Today was one lazy Saturday spent cooped up in our bedroom watching Pushing Daisies on someone’s laptop. When Peter hugged Cate’s teddy bear, I suddenly missed my own cuddly stuffed pet who is still in a bag I left in my old office back in the Philippines.
Last Valentine’s day, we organized an exchange gifts session. Rhea picked me and gave me a super kagigil stuffed penguin along with a note saying: “when penguins find their mate..they stay together forever..this little guy will keep you company as you continue your quest for your penguin. happy hunting.”
My friend Yen, upon seeing my new companion, started to call him “Hugsy” after Joey’s stuffed penguin in our favorite sitcom Friends. After that, I decided to change his name to “Polar” after Rhea’s second name, Paula, since I always name my stuffed animal gifts after their giver. However, his first name had already stuck, so I decided that he could have two names – Hugsy Polar, and be nicknamed HP for short.
HP sat on my desk at the office and has gained some sort of popularity in that he has been part of concept pictorials and even despedida videos (where he played a starring role, may I add). On my last day in the office, I packed him up and sat him in our living room.
While I watched TV, I was surprised to hear my former housemate tell me, “Picturan kita ha,” in a special voice usually reserved for babies or animals.
I turned to look at him, confused, and realized that he was speaking to HP. Hahaha. Yep, HP is that cute. Can you blame me for missing him??