There was a boy. His black hair contrasted sharply with the yellow, long-eared stuffed toy he carried around.
His mother sometimes took him to play with a girl who lived down the road. She had red hair, and always hugged a purple, star-shaped soft toy.
They played every week, making up games about their soft toys. She would imagine she was a performer, swimming expertly, her purple star joining in her routine and bowing with her at the applause. He would imagine that he was a gallant fighter, his giant yellow mouse shooting lightning bolts and winning every fight.
As they got older, more adventure would enter the play. She was a princess in need, and the boy with his trusty yellow companion would come to the rescue. They would fall in love and live happily ever after. Or she was a lifesaver, riding on her star to rescue the swimmer in trouble.
In their imaginations, they created yet more fanciful creatures, ones with giant wings that breathed fire, giant butterflies, green dinosaurs with flowers growing on their backs. They scoured the world in their dreams, looking for adventures, and they would return to their homes, brimming with joy and excitement.
Eventually though, reality took its toll on the old games. She started noticing other boys at school who would ask her out. Much to the boy's annoyance, sometimes she'd accept. But then, his eye would sometimes be caught by a shapely blonde in the playground, and sometimes he'd even flirt with that brunette in his class.
Was their happily ever after thrown out with their childhood toys? They were childhood playmates, like brother and sister. If they outgrew their games, didn't it follow that they would outgrow their dreams?
But one odd thing remained. While most of their toys were thrown out, two raggedy soft toys, worn thin by years of play, kept a prized spot in each of their respective owners' rooms and hearts. They waited in hope. Maybe one day they would realize what trully should be. Maybe then they would be reunited. Then the yellow mouse and the purple star could be together forever.
Maybe.
Or does that only happen in stories?