“My mom didn’t want to be pregnant. She was young. She wasn’t in a serious relationship. And she never even wanted kids, so needless to say, she wasn’t thrilled. I think Mr. Duck was her way of ‘being ok’ with the pregnancy. It was the first gift she ever bought me, and she gave it to me when I was born. I took Mr. Duck everywhere as a child: breakfast, lunch, dinner. I gave him baths. I told him all my stories and all my problems. He was my best friend. At one point we were staying at a hotel, because our living situation was up in the air. And when I came home from school, our room had been cleaned, and Mr. Duck was gone. I tore the room apart. The hotel staff searched everywhere. My mom even tried to go to the landfill, but the city wouldn’t let her. Mr. Duck was gone. Forever. The years went by. I stopped thinking about him. But my Mom remained heartbroken. She couldn’t even watch Toy Story. Then three years ago, I’m sitting in a café, and I get a call from her. She tells me: ‘I think I found Mr. Duck.’ Apparently for years my mom had been googling: ‘Terry Cloth Duck With Overalls.’ And she finally found a match. But there was only one way to know for sure. Mr. Duck had stitches in his head because of a hair dryer injury. That would be our proof. My mom ordered him from the website, and we agreed to meet at a restaurant to open the package. We delayed the moment for as long as possible. We tried to make small talk. I braced myself for disappointment. But finally we opened the package, and pulled him out, and I ran my fingers across his head. Stitches! After all these years, Mr. Duck had come home.”
#quarantinestories