Information

Arohanui has a minion!

Aotearoa the Love Story

Arohanui
Legacy Name: Arohanui

The

Nostalgic Kanis
Owner:

Bunni

Age: 12 years, 2 months, 3 weeks

Born: January 24th, 2012

Adopted: 12 years, 2 months, 3 weeks ago

Adopted: January 24th, 2012

Statistics

Level: 1
Strength: 10
Defense: 10
Speed: 10
Health: 10
HP: 10/10
Intelligence: 2
Books Read: 1
Food Eaten: 0
Job: Stock Worker

My story...

I was a gift. This rabbit toy with the floppy ears and the patches of worn out fur had seen so many caregivers come into his life. Baby Logan had been first, back when I was newly stitched. I was something soft to hold, and then to chew. Soon, he was being hugging and cuddling and praising me for chasing away the monsters in the night. I was Loganï¿½s faithful friend until he grew too old to think of me as any more than a toy. He, like everyone, had to grow up.

I was washed in the whirlymagig and placed outside with other objects I had become familiar with: a Barbie doll with a messy haircut, some plates and silverware who had worn far more of Loganï¿½s dinner than I ever had. I was chosen from among the knickknacks by an older woman who took me home and placed a beautiful pink bow around my neck and a card in my paws and took me to a place with lots of people. The windows were dusty and the curtains tattered. The family didnï¿½t have much, and the little girl there wore hand-me-downs from her older brother, but how she loved me. Her name was Emerald and she told me the secrets sheï¿½d been holding inside since she was little: her hopes, her dreams and nightmares. I learned that she didnï¿½t like broccoli (Logan had fed all of his to the dog), and though I couldnï¿½t speak up to comfort her, I listened and dried her tears when that gentle lady who had bought me passed away. She was my girl and I loved her, just as she loved me.

She began to grow older, just as Logan had, and told her secrets to a book, and then to the boy who would stay over some nights. There were lonely nights sitting on her desk and for a while, I collected dust. It was a limbo, just waiting for her to give me away just as I had been before. But she didnï¿½t let me go. I could tell from the smile in her eyes every time she saw me that she couldnï¿½t. I was a memory. Soon enough, she grew rounder, and then there was a new toy in the house, but this one moved and cried. I was washed and made handsome and placed into the barred bed with the exceedingly life-like baby doll, which had been named Naomi. Emerald wanted me to be for her daughter what Iï¿½d been for her and for Logan long ago. I knew. I was a pro at this child-rearing now, even though I could not tell her so.

Like her mother, Naomi and I had a bond that lasted transcended my limitations. She held my paw so tightly when she had to get a shot at the doctors I thought my stuffing might pop out; but how tenderly she kissed it and how sweetly she apologized to me afterward. When the boy teased her at school, she yelled and would toss me around. I would take it lovingly, and knowing she was hurt. Emerald always picked me up and consoled Naomi and helped the two of us make up. My old girl had mended my stitches so many times by now I couldnï¿½t count them on my whiskers. Some nights, Emerald would even come into Naomi and my room and cuddle me, just as she had when her grandmother had gone. In time, Naomi calmed and smiled more than she had before. School was easier and her friends would come and play with her during the day, but I was still the one sleeping in her arms every night.

It was a cold, snowy night that I was washed for the last time in that home, and I was put into a cold, dark box which bumped and jumped and jostled me all over. And then it stopped and I was in a new home. This one had a lot of white and there was a rhythm to the place like the beating of all the hearts I had been held against. Naomi had already begun to walk away, but she turned back to look at her mother who was holding me delicately.

ï¿½Goodbye, old friend,ï¿½ she whispered into my ear sadly. One more of her tears fell into my tattered fur and she held me tightly. ï¿½I will never forget everything youï¿½ve done for me, Arohanui, and I love you for that.ï¿½ I was set down in the box again and placed under a small pine tree which seemed to grow out of a metal star on the floor. ï¿½But these children need it much more that Naomi and I do. They need you to make them as happy as youï¿½ve made me.ï¿½

If I could nod, I would have. I would do my best to love whoever she was leaving me with. I was patient, and they were patients. Like I had with Naomi, I was there for the scariest parts of doctor appointments. I was a friend to all of the children there and I heard from a nurse that I was a favorite. Eventually they all left that home, though not all the same way, and to each one I bid a fond farewell. Those who had been with me for a long time passed me on to the new children and told my story about why I didnï¿½t look new like the toys at home. They werenï¿½t all true, but I appreciated them, and the new children took care of me as they were being taken care of.

It is not a glamorous job, mine, but it is amazing. I am their best friend. I hold their fears and secrets; I keep them safe from the needles and show them the doctors arenï¿½t so mean. I love them no matter what is going on and how mean anyone else may seem. I am a toy, and I will be there for you, just as I have been for all of my children, from all walks of life.