Hello everyone in this wonderful STEEM-BRU community! Today I'm going to share with you my participation for this amazing contest organized by @notannov, in which I have the opportunity to participate in its third edition; I invite you all to join, you can find it in this link. I am earmarking 10% of the winnings for the @steem-bru account as a token of appreciation for the tremendous opportunity.

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This time I will share with you the collection that I cherish and safeguard the most, as it is something that I collect since my childhood and that gives me identity and meaning. This is about my stuffed animals, adorable dolls of the animal world that I gathered over the years; some date back to the moment of my birth, others arrived on my shelf a few months ago. The point is that, whatever their origin, they all have a story: they are part of me like a family, and they accompany and adorn me as a key object in my room.

The stuffed animals in my shelf.

My collection is composed of:

CATS

BEARS

DOGS

SEA ANIMALS

AND FARM ANIMALS

It all started when I was just a little girl of three years old. I always showed predisposition and interest towards animals, so my mom, in order to please me, bought me stuffed animals that resembled real beasts, but obviously safer. My favorites were cats; hence, I currently keep most of them, and they are displayed on top of my bookcase as they used to do in my childhood.

The first memory I have with stuffed animals is about a shredded cat I called "meow"; my mom took me to choose in a store where there were hundreds and hundreds of stuffed animals, and yet I chose her. From that moment on she became my favorite stuffed animal, although, it should be noted, for me they were not "stuffed animals" but "animals"; the opposite was a terrible insult. This stuffed cat accompanied me everywhere.

Meow currently.

Then came Aurora. Aurora is a small, purple stuffed animal that my mom ordered from Amazon to give me as a Christmas present. With her, I felt such a connection that I never parted from her again. I could have hundreds of stuffed animals, but she, despite not being the cutest, always stood out among them all. She, and Meow, were my favorites.

Aurora currently.

People, knowing my obsession with stuffed animals, always gave me one for Christmas, birthdays, Three Kings or Children's Day; therefore, I was filled with so many stuffed animals that I slept with all of them and there was no room left on the bed. I played with each one of them every day. When I went out to play bike, I would put Aurora in the basket and make sure I had her with me. On family trips, I would take them with me hidden in a small pink backpack-type bag.

Stuffed animals were my companions and best friends.

Over the years, a lot of my stuffed animals disappeared to younger girls or to some unexpected sale. My grandmother has always had a vocation to help people, so she gave away many of my stuffed animals to others. The ones that remain are the elemental survivors and I wouldn't give them up for anything in the world.

I recently managed to acquire more stuffed animals thanks to a very important person to me and my own effort. I share them:

Reversible octopus.

My stuffed animal collection accompanies me and adorns the most unimaginable things. For example, some stuffed animals decorate my desk lamp:

Or the nightstand next to my bed:

And other places where they mark with their wonderful presence a beautiful environment.

I currently have 45 stuffed animals, although I remember that in my childhood I managed to have 150.

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All the photos used here were taken by me with my iPhone X and edited in Lightroom app. They’re my propierty.

I hope you found my publication interesting. Thank you very much for reading, greetings!