Which Way, Teddy Bears?

A free teddy bear bedtime story, written for ages 9–11 and ready to read aloud in about 4 minutes. Tonight's hero is Theo.

Theo’s teddy bear stole a strawberry exactly twelve minutes before the Summer Bear Ramble. Theo had set Bram beside his lemonade on the stone rim of the village fountain. Bram was cinnamon-brown, with one green felt paw and a serious stitched mouth. When Theo looked away, the berry vanished. One seed clung to Bram’s nose. “Bram?” The bear winked. Across the square, twenty-four other teddy bears sat on benches for the Ramble. Above the roofs, snow striped the mountain, but daisies crowded the lanes.

When the fountain clock clicked to noon, every bear stood up. The Ramble was usually ordinary. Children carried their bears around the square while a fiddler played. This time, the bears hopped down by themselves. A panda thumped a tin lunch box like a drum. A bear in yellow boots cried, “Paws forward!” Theo hurried beside Bram. Six-year-old Leni followed Pebble, a tiny bear with a blue scarf twice his length. Then the parade left the square and marched uphill.

The lane soon split below the old sledding hill. One sign pointed up snowy stairs toward a white field. The other pointed along Meadow Lane toward wild strawberries. Half the bears chose snow. Half chose meadow. The checkered parade ribbon stretched tight between them. Then every bear bounced backward like a stretched rubber band. They tried again. Boing! Back they went. “The magic ends when the fountain starts again,” Pebble squeaked. Leni held his paw. “It’s his first Ramble,” she told Theo. “Will he miss it?”

“Not if I can work out what’s stopping them,” Theo said. He crouched beside the ribbon. Its middle knot rested exactly over a crack in the road. Theo asked the bears to try again, one at a time. Whenever a snow bear changed sides, a meadow bear changed too. The knot stayed over the crack. Theo counted every stitched nose. Twelve bears stood on each side. Bram stood beside Theo, with no snow or meadow dust on his paws. “It isn’t a stuck parade,” Theo said. “It’s a tied vote.”

Both paths deserved votes. The snowfield was the bears’ oldest route. Even in summer, they could slide on cool snow. Theo had never climbed there, and he wanted to go. But Meadow Lane passed every cottage and the little splash pool. Younger children waited there with paper flags. They could not manage the long snowy stairs. Ripe strawberries also filled the meadow. Bram rubbed his green paw. “I like both,” he said. Every bear turned toward Theo. One vote remained, and it belonged to Bram.

Theo looked uphill once more. Then he said, “I choose Meadow Lane. The snowfield would be brilliant, and I wanted to see it. But only the climbers would see the Ramble there. On Meadow Lane, every bear and every child can join.” He set Bram beside the painted meadow arrow. Bram placed his green paw on it. Thirteen votes to twelve. The ribbon fell loose. A white bear from the snow group gave Theo a firm nod. “Fair choice,” she said. “Paws forward!”

The Ramble swept down Meadow Lane with a bumpety-bump of furry feet. Children waved from garden gates. Toddlers splashed at the pool and shouted, “Bears! Bears!” Pebble marched past them with his long scarf streaming behind him. In the meadow, the bears bounced among the clover. Each bounce popped a strawberry neatly onto a curled leaf. They tossed berries, rolled pinecones, and played Paw-and-Seek around the haystacks. Leni laughed when Pebble hid behind a single daisy. His blue scarf showed all the way around it.

Soon, a faint splash came from the village square. The fountain had begun to trickle. The bears formed their line without being asked. They marched back past every waving child. Even the white bear from the snow group wore a daisy behind one ear. “Meadow was a fine Ramble,” she told Theo. At the square, the teddy bears climbed onto their benches. The fountain burst into its full sparkling spray, and every bear became still.

The grown-ups applauded, certain they had watched a wonderful show. Leni sat on the warm fountain rim with Pebble beside her. Theo examined Bram’s green felt paw. It was stained with strawberry juice. Theo placed one last berry between himself and Bram. When he turned to answer Leni, only the leafy cap remained. Grinning, Theo bumped his fist gently against Bram’s green paw.