The Teddy Bear

         A young woman sat in her lonely apartment her only companion a stuffed teddy bear, which she clutched to her chest.  The bear had been the last gift from her father before he disappeared.  The next day he said he was going to go golfing and never came home.  He left her mother to raise two kids on her own.

         Grabbing the cupcake from the nightstand next to her, she put a candle in the middle and lit it.  Singing happy birthday to herself in a chocked voice, the light wavered before her teary eyes.  She hated her birthday, it had brought nothing but bad memories.  Her mother couldn’t look her in the eye after her father left, as if blaming her for what happened.  She moved out when she turned 18, knowing it would help ease her mothers pain.  Sighing, she blew out the candle and pulling off the wrapper, ate a small piece.  It turned into cardboard in her mouth and, wrinkling her nose, she put the rest back onto the nightstand.

         “Well sitting here isn’t going to solve anything, I need to get out.  I should go take a walk, maybe go out to eat at Delilah’s.  Order a piece of cherry pie and get teased about how skinny I am.”  She pulled herself to her feet and putting the bear back on the bed she grabbed her shoes and coat, locking the apartment door behind her.

         Walking down the calm streets of suburbia, she saw a garage sale going on down the block.  Something red caught her eye and she walked up to it.  Sitting in the driveway, priced at a dollar, was a little red wagon.  She smiled sadly to herself, remembering how her younger brother used to love towing everything he could in his wagon.  That reminded her that she needed to call him, it had been far too long.  Casting one last look at the wagon she continued on her way, her heart a little lighter.