Little Hedgehog

today i am sad. and here is why: today is exactly 1 year since i lost little hedgehog.

little hedgehog (also known as hodgepig) was my most favourite teddy ever. he was a tiny little furry hedgehog which was just the right size to fit in my coat pocket. i took him absolutely everywhere with me until i started secondary school - then i thought i might look a bit odd carrying him about but he still lived in my school bag. at night, he slept next to me on my pillow. i'd lost him sever hundred times, i was always leaving him in the school playground or in the garden, under the tranpoline. i''ve left him in a countless number of the shops in bromley. he's been left at my grandparent's house and had to be posted home and when i broke my foot in year 6, i left him in the hospital. but i always got him back. last year, on this day, i was in egypt, scuba diving in the red sea with my dad - something that i enjoy a lot. so every morning we (me, my dad, little hedgehog) would leave at half past six, to get to the dive centre by 7. we would then get the dive centre mini bus to the docks and be on our dive boat by 9 o'clock. we would spend the day, diving, snorkling, eating rice ('coz that's the only think little hedgehog and i would eat) and reading books in the sun. it was our 4th day of diving (my dad and i were trying to get to 15 by the end of that holiday - we didn't manage it) and i was having an excellent day, we dived at Ras Katy in the morning and Near Garden in the afternoon, we'd seen an octopus - which makes me happy and 10 barracudas - which made my dad happy (can you tell i've just been typing up my log book so far) anyhoo, we got off the boat and my dad said he'd buy me and Tia (my little 4 year old friend) an ice-cream - which was also very exciting. it wasn't until we were nearly back at the hotel that i realised that i didn't have little hedgehog. i was completely distraught, i looked for him for hours. i even walked down to the docks on my own that night to try and find him but he was well and truely gone. even though it's 1 year later, and it's a bit stupid, i still miss him and i still feel guilty that i didn't find him. i like to think that sarah (my dive instructor at the time) will have found him and picked him up and i hope he will be living on the dive boat, enjoying the sun and making new friends, or that Tia will have found him and taken him home to be with her many other toys.