Because He’s Good…
Victoria dropped her heavy suitcases onto the hallway floor.
“Hooray!!! Mummy’s home!!!” the girls shrieked joyfully, darting out of the nursery to greet her.
Vicky smiled. Finally, she was back! Behind her were four gruelling weeks of training courses, a dingy dormitory, and exhausting exams…

She hugged and kissed her daughters as they clung to her. Now, what about presents?
“Emily, this is for you!” Mum handed her eldest a gorgeous fluffy jumper. The excitable Em squealed and dashed off to the nursery—only to turn back mid-sprint, sheepishly wrapping her arms around her mum.
“Thank you, Mummy!!! I’ve wanted one like this forever!” And off she flew again.

“Sophie, this one’s yours!” Mum pulled something soft, blue, and puzzling from the suitcase.
Gran Olive raised an eyebrow—what on earth was this peculiar thing clutched in her younger granddaughter’s tiny hands? A toy, perhaps?
A hare with lopsided eyes stared back at Sophie. Its head was hard, made of papier-mâché, while its belly and paws were stuffed with sawdust. The hare, white with short fake fur, wore a faded blue smock.

Fine, except for one thing…
It was the ugliest toy imaginable. One eye was bigger than the other, set crookedly, with a hooked nose twisting sideways. Its thin lips curled into an awkward, apologetic smile, as if ashamed of its own hideousness.

“Blimey!” cried Em, now preening in her new jumper. “Mum, what *is* that monstrosity?”
“Sweetheart…” Olive sighed. “Were there really no prettier toys in *all of London*? You might as well use that thing to scare crows off the fields!”

At Gran’s words, little Sophie flinched, hugged the hare tighter, and scurried back to the nursery.

“Listen, Mum, I get why you’re cross,” Vicky said. “But… Harrods was packed—shelves heaving with all sorts. He just sat there, all alone on the very bottom shelf… I felt sorry for him. Honestly, I think he was *glad* when I picked him up. Don’t know why, but it was like he whispered, *Cheers, love.*”

Gran shook her head, waving a dismissive hand. Her grown-up daughter, a top consultant, hadn’t outgrown childhood whims—post-war rationing hadn’t spoiled her with toys…

The hideous hare, made in some distant Midlands factory, became Sophie’s dearest friend. She named him Humphrey—those two *H*s, rolled with Sophie’s posh lisp, only made him funnier.
By day, Hummy waited patiently for her return from school. By night, he dutifully listened to Sophie’s stories and gossip until she dozed off, nuzzling his scraggy cheek…

Years flew by.
Washed too often, his white fur yellowed—sawdust blobs seeped through—and his blue smock faded to a watery grey. Hummy looked ghastly, but Sophie adored him all the more, doting on her odd little mate.

At seventeen, Sophie became an aunt when Em had a son, Alfie. The moment Alfie could grasp things, the grotesque hare became his idol. At bedtime, he’d whisper sweet nothings to Hummy, who grinned back just as he had for Alfie’s aunt.

Years later, Alfie reluctantly handed the hare to his wailing toddler cousin, Oscar. Tears of protest turned to giggles when little Ozzy toddled home, hugging Humphrey to his chest. The hare had a new young confidant…

No one batted an eye when Ozzy later thrust the toy into the hands of a sobbing stranger—a girl in the park—after whispering something in Hummy’s ear. She blinked at him, startled, but took the hare…

You’d think that was the end—Hummy gone, adopted by a new family. But…

Decades later, an elderly Victoria visited her old friend Lydia—both silver-haired now—for tea. Chatting over memories, Vicky randomly recounted the hare’s odd journey.
“Wait—you don’t mean *this* thing, do you?” Lydia dug behind a cushion and pulled out a shapeless, washed-out blue lump…

“*Humphrey!*” Vicky gasped.
“Dunno if he’s Humphrey or Horace, but I’ve tried binning this eyesore for years! Great-granddaughter Lily won’t let me. Some kid gave it to her in the park when she scraped her knee…”

Vicky cradled the toy, lost in thought… Remembering a long-ago summer, Sophie’s thin arms squeezing that ugly hare tight… And she smiled.