A story from the perspective of a teddy bear clutched by a 4-year-old girl

Pezibear from Pixabay

 

Oh no, there she goes again. All that ice-cream on Ella's fingers and around her mouth will now add to the dried up pasta from two weeks back and the mud and grass from the rainy playground yesterday. I really didn't think I would still be around, handed down from her grandmother to her mother and now to her. Like, look at me. Eyes of two different sizes and colours, no tail anymore and my ears are all chewed up and wet all the time. I'm all due for retirement ain't I?

 It was fun to be hidden and huddled in the storage boxes with the others when each of these pretty lasses were yet to be born. We all had our parties in the wee hours of the night. Yes, Porceline doll always claims that she's the first to be around. That maybe true, considering she has no nose anymore. But, who gets the first washing and drying off and the first wet kisses when the new baby comes around. It's not her, I'll tell you that! She just sits on the high ledge in the bedroom and acts like the matron she has become, keeping an eye on me and the wooden train and the dining set. She also doesn't forget to comment and criticise each new arrival in the storage box.

Anyway, how do I get Ella's mom Bessie to notice the mess she's made of me. And does she have to drag me everywhere? To the playground, in the contraption they call a car that makes her and me sick or to her school where I stay stuffed in her school bag. When Bessie was young, I was still fit to do this job. But, I really need a holiday or a retirement package.

I know that tonight while Bessie will tuck Ella in bed and sing to her, I will be kinder in my thoughts and remember that I'm still around because I'm loved and wanted. It's fine to be around, I say. Look at cute Ella, I can do that much for her. Yes, I can. 

 Ouch, she doesn't have to press my tummy so hard. I want out :(

This is in response to a prompt from www.wordcraft-collective.eu written on the 18th of Oct, 2025