This is the fourth post in The Big Swap. Originally posted on Posterous, which has since been shut down.
First, I’ll have to re-introduce Sarah. She showed up in my last post, in case you haven’t read that. Sarah is a friend of mine. She’s rich and good-looking, and old enough to be my mother. (She’s not my mother though.) She’s also very creative. There’s so much more you could learn about her, but this isn’t about her, so we’ll go on.
Sarah makes tiny bears. Teddy is one of those bears, although he’s far from the tiniest. Once upon a time, on a day shrouded in mystery, Sarah made Teddy. She made his tiny little body, and his tiny legs and arms. She even made little paw pads for him. Then she gave him the cutest little eyes, nose and mouth that you’ve ever seen. And to top it all off, she gave him a red bowtie.
After Teddy was made, he went on some adventures. Sometimes Sarah would bring her bears to a bazaar and try to find them new homes. Some of the bears left, but Teddy always came back home. Sometimes he wondered if he’d ever find a home…
This is starting to sound like a great sappy kid’s book. Maybe I should become a writer.
Anyways, after a while Sarah put Teddy in a container, and stuck it in a cupboard. And that’s where he sat for the rest of his days.
Ok, maybe this is a depressing story. But wait, it’s not over yet!
On Sunday, I went to Sarah’s house to carry out my part of our trade. I was supposed to play the piano for her, and she’d give me a little bear in exchange. When I got to the house, she brought out not one bear, but dozens! She expected me to pick one, out of that giant group of cute little bears! I almost couldn’t choose, but with a little bit of help from some friends, I narrowed it down to a tiny little bear with angel wings, a multi-cultural (and gaily-colored) bear, and a cute little bear with colored pads and a red bowtie.
That last bear was Teddy, and he won my heart. Here’s a picture of him, trying to help me play the piano.
Now, Teddy was supposed to be up for trade right now. You’d be able to come up with a grand idea of some special thing which you’d give to get this adorable little bear, and when you finally had him in your hands, you’d jump for joy and do cartwheels across a field of candy canes… unfortunately for you, Teddy already has a new home. He’s headed to Minnesota with my aunt Joy tomorrow, where he’ll finish off his days listening to peaceful music and watching Joy give expert massages. (What a sappy ending! I really should write a kid’s book.)
To find out what was traded for Teddy… read about trades #2 and #3.
(Note to the reader: some or all of the facts in Teddy’s biography may be slightly or greatly different than here described, and may even be entirely fictional. This should not deter you from enjoying the story, nor shed any negative light on Teddy’s spotless reputation. He’s a gentleman and a scholar, even if his biographer tends to exaggerate a bit.)