A Very Special Bear

Copyright © 2013, Sharon Lesley Harris. All rights reserved.

Chapter One

Grrr, went the machinery at Smith’s Toy Factory, as another batch of teddy bears moved slowly along the conveyor belt on their way to being packed up and sent to the shops. Suddenly the conveyor belt stopped, an alarm bell started to ring loudly and some lights began to flash. A small screen displayed the number ‘1000’.

“Hey!” shouted one of the workers to another man. “Come and look at this.”

The other man, who was the foreman, rushed over.

“Wow, I don’t believe it. It’s the one thousandth bear to be made. Quick, get that special box from my office.”

The first man rushed off and came back a few minutes later with a brightly coloured box with pictures of balloons and  the number ‘1000’ written all over it, with a window at the front so that people could see what was inside.

“I don’t believe it!” the foreman exclaimed, again. “It’s amazing how we’ve sold so many of these in such a short space of time. Let’s hope that they keep on selling as well. In you go, then,” he said, as he carefully placed the bear into the special box.

But Charlie bear couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. To him, he was just another bear in a long line of bears, all eagerly awaiting their journey from the factory to the shops, where they would be sold and hopefully taken to live in a home full of kind people that would love them and cherish them always. For some reason, he had been singled out. He had listened as the two men had chatted excitedly about how many bears had been made and he had gazed at the special box and thought how pretty it was, but to him, the most important thing was to be with someone who loved him and played with him. He stared out through the window of the box as it was picked up and placed into a very large, plain box full of boxes of bears, and as this had taken the last remaining space, the lid was put on the box and it was sealed. The bears felt the large box being lifted and they heard a whirring sound as a fork lift truck hoisted the box into a lorry. Their journey had just begun.

Chapter Two

The bears listened for signs of humans inside the truck, but they heard nothing.

“Hey!” squeaked one of them. “Where do you think we are going?”

“I don’t know,” whispered another. “I’ve heard them talk about a big toy shop in town. I hope we’re going there.”

“Wherever we’re going I just hope that I get sold to someone nice,” said a third bear.

“Me, too,” said all of the bears, quietly together.

“Sshh, we’re stopping,” hissed one of the bears.

But soon they were on their way again. And so the journey went on like that for a while, with the occasional brief stop at traffic lights or at a junction, but at last the truck came to a halt and the bears heard the engine stop.

“We’re here,” they all whispered excitedly, although they didn’t have a clue where ‘here’ was.

The rear door of the lorry opened and their box, along with all the others that the lorry had been carrying, was lifted out by the driver and carried into the shop’s stock room, so that the people that worked there could unpack them.

The bears heard footsteps coming towards them.

“Ooh, look! More ‘Chubby Cheeks Bears’ have arrived. They’ve been selling so well,” the bears heard someone say.

“Aah,” said Charlie to himself, “so we’re ‘Chubby Cheeks Bears’. It seems that we’re popular.”

The shop staff carried on talking.

“Yes, and I expect that these bears will sell out quickly, too,” said someone else, excitedly. “Come on, let’s get them out of this huge box and on display in the shop.”

Slowly the bears were carried out in their boxes and arranged neatly on shelves as part of a big ‘Chubby Cheeks Bear’ display in the shop. Except Charlie. He kept being left behind. After a short while, he realised that all of the other bears had gone. Finally, he heard footsteps again as someone returned to the stock room to get him, and finally he was carried out into the shop. He was put onto a small shelf, by himself. He caught a quick glimpse of a sign that said, ‘Exclusive to Toys and More, the 1000th Chubby Cheeks Bear. Don’t delay, Buy It Today!’ When Charlie saw the sign, he sighed a big sigh. He didn’t want to be different. He wanted to sit with all of the other bears and be treated the same way as them. He decided, however, that he would have to make the best of it. It would do no good at all to sit there looking sad. No one likes a grumpy bear. So, he sat  up straight, he smiled his best smile and he waited.

He looked out at the shop through the window in his box. There was a display only a little way away from him for party items with pretty, coloured balloons tied to it. Charlie thought how lovely it looked. Further on, there were racks of cards for all occasions. On the other side of the shop, there were more cuddly toys, including rabbits, farmyard animals, penguins and seals. It certainly was a magical place. He watched as children rushed in excitedly with their parents, tugging at their hands and leading them through the shop, pointing at all the wonderful things that were on sale there. But no one picked him up.

As the day went on, more and more people came and went, and the latest batch of ‘Chubby Cheeks Bears’ started to attract interest. One by one, each boxed bear was sold. But not Charlie. He started to feel very lonely and very unloved. Then at last, someone picked him up.

“Ooh, look! This sign says that this bear is the 1000th ‘Chubby Cheeks Bear’ to be made. This could be a real collector’s item. I’m thinking of becoming a toy collector. You know? To make lots of money. This bear is just the sort of thing I need. I’ll buy it. It could be worth something in a few years. But I will not take it out of its box and I’ll keep the box in a bag so that it won’t get dusty. Then it should fetch a high price if I sell it.”

“Good idea,” said the man’s friend. “Don’t want the bear or the box getting dirty.”

“Exactly.”

Poor Charlie was heartbroken. He thought that he’d be going home with someone who would love him and play with him. Instead, it seemed that he was going to be kept in his box and left all alone, never to be played with. He wanted to cry, but there was nothing that he could do, so he just had to hope that the man would change his mind and let him out. He stared out at the man as he picked up Charlie’s box and took it to the counter to pay. Once the man had paid, the box was placed into a carrier bag and the man carried Charlie out of the shop. The man continued to walk around the shops with his friend, then they said their goodbyes and went off in different directions. The man kept walking until he reached a car park on the edge of town, where he had parked his car. When he reached it, he put all of his bags in the boot, then he got in. Charlie heard the engine start and the man drove off and headed for his home.

Chapter Three

After what seemed like ages, the car finally stopped and the man switched off the engine. He got out of his car and then took all of the bags out of the boot. Charlie felt himself being bounced about in the carrier bag and he heard the man’s footsteps as the man carried all of his bags towards his front door. Once the man reached his door, Charlie heard the sound of the key in the lock and the door opening.

“I’m home,” shouted the man.

“Hi, Dad,” came the reply from a young boy. “What have you bought?”

“Well, just a few bits in town, a book, a shirt and a tie. But I have bought something rather exciting.”

“What? What?” asked the boy, jumping up and down excitedly.

“A ‘Chubby Cheeks Bear’, but not just any ‘Chubby Cheeks Bear’, oh no, but the one thousandth one to be made. Look at the special box. Good, isn’t he?” the man said excitedly, as he held up the box to show the boy.

“Wow,” gasped the boy. “Is that for me?”

“No,” said his dad, firmly. “I bought you something the other day.”

“I know, and it’s a brilliant game, Dad, it really is, but it’s just that he’s so cute. Why have you bought him, then?”

“Because sometimes toys can be worth a lot of money when they’re old and unusual, especially when they’ve been kept clean and new. I’m going to keep him in the box and leave the box in the bag and put it on the cupboard on the landing.”

“Aw, that’s not very good, Dad. I’d like to play with him.”

“No, Sam! Leave him in the cupboard! Do you understand me?” his dad said, in a stern tone of voice.

“Yes, Dad,” Sam said sadly.

Charlie smiled. So, the boy was called Sam. He seemed very nice. Charlie hoped that the man would change his mind and that he and Sam would get to play together very soon.

At that moment, Charlie heard a woman’s voice.

“What are you two up to?” she asked.

“Look, Mum,” Sam said, “Dad’s bought a really cute bear, but he’s not to be played with. He’s going to be kept in the landing cupboard.”

Sam’s mum sighed, “Oh, Brian, why?”

“You know that I’ve been thinking about making money as a toy collector? Well, this bear could be worth a lot of money in a few years. And,” he added quickly, “I’ve already got those other bits in the cupboard.”

“Other bits?” Sam’s mum asked. “Other junk, more like. There’s nothing of value in that cupboard, just stuff left over from when you were a teenager, that your aunt and uncle bought you, that you were too old to play with, and too polite to throw away.”

“Now, wait a minute, dear,” the man protested.

“Don’t bother arguing with me,” Sam’s mum said. “You won’t change my mind. The subject is closed.” she said and walked away.

Sam’s dad put the box back in the bag and took it upstairs to a big cupboard that stood on the landing. He put it with all of the other toys that he had kept in the hope that they would be worth a lot of money one day. There was a ‘Space Team’ moon ship, a ‘Tough Guy’ figure dressed as a soldier, several ‘Martian Monsters’ figures, books and stickers, a ‘Dave the Mouse’ spinning top and a ‘Zeewoo Robot’, to name but a few.

“Bye bye, bear,” he said. Then he shut the cupboard door and went back downstairs.

Chapter Four

Charlie was in darkness. He sat thinking for a long while about his day, but then finally, he drifted off to sleep. He was woken, a short while later, by the sound of the cupboard door opening. He heard the rustling of the carrier bag as it was being pulled down to reveal his box. It was Sam. He smiled at Charlie.

“Hello,” he said. “I can’t get you out of your box, because my dad has said that I mustn’t, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t stop by to say hello, now does it? It must be awfully lonely in there. How about if I read you a story?”

Charlie felt really happy. It was so nice to have some company.

Sam opened a bag of crisps and ate a couple of them. “I’m sorry, but I can’t give you any, as I may get you dirty and then my dad will tell me off.”

Charlie didn’t mind, he was just glad to be spending some time with Sam. He didn’t even know what crisps tasted like, but he was sure that they were very nice.

“Now this,” Sam said, pointing at the story book that he had brought with him, “is my favourite.”

Sam sat down on the floor at the edge of the cupboard, leaning against its open door, and began to read aloud from the book.

Charlie listened carefully as Sam read. He thought that the story was lovely. It was about a brave knight who rescued a princess from a tower guarded by a fierce dragon. When Sam had finished reading, he sat for a moment and smiled at Charlie, before saying, “Well, I hope that you enjoyed that, but I’d better be going now. I hope to come back soon.”

He pulled Charlie’s bag back up and then he said, “Goodbye,” as he closed the cupboard door and walked away.

Charlie felt overjoyed. He had really enjoyed the story. Sam seemed really nice and thoughtful. He still wished that he could play properly with him. If Sam didn’t come to the cupboard that often, then it still might get pretty lonely in there. He wondered if there was anyone to talk to in the cupboard.

“Hello,” he said to the inside of the cupboard.

He heard a rustling sound, and once again, the bag that his box was in was being pulled down so that someone or something could look at him. It was a robot.

“Hello!” it said. “We thought we’d leave you alone to settle in for a little bit before we introduced ourselves. I’m Mike and I’m a ‘Zeewoo Robot’. I don’t have a box because I was bought second hand.”

“What does ‘Zeewoo’ mean?” Charlie asked.

“It’s the sound that I make if you press this button,” he said, pointing to a purple button on his tummy. “But,” he added, “I can’t make the sound because I don’t have any batteries inside my tummy. That’s because our owner wants to just keep me shut away in this cupboard. If I had batteries my buttons light up and flash as well.”

“Wow,” said Charlie, “that sounds great. But you look great as you are now,” he added quickly.

“Thanks,” said Mike, with a big grin.

Charlie had thought of another question. “What’s second hand?” he asked.

“It means that I was owned by someone else before I came here. It was a boy called Steve. He was really nice, but as he grew older, he didn’t want to play with me any more and so he sold me to Sam’s dad’s uncle. He probably thought that I was going to be given to a child as a present, to be played with and loved, but no, instead I’ve been stuck in here. It’s the same for all of us in here, Sam asks his dad if he can play with us and his dad always refuses. He comes to look at us sometimes or he has read us a story from time to time, but he prefers his toys, of course, because he can actually pick them up and play with them. How I do envy them. Sometimes he takes them outside, I imagine. That’s what Steve used to do with me. When the weather was warm and the sun was shining brightly, then we would go in the garden, or I’ve even been on a picnic in a park a few times with him and his family. I always had a really lovely time and it was such a lovely place, lots of trees and wide open spaces, with lots of families and kids playing. It was always a really special day out.” He sighed. “But it’s not like that here. I talk to these other guys and that’s about it. We do our best to keep cheerful, but it’s not the same as being played with like a proper toy, like I used to do with Steve.”

Charlie smiled at the robot. “I’m sorry that you miss your friend. But can I be your friend?”

Mike smiled. “Of course, I’d be delighted. Here, let me turn your box round so that I can introduce you to everyone – don’t worry,” he added quickly, “I’ll turn your box back round again afterwards, so that no one will suspect anything.”

One by one, Mike introduced Charlie to the other toys in the cupboard. They chatted for a while, but when they heard someone coming up the stairs, Mike quickly turned Charlie’s box back round and they all fell silent.

From inside the cupboard, they could tell that it was Sam’s mum. She was humming a tune, softly, to herself. They could hear the sound of cupboards opening and closing.

“She’s probably putting some clean clothes away,” whispered Mike. “Steve’s mum used to make those sort of noises when she did that – I used to watch her, of course,” he added, “because I was actually sitting in Steve’s bedroom.”

“Will it take long?” whispered Charlie.

“It doesn’t usually,” Mike replied, “and then when she’s gone, we’ll chat some more.”

“Okay,” Charlie said, with a smile.

He liked Mike very much. He was glad that they were friends, and he even felt a little better about being stuck in that dreary cupboard now that he had all of the nice toys to talk to. Charlie felt even happier when it turned out that Mike was right. It only took Sam’s mum a little while to put away the clean clothes. Once she had finished, she went back downstairs. The toys waited for a few minutes, and when they heard nothing more, they started to talk once again.

Over the next few days, Sam often visited Charlie. He would talk to him or read to him, or even bring one of his games to play with, but he would never take Charlie out of his box, as he did not want to upset his dad. Charlie decided that he would not try and climb out of his box when Sam was not around, just in case he got dirty. It’s not that he minded so much whether he was dirty or clean, but he knew that if he did get dirty, Sam would get the blame and Charlie did not want to get his friend in trouble.

When Sam didn’t visit and there was no one around to hear them, then the toys would talk. Sometimes they would all listen in wonder at Mike’s stories of the outside world and other times they would take it in turns to tell each other stories that they had made up. But deep down, they all still were just a little sad that they couldn’t come out of the cupboard and play like Sam’s toys, and secretly they all hoped that something would change Sam’s dad’s mind and he would set them free from their jail.

Chapter Five

A few days later, Charlie heard the doorbell ring. When Sam’s mum answered it, Charlie heard the voices of two young boys.

“They must be Sam’s friends,” Charlie thought.

He was right. It was two of Sam’s friends, David and Matthew.

“Hello, Mrs Davidson. Is Sam in?” one of the boys asked.

“Hello, lads, why yes, he is. Won’t you come in?”

“Thank you,” they both said, and then went inside.

“Go into the lounge and sit down, boys,” Sam’s mum said.

The two boys did as Sam’s mum suggested and went into the lounge. They sat down on the sofa.

“Sam!” David and Matthew are here,” Sam’s mum shouted from the hall, before following David and Matthew into the lounge.

“Coming!” Sam replied, from his bedroom.

“Would you like some lemonade, boys?” Sam’s mum asked, just as he entered the lounge.

“Yes please,” replied all three boys.

Sam’s mum returned a couple of minutes later, with three glasses of lemonade on a tray, she then gave each boy a glass, they thanked her, and then she left them alone to talk.

“Hi,” said Sam to his friends. “What have you two been up to?”

“Not a lot,” said David. “I did go to the park yesterday with my dad for a game of football. That was good.”

“My dad bought me a present,” Matthew said excitedly, with a big grin on his face.

“Oh, yes, what did he get you?” Sam asked.

“A ‘Chubby Cheeks Bear’,” Matthew said, still grinning.

“He’s lucky, isn’t he?” said David, enviously.

“Mmm,” said Sam, thoughtfully.

“What?” asked Matthew.

“You haven’t got one, too, have you?” asked David. “I really will feel jealous then.”

“No, I haven’t,” said Sam secretively.

“What do you mean, you haven’t?” asked Matthew, sounding rather cross.

“Just that,” said Sam, “I haven’t got one. But …” he paused for a moment, before lowering his voice, “my dad bought one recently.”

“Your dad?” asked both of the boys together, sounding surprised.

“Yes, my dad.” Sam said.

“But it’s a present to you from you dad, isn’t it? David asked, sounding puzzled.

“No,” said Sam.

“Does your dad play with bears, then?” David said, laughing.

“Does he take it round the shops with him and go to sleep with it next to him in bed?” scoffed Matthew.

“No!” said Sam, impatiently. “He wants to start collecting rare and interesting toys so that he might get lots of money for them in the future if he sells them.”

“Well, what’s so unusual about his bear, then?” asked Matthew, in an irritable tone of voice. “I’ve told you that I’ve got one. There were loads of them in the shop. Also, there were a couple of people in the queue holding one when we were waiting to pay. So how rare can they be?”

“Exactly,” chipped in David.

“Because they’re the ordinary ones,” said Sam.

“What other sort are there?” asked David.

“The special, rare kind,” Sam said, sounding pleased with himself.

“What do you mean?” both boys asked.

“My dad bought …” Sam paused to add a bit of drama to the moment, before shouting at the top of his voice, “the one thousandth ‘Chubby Cheeks Bear’. Hooray!”

David and Matthew both looked surprised.

“Wow,” said David.

“Hang on a minute,” said Matthew, crossly, “how do you know that it is the one thousandth one? Also, where did your dad get it from and when?”

“He bought it a couple of weeks or so ago from ‘Toys and More’ – you know, the really big toy shop in town? We know that it’s the one thousandth one, because it says so on the box that it was sold in – it’s got the number, 1000, and pictures of balloons all over it. It’s great and the bear is really cute, too.”

“Let’s have a look, then,” said Matthew.

“Yeh, go on, then, get it out,” added David.

“No!” said Sam, firmly. “I can’t. My dad says that I’m not supposed to. It must not get dirty, otherwise he won’t be able to sell it. No one will want it. He’s kept it in the box, which is in a bag, in the cupboard on the landing. I mustn’t really even get it out of the cupboard at all, not even if I kept it in the bag. I shouldn’t take the box out of the bag because the box must also be kept clean. Dad says that toys are worth more if you sell them in their box and you get a lot of money if the box seems like new. There is no way that I’m allowed to take the bear out of the box. If I got it dirty, or spilt food on it, my dad would be really angry. I might not get any pocket money for ages. So, I cannot show it to you at all, do you understand? I don’t know if my dad would let you look at it, I could ask him, I suppose, but that is all that you would get, is to look at it – no touching. Do you want me to ask him if you can have a look at it, when he gets home?”

David and Matthew had listened patiently to what Sam had said.

“I do understand,” David said kindly. “If my dad tells me not to do something, I always do as he says – well, nearly always,” he added.

“Oohh!” sneered Matthew. “Well, aren’t you two good boys, then?” Then he added sarcastically, “I always do as my daddy says, cos I don’t want to get told off!”

David looked hurt by what Matthew had said. Then both he and Sam shouted out, “Shut up! You do, too!”

Matthew smiled, “Sam, please just show us the bear.”

“No, I can’t. I would have to ask my dad,” Sam said.

“Matthew, you can’t ask him to do that,” David said, looking worried.

“I can, and I have,” said Matthew.

“But he’ll get into trouble,” argued David.

“Only if he’s caught,” said Matthew, “or if we tell on him – and we won’t do that, will we, David?”

“No,” said David, sounding unsure, “but he could still get caught, though.”

“Sshh,” Matthew whispered to David, as quietly as he could, and then to Sam in  a much, much louder and friendlier voice, he said, “Nonsense, of course you won’t get caught. We’ll be really careful, won’t we, David?”

“I can’t,” protested Sam.

“Aw, go on,” said Matthew.

“Please,” asked David, eagerly joining in with Matthew.

Sam sighed and then paused for a moment to think. “Okay,” he said.

“Yeah!” cheered David and Matthew.

“But,” Sam said, “you mustn’t, mustn’t, touch the box or the bear, and the bear has to stay in the box, all of the time, you cannot open the box at all. Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” his two friends said, sounding bored.

“Okay, then, but you had better not let me down,” Sam said. “Either of you,” he added, sharply. “Let’s go!”

The three boys then made their way, very quietly, upstairs, and then headed for the landing cupboard. Sam reached it first and opened the door, and then stood back so that the other two boys could see what was inside.

“Wow!” said Matthew. “Look at all of the toys in here. Hey! That robot looks great! What sounds does it make? What do those buttons do? Oohh, look at those other toys. Wow, I’d love to own all of these.”

“Er, you’re just supposed to have a quick peek in the cupboard and a very quick look at the bear, remember?” said Sam, crossly.

“Yes,” snapped Matthew. He turned his attention to Charlie’s bag. “And here he is, eh?”

He reached out for the carrier bag that Charlie was in and pulled it down to have a look at the bear.

“Well, well, well, and here he is, just as you said, Sam, with his special box. Look, David.”

“Wow,” gasped David. “He’s great.”

“Yes, he is,” agreed Sam. Then his voice became angry, “David, why have you brought your lemonade up here? What if you spill it?”

“I was thirsty. Don’t worry, I won’t spill it,” David said.

“What’s that, Mr. Bear,” said Matthew, suddenly, cupping one hand to his ear, as if he was listening to Charlie. “You’d like to come out and play with us, why, that’s a great idea.”

“No!” shouted Sam.

But it was too late. Matthew grabbed the box and ran along the landing with it. Just as Sam had almost reached him, he pulled poor Charlie out of his box, and threw him to David.

“Here, catch!” Matthew shouted to David.

There was nothing that poor Charlie could do.

David did as he was told and stretched out one hand to catch poor Charlie. It was a clumsy catch. He almost dropped him. He pulled Charlie towards him to get a better grip, forgetting about the glass of lemonade in his other hand. It tipped over. It spilt, all over Charlie.

“No!” Sam cried. “What have you done? He’s ruined. He’ll be all sticky. My dad will be really annoyed.”

“I’m sorry,” said David. “I didn’t mean it.”

“I’m sorry, too. I was only joking,” Matthew said, feeling bad. “He’s only a little sticky. Perhaps we could sponge it off?” he suggested, trying to put things right.

“That could make it worse,” said Sam, angrily. “I’ll just have to tell my dad.”

“No, not yet, leave it to me,” Matthew said, feeling more confident.

“No,” protested Sam, but it was too late, Matthew had already grabbed Charlie and had rushed off into the bathroom.

Sam and David hurried after him.

“Some wet toilet roll will do,” Matthew said to Sam.

“Just leave it,” Sam said, still having doubts about Matthew’s plan.

Matthew ignored him. He turned on the tap, and held some toilet roll under the running water for a few seconds. He then turned the tap off again, and started to dab the lemonade stain on Charlie’s fur.

“I think it’s coming off,” he said.

He dabbed it for a few moments more and then inspected his work.

“There,” he said, sounding pleased, “it’s all okay again. I’s just a little wet, so we just have to dry it out for a little while.”

“No, that’s alright,” said Sam, nervously, “I’ll just tell my dad that his bear has got a little damp, but that it will be okay.”

“But if we dry it as well, then you won’t have to tell your dad anything at all,” said Matthew.

“Good idea,” said David.

“I don’t know, really, it might be best to leave it,” said Sam, not feeling too sure.

But Matthew, still cuddling Charlie, had started to make his way downstairs.

David was soon in hot pursuit, and Sam felt that he had no choice but to follow.

“Are you okay, boys?” Sam’s mum, from the dining room.

“Fine, thank you,” called all three boys, together.

“Okay,” she replied, “call if you need anything.”

“We will, thanks, Mum,” Sam replied. Then he turned to his two friends and whispered, “Well, what are we going to do now?”

“Hang him on the clothes line for a little while,” Matthew whispered, heading for the back door.

David followed eagerly, but Sam wasn’t sure that they doing the right thing, but he went after them anyway.

“Hey, it’s not a good idea,” Sam cried, as he got closer to his friends.

Too late. Matthew and David were already in the garden, and Matthew had a couple of clothes pegs in his hand.

“Stop!” Sam cried. “The pegs could make marks on it, and you have to make sure the pegs are on properly, or the bear could fall off of the line. Perhaps we should …” he stopped mid-sentence, as his worst fear had come true.

Matthew had not secured the pegs properly, poor Charlie bear dropped off of the line, and down onto the ground, right in the middle of a big, dark muddy puddle, which had been in the garden since the day before, when it had rained heavily.

“Oh no,” Sam said, in horror.

Just when he thought that things couldn’t get any worse, Sam heard the back door open. It was his dad. He had come home from work early and had come out into the garden when he’d heard Sam shouting. When he saw what was going on, he was very angry.

“What have you done?” he roared. “Sam, what did I say to you? You were not allowed to touch that bear!”

“I’m sorry, Dad,” Sam said, with tears in his eyes. “I just meant to show them, but then some lemonade was spilt on him, so we wiped it off, and then brought him out here to dry, but he fell off of the line.”

“It’s ruined!” Sam’s dad shouted. “I might as well throw it in the bin!”

“No!” thought Charlie. He was really scared.

“No, please don’t, Dad,” Sam pleaded.

At that moment, Sam’s mum came into the garden. She had heard all of the shouting and wanted to know what was going on. When she found out what had happened, she decided to take charge.

“I don’t believe it!” she said. “All this fuss over a bear. I’ll wash him.”

“That won’t help,” Sam’s dad said.

“No arguments, please,” Sam’s mum said calmly. Then she turned to face David and Matthew and said, “I think that you two boys should head for home, now, don’t you?”

Matthew and David had remained surprisingly quiet since Sam’s dad had appeared. But David plucked up enough courage to say, “We’re very sorry about your bear, Mr. Davidson, it was an accident, honest.”

“Yes, we are very sorry,” Matthew added.

David continued with his apology, “We also want to say sorry to you, for the way we have behaved today, Mrs. Davidson.”

“Well, hopefully you have learnt a lesson from all of this, boys,” Sam’s mum said softly, “now, off you go. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye,” both of the boys said.

Sam led them, heads bowed, towards the front door.

“Sorry,” Matthew whispered as they left.

Sam nodded and forced a weak smile and then waved to them as they made their way along the front garden path, and then he closed the front door and prepared to face his angry father again.

When he went into the kitchen, Charlie bear was already enjoying a good, long, soapy, foamy wash in the washing machine. Sam watched him being tossed about in the machine through the transparent door. He tapped on the door of the machine.

“Sorry, mate,” he said quietly to Charlie.

Charlie couldn’t answer, even if he had wanted to. He just kept his mouth tightly shut and just stared back at Sam, hoping that all of the soaping and sloshing would stop soon and Sam’s mum would let him out of the machine. He was not enjoying being in there at all.

At that moment, Sam’s mum came into the kitchen. She smiled at Sam.

“I’m sorry, Mum,” he said.

“It’s okay, love,” she said, giving him a cuddle.

“Is Dad still angry?” he asked.

“No, don’t you worry about that. I’ve had a word.”

He looked up at her and smiled.

“Go out and talk to him,” she said, softly.

Sam did as his mum had suggested and joined his dad in the garden.

“Hi, Dad,” he said, quietly. “I’m sorry, I did tell them that they could only look at him and that they were not to get him out of his box or touch him. They ignored me and it all went wrong from there. Do you hate me?”

“Oh, come here,” said his dad, opening his arms to offer him a cuddle. As he held Sam close to him, he said, “Don’t be silly, son. I don’t hate you. I could never hate you. I love you very much and I always will. Whether your mum can sort the bear out, or not, I will love you, okay? Let’s not fight about it any more, okay?”

“Okay,” Sam grinned. “I love you very much, Dad. I didn’t mean to hurt you, you know that, don’t you?”

“Of course I do, Sam. I’m not angry any more. Come on, let’s go inside.”

They entered the kitchen just as Sam’s mum was getting Charlie out of the washing machine.

“Okay,” she said, “he’s clean. I’ll put him in the tumble dryer on cool for a little while and then he’ll be alright. Okay?”

Sam and his dad nodded.

Charlie didn’t like the sound of being put in the tumble dryer on cool, but he had no choice but to keep quiet.

“Come on, mate,” said Sam’s dad, “your mum seems to have everything under control here. How about a game of cards in the lounge?”

“That sounds great,” Sam said, grateful to spend some time with his dad. “If that’s alright with you, Mum,” he added.

“You two go ahead,” she said, “I don’t need any help with this. I’ll be in to join you in a little while.”

Chapter Six

Some time later, when Sam and his dad were in the middle of their third game, there was a knock on the lounge door. It was Sam’s mum, and she was holding Charlie.

“Well, what do you think?” she said, proudly holding up her handiwork.

“Mum, that’s great,” Sam said.

Charlie stared down at his fluffy, clean fur, he was pleased to be out of the tumble dryer and very pleased to be clean. He hoped that Sam’s dad would still want to keep him.

Sam and his mum both turned to look at his dad.

“You’ve done well, love,” he said, “but it’s not the same as when it was new.”

“Oh no!” thought Charlie. “They are going to throw me away. What should I do?”

Sam’s dad continued with what he had to say, “I’ve made a decision, Sam, I want you to have the bear.”

Sam gasped and sat with his mouth wide open.

“I want you to have him to play with, and more importantly, to enjoy,” his dad said.

Sam couldn’t believe it. He was overjoyed. He stood up and moved closer to his dad and then he flung his arms around him and hugged him and said, “Oh, Dad, thank you, thank you.”

“That’s alright,” his dad said, laughing.

He then took Charlie from his mum and gave him a great big hug. Charlie was also overjoyed. His first hug – he loved it! He wouldn’t have to go back in the cupboard and he would get the chance to play with Sam. He was so happy. But then he remembered Mike and all of his other friends that were still in the cupboard and he felt a little sad, as he wondered if he would ever see them again. His thoughts were interrupted by Sam’s dad’s voice.

“Sam, I’ve made another decision. Wait here,” his dad said.

“What’s happening now?” Charlie wondered.

He soon found out. Sam’s dad returned a few minutes later with all of the toys, books and stickers that he had been keeping in the cupboard on the landing.

“These, too,” Sam’s dad said. “I want you to have these, too. Toys should be played with, and enjoyed, and loved.”

Charlie was so happy to see all of his friends again.

Sam, too, was really happy. He gave his dad a big hug. Charlie smiled as he was squeezed between Sam and his dad.

“Thanks, Dad,” Sam said. “I love you very much. Can I keep them in my room?”

“Of course, that’s the best place for them,” said his dad.

Sam played with his ‘new’ toys for the rest of the evening, and shortly before it was time for him to go to bed, he took them up to his room, to put them with all of his other toys and he put the books and the stickers on his bookcase. Then he went back downstairs to say ‘goodnight’ to his parents.

Once they were alone, Charlie and all of the other toys that had been in the cupboard let out a quiet, “Hooray!” and then hugged each other.

“I can’t believe it, I’m so happy,” Charlie said.

“I know. Me, too,” chuckled Mike. “And we have you to thank for all of this, in a funny sort of way, Charlie.”

“Well, I didn’t do anything, really,” Charlie said.

Then the toys from the cupboard introduced themselves to all of Sam’s other toys. They all agreed to be friends. They chatted for a little while but then they had to be quiet when they heard Sam returning his room. Sam hugged Charlie again and then got into bed and went to sleep.

Charlie stared at Sam’s star-shaped night light and thought how pretty it was. He smiled as he sat with all of his friends. He felt sure that this was only the start of his adventures, and he couldn’t wait to enjoy every moment.