His birthday was approaching. It was customary for him to choose the most suitable present for him. This was no different, so he and his mum went to the toy shop.
He had walked around several times, but still couldn't choose. He had a lightning rod, Lego, several storybooks, so now he wanted something different. He liked special animals, which is why he often went to the zoo, so he thought a toy animal would be the best present for his birthday.
Whether it was made of plush or plastic, the only thing that mattered to him was that the animal was recognisable, just like the real thing.
As he was looking and rummaging through the animal figurines on the shelves, he suddenly found a small hippo. He had never had such an animal at home. As soon as he saw it, he loved it and decided to ask for it as a present.
But his mother looked at the little figure with her adult eyes and immediately criticised his choice. "How dare you ask for a hippo!!! In reality, it's a behemoth, ugly, dirty, always wallowing in the mud, a big eater, and - supposedly - wild and dangerous."
But he could no longer be dissuaded. He took her to his heart, he loved her. When his mother saw that he wouldn't budge, she started to take a closer look at the toy. "And a defective one at that. It has grey spots on the back. It's either a colour defect or it got wet in transit, who knows. It's shoddy, and it hasn't even been priced. Pick another piece, or another animal in the first place," he said.
However, it soon became clear that there was not only no flawless specimen of the little hippo, but no other specimen at all. But the helpful salesman even checked in the warehouse.
He saw the displeasure on his mother's face, but she didn't give in to her decision, insisted on the toy, and finally bought it.
At home he put it on the shelf with the other toys. But at night, she decided to put it to bed with her, so that the little hippo wouldn't feel uncomfortable in its unusual surroundings, with its colourful mix of superheroes, building blocks, storybooks, Lego parts and cars.
The dream quickly landed on his eyes, and then, like a light breeze, swept him away, straight to Africa, where the hippo is indigenous.
He felt the burning heat of the sun on his skin, the heat made him long for water. Not far from where the dream had dropped him, he noticed a vast expanse of water. He headed towards it. As he approached, he immediately saw the iron backs hunching in the water, the turkey noses occasionally emerging from beneath the surface for air, the large bulging eyes.
The peacefully resting, lazy hippos, perhaps bored or bored by the heat, kept opening their huge mouths, from which terrifying teeth were emerging. But this did not frighten him.
Unexpectedly, on the edge of the dark, muddy water, he spotted a tiny puppy. The poor thing was standing there helplessly. Perhaps for the first time in his life he had encountered such big water and was afraid to go in.
Then his mum, a fearsome behemoth, emerged from the water and stomped to the shore to get her calf. The muddy water she had beaten up splashed everywhere and covered the little baby hippo. As he stood there, the drops of muddy water dried in grey spots on his back and sides. He became just like his little toy hippo at home.
At that moment, as if she had been hit by the water, she was shaken, even though it was only her mother shaking her shoulder, telling her to wake up, she had to get up, she had to go to nursery.
In his backpack he also put the small toy quiz, which he was sure was not defective. It was not defective, but had grey spots on its back from the African mud that had fallen on it. And he would not have sold it for any treasure, that alone remained his secret.
I liked this story.