Sophie Goes For a Walk

When I was little, my mom had a plush toy named Cheburashka. One day after playing outside, I returned home sans toy. When my mom asked me where he went, I told her Cheburashka went for a walk.

Sophie is a giraffe. She is made of soft rubber and squeaks. Her horns are perfect for sucking and chewing and she has bravely stood up to an array of abuse, from gnawing to being mercilessly bashed against the table with little more than a squeaky whimper. She's been subjected to peas, baby barf and crusty sweet potatoes. She's had to take numerous baths to undo the damage and one day I found her head inexplicably wedged under Otter's little chair. Well, apparently Sophie had suffered her last injustice and this weekend joined Cheburashka in his jaunt around the world.

At first, Sophie did, quite literally, go for a walk. Yesterday, as we strolled along our neighborhood streets, Sophie was once again the hapless victim of Otter's abuse. All went well until this morning when I realized that Sophie was nowhere to be found.

We turned the house upside down, checking every conceivable corner and several inconceivable ones. Though I continued to maintain that Sophie had not been thrown overboard, I agreed retrace my steps from the previous day.

Unlike the previous day, it was about 100 degrees outside. I began walking, admiring our the spring flowers while keeping my eyes peeled. Ten minutes later, I realized I was walking up the wrong street. My enjoyment of my neighbors' plant life was beginning to wane. Retracing my steps and course-correcting, I quietly cursed myself for taking such a long walk on Saturday. As I surveyed the neighborhood ground, I had to admit it was marked by a distinct lack of anything remotely giraffe-like. The Valley sun beat down mercilessly. I was starting to hallucinate.

Returning home in a sweaty delirium, I continued to cling to the hope that in some ironic twist of fate, while I hiked around the neighborhood, Sophie would have been found in the most obvious of places. Oh how we'd laugh. But it was not to be. Sophie is still MIA. My only consolation is that I seem to be much more distraught by this turn of events than Otter.