Polkadotted cow

He waded into the murky water, barely keeping his balance as his feet slipped on hidden rocks. The slime encircled his jeans, creeping upwards as he struggled to reach the toy.

The cold floodwaters gripped his chest as he knelt, not touching the polkadotted cow. It bobbed in the waves he caused, it's bright pink nose trying to reach the air. Had his daughter been like that, as the river's waters stripped her from her mother's arms?

As tears filled his eyes, before the cow floated from his reach he grabbed it, clung to it, hugged it to his chest. They were still searching, but he didn't really want them to. She was gone. So was her mother. This was all he had left.

It wasn't enough.