Journal Writing Prompt # 1

Name something you lost or gave away that can never be replaced.

I once had this stuffed snail when i was about four, and i called her Cindy Snail. She was a beanie baby, there was nothing really special about her appearance.She was pink, with sparkly horns or something, and she had a pretty little swirled shell that  had light pink and silver and green and such on it.

Actually, she looked just like this:

There was nothing specifically special about her. There were plenty of other ones being made and sold all over the world, and she was easily replaceable.However, to me, she was completely irreplaceable. That little snail was my best friend. I took her everywhere, and talked about her all the time. I talked for her, and played with her all the time. I even took her to London, England, when i traveled there with my grandparents. And she ate dinner with us, and i took her to see every museum i would see. I really loved Cindy. She was one of the most important stuffed animals of my childhood, and that's saying something because i had a lot of stuffed animals in my childhood. Well, somewhere between going to London and traveling to Annapolis to see my dad, Cindy Snail went missing. I was really upset. I mean, who wouldn't be? She was so important to me, and i hated that i didn't know where she was. We looked everywhere, and finally concluded that we must have lost her in England. Somewhere along the line, Cindy had decided to stay in Europe while we decided to come back to the States. For about a year i kept hoping that somewhere Cindy would turn up. That she was left in my suitcase, that she got caught between couch cushions, that somewhere, she was hiding, waiting for me to find her. Finally, i simply got over it. I no longer mourned for Cindy, i no longer waited for her to turn up. She became a part of my past, and i didn't mind anymore. One day, a while after i had forgotten about Cindy, probably like two or so years later, my mom came home with a stuffed snail. Immediately, i knew it wasn't Cindy. She never said it was and she never said it wasn't but i knew that it wasn't her. This snail looked just liked Cindy, weighed the same as Cindy, and perhaps could have passed for an exact Cindy double in a look-a-like contest, but there was no Cindy in this snail. There was no magic. It was just a snail, whose name was actually swirly, according to the tag on it's side. I kept the snail, and put it with the rest of my stuffed animals, but i didn't take it everywhere. I still have it, and every time i look at it i remember Cindy. She was a great snail, and i really miss her sometimes. Even though i'm getting old and Cindy seemed like something in my distant past, i'm happy that i still have the memories.