A couple months ago a guy came to the bar with his buddy. They put a bunch of small plastic animals on the bar. I squealed with delight. The guy said,

“I have a ton of these for work. Do you want one?”

“YES!”

And that is how a small black and white aardvark came to live on the shelf behind the absinthe.

Last night the guy returns. I run for my aardvark. I hold it aloft,

“Look! I still have him.”

“Wow. I’ll bring you more.”

“Thank you!”

“My six-year-old nephew loves them. You remind me of him.”

So ugly and so cute.