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

George at the Toy Shop

His name was George, and he was about 4 years old. He had been bought for Madeline when she was just a baby. He had been with Madeline ever since, and was still her Favourite Bear. Madeline had collected a number of dolls, cuddly toys and other things on her four birthdays, but none was as special as George.

And now George and Madeline were getting ready. Tomorrow was to be the Big Day. Madeline and George were starting school. Madeline had a smart new school jumper, shiny new shoes and a satchel. George didn’t have anything new, but the satchel was partly his, as he would travel to school in it. Madeline’s Mummy had assured her that children always took Someone Special to school on the first day, and often took toys in long afterwards to show their friends.

The big day came. Madeline and George set off in Mummy’s car. Mummy led them in through the big school gates. There were lots of little children running around. Madeline knew some of them from her play group and Sunday School. A teacher came out and ushered them all in.

Each child was given a desk of their own. They sat down, all looking a bit nervous. Madeline reached for George to give her confidence. He sat on the desk and smiled at her.

When the other children saw what Madeline had done, they brought out their Teddy Bears! Almost every child in the class had brought a Teddy to school. The class looked more like a picnic site than a school room. Much friendlier.

The teacher smiled and said

"I hope you will feel at home here, settle down and work hard. You and your bears are all very welcome at our school"

So that was George’s first day at school.

The days went by. Each day, Madeline would take George to school in her satchel, and sit him on the desk. Each evening, she would take him home. Madeline learned lots of clever things - how to read and count and add up. George and the other Teddy Bears used to play together, or chat while the children were working.

But George noticed that things were changing. As the weeks passed, there were less and less Bears coming to school. The children had moved on to other toys. Some of the girls brought Barbie Dolls, or Baby Dolls that could cry and talk. And the boys brought trains and cars. George found himself on his own.

The worst day came when several of the boys had been to a party the day before. They all had new toys, and had brought them in to show to the others.

Tim had a toy trumpet. It was bright yellow, and when you blew into it, it made a really Loud Noise. George covered his ears. He didn’t like the noise at all.

Billy had a toy truck. It had batteries, and could run on its own. It made a rumbling noise as it moved, and made the ground shake. George didn’t like feeling the ground shake under his paws.

But Carl had the worst of all. He had a toy gun, which used caps. It not only made loud Bangs, but sparks flew out of the end. George thought the sparks were dangerous. He was afraid his fur might catch fire!

George was very miserable that morning in school. But there was worse to come.

At dinner break, all the children went out to play in the playground. The noises and shaking and sparks from the new toys were awful. But even more awful was being snatched up by one of the boys, thrown through the air and laughed at.

"Madeline’s a Baby!" the boy sang out

"Baby brings her Teddy Bear to school!"

"Ahhh! Poor Teddy"

"Teddy Bear for a Baby girl"

And the children’s voices sang out tauntingly, as they threw George from one to another. Madeline was so upset, she ran away into a corner and started to cry. She wanted George back, but was too afraid of the other children to ask. George felt Madeline had let him down. Didn’t she love him anymore? Was she just waiting to bring some other toy into school? George was so miserable.

The teacher rang the bell for afternoon class, and the children ran back inside. Teacher dried Madeline’s tears, and gave the class a good Telling Off for teasing her (which they deserved) and made them all say they were sorry.

But nobody thought about George. He was left outside in the playground, alone and wretched and miserable.

"I know" he thought, "I’ll run away"

And he set off through the school gates as fast as his short chubby paws could carry him. He didn’t know where he was running to: just that he was running away.

George ran on and on. He went through the park, along a road he’d never seen before. He rested under a hedge for a nap, and suddenly realised it was getting dark. George didn’t realise he’d been running for so long. He needed somewhere safe for a Bear to spend the night.

He looked around him. There was a big dustbin.... but he didn’t fancy sleeping in that. Beside it were some crisp packets. Just the right size, but if he slept in one of them, he’d get grease and salt all over his fur. He was too big to sqeeze into an empty drinks can.

And then he spotted what he needed. A woman walking past was eating a box of chocolates. She munched the last one, and threw the box carelessly at the bin. It missed, and landed almost at George’s feet. Now he had somewhere warm and cosy for the night.

Except he was hungry. There was nothing around for a bear to eat. Some pigeons and blackbirds were sqabbling over some scraps on the pavement. George didn’t like to get involved. But one of the birds noticed him, and brought him across a piece of stale sandwich:

"Here You are, mate! look like you could use a bite to eat! lost are you?"

and without waiting for an answer, the bird flew away.

It wasn’t the nicest thing he’d ever eaten (George liked honey cake and chocolate biscuits best) but he was hungry and grateful.

So George curled up in his box and slept. His first night away from Madeline. He felt lonely and sad. He talked to himself:

"No-one want Teddy bears any more. They all want big noisy toys and flashy dolls. I’m the only Teddy Bear left, and they’re trying to destroy me. Even Madeline doesn’t want me any more" It wasn’t very consoling, but it reminded him why he’d run away.

Meanwhile, Madeline was very upset when she found that George was missing. She cried all the way home, and told her Mummy about it. Madeline’s Mummy started a Bear Search, to find George. She rang round all Madeline’s friends at school to see if anyone knew what had happened to him but no-one knew where he had gone. She arranged notices to put in shop windows the next day, asking people to return George if they found him. Madeline didn’t sleep all night without him. The whole family were unhappy.

Next day, George slipped out of his box. He’d done a lot of thinking in the night (a chocolate box isn’t a very comfortable place to sleep when you’re used to sleeping on a little girl’s pillow). He’d decided where he was going. He’d go back to the toy shop. He’d find answers there. Maybe someone would want him.

George set out to walk to the toy shop. Only he didn’t know the way, so he just set out walking. He walked and walked, till his little furry paws were quite sore.

It was dusk when he finally spotted a toy shop. He could see all the toys in the window. There were dolls and cars and trains and trucks and guns and trumpets. But there weren’t any Teddy Bears. And anyway, the shop was shut.

George sat down on the doorstep of the shop, and cried big Teddy Tears.

"No-one want Teddy bears any more. They all want big noisy toys and flashy dolls. I’m the only Teddy Bear left, and they’re trying to destroy me. Even Madeline doesn’t want me any more" he sobbed.

Just then, a man walked past with a big music box. It was blaring out music. Trumpet music. George listened to the music. It made him think of Madeline at school, but it didn’t help.

A great big truck drove past, splashing up mud. It roared loudly, and made the ground shake. George listened to the truck, and felt the pavement rumble. It made him think of Madeline even more, but that didn’t help either.

A woman walking by put something to her lips. Then with her other hand she clicked something... and sparks came out. More than sparks - fire! George stared at the fire. It was bright and glowing. He thought it looked warm, and he was so cold. But the fire didn’t help George at all.

And that was when he heard the voice. Madeline’s voice. She had had a phone call to say there was a lost Teddy on Paddington Street, and had come all this way to see if it was George.

"George... what are you doing here?" she whispered

"No-one want Teddy bears any more. They all want big noisy toys and flashy dolls. I’m the only Teddy Bear left, and they’re trying to destroy me. Even you don’t want me any more"

George whimpered in reply.

"Oh, George, George", said Madeline, "I do want you. You’re the best Bear in the world. You’re my bear. I’ve come all this way to find you. And anyway, you’re not the only Bear left!" And Madeline tucked George into her satchel and took him home.

The next day, George expected to be left at home when Madeline went to school. She would take something else, he thought. After all, he had run away from school.

But at getting up time. George found himself tucked in his usual corner of the satchel, heading in the car up to school, and in through the gates.

Madeline sat down at her desk. She reached down and bravely took George out of her bag, and sat him in front of her. The other children reached int their bags. And out came lots of Teddies. All George’s old friends from the early days were there! The children had felt so bad about teasing Madeline and frightening George away that they’d all brought their bears to school. And at lunchbreak, they had a real Teddy Bears Picnic!

George always went to school after that. He didn’t mind if he was the only bear there. He knew that Madeline loved him and that he wasn’t the only bear left. He thought about all the things he’d seen and heard, and decided that the sound of Madeline’s voice was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.

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Don't worry about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time (Matthew 6:34)

All Worry's stories are copyright by Rev K Smith (cos bears can't hold copyright!) but permission is granted for their use in a non-commercial setting