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her to be lost in thought.

"Are you thinking of what I'm thinking Mare?" asked Sasha, as she peered over the edge of her bed to look down at her sister. "If you're wondering about what's happening to that poor old teddy bear, then yeah, we're thinking the same thing" came the reply. "We should've taken him home with us," Sasha said, thoughtfully. "I suppose so, but you know dad," said Maria, "If he saw us carrying that thing into the house, he'd throw a fit!"

Sasha knew her sister was right, their father was a bit of a neat freak. They never had pet cat, bird or hamster because he couldn't stand having anything with fur or feathers inside the house. "Fleas! Germs!" he would yell, just before he sneezed.

"I tell you what," said Maria, "We'll go find that teddy bear first thing tomorrow morning. He should be right where we left him". Sasha ran her fingers through her shoulder-length hair and rested the back of her hand on her forehead. "Yeah..." she said, "Unless some wild animal already got to him and dragged him away!" At this reply, Maria reached up and swung her pillow at Sasha, who did not protest. In the dark, Sasha bit her lips and Maria furrowed her eyebrows. They both didn't like the thought one bit.

Early next morning, at breakfast, the girls seemed a little more quiet than usual. No one noticed however, as Dad and Uncle Ben were talking about computer upgrades, and Mum and Aunt Diana were discussing muffin recipes. The girls exchanged knowing looks and excused themselves from the table.

"Do you think he's still there?" asked Sasha, panting a little, as they broke into a brisk walk towards the grassy patch on the other side of the road. "Hope so. We'll see," replied Maria. As they got closer to the spot where they left the bear, Sasha was first to notice that the bear was no longer there, "Oh no! He's gone!" she said. "Let's look in those bushes, maybe an animal hid him there," suggested Maria.

The girls looked everywhere, but could not find the bear. Soon, the sun was set high in the sky and burnt the backs of their necks. Maria wiped the bead of sweat trickling down her temple and said "Let's just go home". "Yeah, it's almost lunch time," said Sasha, her voice tinged with disappointment.

Though their tummies rumbled with hunger, the girls were more overwhelmed by regret than anything else. They quietly wished they had brought the bear home with them the night before. As they approached the front patio, however, they saw something so amazing that they thought the afternoon heat was getting to them.

"It's him! It's the bear!" exclaimed Sasha, as she dashed up the steps toward a wicker chair that stood next to the door of the house. On it, leaning against a pillow, was the teddy bear. He was all washed up and his fur was shiny and clean. He was wearing a new checked shirt and denim overalls.

"How can this be?" uttered Maria in amazement examining the teddy bear in her hands. Sasha shrugged her shoulders and shook her head in disbelief. She reached for a tuft of fur on the bear's head, making sure that the bear was really there. "Hey, look at this!" said Maria, "There's a note!" She unrolled the piece of paper that was tucked inside the bear's overalls and read the untidy scribbles aloud -

Dear Sasha and Maria,

How are you dear friends? We've missed you so much. Thank you for finding our friend Theodore and putting him in a safe spot by the side of the road. He says he got lost and then he got run over by a car or two, but he can't remember much else. We fixed him up and put him on your aunt's patio, because he says he'd like to stay with you. Please take good care of him.

Lots of love from your old friends,

Buster & Babbit

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