"I guess I wouldn't want to talk to me either," he whispered towards his birdie stuffie. He'd created a sock puppet called Stripes. Found an old white sock from his drawer and used a marker to draw eyes and a smile on it. He'd been using it at home. He'd been pretending that it was as good as Teddy had been. He'd been pretending that it was as comforting as the stuffed birdie was when he could sneak away to cuddle him. He helped. Stripes had managed to make him feel slightly less alone — but incredibly pathetic at the same time — but he still didn't compare.

"Maybe I...