Backtracking

I can not possibly recall all the occasions upon which we have had to retrace ours steps, eyes desperately scanning the sidewalk in search of a lost toy. The odds are rarely in our favor, in a city over crowded with scavengers big and small, that a brightly colored treasure will go unnoticed. But there are always tears and desperate pleas on Uta's part, so we embark on these backward treks regardless, equally full of hope and dread (the dread being mine, of course).

Yesterday two tiny plastic cartoon figures, Anpanman and Vikingman, given to Uta by my friend only moments earlier, went missing. They were in Uta's possession a total of thirty minutes tops, and only about ten minutes had elapsed from the moment he had put them in his pocket until the time he discovered their absence. And within that ten minute span, only four blocks had been traversed. It seemed hopeful. So we backtracked and searched, but still found nothing.

Uta handled the loss surprisingly well. "Oh well," he said. " We will just have to go to Japan tomorrow to get new ones. I want to see Baba and Jiji anyway."