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When I was little I got this pink frog plushie and I loved it. Thinking back on it, I think I only got it so I would shut up, but you know all my happy memories have a dark side to them.
I named it Spring and we did everything together. I would take it to training and set it down anywhere I can. Sprig was my only friend for a long time and when I was having a bad dream I would hug Sprig close to my heart.
When I was nine Belos told me to get rid of it because it was a show of weakness, and the golden guard shows no weakness. That led to the first time I ever rebelled, I yelled no at him and that pissed him off. He took the plush and sliced it. Luckily it only tore off his arm and almost all the stuffing came out.
I was a crying mess and started picking up everything I could while I heard Belos tell me “Now look what you made me do”. In between my cries I would say “I'm sorry, I'm sorry”. That made him even more mad so he sliced a little bit of my skin as a warning and I stopped crying as best I could.
When I got back to my room I tried to stitch Sprig up but being nine I couldn’t sew. I then went to the only person I knew could sew. When I arrived at his room I was nervous, but had no other option so knocked on his door. Darius opened it annoyed and asked what I wanted. I held up Sprig and said “Can you please fix him? I promise I won't ask for anything else from you”. He looked at me and started rubbing his face and then said “Fine give him to me”. He took Sprig from my hands and invited me in.
I sat in his room in complete silence only watching him fix Sprig up and when he was finished he gave him back and asked what happened. All I said is “Uncle doesn’t think I should have plushies, but Spring is my only friend and I can't get rid of him”. He looked at me with sympathy and told me to go back to my room. When I did I hide Sprig under my pillows and stopped taking him places with me.
That memory came back to me as I stood in the ruins of the castle with the only surviving thing I could see for miles was this muted pink frog.
Luz had somehow talked me into going to the ruins to look for anything that survived. I thought it was stupid but I went along too. Walking there though I just wanted to run away and go far away, seeing my old home in ruins thanks to the person I trusted for so long.
When we got there though it was just a punch of stone everywhere and moss had already started growing. There were puddles from the boiling rain all over, and there were book covers with now pages. I told her it was a lost cause and that we should head back but she told me to keep looking.
Reluctantly I started looking for anything. I don’t know how long we were there for but i saw the sun was setting and I yelled we should head back and that there was clearly nothing here. She finally agreed with me and we started walking until out of the corner of my eye I saw a muted pink and went over.
Under a large piece of stone there layed a not so pink frog with rips all over and one of the eyes peeling off. Still I could recognize this frog as my only friend for so long. I hugged it next to my chest and started crying. The only thing that survived from my old life was this pink frog with a permanent smile on its face.
I could hear Luz walking over to me and then rubbing my back as I cried telling me it was going to be alright.
After a while I finally got up and started walking home. Luz asked me what I was holding and I told her the story of this plushie.
We went our separate ways as Luz yelled she would see me next week for my week with Camila. I walked into my home and I saw Darius on the phone and then turned over to me and said To the phone “He just walked in”. He looked at me angrily and said “Where have you been? I was worried about you”. I had tears in my eyes as I held up Sprig and said “Can you fix him”.
Darius looked at me shocked then took Sprig out of my hands and asked “where did you find him?”.
“Me and Luz went to the castle, or what's left of it, to find anything that could have survived. This is all that did”.
He pulled out his sewing kit and looked at me and all that he said was “Tell me where you're going next time”.
I sat on a comfy bean bag chair as I watched Darius sew Sprig back to life. It took longer than last time because he was so destroyed, and he had to do a lot to get him back to his vibrant pink he used to be, and even then it was still a soft pink.
He gave him back to me after a while and said “I didn’t know you had kept him after all this time, I thought after a while you would have gotten rid of him. I mean I never saw you with him after that day”.
I looked at him and sighed. “I hid him under my pillow, If Belos saw me with a plushie I would have gotten in big trouble”.
After what felt like an eternity of silence he looked at me and said “You know if it would make you feel better we can always go out to town tomorrow and go look for some more plushies”. I looked at him with wide eyes then hugged him and yelled “THANK YOU,thank you so much”.
After a while I finally go up to my room with Spig and lay down. Holding Sprig close to my heart and making sure to never let go.