“Please!” Teng cried, “Please just calm down!”
It was no use. The only thing to do was to get out of the way and wait for the bear to wear itself out from its temper tantrum, like had happened so many times before.
It hadn’t always been like this. When Teng first brought the bear home from the carnival that hot summer evening a year before, the bear was so sweet- shy, even. She remembered stumbling through the door, carrying the bear, who had been too frightened to get out of the car. Teng, barely 5 feet tall herself, was only slightly bigger than the bear. She struggled into the building with the bear in her arms, finally making it into the apartment and tumbling to the floor in a heap, descending into a fit of laughter. The trill of Teng’s giggle and the bear’s amused snort blended into a happy harmony that would fill the apartment time and time again for the next few months.
But things had changed. Although already fully grown, the bear had only been a baby at that time. No one warned Teng about the sharp and sudden change in personality that stuffed carnival bears displayed as they matured. Teng wasn’t prepared for the moodiness, the fits, the destructive tantrums like the one the bear was in the midst of right now.
I should have known, Teng thought to herself, time and time again. She couldn’t think of a single person she knew who had kept a carnival bear for an extended period of time. She didn’t know anyone, in fact, who had an oversized stuffed bear like hers at all. True, not many people were as skilled at ring tossing as Teng was, but there were other ways to acquire such beasts. Arcade games, for example. And yard sales, if you weren’t the sporting type. Those poor bears were always turning up at yard sales.
Yard sales. Teng felt a pang. She replayed the conversation she’d had with the bear earlier, the one that had started his current rampage. Teng was moving out of the apartment into a new one- one that didn’t allow bears.
“I know, I should have checked first before I signed the lease,” she’d said fretfully. The lie felt obvious and cruel. Teng hadn’t checked on purpose. She had half hoped that the new building didn’t allow bears. It was an easy out. This couldn’t go on.
“We’ll find some place great for you, I promise” Teng had said, “We can find someone on…” She’d trailed off. She was going to say “Hampden Yard Sale,” but the words caught in her throat. Putting the bear up on Hampden Yard Sale? Like a piece of old Ikea furniture? She didn’t even blame him when he began growling at her. I deserve this, she thought to herself, as the bear began tearing through the apartment.
But this fit hadn’t been like the ones before. The bear, hurt, angry, and scared, had been at it for going on a full twenty minutes now. Teng was getting nervous. Being a stuffed bear, he could only do so much damage- mostly knocking things off of tables and tossing around throw pillows- but it was hard to watch and loud besides.
“Please” Teng tried again, “Please, I’m sorry.” At this the bear stopped. He turned his head and glared at her reproachfully, then slowly skulked away, collapsing on the steps. Moments later Teng heard the bear snoring. She peeked around the corner and over the balustrade. In his exhaustion, the bear had passed out with his eyes wide open. Teng surreptitiously snapped a picture with her phone and crept away into the kitchen. Tears streaming down her face, Teng began typing her post.
“Please take this bear from me…”
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