The Lost Bear
(This is quite a long story - you may want to download it and
read it offline)
Mandy was distraught. She had
lost her Teddy Bear. To be accurate, she had lost one of her Teddy Bears. Mandy
had a large number of bears and one was Missing.
The missing bear was called
Dusty. He was small and grey, wore a pink bow round his neck, and had a winning
little smile. But of Dusty, his bow, or his smile, there was no sign.
Mandy had looked among the bears
on her bed. There were six of those, and all six were there. Mandy lifted each
one, to check they weren’t sitting on Dusty. She moved the pillows and shook
out the bed clothes. But she didn’t find Dusty.
Next Mandy looked among the
bears on the ottoman. There were eleven of those. Mandy made sure that Dusty
wasn’t tucked up among them. They all smiled at her, but Dusty wasn’t there.
Mandy lifted the bedcovers, and
looked under the bed. Sometimes toys, and even bears, got knocked under there.
She found some dust. But she didn’t find Dusty.
There were bears along the top
of the settee, four of them. Mandy checked that Dusty hadn’t been added to the
line. He wasn’t there.
A few bears got put into the toy
box. Mandy turned the whole toy box out, in case someone had dropped Dusty in
there. She found all sorts of things she thought she had lost. But no small
grey bear with a pink bow and a winning smile.
There were bears in the corners
of the conservatory. Mandy was allowed to keep the "overflow" of her
bear collection in there. She went round the whole room, picked up every bear,
moved the chairs, lifted the cushions, waved the curtains and looked everywhere
else she could think of. But she didn’t find Dusty.
Finally, Mandy went to her
family in tears?
"Has anybody seen
Dusty?" she asked
"Who’s Dusty?" was her
brother’s response.
"The little grey bear with
the pink bow" replied Mandy
Mandy’s brother looked at her
blankly:
"A Bear? You’ve got so many
bears! What’s one more or less?"
Mandy turned away in disgust. He
just didn’t understand.
Mandy’s Dad looked up from his
paper. He hated to see Mandy upset.
"What’s up, Love?" he
enquired.
"I’ve lost Dusty
Teddy" Mandy sobbed.
"Oh dear!" said Dad,
thoughtfully, then, "Never mind. We’ll buy you another one"
Mandy looked at him in horror.
You couldn’t replace a Teddy. Each Teddy was special. A new bear would be a new
bear. He wouldn’t be Dusty.
Mandy’s Mum walked into the
room, drying her hands.
"Did you say you’ve lost a
bear?"
Mandy nodded silently.
"Well, when did you last
have him?"
Mum was always very practical.
And she understood about bears.
Mandy thought for a minute.
"Friday" she said,
"He came to school with me."
"So, have you looked in
your school bag?"
Mandy ran to her bag, and turned
out all her books. She found three missing pencils, and two sweets that had
gone sticky. She found her spellings notebook, and a clean hankie. But she
didn’t find Dusty.
She went back to Mum, glumly.
"What were you wearing?"
was Mum’s next question.
"My green school skirt, a
white shirt, and the green cardigan: the new one, with the pockets."
"So where are they
now?"
"In the washing
basket" gasped Mandy, as she dashed upstairs.
She threw the lid off the
washing clothes basket. She pulled out all the sweaters, shirts and socks
waiting to be washed. She pulled out her green school skirt and her white
shirt. She pulled out her new green cardigan.... and there, sticking out of the
pocket was Dusty!
Being in the clothes basket didn’t seem to have done Dusty
any harm. He still had his pink bow and his winning smile. Mandy scooped him up
and cuddled him.
Dusty snuggled into Mandy’s
arms. Mandy understood about bears, and Dusty understood. Each and every Teddy
is special and unique. No bear can be replaced by another. Each bear is loved
and cared for for who he or she is. And no matter how many bears you have,
there is always enough love for each one. Dusty is Dusty. And Mandy loves him.
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Worry is a heavy load, but a kind word cheers you up (Proverbs
All Worry's stories are copyright by Rev K Smith (cos bears can't
hold copyright) but permission is granted for use in a non-commercial setting.
