II. Dog is my shepherd
II. Dog is my Shepherd
As told by Milo
We left the train station and I trusted on Nina to take us to the central district. After a few minutes, we stopped at one end of a shopping mall. I could no longer restrain myself and finally asked the question that had been bothering me for quite some time.
"Hey Nina, um... what's the idea behind the presents? I mean... I don't know your parents or your brother, so is it okay if I, you know," I stammered.
"Don't worry, little one. The celebration is not about the presents. It's okay and nobody will bat an eye. However, if you do feel the need to buy something anyhow, you can do so while I buy the present for my brother. We'll meet again here in twenty minutes and I'll call my father to come pick us up."
"Sounds like a plan. See you later, then, I guess."
"Good luck!" She replied before wandering off.
As soon as Nina had turned a corner, I entered a nearby eatery and asked a waitress whether there was a liquor store in the mall. The older tigress gave me the directions, after which I thanked her and left. I had twenty minutes to buy whatever came to my mind and frankly, I knew two things I would be looking for.
First of all, I purchased a bottle of sweet red wine. It was a common item to give someone at Midwinter if you did not know the other person well, but with other people, it was part of the family tradition. Knowing nothing about wine, or anything alcoholic in general, I let the clerk advise me and settled with the affordable option over the exotic one. While the clerk gift-wrapped the bottle, I asked for directions to my second destination.
With the first half of my mission complete, I headed for the toy store that situated pleasantly close to the liquor store. After all, I did not want to risk running into Nina, as the nature of the shops one visits tends to give away the character of the presents bought there.
When I reached the toy store, I checked to my left and right to see whether Nina had snuck up on me. Proving my suspicions to be wrong, I entered the shop and went to the section aimed at toddlers. Passing tricycles, building blocks and other toys Nina and I were supposedly nearly twenty years too old for, I stopped at the aisle that displayed what I came for: plushies.
Since the store was not altogether large, the assortment was rather limited. Either that, or there had been many parents preceding me in an effort to stop their child's nagging for one of those overly attractive plushies.
As I went through the collection of plushies that had not found an owner yet, I concluded that my search would be much shorter in length than the parents in my aforementioned expectations. After all, an actual toddler stands about half as tall as an adult, so in their perspective, a one foot long stuffed animal is much bigger.
To my dismay, most plushies were smaller than one foot. I knew that Pam was about that size, but from personal experience I knew how well a large plushie can contribute to indulging in the pleasures of simpler times.
Eventually, just as I wanted to give up, my eyes came across the face of a stuffed White Shepherd. I put down my bag and gently lifted the plushie from its place, examining it on all sides. The dog was even softer and fluffier than I had expected. These traits, combined with the quite attractive face and eyes of the plushie, triggered something.
With some effort, I resisted the almost uncontrollable urge to hug the Shepherd, an urge obviously caused by the puppy inside me. Looking down at my bag, I estimated Sharra's size and compared it to the stuffed dog in my hands. Judging the Shepherd to be roughly as big as my prized stuffed shark, I picked up my bag from the floor and headed for the checkout.
Even the cost of the plushie was attractive and a bit lower than I had anticipated. Today had to be my lucky day. With the stuffed dog in an opaque plastic bag, I returned to the rendezvous point. There, I saw Nina sitting on a bench, similar to earlier that day.
Another similarity in the situation was that she did not see me coming, as she was facing the exact opposite direction, probably expecting me to show up from that side of the mall. Additionally, she was having a conversation on her phone.
I decided to follow my instincts and removed the plushie from the plastic bag. Creeping up to Nina, I constantly checked whether she had noticed me yet. When I was nearly behind her, I stood still and waited for her to end the conversation, the plushy still in my hand.
"All right, we'll see you in ten minutes. Bye dad!" she said, which turned out to be my cue.
With my left hand, I put the head of the plushie to the side of Nina's muzzle, nuzzling her with the soft fur. When she flinched, I tightly embraced my girl with my right arm.
"Oh, Milo, it's you," she said relieved.
"Yush, and I's got you a present," I replied in my puppy voice.
"What? The plushie? You got that for me?"
I nodded. "I thought you'd like to have a new plushie to make up for the one you lost. It's not a sheep, but it's white and it's a Shepherd. That okay with you?"
She showed a faint smile as she got up.
"It's very sweet of you, Milo."
"Told you I'd figure something out. I know you'd rather have Pam back, but I can't do that. Now can you please be a happy little girl again?"
Nina sighed and I tickled her under the chin with the tail of her new plushie. It didn't take her long to crack a genuine smile.
"There she is. Now, you'd better give this doggie a name. Plushies always like that," I said with mock seriousness, pretending to be an expert on the subject, backed up by a Master's degree.
"Let's go back to the train station first, my father will pick us up there. We'll think of a name on the way there."
"Okies. Do you want me to carry your bag?" I offered, putting her plushie back in the plastic bag.
"No, that won't be necessary. Wait... what do I say when my father asks about the plushie you got me?"
"Like I told you before, Princess FluffyTail. You're a girl, so pass it on as a cutesy thing. Just tell your father that I got you something to cuddle with for when I'm not there to hug you."
She chuckled at me calling her by her nickname.
"You think he'll buy that?"
"Why not? It's the truth, or at least most of it," I reassured. "Now what will its name be?"
Nina pondered for a while.
"I think I'll call her... Natasha."