Adventures With Eric - Eric's Magic World Of Misadventure

Chapter Three

  Eric was not very fond of his new school in Hawaii. His teacher was pretty and kind, but some of the other kids were mean to Eric. He was just the new kid that arrived nearing the end of the school year. Eric had not made any new friends and felt out of place in a room full of strangers. The children picked on Eric a lot because he was different from them.

  Although Eric was just about to turn 6 years old, Eric was much shorter than the other boys in his age group were. All the other children were already able to ride the bigger kids’ rides at the fairgrounds, but Eric was not. Eric did not tell anyone how the other kids picked on him at school. Not even his mommy and daddy.

  Eric's class had a project they had been working on for the last two weeks. The children had to use their imaginations to create hand puppets. The puppets could be made from paper bags, old socks, or scraps of material.

  It was up to each child to decide what to use. Eric had decided to make his puppets out of some old woolen socks his mommy had given him on his last birthday. Eric did not have much use for fuzzy socks in Hawaii.

  Eric did not think his puppets were very good. He used mismatched buttons for the noses and eyes. One of the noses fell off on the way to school, and Eric did not have any more glue in his squeeze bottle. Eric quickly drew a new nose with magic marker when he got to school.

  "Hey, those are cool puppets," a nice boy named Martin said to Eric just as he finished drawing the nose back on.

  That made Eric feel very shy, and he answered, "Thank you," in a soft voice.

  The two new friends talked and played with their puppets until a big and mean-looking boy interrupted them.

  "I want your puppets, Eric!" the mean boy demanded.

  Davey did not seem to belong in Eric’s class. He appeared much older than the other children did, but he was a student in his class that Eric had not noticed before.

  Eric hid the puppets behind his back, but Eric was no match. Davey was much bigger and stronger than Eric was. It did not take much effort for Davey to snatch them from Eric.

  Eric was angry. How dare Davey steal his puppets?

  "You give them back, right now!" Eric shouted.

  Davey laughed at Eric and ran across the playground when he saw the principal coming. Eric's cheeks were red, he was so angry. At the same time, he was upset that his puppets had been taken from him. The principal, Mr. Johnson, came to see what all the shouting was about. When Eric explained what Davey had done, Mr. Johnson confronted Davey, but it was too late. Davey had accidentally dropped the sock puppets in a big mud puddle. They were ruined.

  "Well, Eric, I will explain to your teacher what happened. I think a smart boy like you can use your imagination to make new puppets," Mr. Johnson suggested.

  Eric groaned at the thought of having to make new ones. Eric did not think he had a very good imagination (neither did his parents) to make a new puppet, and reluctantly agreed with Mr. Johnson, with a bit of a sigh.

  It was a day after Eric’s 6th birthday, Eric was lying on his bed crying, and missing his Nana. Eric thought Nana would know what to do about the mean kids at school. Nana would have helped him with the new puppets he made. Eric liked these ones even less than he liked the first ones. Then he found Brown Bear stuffed in a corner between his bed and a wall. Eric pulled the bear from the corner and cuddled him.

  Eric cried harder when he remembered it was Nana who gave him the flattened and haggard-looking stuffed toy. Poor Eric began to feel even smaller that he already was. It was hard to be only six years old. Holding Brown Bear tight made Eric feel a little better after a while. He felt a little closer to Nana, as he could still smell a hint of the fragrance she used to wear on Brown Bear.

  Eric had almost fallen asleep when he felt something move in his bed. At first, he thought it was Brown Bear, but then he realised that it was not possible. There it was again. Eric sat up and rubbed his eyes. Something magical happened just then, as Eric looked around his room... Brown Bear began to speak to Eric!

  "Thank you for moving, Eric, you were beginning to squish me," said a small friendly whisper.

  Eric's eyes went wide. Maybe he was dreaming? Eric thought this must be so. He lay down again to go back to sleep. Then Eric heard a little giggle. Eric sat straight up and turned his lamp on.

  "Did you just talk, Brown Bear?" Eric asked his teddy bear.

  "Of course I did," responded a giggly Brown Bear.

  Eric was a little suspicious. "Why haven’t you talked to me before now?" he asked.

  "I was waiting until you hugged me. Until now, you just left me in a corner and forgot about me. I felt sad and alone, just like I was in the store, before Nana bought me for you. Now I know you need me and want me."

  "Of course I want you and need you," Eric told Brown Bear and held him close.

  Eric thought for a moment. "I understand why you didn’t know that. I did not pay much attention to you until now. I promise you that will never happen again," Eric said to his special bear.

  "I know that now, and I will always be here for you whenever you do need me, or just want a friend," Brown Bear told Eric.

  Brown Bear was the special someone Nana sent to watch over him. Somehow, his Nana knew that Eric would need a close friend in Hawaii. Eric always knew that there was something a little magical about his Nana. Eric wondered if he would have special powers when he grew up just as his Nana had.

  From that day, everywhere Eric went, so went Brown Bear. Eric even began to take Brown Bear to school. The other kids poked fun at Eric for bringing a teddy bear to school in his knapsack, but Eric did not let the bear go. The bullying went on for a long time before the worst happened – someone had stolen Brown Bear right from his knapsack!

  The kids all laughed at Eric when he began to cry. The teacher became frustrated with Eric and sent him to the office. His mother came to pick him up from school before the last bell rang. Momma didn’t know what to do either. They searched the school playground for Brown Bear, but he wasn’t there. It was almost dark before Eric and momma stopped looking and went home to have dinner. Eric did not feel like eating, and went straight to bed.

  Eric became very sad over the next few weeks. It seemed no one understood how much Brown Bear meant to him. Brown Bear played and talked with Eric. When all the mean kids made fun of Eric, Brown Bear would make him feel better, just like Nana used to do. From the day he found Brown Bear all scrunched up, Brown Bear talked to Eric, and made him smile and laugh lots. Eric just had to find him. Thinking as hard as he could, no ideas were coming to young Eric. He was stumped.