A story for my children
I am a hot water bottle. Not those red, blue and other assorted coloured ones you buy at a chemist. I am different. I am a baby hot water bag. Call me junior or sub-junior size, I am perfectly shaped for little ones. Chemists don’t sell me. I am found in a toy shop. Can you believe that? A hot water bottle in a toy shop. I am a different shade of blue with a pretty patterned cover of smiling teddy bears. I am also a trifle vain. I always feel that I am better off not being bought by anyone. Perhaps my dainty size and pretty appearance makes me feel different from the rest.
The toy shop was my home but a boring one. My companions were pens, crayons, glitter glues and pencils with ‘Eeyore’, ‘Winnie the Pooh’ caps. I didn’t get a chance to be with the other fancy toys. The days passed by lazily and I had no inkling that I was going to get a new home very soon. My toy shop was a popular one. Crowds of gaggling mothers would come in often, sometimes to buy gifts for birthday parties, sometimes as return gifts and at times with their own persistent children. None of them noticed me though. My favorite pastime was to observe them silently, knowing very well that they had no interest in me.
One late evening, a lady came in with her young daughter. The shop was about to shut but the kind owner waited. While the mother was busy, the young girl looked keenly around as if taking note of all that was there in this treasure trove of a shop.Ah yes for children toy shops are always magical and tempting. Then she looked down into the shelf where I was lounging with my old companions-the writing instruments. And then she saw me. I saw her eyes actually light up as if she had seen something truly amazing. Was she looking at me? As far as I knew, she was!
She hurried to her mother and exclaimed, “Mamma, see what I found! A hot water bottle just right for Diti! The mother looked delighted too. And she told the shop owner that she would like to buy me for her little daughter. She looked around to see if there were any more hot water bags like me. I was dismayed. Would she change her mind?
“Maa’m, that is the only piece I have left. In fact hardly anyone buys that size”, the shop owner spoke just in time.
The mother replied, “It is just what I have been looking for and I never thought that I would find it in a toy shop”!
So much for that. I was bought, packed and gently carried by the young girl and her mother into the car. As I entered my new home I could smell the pleasant aroma of cooking, warmth and a sense of good cheer. I waited eagerly to see my new owner or perhaps I could call her my companion. I hoped she liked teddy bears.
“Hey Diti! See what we found for you!” her sister called out to her. The mother heated up some water and filled me up gently.Atlast I was full. She took me into the bedroom where a little 4 year old (I could guess) lay wrapped up in bed. She was ill perhaps; I could not guage.And, in pain as her eyes revealed. But her eyes seemed to shine with excitement and happiness as if waiting in anticipation for a surprise. And she let out a squeal of glee when she saw me in her mother’s hands. It felt like she had wanted something like me for a long long time.
I felt I had finally arrived home, a place where I belonged and would be cared for.
Now I keep her warm on rainy days and cold days when she needs me to and she snuggles and falls asleep holding me.
The toy shop was my home but a boring one. My companions were pens, crayons, glitter glues and pencils with ‘Eeyore’, ‘Winnie the Pooh’ caps. I didn’t get a chance to be with the other fancy toys. The days passed by lazily and I had no inkling that I was going to get a new home very soon. My toy shop was a popular one. Crowds of gaggling mothers would come in often, sometimes to buy gifts for birthday parties, sometimes as return gifts and at times with their own persistent children. None of them noticed me though. My favorite pastime was to observe them silently, knowing very well that they had no interest in me.
One late evening, a lady came in with her young daughter. The shop was about to shut but the kind owner waited. While the mother was busy, the young girl looked keenly around as if taking note of all that was there in this treasure trove of a shop.Ah yes for children toy shops are always magical and tempting. Then she looked down into the shelf where I was lounging with my old companions-the writing instruments. And then she saw me. I saw her eyes actually light up as if she had seen something truly amazing. Was she looking at me? As far as I knew, she was!
She hurried to her mother and exclaimed, “Mamma, see what I found! A hot water bottle just right for Diti! The mother looked delighted too. And she told the shop owner that she would like to buy me for her little daughter. She looked around to see if there were any more hot water bags like me. I was dismayed. Would she change her mind?
“Maa’m, that is the only piece I have left. In fact hardly anyone buys that size”, the shop owner spoke just in time.
The mother replied, “It is just what I have been looking for and I never thought that I would find it in a toy shop”!
So much for that. I was bought, packed and gently carried by the young girl and her mother into the car. As I entered my new home I could smell the pleasant aroma of cooking, warmth and a sense of good cheer. I waited eagerly to see my new owner or perhaps I could call her my companion. I hoped she liked teddy bears.
“Hey Diti! See what we found for you!” her sister called out to her. The mother heated up some water and filled me up gently.Atlast I was full. She took me into the bedroom where a little 4 year old (I could guess) lay wrapped up in bed. She was ill perhaps; I could not guage.And, in pain as her eyes revealed. But her eyes seemed to shine with excitement and happiness as if waiting in anticipation for a surprise. And she let out a squeal of glee when she saw me in her mother’s hands. It felt like she had wanted something like me for a long long time.
I felt I had finally arrived home, a place where I belonged and would be cared for.
Now I keep her warm on rainy days and cold days when she needs me to and she snuggles and falls asleep holding me.
posted by Jyotsna @ 8:08 AM
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