“Sana, are you listening? ” Riya’s voice nudged her. Although her mind has left the park and the bench they occupied a while ago, she nodded and added hurriedly before Riya could point out Sana’s absent-mindedness “let’s walk a bit. I am feeling sleepy sitting here enjoying this beautiful breeze. ” 

Sana didn’t want to talk about what had been ravaging her mind. Riya is a sweet, caring, and honest friend. She will come up with a hundred solutions in ten minutes if Sana reveals what’s in her mind. But Sana was not ready to try out Riya’s solutions. She wanted to deal with her problem in her own way. 

As the friends walked around the park, Sana noticed a lone figure sitting still on a swing nearby. She walked next to the swing without acknowledging Riya’s chatter. 

“Hey! Sanaa! Where are you going now? ” Riya looked slightly annoyed by her friend’s distracted behavior. 

Seeing Sana pick up the cute teddy bear sitting all alone on the swing, Riya hollered, “one of the kids must have left her toy here by mistake. “

The teddy bear in her hand seemed to be happy when she picked it up. Sana, too, felt a jolt of happiness, holding the little brown bear in her hand. She hadn’t had one in a long time. She felt this teddy was waiting for her there. The stuffed toy would make a great companion. Someone to share her concerns with, without being flooded with a thousand questions and solutions. Sana was sure this teddy bear wouldn’t judge her a bit. 

She walked back to Riya holding her new friend with a smile lighting up her face. 

© Vinitha Dileep

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This “fictional” piece is written in response to the one hundred and second edition of Fiction Monday for the word prompt ‘DARK’ and the above picture prompt hosted at Reflections by yours truly. Do join in if you have a tale to tell.