Children lose toys all the time. They drop them, leave them in sandboxes at the playground, lend them to friends who don’t return them…They lose them all the time.

Still, I was struck with a bit of sadness when I saw the dirty bear lying there.

So I picked it up, wiped it off some, and sat it in a corner.

It still looked a bit sad there, the dirty abandoned bear, but at least it wasn’t in the gutter anymore. Maybe there it could dry out some in the sun, even.

I left.

The next time that I walked by, the bear was gone.

I stared at the empty corner for quite some time, simply standing there, staring. People walking by must have think I was quite mad, if they took any time to notice me at all.

I wasn’t sure to be sad or glad, though. Was the bear found by it’s owner, some little boy or girl, reunited? Or had it simply gotten stolen, or worse, lost forever?

Of course I never knew.

But still, I always glanced at the corner any time I walked past. And that’s something, I guess.