Picture 7
by The Taylor Kitties

The tattered bear longed for the days when he and Tommy went on adventures, exciting and sometimes scary. Tommy had put the teddy bear, almost as large as the boy himself, in his lap at bedtime. Tucked halfway under the covers, the boy had held a book in front so the bear could see, too. Stories of pirates, princes, and kings had filled the night.

Old, forgotten, the bear mourned for times that could never be again. He mourned for touches and kisses. He mourned for squeezes and hugs. Now, even his cap, faded and frayed, seemed to betray the yearned for memories as it leaned to one side.

The teddy bear remembered his first Christmas and the big red bow tied around his neck. He remembered Tommy's excited face and the pleasure of being carried all day; carried tightly in fear of being lost.

As the years passed, the teddy bear had been played with less often; had been carried less often. Then came that awful terrible day, when he had been shut up in the nursery. The mother, tears falling and with mournful sobs, had carried the bear from his place on the toy shelf in Tommy's room to the table in the dusty closed nursery.

Have I done something wrong? The bear had asked. Oh, no, replied the other toys. It is not you. It is only that the boy is no longer of this earth. Since we are no longer needed to comfort, to give pleasure, we have been discarded here and here we will remain.

So it was that the teddy bear with his frayed cap upon his head had stayed in the nursery mourning for things that could never be again. There were no more tears to shed. The bear was old, dried up, moth eaten. What will become of me? he thought often.

Then one day, the door opened and in stepped an elderly silver- haired lady. Leaning on a cane, she looked around the room as if searching for something. Tears glistened in her eyes as she surveyed the toys, noticing one leaning against a wall. A small child came bouncing in behind her.

"Oh, Grandma," he cried. "Look at all the wonderful toys." Then his eyes fell upon one in particular. Running over to the toy, he picked it up and gave it a big squeeze. "This is the one I want. May I have this one, please?" he asked. "That one is old and tattered. Let me get you a new one," the lady said. "No, this one. It is soft and has been hugged and played with many times. This one has been loved," the boy said as he sneezed. I need to get this room cleaned and the toys dusted, the silver- haired lady thought. So together, grandmother and child with the teddy bear in his arms left the musty nursery. Only the toys noticed that the teddy bear's frown suddenly changed to a smile as he once more became friend, companion, hugged, kissed and carried; carried tightly in fear of being lost.

I never met a teddy bear before today, when I found myself in the same room with one. It was my little girl's birthday yesterday, and she got a lot of presents. I think the teddy bear was one of them. Something else had a pretty blue ribbon on it, that she tied in a bow around my neck, but her mommy made her take it off. A ribbon around the neck could strangle a kitty, her mommy said.

My little girl was always dressing her dolls in clothes and hats and ribbons, but her mommy wouldn't let her dress me. Thank goodness! The teddy bear didn't have clothes either, but he was fuzzy like me, so I'm sure he was warm enough. Then why did he look so sad?

I went closer and mewed politely to ask, "why are you so sad?" But he didn't answer.

"Are you a boy teddy or a girl teddy?" I asked, and again he didn't reply, so I decided he was a boy. That's because I'm a girl, and one's enough.

"Do you have a name?" I asked him next, but he just wasn't gonna talk to me. Maybe he couldn't talk, or maybe he was shy, besides being sad, so I went on. "My name is Bagga Feathers. I got that 'cause I'm so little, the big humans said I felt like a bagga feathers when they picked me up. My little girl calls me Feathers."

I thought I saw the teddy's eyes move toward me just a little, but I wasn't sure. So I went on some more, 'cause I'm a purrty talky kitty.

"Well, if you don't got a name, I'll have to give you one", I told him. "Everybody here has one. What name would you like?"

I heard a little sigh. Was that me or him? Hmmm, don't know. I thought and thought.

"I know!" I decided, "I'll call you Rueben James. I heard those names in a folk song the big humans played on the music machine one day. Isn't that a fine name?"

Did he tip over to the side a little? He only looked more sad. Well, maybe that was too much name. "Okay", I said, I'll call you Jimmy." And that time I know I saw his mouth turn up at the corners. You can't tell me it didn't.

My little girl came into the room just then to play with her dolls. When I glanced back at Jimmy, he was sitting straighter again, the smiley corners were gone and he looked just as sad. But his eyes were watching my little girl put a hat on one of her dolls. It was a cap, actually, more suitable for a boy, and too big for the doll anyway. Jimmy was staring at that cap. Hmmm.

So I went over and took the cap off the doll, and carried it to Jimmy in my mouth. When I dropped it in front of him, my little girl came after me.

"Gimme back", she said, "that's not teddy's cap."

"He's not Teddy", I mewed in my most polite manner. (Notice how polite I am all the time? It's a good thing to be.) "He has a furry fine name, Rueben James. But you can call him Jimmy. Jimmy wants the cap."

She picked up the cap and took it back to the doll it was too big for. Well, honestly! Little girls just don't listen to their furry own kitties sometimes! So what could I do but go get the cap and take it back to Jimmy? Which I did. And Jimmy smiled at me. Yes, he did.

I had better luck that time. My little girl came to sit with Jimmy and me, looked at the cap, looked at Jimmy, and put it on his head. She smiled and clapped her hands. Jimmy smiled and looked proud! I ... well, I can't do that stuff. But I was happy, too. That was just what Jimmy needed. Now he had a fine name and a fine cap. Now he wouldn't be sad any more.

Sometimes when we are sad, it only takes a little bit to make us happy. And if somebody else is sad, it might be easy to find out what would make them happy and do it. That's what I think, anyway.

I saw the saddest teddy bear,
But he just needed me to care
About him on his shelf.
You doesn't got to walk a mile,
Just sit and make somebody smile,
And you will smile yourself.