As a child did you ever look to your side in the night to see your teddy bear, only to find a flicker in its eyes you don’t remember? Almost as if you could see a small light of a soul glimmering on the edges of the small black eyes. Or did you not have a teddy bear? Maybe you had a mother who loved you but couldn’t afford to buy things for you, or for herself for that matter. Maybe she even thought about offing herself, but then what would happen to her child. The little ray of golden sun to brighten her day after work. There once was a young boy who had nothing but his mother and his bear. His name was Teddy, believe it or not. The only thing that mattered to Teddy was his faded green bear his mother was given before he was born, before they lost everything. Miranda and Teddy lost everything.
Around Teddy hushed voices flew like snowflakes. “I heard his dad died…” or “I heard his mother is a prostitute…” teddy knew neither where true but didn’t bother correcting the onlookers he had accumulated. What more should he expect when he wears a tweety bird shirt with torn jeans and hole infested shoes. What was true was no one would hire Teddy’s mother after she had given birth at 16, so she couldn’t afford even the cheapest shirt. What she could afford was a roof and food for her child, but even with just the bare necessities they where grasping at straws to survive.
“Hey momma, why do we never have new things?” Teddy asked innocently after he got home from his second grade class. At his question his mother stopped cleaning dishes and nearly cried, wishing she could buy everything in the world for Teddy.
“Because god ment it to be like this,” she squeaked out trying not to sob up a heavy dams worth of tears.
“Then why is god so mean momma?” Teddy asked once again unknowing of what he was doing to his mother.
“Sometimes thing have to be like that is all, now finish your work so you can go play,” Miranda let out once again trying not to heave out with her crying.
“Okay momma!” Teddy exclaimed springly.
That night Miranda cried and cried until there were no more tears left to cry. Her son, fast asleep in the other room, clutching his green bear. Moments after the lady had finished sobbing she looked up to see her beloved son and his beloved bear standing in the doorway.
“Momma? Why are you sad? Did I do something momma? I’m sorry!” Teddy half sobbed to his teary eyed mother.
“IT’S NOT YOU BABY” his mom nearly yelled, more out of shock than anything. “Go back to bed so you won’t be grumpy in the morning,” she sweetly whispered to the now teary eyed boy.
“Okay momma, I love you,” he quietly exclaimed, realizing that he was very tired anyway.
Teddy slowly walked to bed, leaving his crying mother to whimper at the kitchen table over a mound of papers with the word taxes boldly printed across the top. Miranda didn’t have a penny to her name, how could she possibly pay the 2 thousand she owed to the government. Maybe if she were to die she wouldn’t have to worry about it. Maybe just a bullet to the head, or a swig of bleach and she would never have to worry about money again.
Miranda silently walked to her son’s room, opened the door quietly, and walked over to his bed and sat down. The movement woke up the boy who quietly stirred awake.
” Momma? Is that you?” Teddy asked into a dark room.
“Yes baby, it is me. I just wanted to come lie down with you for a while is all,” she said to the dimly lit boy lieing in front of her.
Miranda picked up the green bear Teddy was holding and said “Teddy open your mouth,” she said flatly. Confused, Teddy complied
Miranda turned the teddy bear so its mouth was facing her son, and shoved it in his mouth as hard and fast as she could. Her son began thrashing around bit Miranda held him down. She moved so the bears body was covering her son’s nose and held down harder. Teddy’s face began to pale and his veins began to look blue. But the strangest thing to happen that night is that Teddy’s hair began to turn green, specifically the same shade of green as his bear. He began to scream but he couldn’t because of the furry green toy that was stuffed down his throat. He started to cry blood and blood started to come up his throat and onto the bear, soiling the bright green coat of fur that he loved so much.
Then finally black. Nothing is all Teddy could see. Calm and dark, Teddy liked it there. If only he could stay.
Miranda only saw her son, dead, face pale and veins blue and unmoving. All she could do was take the soiled bear and move it to his chest and wrap his cold arms around it.
Miranda quickly exited the room and went to hers. Took the gun from beside her bed, and was about to pull the trigger when she heard a small voice say “momma… why did you hurt me?”
The woman, surprised, opened her eyes to see her son stand in the doorway. She said nothing but the boy walked into the room, bear in tow, and asked the question again, this me he answered it himself though “it’s because you hate me isn’t it, well that’s okay then, because I hate you to now and I am going to kill you to.” Teddy said, almost sweetly. He took one of the threads from his bears fur and wrapped it around his mother’s throat until she quit breathing. In her last moments Miranda saw something very strange, she saw a man with no face, standing behind her son.