“Not today,” said Nina.
Pigúiça had been running up, paws open wide, for the usual hug with her friend, the poodle with fur as fluffy as cotton. She stopped halfway, with her paws stretched out in the air. “What do you mean, not today?”
“Today I don't want a hug,” Nina repeated, very softly. “I just want to stay here for a bit, by myself, looking at the flowers.”
Pigúiça didn't understand. Hugs were the best thing in the world. How could anyone not want one? A small sadness rose in her tummy. “Don't you like me anymore?” “I like you a lot,” said Nina. “I just don't want one today.”
Pigúiça felt like hugging her anyway. A quick hug, she thought, and Nina will like it. That was when Fofuxo arrived, sat down beside her, and said, with no scolding at all: “Pigúiça, when Nina says no, the no is hers. She's the boss of her body, just like you're the boss of yours.”
“But it's a hug of love!” “Even a hug of love,” he said. “The way we show affection can change. The affection stays the same.”
Pigúiça thought about it. She remembered the day Tico tickled her and she asked him to stop, and he stopped right away. That day she had felt safe, and even more like playing with him afterward.
So she sat a small step away from Nina. “Can I stay here, without touching?” “You can,” said Nina, and the corner of her mouth lifted a little.
Instead of hugging, Pigúiça raised her paw and waved, very slowly, as if to say: “I'm here.” Nina waved back. They both laughed, without making any noise.
Time went by. A butterfly landed on a flower, left, and came back. The breeze drifted gently past both their ears. Pigúiça learned that staying beside someone, doing nothing, is also a way of showing love.
“Pigúiça?” called Nina. “Yes?” “Now I want a hug.” “Really, can I?” “You can.”
And it was a soft, long hug, full of fur and giggles. It was the best hug of the year, because it had been asked for.
At night, in her bed, Pigúiça thought that a “no” is also a way of saying how we feel. And that when we listen to a friend's no, the friendship gets even stronger.
From the window, she waved one last time toward Nina's house, far away. She laid her head on the pillow. And Pigúiça slept, with her paws quiet, at peace.
