today, and I completely forgot that!”

Jack almost slumped into the chair, placing his head on his palm. Forgetting Debbie’s birthday was something he had never done before! His sorrow started mounting when he thought about the moments he had spent with her in the morning, without wishing his dear one or giving her a memorable gift. He badly wanted to talk to her, to say sorry to her for what he had done.

After a couple of rings and anxious wait, he heard Debbie’s lovely voice. “Debbie, I am so sorry that I completely forgot your birthday. I didn’t wish you. I didn’t get you any gift. I am so sorry darling. I am extremely sorry for what has happened.” He really wanted to meet her and tell her how bad he feels for not remembering her birthday and how blessed he is to have her in life. “No problem. When I have you in my life, to love and support me unconditionally, what more do I need. No matter if you forget my birthday or our anniversary, I know you will never forget to stop loving me crazily. I love you Jack.” Saying this she hung the call, and tears rolled down his eyes. Thanking god again for having her in his life, he went back to work, so that he could finish them as fast as possible and get back home to celebrate Debbie’s birthday.

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This is my first attempt to write something entirely different from the usual writing style of mine. This post is based on a prompt that I was provided by one of my colleagues. It’s a picture that I have uploaded right here, in the middle of the post. I was asked to write a post based on the picture, and here is what I wrote. Hope you have liked the post. Please send me your genuine comments and suggestions.