I Want My Mummy

• Lauren Robinson, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2012

My mummy holds my hand as she looks through clothing racks at the department store. It’s right next to the toy section. There are a lot of people today and it’s very noisy. My mum looks through racks of clothes, but still keeps a hold of my hand. It seems as if she has spent forever looking through these boring clothes. I wish I could just go home and play with my dolls.
Suddenly, I catch it. From the corner of my eye I see it. It’s so big and fluffy. All I have to do is run over to it and grab it then it’s mine. I know exactly where I can put it. Right on my bed so I can cuddle it at night. It is the biggest teddy bear I’ve ever seen!
As my mum lets go of my hand to grab something of the clothing rack I realize it’s now or never. I run over to it and grab it of the shelf. I give it a tight hug and smile to myself. Phase one is complete. Now I just have to convince my mum to buy it for me.
When I turned round to return to my mum, panic set throughout my bones. She was gone. I looked around frantically trying to search for her face among the others around me. I could not see her though.
I walked over to where my mum was before I went to get the bear. Everything is so big and scary! Tears started to appear. I didn’t know who to ask for help. I was told to never talk to strangers.
Questions started to fill my head. What if I never saw her again? I started to cry. I wanted my mummy. Suddenly a woman with a blue t-shirt approached me. she knelt down to me and smiled at me gently.
“Hello, I’m Sandy. Where is your mum?” she asked me.
I looked at her and knew I could trust her. She worked here.
“I don’t know,” I replied whipping the tears of my pink cheeks.
“Can you tell me your name and how old you are?” she asked.
“My name is Carla and I’m six,” I replied. I knew that the girl would help me find her.
The girl held out her hand, so I took it. She walked me through the store to the checkouts. We approached a desk then I heard her speak over a microphone.
“Attention shoppers, can the mother of Carla, aged six please come to the front of the store? Thank you,” she said speaking into it clearly.
After a few minutes my mother appeared. When she got close she hugged me and scolded me for disappearing but once she saw the teddy in my arms a smile replaced her scowl. After saying thank you to the worker she bought it for me. We named it comfort. Because it comforted me when I was scared.