The Bear Nobody Loved
Chapter 1
George was a bear that nobody loved. He lived all on his own in a caravan down by the seaside. George was a lonely bear.
It hadn’t always been like that. A long time ago George was loved. He used to live in a big house in the country with two children Ben and Lucy.
George belonged to Ben who used to play with him every day and took him to bed every night. George was a present for Ben when he was born and he was a bear who was loved very much indeed – but that was a long time ago.
Ben was now grown up and he thought he was too old to play with bears, so George was taken to the caravan by the seaside. He was put on a shelf high up in the caravan and that’s where he stayed –
day after day,
week after week,
month after month and
year after year.
George didn’t like being on his own in the caravan, he wanted to be played with and loved by a child. He wanted to have adventures and be a brave bear. He wanted to have cuddles at night-time. No one cuddled George any more. He just sat on the high up shelf in the caravan down by the seaside.
Ben’s family did not visit the caravan any more, so it was very quiet all the time. In the summer it was very hot and in the winter it was very cold. Sometimes George could hear the seagulls walking on the roof of the caravan.
Even the seagulls had friends, but George had no one. He was a very lonely bear.
Sometimes George thought that if he were more handsome perhaps a child would love him again. George only had one eye and the one eye he did have was all scratched and George couldn’t see very well.
If you cover one eye with your hand and screw your other eye up, you will have an idea what it was like for George as he sat on the high up shelf in the caravan down by the seaside.
One day everything changed – one wonderful, glorious, happy day. George had been sitting quietly on his high up shelf. It had been a hot sunny day and just as the sun was setting George heard a car pulling up outside his caravan. As he listened, he heard the car doors being opened and the sound of children’s excited voices. Then he heard the most exciting sound he had heard for a very long time – it was the sound of the keys being put into the caravan door.
Suddenly he heard the door opening slowly….
Chapter 2
Making friends
George was very nervous. It was a long time since anyone had visited the caravan. He was hoping there would be some children. George like it when children came to stay. Grown-ups didn’t usually bother with him and they left him on his high up shelf.
He heard the keys turn in the lock and then he heard the door of the caravan open slowly…
He put one leg over the edge of his high up shelf so he could get a better view.
Suddenly he heard a child’s voice. Then he heard another child’s voice and then another.
After that he heard the voice of the children’s daddy and mummy. The children were called Mia, Millie and Lois. They were very excited and ran about laughing and jumping on the seats. As Millie was jumping excitedly up and down she noticed George, he was looking down.
Millie stopped and stared. Millie looked at George and George looked at Millie. He thought that Millie had a kind face. He hoped they could be friends.
‘Mia look!’ she shouted, ‘a bear… let’s play with him. Get him down Mia, get him down!’
Millie’s mummy said that the bear looked a bit old and dirty and that they were not allowed to play with him.
The girls were very sad.
‘Mummy can we give the bear a bath and then we can play with him?’ the girls said.
They felt sorry for the bear, he looked lonely up there on the high up shelf. Mummy said that she would, and she took George down and put him on top of the settee to look out of the window. George was very excited.
After they had unpacked all their cases, mummy took George very gently and gave him a bath in the washing up bowl.
Mummy looked closely at George. He wasn’t a very handsome bear. He had one eye missing and his other eye was very scratched.
George thought that mummy had a very kind face. He loved having a bath. The water was warm and there were lots of bubbles.
George liked bubbles. The last time George had had a bath it was in a washing machine. George got very dizzy in the washing machine. That was the time he lost his eye.
Mummy washed George very gently and dried him with a towel. After that George was put outside on the line to dry.
He was very uncomfortable with a peg on his ear, but he loved being out in the sunshine after being in the caravan for so long.
He could not hear anything out of his ear with the peg on, but in his other ear, if he listened carefully he could hear the sound of children playing on the beach and he could hear the sound of the sea.
George loved the beach – he could not go in the sea; sea water was not good for his fur but he loved to climb rocks and build sandcastles and lay on a towel on the beach.
After he was dry, George was taken off the line and he was given a packet of his favourite snack. They were called Pom Bears.
George was so happy. He felt a little tear trickle down his cheek. It wasn’t a sad tear; it was a happy tear. George was a happy bear.
He felt clean but most of all he felt happy because he heard Mia’s mummy say that after dinner they would be going down the beach.
‘Can we take George to the beach? Millie asked.
‘Yes, of course you can,’ Mummy replied, ‘as long as you keep him out of the water.’
Millie gave George a huge cuddle.
‘You’re coming to the beach; you’re coming to the beach!’ she shouted.
He smiled.
George felt, clean, happy and loved.
Chapter 3
George goes to the beach
George sat quietly thinking about the beach while Mia, Millie and Lois ate their lunch. He heard their mummy say that the weekend in the caravan was going too quickly. George was not sure what a weekend was but he hoped it was a long time… a very long time. He loved being with his new friends.
It was not long before the girls came running out. They were wearing their swimming costumes. George wished he had a swimming costume, but he knew that he was not allowed to go in the sea because his fur would get wet.
‘You must be careful when you walk to the beach,’ Millie told him. ‘there are some very steep steps! Ask me if you need help.’ George said that he would.
Millie was good at helping, she always helped Lois when she was stuck.
George soon found out that Millie was telling the truth. The steps to the beach were very steep, but George managed just fine on his own.
George was a brave bear.
Just then the girls stated giggling. They saw a sign which said ‘Booby’s Bay’. George did not understand why the girls were laughing. George thought that Booby’s Bay was a nice name.
They soon got to the beach and George held the sun cream while mummy put the sun cream on the girls to keep them safe. Mummy was very kind and looked after Mia, Millie and Lois very well.
George wondered what it was like to have sun cream on. He thought it would make his fur very messy. They all had such fun at the beach. George liked to sunbathe. He loved the warm sun on his fur. He borrowed Mia’s towel.
Soon he decided to play with the sand. He enjoyed this a lot, the sand was warm and soft. He was so happy and wished he would never have to go back up on the high up shelf in the caravan.
Not long after that, Mia asked George if he would like to go and play in the rock pools. George said that he would, but he told Mia he would have to just sit on the edge, so that he didn’t get his fur wet.
The climb up to the rock pool was very difficult for George but he just managed it on his own.
After looking at the rock pool, George decided he needed to sit down and rest. George was tired. Playing on the beach was very tiring. Daddy had put up the tent and George had a long rest. George thought Daddy was so clever for putting up such a lovely tent.
It was soon time to go back to the caravan. On the way he heard Mummy telling Mia, Millie and Lois that they would need to pack their bags as they were leaving early in the morning. George felt very sad – now he knew that a weekend wasn’t a very long time after all. A weekend was a very short time indeed. George thought that he felt a tear running down his fur. He sniffed a very big sniff and tried to be brave.
They walked back slowly and George enjoyed climbing over a very high gate.
When they were back in the caravan the girls had a shower and went to bed. George had his own bed. It was much softer than his high up shelf. That was always very hard indeed.
When morning came, George sat outside and watched as daddy, mummy and the girls started putting lots of things into their car. George felt sadder and sadder. Daddy took Mia, Millie and Lois down the beach once more, while mummy did the cleaning, but George did not go this time. He just sat sadly on his own, wishing that his new friends could stay a bit longer.
When the girls came back Lois took George and sat him in the car. George was very excited. He thought that Lois was going to take him home. George like the car. It had soft seats.
But then George heard the keys being put back in the door. Just then the car door opened and mummy picked George up and took him back into the caravan. She put him on the settee while she tidied the cushions. George looked out and waved goodbye to the girls.
The girls waved back – George felt very sad. Before he knew it Mummy picked George up, smiled a lovely smile, kissed George right on his nose and put him back on the high up shelf.
‘Be good!’ she whispered. As she turned around, she did not see a very big tear fall from his scratched eye right on to the high up shelf. Did you know that scratched eyes could cry?
Today in a caravan in Cornwall that same little bear still sits waiting for his friends to return. As he waits he remembers the beach and the sand and the rock pools… but most of all he remembers three little girls who made him so happy.
Stay safe little friend…..
Ramblings of a retired teacher 