'The Eye' by Birgit K. Gaiser

Aunt Milena opened the wardrobe in Velika’s old bedroom. There were still some clothes in there, ones that hadn’t fit into her luggage when she moved out to university and then on to Nordland. And then there was her mother’s wedding dress.

“I’m not sure it’ll fit you,” she’d said on their weekly Zoom call. “You’re a little taller than Ivelina. But maybe you can have it adjusted.”

“I’d like to at least try,” Velika had said. Milena doubted it would be easy, it was certainly past her own not inconsiderable skillset. But who knew.

She stooped to pull the box from the bottom of the wardrobe. A small, round item, caught between the box and the wardrobe, fell out and rolled across the room. Milena went to pick it up. It was a little plastic eye.

Smiling, she opened the dress box and put the plastic eye inside it, remembering Velika’s much-loved stuffed bear, Bruno. She’d tried to teach Velika sewing by making her do surgery on Bruno when he needed extra filling, but it had never stuck.

One of Bruno’s eyes had been wonky, and had eventually fallen off. Rather than gluing it on, Velika had decided to give him an eye patch, like a pirate.

Milena hadn’t asked if Velika had taken Bruno to Nordland with her. She hadn’t needed to. And now Ivelina’s little girl, her little girl, who no doubt still slept with her beloved bear, was getting married!

Blinking away a few tears, Milena set the box down on the bed and texted Velika. “Found it! I’ll send it on Monday. Mx”