Edith gets a gift

“Chubby cheeks, dimple chin, Rosy lips, teeth within,

Curly hair, very fair, Eyes are blue, lovely too.

Daddy’s pet, is that you?”

“Yes, yes, yes!”

Edith longed to hear these words in person. Her father spoke these to her whenever they had their together time. She was waiting at their regular rendezvous, holding her mother’s gift – a white and red teddy bear.

But where was he?

He should have come by now - now when it was almost twilight; when it was late for her to be wandering outside; when she was bored of watching the birds returning to their nests; when she was tired of waiting for him.

“Where was he?”

Tears welled up and flowed down her cheeks.

“Mother will be angry for having stayed out so long.” Should she run back to her mother? Should she wait? She looked behind her. The lonely calf had moved further away, trying to find a speck of grass for itself. Soon it would nestle safely in the lap of its mother. Edith started walking back gloomily.

“Where were you, honey”?

“Went to the fence. Wanted to meet daddy. Show him my teddy.”

“So what did he say?” “He never came!”

The ladle fell from her mother’s hand and landed with a thud. The soup spilled messing up the kitchen table. “What do you mean by “never came”?” She seemed more scared than shocked. Even though they did not stay together now, there were threads that held them close.

“That he never came. I waited and waited but he never came.”

Mother rang up his mobile almost immediately. He picked up on the third ring. “Can I come over to your place today? I will explain everything.” “Sure”.

And when he came over, a white and red teddy in his hand did all the explaining. Atleast to Edith. “Daddy, now I have two of them” as she showed him her treasure.

The similarity of the gift was not lost on either of her parents.

Linking with Trifextra : Week Twenty-One