Gougouni was a small plush piglet made from the material used to make soft towels. Its belly was overstuffed with plastic beads, which made it fun to toss around. Its soft little legs were the perfect size for wiping away tears. When Jack, its owner, was little, he would fall asleep at night sucking on Gougouni’s ear. Gougouni was named so because when Jack started talking, he said “gougouni” instead of “gourouni” (pig). When new, it was a salmon pink color with shiny black plastic eyes, but Jack didn’t remember Gougouni like that at all. Without a doubt, Gougouni was always as it is now: grayish and faded, with one ear hard and stiff from too much sucking. At some point, Gougouni’s eyes came off, leaving two tiny holes in its face, and Jack’s mother, who was a nurse, sewed two buttons in place of the lost plastic beads.