Meet Istas’s favorite toy.

It’s kind of creepy looking; it is naked and has only the pink ears and the nose still attached. But she’s very attached to it.

It used to be cute, like this:

It has long been her favorite. Over the years the “fur” has come off piece by piece. The parts inside that make it rattle are gone, having fallen out one by one since the bottom cracked open.

She carries it around in her teeth, throws it with her mouth, chases it, bats it across the room only to sneak up on it and torment it some more, then meows loudly when she bats it out of her reach under the oven or the dryer.

I feel so badly for her when I walk into the kitchen and she is lying on her side, looking into the dark gap under the oven, that I grab my flashlight and long narrow stick and save the day (or her mouse).

And sometimes it just disappears.

Then I can’t find it because, bright LED flashlight or not, a little black piece of plastic is a lot more difficult to spot than a bright pink anything.

Without fail, a few weeks after I give up looking for the strange little mouse I happen upon it in an unexpected place…which this time was under a desk in one of the kids’ rooms.

Istas was sleeping deeply on the chair when i tossed the “long-lost bestie” downstairs onto the kitchen floor. She jerked her from her slumber and she began reacquainting herself with that thing, carrying it in her teeth and throwing it with her mouth, chasing it, batting it across the room then sneaking up on it again.

When I’ve been unable to find the one thing that keeps her active, I have resorted to finding pink rattling toy mice exactly like her favorite and peeling off the fur, thinking she would find them equally as entertaining; it’s not entirely a failed effort since she does play with them a bit, then ditches them quickly.

It’s just not the same. But WHY??? I really want to know….

I admit that I spend more mental energy than necessary wishing I could understand her affinity for this particular mouse. Does it have a smell she prefers? Does its cracked plastic body make a certain sound that is unmatched by the counterfeit, peeled look-alikes I’ve tried to give to her? Is it primal or is it more?

What do you think? Do you have any ideas why this mouse remains her favorite?

I almost feel like I should name it…

© Alexa Lopez 2008