Companion

Bloganuary writing prompt: Describe an item you were incredibly attached to as a youth. What became of it?

I can tell you what type of items I tended to get attached to: something small, probably cute, and later on was a prop for my comedy. Except for a few, these were almost always bears. Some exceptions include a dragon, Squirrel Dude, a cat, and my oldest favorite: Actually a Bobcat. Because he had spots, so he was a bobcat, damn it!

His name was Kitten, originally. He was small like one! He couldn't have been more than 5 inches tall, and is now a very light gray. In 7th grade I had a dear friend take him home to have her mom patch up his failing spotted butt, so his butt implant is a light blue. This was also the same friend that insisted on calling him Bob (short for bobcat) but I refused, so we compromised: KittenBob.

He was certainly for companionship in the lonely elementary school years, like a security blanket. It was pretty rough for a shy bookworm taking speech therapy classes. He didn't start really becoming the vehicle of jokes until middle school-- I'd act out scenes or have him deliver punchlines, usually in math class. In a routine, he was the boke to my tsukkomi. I didn't make it as the class clown, but my friends thought I was funny.

When I became a freshman in high school, I began leaving him at home; KittenBob was getting old and I worried about damaging him. He passed the mantle onto a character I created to entertain my younger sibling, the inspiration being a knockoff beanie baby. From doodle to prop, his successor was Not A Cat and carried on to be a distraction in Spanish class, a guest during silly family outings, and starring in his own college project!

I still have them hanging about my bedroom, chillin' in the shadowbox or lurking on a bookshelf.