The Lost Teddies

The babies of the Cloverleaf countryside were pleasantly happy every single day. They socialized, had sweet treats, and played every day. Honey and Hopper had so many birthday gifts from last year, including a tea party set, a seesaw, and story books. But most of all, the all time favorite amongst the babies was a cherished teddy bear duo. They were affectionately named Teddy and Tedda.

Teddy was a teddy bear that was very old. He had been around ever since the Hopscotch Rabbits had had their first daughter, Stella, 18 years ago! He was made of stuffed cloth and was adorned with details. He was painted with dark brown paint and had a little scarf to wear.

Tedda was a much newer teddy bear that had been gifted by the Doughty Chiffon Dog Children. She was made of the same material as Teddy, but slightly smaller in size. She always had her pink bow tied around her neck neatly.

The babies at the Deluxe Village House practically incorporated the teddy bears into every aspect of their playlife. Ginni, Honey, and Grace loved having them over as extra tea party guests. Hopper often saw them as two extra explorers. Henry found them adorable to cuddle with!

It was another one of those happy afternoons when Ginni, Honey, and Grace were getting ready for teatime playing. The cups had been laid out, and Heidi had even graciously given them donuts to eat alongside their fake tea. (It was simply just water). A wail came out from a panicked Grace.

“Teddies are gone!”

The babies understood and crawled about frantically in their Nightlight Nursery. Books were turned over. Blankets were flipped, and every corner of the room was searched by Hopper.

It was quite a racket that Skip Hopscotch Rabbit happened to hear. He had been reciting some division before he heard all this commotion, and was quite eager to have something else to do.

“What’s the matter?” Skip questioned.

“Teddies gone,” Honey whimpered.

“Why? Are you sure? I’ll help you look. There’s no need to panic; you probably just misplaced it somewhere.”

With that, Skip rummaged through the room just like the babies had done with the same unlucky results.

“Huh, I guess I’ll need to organize a full house search. Rest assured, babies, we’ll find your teddy bears.” Skip reassured the whimpering babies.

Together with the help from his siblings and the Doughty Chiffon Dog children, they looked and searched every nook and cranny from underneath beds to behind the bathtub of the Deluxe Bathroom!

No teddy bears!

Skip, ever more determined to crack the mystery, started conducting interviews of everyone.

“Can you tell me when you last saw the teddy bears, Karen?” he asked promptly.

“Why, I saw them about three days ago. The babies were setting them up for a tea party.”

“Nothing sooner?”

“No, I can’t remember.”

“Hmm…, very well. I’ll move onto the next interview.”

Then, it was David’s turn.

“David, when did you last see the bears?”

“About two or three days ago. I think I was lecturing Honey on how the bears shouldn’t bathe with her.”

“What about yesterday?”

“Now that I think of it, I don’t really remember seeing them yesterday.”

The interviews of all the critters living in the house came up with the same results. No one had seen the teddy bears for the last one or two days. Skip concluded that the teddy bear had left the house a short day’s while ago.

“They obviously couldn’t have just walked out alone. Someone must have brought them out,” he thought aloud.

It occurred to him that Teri Choch and her daughters went in and out of the house everyday. He dialed up his aunt’s house.

After, Freya Choch, Skip’s older female cousin, picked up the phone.

“Hello, who is this?” she asked.

“It’s me, Skip, and I need to talk to all of you.”

“Why? What’s the matter?” Freya, always so curious, perked up.

“The teddy bears are missing, and they left the house, so when was the last time you saw them?”

“Uhh…, I haven’t seen them for a long while. Sorry.”

“Ohh,” Skip responded, a little discouraged and disappointed.

“Could you ask your mother and little sister to come to the phone?” he added.

Then came Breeze.

“Hello, Cousin Skip.”

“Hi, Breeze. I’m going to ask you a simple question. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“When did you last see the two teddy bears?”

“Yesterday morning.”

“Where, Breeze? Where?”

“Uhh, in the red car.”

“Are you sure, Breeze? It can’t be.” Skip persisted.

“Yes, Skip! I saw them in the car!”

“Breeze, can you get your mother over here?”

Teri picked up the phone this time and said with her confident voice, “What’s the matter, Skipy?”

Uh, that nickname, Skip thought. He always didn’t like it, but the teddy bears were more important than telling his aunt off right now.

“Well, have you seen the teddy bears, Aunt Teri, because they’ve been missing? The house doesn't have them; I checked and made sure. Breeze said they were in your Cherry Cruiser.”

“Hoh! Those teddy bears! I know exactly what you mean. They’re in my car trunk. I saw them getting a bit dirty when I was over at your house yesterday for some tea with your mother, my sister, so I took them just to wash them up a bit. I just forgot to come back to return them! Oopsy me. You’d be surprised at how much dust was on them! Dirty stuffed animals are not VERY TERI! Absolutely not VERY TERI!”

Teri could go on and on about the importance of cleanliness in a VERY TERI lifestyle, and Skip knew that all too well.

“Uh, thanks, Aunt Teri, could you come over and bring them back?” he interjected Teri, who was midway in a long story of how she scrubbed every speck of dirtiness off the bears.

“Of course, on my way!”

Teri and her daughters reached the house of crying babies, and quickly handed the bears to the babies. Smiles and laughter replaced the crying.

“See, look at how happy my cleaning has made the babies. I’ll make sure to do this again soon.” Teri proudly boasted.

Everyone’s face sagged! “Uhh, we wouldn’t want you to go through all that trouble!” Bell quickly resolved.

All was well eventually.