Summary

Before he was a mothcat, Cozy was a child's toy. He was a cherished plushie, one that would sit on his owner's bed all day until she went to bed, where she would cuddle with him until the sun came up the next day. Although he wasn't quite 'alive' at the time, Cozy remembers these fond memories. The girl, named Amelia, was a part of a low-class family, but she was none the wiser. Together, her and Cozy, who was a gift to her by her father, she felt she could conquer the world.

This was Cozy's life for a long time. He didn't know about this life, as he still did not have his own, but he had a family. Amelia never left him as she grew up. He was her best friend, especially when her family couldn't afford to have an actual pet. It could be seen in the wear and tear of the plush, which filling coming out of his leg and one of the wings torn in half. Amelia didn't care, and neither did Cozy. However, the older she got, the more responsibilities she took on. Eventually, Cozy found himself stuck on her bed for days, maybe even weeks, waiting patiently for her to return. When she did, they were happy together. But those days grew less and less. Cozy, despite the lack of animation or life in him, missed Amelia.

Time seemed to stretch on when, one day, the door opened. Cozy was ecstatic--Amelia was back! It seemed like forever since she had come home. But it wasn't Amelia. It was a woman who looked like Amelia, but much older, with her hair turning gray and age lines showing on her face. It was quite obviously Amelia's mother, who seldom came to her room. She was always too busy, just like Amelia's father, and Amelia. Yet here she was, picking up Cozy and taking him out of the bedroom. It's been a long time since Cozy's been out of the bedroom. And the next thing he saw, in his lifeless button eyes, was black.

It felt like forever in that black hole. No one came to see Cozy anymore. He knew he was moving, from one place to another though he wasn't sure. The moving eventually stopped, but still, he didn't know where he was. He just wanted Amelia.

But the next pair of eyes he met were not Amelia's. No, they were blue, where hers were hazel. They were kind, behind a small pair of glasses and shaded by strands of white hair. Cozy wondered who this could be. Maybe family of Amelia's? Who might you be, little one? Who was he? Cozy didn't know how to answer that. He couldn't answer it. Yet, the smiling man seemed to know. Ahh! So your name is Cozy. What a splendid name. Cozy only stared at this man in wonder as the man put him in a bag, head poking out, and left behind the garbage dump where he had found his new friend.

The man lived in a small cabin just up a mountain. It was--ironically--cozy. Warm, unlike the home that Cozy knew. There were lit candles on the walls and a well-built table in the middle of the house, just after a couch. The man passed the couch, rather finding himself a seat at the table. He took Cozy out and examined him; Cozy only looked back with bleak buttons. The man only smiled again and, picking up a needle, thread, and patches, worked on Cozy. He gave Cozy cute blush patches on his cheeks. His wing was like new, stitched back up. The man even stitched patterns to his other wing to match it. And then he got to work on the hole in his leg. The man started to sew a patch on, but before he finished, he picked up a small flask of some substance. Cozy didn't know what it was. The man smiled again before tucking the flask into Cozy's leg, nuzzling it into the filling and securing it with thread. Then, the man sewed the rest of the patch up, and now Cozy was complete. The plush looked like a patchwork, but no one would be able to see if such a fact was intentional or not. He looked perfect in the eyes of the man.

Satisfied, the man left Cozy on the couch for the night and disappeared in a room that Cozy could only presume was his bedroom. Cozy was confused. This was not Amelia's home. This was not a place he knew. He wondered if he should be scared, as Amelia's father always told her not to talk to strangers. But the little old man fixed him, so he must not be so bad? Cozy, conflicted, closed off his lifeless mind for the night, his button eyes staring at the fireplace in front of him as the night wore on.

The next morning, Cozy felt as if he was awakening. He wondered why. He didn't know plushies could sleep. He felt like stretching his sore leg, heavy with the flask, and his newly sewn wings. So he did. He stretched his legs out in front of him, his antennae shaking as he did before he stopped to look around the cabin. His head turned in all sorts of directions as he took in the sight of the place; a high ceiling, a window just above a stove, and a lovely picture of the forest. He turned back to the fire, which has since extinguished itself.

His thinking was interrupted by the opening of a door. He turned his body around to peer over the couch at the bedroom, where the old man emerged, stretching his arms similar to how Cozy did. I see you're awake, friend! Cozy leaped up onto the top of the couch to stare at the man better, his button eyes portraying none of the questions he had. Instead, his head tilted. He spoke nothing. The man only smiled before going to make himself a coffee.

Cozy had a lot of discovering to do. As he got used to using his legs and tilting his head, he would venture the cabin more. With each passing day, he got better at his mobility. And when he wasn't good with it, the little old man was there to help him. And then he dared to go outside. The world was big, far bigger than he thought it was, as he explored the woods. It was vast, with critters that would come and sniff at Cozy's fabric-covered pelt. One even pulled at one of his button eyes. The little old man had to sew it back on. It was fun to see the world in his own eyes, not just the eyes of others as their plushie.

The little plushie mothcat stays with the little man in that cabin on the mountain. He can be seen nowadays walking among the trees below the mountain, but never too close to civilization. However, there are times where he'll look at the villages and cities in wonder. Wonder over Amelia. How she was. What she was doing. Cozy wondered if he should go search for her. But, every day, he would turn and go home to the little cabin, where his little old friend was waiting patiently for him.