Once today was over...
A few more days...
Everything would return to normal.
"Don't regret this."
The little girl's mother had calmed down.
Although she was very angry about her daughter's wasteful habit of casually tossing her toys aside...
They were out in public now.
She could clearly feel the eyes fixed on them.
She didn't want them, especially her daughter, to become the subject of people's gossip.
Though she knew everything that had happened earlier was already more than enough to give them something to talk about with their friends.
At least she didn't want to give them any more to gossip about.
They'd talk about the rest once they got home.
But saying nothing at all for now left the little girl's mother feeling rather stifled.
That purple rabbit doll had been a birthday present she'd given her daughter.
"Even if you want that purple rabbit doll again later, you won't get it."
The little girl's mother laid down the law first.
"You threw it away yourself."
"Think carefully..."
"If you don't try to pick it up now..."
"Don't come to me later and say you want it."
"Mom won't be able to get the original rabbit doll back."
"And I won't buy you a new rabbit doll, either."
"Do you understand?"
The solemn tone in her mother's voice made the little girl press her lips together uneasily.
She...
The little girl hugged the pink balloon to her chest.
The plump balloon shimmered faintly in the sunlight.
"...I don't like purple."
The little girl said again.
As if she were trying to convince herself, or perhaps simply stating a fact.
"I don't like it."
The little girl repeated, emphasizing it once more.
The little girl's mother: ...
She glanced at the balloon in her