The Other Inhabitants

I have a nice room in the house I share, a fairly big room with a bay window that overhangs the pavement outside, a smooth wooden floor, a decorative fireplace and green & grey painted walls. I am, despite my lack of a partner to share my life with, also not alone in this room. I have three other inhabitants. They are Gus, Akimbo and Garfield. They are not pets, our house rental agreement does not allow for pets, rather they are stuffed toy animals.

Gus is the youngest of these. In fact he is not yet a year old, having been bought for me last Xmas by my Mum (though I'm guessing my Sister had a hand in his purchase too). My main present last year was my new bed, and so on Xmas Day itself I got a few items, but nothing major. But I got this character, who I completely was not expecting and who made my day! I love dogs, I worked for 2.5 years at a boarding kennels and I plan on owning a Bassett Hound someday when/if I eventually own my own home and can afford one. That day is a long way into the future, which I think is partly why I was bought this dog. I didn't name him, my Sister did that, but I would have likely called him Gus anyway, it suits him I think. He lives on the pillows on the unoccupied right side of my bed.

The next oldest resident is Akimbo the frog. Akimbo is a beanie, a soft toy filled with polystyrene beans, much like a tiny frog-shaped beanbag I guess. She is named for the term "Legs Akimbo" meaning widely spread, as the long thin legs (hidden behind the speaker in this picture), always spread wide apart whenever she is dropped. She was bought when I moved into my old flat back in 2002. My Mum (and Sister again) took me around the various charity shops prior to the move, to buy me a few things I'd need for a home of my own, bits and pieces like Coffee and Sugar jars, some drinking glasses (including my pair of wine goblets), a bin, bookcase, and a few other things. Akimbo was sat on a shelf in one of these stores and for just £1. I got an odd look from my Mum when I added it to the pile on the counter, but I wanted something decorative for the shower room. For the couple years I lived there, that is where Akimbo resided, on the shelf beside the sink. Nowadays she lives on top of my computer desk, draped over a speaker.

Lastly there is Garfield, who has been with me for many years now, I honestly don't know how many. If I had to guess, I'd say I've owned this cat now since the late 80's. We moved to Taunton in March 1987 and it wasn't that long after that that I spotted him in Hatchers department store in the town centre, whilst with my Mum and both of my siblings. He wasn't cheap, setting me back £14, but he was the only Garfield in town that I felt properly captured the character. I loved the Garfield comic strip as a kid, though these days I feel that the strip should have been retired years ago, as it just recycles the same gags time and time again. Still, all the other stuffed toys of him at the time had him doing something or wearing something. I wanted a Garfield that fitted the one from the comic, so after dragging my Mum across town we found this one, hanging by a hook from the ceiling above a display of other Garfields that I didn't like the look of. Thankfully, Mum was able to reach up and fetch him down.

In my parents house, he lived on top of my wardrobe, looking across the room towards my bed. This used to freak out my friend Mark Newton, who every time he came to visit would turn him around so that "that damn cat isn't staring at me". I still get a grin about that habit of his. Ever since moving to my old flat, and then this house, he has lived atop the books on the shelf at the top of my computer desk, where he can watch/lord over my room/his domain.

So those are the other residents of my bedroom, I honestly have no idea why I've felt motivated to write about them, but I've been searching for a topic to write about all day and this one suddenly popped into my head and I figured it was as good an idea to write about as any other.