All parents dread the day a favourite toy might go missing causing lots of tears, tantrums and unsatisfactory bedtimes.
But now one mum in Virginia has given all parents of lost toys renewed hope after finding her daughter’s stuffed toy 14 years after it first went missing.
Susan Wise Bauer tweeted that she uncovered Plurna - a black cat - years after her child lost her: “My four-year-old daughter lost her dearest stuffed animal friend ever. Plurna was gone. We all wept. For months,” she wrote. “Today my farm manager found Plurna in the woods wrapped in roots.”
And not only has Plurna come back from the dead - she looks pretty good too.
The mum said she washed the toy and she looks good as new. She said: “We washed her and she is whole. I am speechless.”
She also shared a photograph of her daughter, now 18, reunited with Plurna.
Other parents shared their joy at the reunion between the child and her toy and shared their own stories of stuffed friends.
One said: “I have tears in my eyes right now. I have a dear stuffed animal, also a black cat cleverly named Blackie, that I’ve had since I was a baby. He’s still with me 32 years later, even though he’s lost the softness to his fur and both his golden eyes.
“He’s still incredibly special to me, and I could never imagine losing him. I’m so happy you guys found Plurna! I hope they and your daughter stay together throughout the years now.”
Another said: “My daughter’s favourite small bear, Clementine, was lost for 7 years until one day we found her in a handbag at the back of the top shelf of a closet. No one knows how she got in the bag.”
Another, still waiting for a return, said: “My daughter lost her most dear stuffed animal—a grey elephant—in Munich airport. He had been her traveling companion over countless miles. A friend helped us write the airport in German, but to know avail. So glad you found Plurna. Now if only Ellie would magically appear.”