This is quite a long story - you might want to download it, and read it offline

The boy who was kind to a bear

Once upon a time there was a bear called Ted. That's a fairly ordinary name for a bear, and I suppose Ted was a fairly ordinary bear. He belonged to a little girl called Anne.

Ted was quite an old bear - before he belonged to Anne, he had belonged to her Mum, Jane. Ted was glad Jane had passed him on to Anne. Before she had Anne, Jane had had two other children. They were boys, and not very kind to bears. They used to pull Ted's ears, and poke him. As they got older, they had thought up more and more nasty things to do to the poor bear. You can imagine that Ted didn't like boys very much, especially teenage boys.

Now Anne was excited. They were all going on holiday to the seaside. And Anne was taking Ted along, to play on the beach. He wasn't too sure about the idea of sand in his paws, but it would certainly be better than staying at home on his own.

Everything was fine for the first couple of days. The weather was warm and pleasant. Anne played on the beach with some other children while the boys played in an arcade. Ted sat on the towel and looked after Anne's clothes. He found he quite enjoyed beaches…. Even if he never did get the courage to swim!

But on the third day, something went Awfully Wrong. Anne was away playing, Jane and her husband (Anne's Daddy) had gone for a walk. Ted was all alone on the towel. Suddenly along came two dogs, one big dog and one little dog. The big dog picked Ted up in it's mouth and ran off. The little dog ran after it, trying to snatch Ted away. The dogs thought it was a great game. They growled at each other playfully, and tussled for the bear. Poor Ted! He was being pulled apart. He thought his ears and paws would come off, and soon he had a big hole in his tummy, and his stuffing was coming out. His ear was loose, and one eye too.

The dogs ran on and on, away from the beach and into the town. They were still growling and playing. Ted was terrified. What would happen to him?

Suddenly, there was a whistle. Both dogs pricked up their ears. It was their master's whistle. Dropping Ted on the pavement, they ran off together.

Ted lay there, hurt and helpless. What could he do? He was seeping stuffing, and badly needed help. Most of all he needed a hug. He cried softly.

Just then, Ted looked up. There was a little old lady walking past. Ted felt hopeful. Old Ladies were kind to bears. They were gentle and caring. Perhaps she would rescue him?

The lady bent over him

"Oh! Ugh!" she exclaimed, "A ted deady bear, I mean a dead teddy bear… How horrid!" and she hurried away.

Ted didn't know you could hurt so much. Not only did he hurt in his ears and paws and tummy and eyes, he hurt inside, too, at what the lady had said.

He lay there for a very long time, in between an empty coke can and an old crisp packet. He didn't like being in with the rubbish, but he was too weak to move. It started to rain faintly, and poor Ted began to get wet. The rain mingled with his tears.

He was hardly conscious when he heard a voice. A child's voice. A little girl's voice. She was skipping over towards Ted. His teddy heart lifted.

"Look, Mummy! A Teddy Bear!" she cried. The woman with her peered at Ted disdainfully.

"Don't touch it, Dear" She cautioned. " You don't know where it's been!" and the pair walked away, as the child found something new to look at.

Ted sobbed to himself.

It was many hours later when Ted became aware that someone was standing over him. He opened his one good eye and looked up. To his terror there was a boy looking at him. He was about 13, and sort of thin. He had a spiked hairdo, and was chewing gum. Ted's heart sank. This was last straw.

The boy leant over and picked Ted up:

"You poor old fellow" he said, "you have been in the wars, haven't you!" And he lifted Ted gently up, and tucked him very carefully into his pocket. Ted noticed that the boy took care not to hurt his damaged ear, or paw, or eye… and even made sure no more stuffing leaked out.

Ted snuggled into the boy's pocket. At least he was now out of the rain. Whatever came next, he would make the most of this.

The boy walked quickly, and soon Ted heard a door shut.

"Hey, Mum! Look what I found?" the boy called out.

His Mum came in, and lifted Ted from the boy's hands.

"What is it?" a little girl asked

"A Teddy Bear" said the Mum, "and he's had a rough time, by the looks of it."

She sat Ted on the mantlepiece, to dry out, and then went to find a needle and thread.

Being sewn up isn't a nice experience for any bear; but when you've been hurt as badly as Ted had, the gentle hands and loving touch of Boy's Mum was soothing and restoring.

By bedtime, Ted was mended in every way. His paws and ears were secure, his eye was back in it's socket. A neat tidy seam up his tummy ensured that no more stuffing leaked out.

"Can I Take him to bed?" asked Boy's little sister? She picked Ted up, and gave him a big cuddle, which was just what Ted needed. Ted spent the night curled up on her pillow.

The next morning at breakfast, Ted was given pride of place at the breakfast table. He was sitting between the cornflakes and the marmalade, when Boy walked in.

"The lady in the newsagent says a little girl staying in the guest house has lost her teddy bear!" he announced. "Do you think it could be this one?"

Boy's little sister was sad to let Ted go, but pleased that he was going home. Soon Ted was back in Anne's arms, safe and secure. He thought about what had happened to him. He decided that it wasn't fair to judge all boys by the behaviour of Anne's brothers. The Boy who'd rescued him had been ever so good to a poor battered bear. And the people who he'd expected would help him had walked away. Ted decided that in future he would be less choosy about who he was kind to, as well!

He wondered how many people only help certain sorts of people - what about you?

Back to the front page 

Back to the Story Archive