On a shelf

'Look at us, stuck up here forever. The forgotten, the lost,' said Bear.

'Don't you think you're going a little bit over the top. It could be worse,' said Mug.

'How?'

'You could be mouldy, you could have bacteria building a small city inside your head.'

'Will you stop going on about it? I know you're mouldy, I can see.'

'Well I'm really conscious of it ok?'

'At least there's a chance you'll get used again. I'll just be sat hear until he moves out, then I'll be put in a box in the attic only to be taken out to show his kids when they're old enough. Then I'll be put back in the box again.'

'Stop complaining. You're the grumpiest Teddy Bear in the world.'

'Wouldn't you be? My fur's all scruffy, my jackets ripped and my left eye is always looking down.'

'At least you haven't got four feet of mould growing out your 'ed,' replied Mug.

'What's wrong with that?'

'Have you seen it? I'm hardly 'Mr Cool' am I? If I was to walk down the street like this people would stare.'

'If you were to walk down the street? You're a mug. You haven't got any legs,' Bear said as he stood up.

'No need to rub it in.'

'I'm not,' said Bear. 'I'm just stretching my' he paused 'legs.'

'Very funny. Do you enjoy making fun of people's disabilities? Do you?' Asked Mug.

'Come on. I'm only pulling your leg.'

'Pulling my leg? Be careful Bear, be careful.'

'Sorry. I stepped over the line there.' Bear smiled 'Steppedstepped over the line.'

'You've crossed the line now Bear. You really have. I wasn't going to tell you this butthat red waistcoat looks rubbish on you,' Mug said.

'At least I canwalk over here.'

The bear walked over the edge of the shelf and sat with his stumpy legs over the side.

*

'Are you still not talking to me?' Mug moved towards him, tipping himself from side to side. 'Bear?'

Bear sighed. 'I always thought it would be better than this.'

'Yeah. I didn't expect to end up here either. When I was just an eggcup I always dreamed I'd be used as a penholder. One of those fancy mugs people care about too much to drink out of.'

Bear turned round. 'When you were an egg cup?'

'Yeah. Tiny cups that hold boiled eggs, you know?'

'I know what an eggcup is. But you're a mug, you don't grow. It's not like you were born a thimble, then grew into an egg cup, then into a tea cup, then a mug.'

'What?'

'You weren't born, you were made.'

'What do you mean?'

'I mean a large tankard did not give

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