The Best Bear

This is Princess Lucy Biscuit. Princess Lucy Biscuit is a hand-made, cotton teddy bear, she is mostly orange and belongs to Katie Carter. She was given to Katie as present when she was just a baby by her nan who is terribly good at making things like cotton bears and indeed anything made of wool. Princess Lucy Biscuit is, shall we say . . . a little tired around the edges and more than a little grubby. She has a blackcurrant stain on the back of her head from where she has been kissed goodnight by a previously thirsty Katie. One of her blue button eyes is missing, as is her right ear and her right leg only hangs on by a few threads. She has even got several floral patterned patches all over her body, where holes have appeared or seams have come apart. In short, she is a rather well used bear.

She got her rather unusual name from Katie’s three favourite things in the world. Which are Disney Princesses, her best friend Lucy and biscuits. That’s all biscuits in general. Katie loves them all. Even ginger nuts, pink wafers and ones with coconut in! Katie loves Princess Lucy Biscuit and takes her just about everywhere she goes.

In fact the only time that they’re apart, is when Katie goes to school. Katie was most annoyed when she found out that she wouldn’t be able to take her bear with her when she started big school. Although Katie does still manage to walk to and from school with Princess Lucy Biscuit tucked tightly under one arm. Her mum brings her to greet Katie every day after school and today was no exception.

. . .

Katie was terribly excited as she ran across the playground into the open arms of her mum. “Mum! Mum! Guess what!? Guess what!?”

“Well, hello to you!” Katie’s mum said giving her a tight squeeze, “What on earth has got you so excited?”

“Princess Lucy is going to get to come to school with me on Friday!” Katie exclaimed as she grabbed hold of the limp orange bear that Katie’s mum was holding out ready.

“Really sweetheart!? Well that is lovely. So why’s that then?”

“Well.” replied Katie trying to calm her elation as she clutched Princess Lucy to her chest. “As it’s nearly Christmas the school are having a ‘Bring your bear to school day!’ And there’s gonna be a bear show and everything! Everyone gets to show off their bears and the winner of the ‘Best Bear’ wins a prize!

“Oh I see!” said Katie's mum as she took hold of Katie's hand and started to lead her out the playground and through the school gates.

“It’s brilliant isn’t it!” said Katie getting enthusiastic once more as she skipped through the school gates. “Princess Lucy is bound to win as she’s the best bear in the whole wide world, isn’t she mum?”

“Well if bears could win prizes for being the most loved, I’m sure Princess Lucy Biscuit would win hands down” Katie’s mum said as they waited to cross the main road with Mrs Baker the lollipop lady.

“You mean paws down.” Katie replied, waving one of Princess Lucy’s fragile arms at her mum.

“Haha,” chuckled Katie’s mum. “Yes you’re quite right. Paws down.”

. . .

The rest of that week passed in a blur. All the children were buzzing with excitement about the bear show and were all proudly boasting that their bear was the best.

Katie’s best friend Lucy was almost just as excited as she was, “I’m not sure which one of mine to bring in!” She said to Katie. “I have so many and I love them all! I’m just not sure which one’s the poshest?”

“How about Purple Jasmine?” Katie suggested. (Lucy was as keen on Disney Princesses as Katie, which is of course a sound basis of strong friendship).

“Ooo yeah!” Lucy agreed and clapped her hands with excitement, “She’s lovely and floppy and ever-so fuzzy.”

“Mine’s a proper Hamley’s Marmalade Bear!” Bragged Stacey Smith, who had appeared behind them to join in the conversation. “It’s bound to win, it’s fur is so thick and soft it feels like cotton wool!”

“Wow!” said Katie, slightly enviously.

“Well mine’s a 'Classic Steiff Bear'!” Gloated Jeremy Berry, who never passed an opportunity to brag to anyone who would listen.

“That's a shame.” said Katie, “Princess Lucy is lovely and floppy!”

“No!” Jeremy snapped “It's a 'Steiff' bear! Not a stiff bear! I'll have you know 'Steiff' are a very posh maker of Teddy bears, and they all have an official yellow ear tag. Daddy brought it for me last Christmas. And it’s still in it’s box!” he continued, almost bursting with pride. “Did you know things are worth so much more money if you leave them in their boxes.”.

“Oh!” Katie replied, she didn’t really understand the point of having a bear, or any toy for that matter if you just left it in it’s box no matter how much money it was worth.

. . .

Very soon it was the day of the Bear Show and Katie was overjoyed as she proudly brought Princess Lucy Biscuit into the classroom with her that morning. The real Lucy was waiting to greet her with an enormous smile and an equally enormous soft lilac bear.

“Look Katie! I brought in Purple Jasmine like you said. Just feel how soft she is!” she said as she held out the big bear head first at arms length.

“Oooo yeah” Replied Katie feeling the soft fur, “If Princess Lucy doesn’t win, I hope Purple Jasmine does”

“Aww thanks Katie” Lucy replied, before turning and running off to show as many people as she could just how soft and fuzzy Purple Jasmine was.

Katie was a little upset that Lucy hadn’t said that she hoped Princess Lucy Biscuit would win, but she knew that Lucy, like herself, was probably just a bit too excited.

Then a sudden shriek of delight made Katie turn around “Is that your bear!!?”
It was Stacey Smith, she was pointing at Princess Lucy Biscuit and laughing, as she clutched her own dark orange bear. “Hahaha! It’s rubbish!!”

Katie was quite taken aback by this reaction and suddenly felt herself becoming a little embarrassed.

“Hey everyone!!” Stacey turned and called out to her assembled classmates, “Look at Katie’s bear! It’s a right mess! Hahahaha”

All the children stopped chatting about there bears and turned to look at Katie and the rather sad looking Princess Lucy Biscuit hanging limply from under her arm.

Most of them burst out into fits of laughter and they all pointed at Katie and her worn little bear. Another child joined in and shouted with from across the classroom “ Hahaha! It looks like it’s been run over by a lorry and jumped on!” Only Katie’s best friend Lucy had come to Katie's defence and shouted at them to all shut up and leave Katie alone.

Katie’s face started turning red and a lump appeared in the back of her throat as she fought back the hot tears that were welling up behind her eyes. Thankfully it was at this point that Miss Bainbridge, Katie’s teacher, walked in.

“Settle down everyone!” Miss Bainbridge called out as she clapped her hands together to get everyones attention. “Settle down please! I know you’re all terribly excited about today, but the bear show is not until this afternoon, so please can you all sit in your chairs so I can take the register.” Katie, relieved that the attention was now not on her, and that she had managed stop herself from crying, quietly walked to her chair near the front of the classroom and sat down.

. . .

It had been quite a traumatic morning for Katie, it seemed everyone had an opinion on just how ‘rubbish’ Princess Lucy Biscuit was and made sure they told Katie exactly what they thought of her bear.

Then the lunchtime bell rung and all the children, full of excitement, pushed and jostled their way noisily down the hall to try and be first out onto the playground. Katie was keen to get outside too, and she was doing her best to ignore the cruel chants of some of her classmates who were singing in unison “Katie’s bear, has got no hair, it looks like dirty underwear”.

She rushed out onto the playground with Lucy, both holding tightly to their bears and pleased to get away from all the mean comments.

Then disaster struck.

As Katie and her best friend ran to sit on the bench that her and Lucy usually shared to eat their packed lunch, Princess Lucy Biscuit’s flimsy right leg swung out and got caught in the old chain fence that ran around the perimeter of the playground.

Katie felt the tug, but it was too late, she was running too fast.

There was a short ripping sound and as Katie stopped and spun round she saw to her horror that Princess Lucy Biscuit’s shabby right leg had been torn off and was now hanging sadly from the fence and blowing in the breeze.

“Oh Katie!” Lucy exclaimed, as she turned and saw the reason why Katie had suddenly stopped. Not really knowing what to say, but knowing that nothing she could say was going to make her best friend feel any better.

Katie said nothing, she just went and gently picked off the stricken limb from fence and held onto it tightly. She then sat down on the worn wooden bench, placed her bag on her lap, rested Princess Lucy on her bag, then slumping forward, buried her head onto Princess Lucy's lumpy belly and began to cry deep heartfelt sobs.

Lucy said nothing, she just put her arm over her friends quaking back and then trying not to draw anyone else's attention to the situation she dipped into her rucksack and starting to eat her egg sandwich as if nothing was happening.

Although it wasn't very long before the sight of Katie crying into her teddy was spotted by one of the passing Dinner Ladies who was walking the perimeter of the playground doing their rounds.

Mrs Roberts was a very portly, rosy cheeked Dinner Lady and certainly one of the children's favourites. She came over and sat down on the other side of the bench, placed her hands on her lap then leaned over and whispered to the whimpering Katie.

“Hello young Katie, what on earth has got you so upset dear?”

“It . . it . . .it's Princess Lucy.” Katie said sniffing back the tears. “Everyone is being horrible about her, and now her . . . her . . . leg has come off and it's the bear show this afternoon!” Katie then allowed her hand to open, showing Mr Roberts the orange cotton leg.

“Ah I see. Yes that is very serious” said Mrs Roberts, “May I see Princess Lucy?”

Katie nodded and presented Mrs Roberts with her bear.

Mrs Roberts held up the dishevelled bear and then looked down at it's leg in Katie's hand. “Well, I don't think this is anything to worry about young Katie. It's nothing that a trip to the medical room won't fix. Why don't you come with me to see Mrs Cobb in the medical room and we'll see about fixing Princess Lucy up. How does that sound?”

“Okay.” Katie said brightening up a bit and wiping her nose and eyes across her coat sleeve. “Her full name is actually Princess Lucy Biscuit, but mostly I just call her Princess Lucy. Although I suppose her full name should really be Princess Lucy Biscuit Carter shouldn't it?”

“Well yes dear, I suppose it should.” Mrs Roberts replied, levering herself up off the bench. “Are you coming too young Lucy?” she asked Katie's friend who was still sat on the bench munching her lunch. Lucy took another big bite of her egg sandwich and quickly shook her head. Lucy didn't like the medical room, according to her, it was scary and it smelt funny.

. . .

In no time at all, Katie was sat in the big green fabric chair in the corner of the small office with a beaming smile on her face. Princess Lucy Biscuit's leg had been expertly stitched back onto her body with some thick red cotton by steady hand of Mrs Cobb, who seemed to understand just how traumatic the incident had been. All the insults and the accident were now completely forgotten as Katie held Princess Lucy up in the air and gently rocked her to test her newly attached leg. Smiling with pride at Mrs Roberts, who was standing by the door and then at Mrs Cobb, who seemed very pleased with her own handiwork. “Thank you Mrs Cobb!” Katie enthused “Her leg is better than ever!”.

“You're really very welcome Katie,” replied Mrs Cobb behind her large round glasses, “We can't have an injured bear for the bear show this afternoon, now can we?”

With that, Katie thanked Mrs Cobb and Mrs Roberts again, then turned and scampered back down the hall and skipped out onto the playground to eagerly show Lucy, who had been patiently waiting for her friend to return, her newly repaired bear.

. . .

The time of The Bear Show had arrived, and the normally quite bare, and soon to be very 'bear' assembly hall had been transformed with Christmas decorations. All around silver and gold garlands looped across the high ceiling and a lofty Christmas tree adorned with hundreds of sparkling baubles and trinkets stood proudly at the far end. It looked magnificent with it’s lush needled branches festooned with brightly glowing coloured lights and tinsel, and it was so tall, the golden star on top nearly touched the ceiling. Katie stood in entrance to the hall in open-mouthed awe at how amazing the place looked. Tables had been set out along all the walls, with red Christmassy coverings on them for all the children to show off their bears to the judges.

The hall was filling up with the noise of excited children with their bears. Katie looked around and couldn't believe how many different sorts of bears there were. There were big bears, small bears, fat bears, thin bears, tall bears, short bears, long-legged gangly bears, bears in boxes, bears with bows and even a bear wearing football boots! Katie let out a little sigh as she wondered to herself how Princess Lucy Biscuit would do in the competition with all these bears to choose from. She kissed Princess Lucy on the top of the head and whispered “Don't worry Princess Lucy, you'll still be my favourite bear.” Then looking at the big clock at the far end of the hall she realised that it wouldn't be long now before all the mums and dads arrived to watch the proceedings and lend their support.

Katie and Lucy soon found their places and stood behind their tables. Each festively dressed table had a folded yellow card showing the name of the bear, which the children had spent some of the morning writing, colouring in and decorating. Katie, proudly positioned Princess Lucy Biscuit behind her card and tried as best she could to make her sit up. Unfortunately, being a rather floppy cotton bear, 'sitting up' wasn't one of Princess Lucy Biscuit's strong points. So currently, she was slumped forward with her head resting on her floral patched feet. Katie looked at the sad looking crumpled bear and decided that it would probably be best if she just held her as the judges came around.

Just then Katie heard a very familiar voice whispering in her ear, “Hello sweetheart, have you had a good day? Are you feeling excited?”

It was Katie's mum. She had turned up a little earlier than expected, but Katie couldn't of been happier to see her after the day that she'd had. So without saying a word, she turned and wrapped her arms as tightly as she could around her mums legs and clung on. Katie's mum lent forward and tried to hug her as best she could, which is never easy when someone is hugging your legs so tightly.

“Are you okay sweetie?” Katie's mum asked, sensing that not all was well.

“People have been horrible to Katie about Princess Lucy!” The real Lucy said, stood behind her table and almost hidden from view by the rather large Purple Jasmine.

Katie's mum then crouched down and held both of Katie's hands, “Is that true Katie? Have people been saying nasty things?”

Katie nodded, before replying “Yes. They said that she looked like a dirty pair of pants and then her leg fell off!”

“Oh sweetheart, that's not very nice of them is it?” Katie's mum said as she gave her another big hug, with a slight look of confusion on her face. Which came from not really understanding how a bears leg can come off by calling it names, and the fact that clearly both of Princess Lucy Biscuits's leg's seemed to be perfectly in place. “Look, I'm sure they didn't mean it. They were probably just being a bit silly cos they were so excited, and Princess Lucy's leg looks okay to me!”

“Mrs Cobb fixed it in the medical room!” Katie replied before excitedly waving Princess Lucy's legs in a rather undignified fashion in her mums face, “See! It's better than ever!”

A few minutes passed and the hall was now a cacophony of noisy chatter. Filled with mums and dads and children and their bears. Then suddenly there was quiet, it was like a thick blanket of silence had been laid over the entire hall. The three judges had entered the hall, and were nodding and smiling at the gathered crowd as they started to make their way around the bear adorned tables.

The judges of the bear show were the Headteacher, Mr Marshall, the Deputy Head, Mrs Stevens and the School Secretary Miss Reid. Mr Marshall was a very tall and very thin man, who always wore a smart grey suit. He had large black-rimmed glasses and a shock of silvery grey hair that seemed to defy gravity and stood straight up from the top of his head. He was a very kind man, and always greeted the children with a smile. Although this didn't stop the children always feeling slightly nervous in his presence. Mrs Stevens on the other hand, was almost the exact opposite! She was a very short, and a very round lady, so much so that she was almost spherical. She was very jolly indeed and seemed to spend a lot of her time chuckling about something or other. The children adored her, and would often run up to her just for a hug, which was always well received. Jolly people always make the best huggers, that's just a fact. Finally there was the lovely Miss Reid. She was quite tall and willowy, and wore thin circular glasses that she perched on the end of her nose, so she could peer over top of them when talking to someone. Miss Reid, was also very quiet and shy so whenever she spoke, it was almost always as a whisper.

It seemed to take forever for the judges to make their way around the tables, looking at every bear and chatting to their owners. Mr Marshall sedately striding from one bear to the next with his hands crossed behind his back. Occasionally he and Mrs Stevens would lean towards Miss Reid and whisper something, which she would then hurriedly scribble down in a small purple notebook. Katie was getting more and more nervous as the the three judges got nearer and nearer. She had already dashed to the loo for a 'last minute wee' four times! Still it was too late to worry about things now, the judges had finished talking to Lucy about Purple Jasmine. Now it was Katie's turn.

“Well hello Katie,” Mr Marshall said in his deep gravelly voice, “and who do we have here then?” he said as he leaned forward to read the very neatly crayoned name card on the table. “Oh! A Princess ay! Princess Lucy Biscuit. Well that is a very fine name indeed. I must say, I do think bears with a title must be very special indeed.” He then looked up and into the distance as if deep in thought. “When I was a small boy, which of course was a long time ago, I had a bear called General Spencer Duffle Coat. He was a wonderful bear and indeed he still is! Sadly though he's a bit too old and fragile to be able to join in with today's activities, but he does still have pride of place at my home.”

Lucy couldn't imagine Mr Marshall having a bear, much less image him as a small boy! Although she was quite pleased that his bear also had a long name too. Katie clutched Princess Lucy to her chest, and trying to ignore Stacey Smith who was sniggering and pointing at Katie from across the hall. She took a deep breath and then said, “Mr Marshall?”

“Yes Katie?”

“I know Princess Lucy isn't as soft and fuzzy as a lot of the bears, and she's not as posh as some. And I know she's got an eye and an ear missing, and she nearly had a leg missing today as well! And she's got a blackcurrant smudge on her head, but I really do love her very much you know. My mum says that she only looks they way she does because I've loved her a bit too much! That's not a bad thing though is it?”

Mrs Stevens and Miss Reid looked at each other and smiled, then they both looked over to Mr Marshall still with a smile on their faces. Then Miss Reid started writing in her notebook again.

“Katie, I'm not sure that loving someone too much is ever a bad thing.” Mr Marshall replied, then he lent forward and very softly said “One of the things I've learnt about life Katie, is that thankfully it isn't what you look like on the outside that matters. When you truly love someone, it's what's on the inside that counts.”

“Hmm.” Katie considered this for a moment and then said “I think Princess Lucy has got socks on the inside, but I've never counted them!”

Much to Katie's confusion the three judges started chuckling at this, before Mr Marshall said “Well Katie, I'm sure how ever many she has, it's just the right amount.”

. . .

After what seemed like forever to little Katie the three judges finally finished making their way around the entire hall, stopping at each and every bear and chatting with their owners. Now Mr Marshall, Mrs Stevens and Miss Reid climbed the the short staircase that led to the stage at the front of the hall. The hall fell silent as Mr Marshall stood behind his big wooden lectern, his watery eyes sparkling behind his thick rimmed glasses as he beamed at the assembled crowd.

“Good afternoon all bears and good afternoon children,” he said, and looked around at the children's faces as he waited for the chorus of 'Good afternoon Mr Marshall' which all the children sang in unison. “and a good afternoon to all the mums and dads who have managed to join us on this very exciting day. Firstly, I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and thank you all for coming.” Then he paused and took a deep breath. “Now, we are all here today to celebrate our bears, and having met all of your bears, I can say without a shadow of doubt, that there isn't one here today that isn't considered to be the best bear by it's owner. Which of course is how it should be. Nevertheless we are here today to award the prize for the best bear aren't we? This really has been no easy task, for every bear here today has a story, every bear is very important for all kinds of reasons, and every bear is loved. However, there must be a winner, and myself, Mrs Stevens and Miss Reid have all came to the same decision. . . and there was one bear, to whom we all agreed really was the best bear in our opinion.” The hall started to fill up with the whispered murmurings of the children and their parents as they speculated about who it was that might of won. Then speaking a little louder to be heard over the hubbub Mr Marshall continued. “Well I won't keep you in suspense any longer. So without further ado, we would like to proudly announce the winner of 'The Best Bear' is . . .”

There was a unified intake of breath as the hall fell into total silence once more. All around the children's eyes were locked onto Mr Marshall as he was about to reveal the winner.

“. . . Katie Carter and her bear, Princess Lucy Biscuit!” Mr Marshall then gestured to where Katie was standing and started to loudly applaud. There was some audible gasps from some of the children, who then as one, turned towards Katie and slowly at first began to join in with the applause.

Katie was rooted to the spot with her mouth hung open, she really hadn't expected to hear her name at all, she couldn't quite believe her ears. Then the trance was broken and she spun round to her mum who was lent over and beaming with pride as she held out her hands for a hug. “Mummy! Mummy! She won! She won! Princess Lucy won!” Katie blurted out as she buried herself into her mothers chest and wrapped her arms around her.

“I know sweetheart, isn't it fantastic! Well done! I'm so proud of you.” Katie's mum said, her eyes welling up with tears of pride.

Katie then pulled out of the hug, “And Princess Lucy mum! Don't forget Princess Lucy! She won it after all.

“Yes of course,” Katie's mum replied, “I'm very proud of Princess Lucy as well”

Then Mr Marshall's voice boomed over the sound system once again, “Come along Katie, come up here and get your prize”

Katie's heart was pounding in her chest as she nervously made her way to the stage through the deafening sound of cheering and applause. She unsteadily climbed the steps, and quickly walked across the stage to where Mr Marshall and the other judges were waiting and smiling as they carried on the applause. Mr Marshall lent forward to greet her, rested his hand on her should and whispered “Well done Katie. May I hold Princess Lucy for a moment?” Katie nodded and handed her over. Then Mr Marshall turned to face the audience once again as the clapping and cheering finally subsided.

“Mums and dads, children and bears, I'd like you all to meet Princess Lucy biscuit.” Mr Marshall said as he proudly held aloft the droopy bear. “Now, I know a lot of you may be thinking how can a bear like Princess Lucy be crowned the best bear, and it's perfectly understandable that you may well think that. She certainly isn't the most expensive bear here today, and she doesn't have the softest and richest of fur. She isn't the most evenly stuffed and there are a few patches and a couple of missing appendages here and there, but speaking to young Katie here earlier, she reminded me of something which I think is very important to us all. It doesn't really matter what you look like on the outside, it's what's on the inside that gives us true beauty. Even if what is actually on the inside happens to be some old socks. Isn't that right Katie?” Mr Marshall then looked towards Katie who was nodding in agreement. “You see, it doesn't matter to Katie that her bear is not as grand as a lot of the bears here today, she still loves her with all of her heart, and it doesn't matter that she didn't cost a lot of money, because the true measure of someones worth is how much love they give, and how much love they evoke in others. So let's here it one more time please, for Katie and Princess Lucy Biscuit, The Best Bear.”

The hall then erupted into an enormous cacophony of people clapping and cheering and stamping their feet, as Katie stepped forward to receive the grand prize. It was the biggest present Katie had ever seen! It was nearly as big as she was, and was beautifully wrapped in Christmas paper and tied up with bright red ribbon. Mrs Stevens, and Miss Reid both hurriedly stepped round Mr Marshall to hold it for Katie. Plus, there was a magnificent big red rosette with the words 'Best Bear' written on it in gold for Princess Lucy. Katie felt she would almost burst with pride as she took Princess Lucy back from Mr Marshall and gave her an enormous kiss on top the head.

* * *

This is Princess Lucy Biscuit. She's sitting on the end of Katie's bed. She's still a little tired around the edges and more than a little grubby. She still has a blackcurrant stain on the back of her head from where she was kissed goodnight by a previously thirsty Katie. She still has one of her blue button eyes missing, as well as her right ear. Although her right leg is now very firmly attached with some thick red cotton. She has still got several floral patterned patches all over her body, and Katie wouldn't have her any other way. However these days, the patches on Princess Lucy Biscuit's tummy are covered up with a great big red rosette, with the words 'Bear Bear' written on it in gold.

Oh and as for the enormous Christmas Present that Katie received? Well, I guess like Katie, we're just going to have to wait until Christmas to find out.

THE END