The Littlest Teddy Bear

Once upon a time, many long years ago, when the fairies and leprechauns still lived upon the earth, there dwelt in a small village a very lonesome and sad small boy. He had, it seemed, been lonesome for as many days as he could remember.

His mother and father were away from home each day, working, and the small boy was left alone with only a housekeeper to keep him company. Of course he had his toys, his blocks, and his big trucks, but he was tired of playing with them. And besides, they never talked to him.

On this particular day, his mother had told him he could make Christmas decorations to trim the tree and he had worked all day, stringing popcorn, coloring paper for making chains, and cutting out circles to hang on the treeř He was sitting at the table, trying to decide what to do next, when he heard a sound at the back door. It was not a knock, but sounded much like the storm door being opened and closed. He listened again, and still he heard this very same noise.

He went to the window and looked out. Outside the door stood the very shortest and fattest Teddy bear he had ever seen. He was so short he could not reach the door knob, and he kept opening and closing the door, hoping someone would hear him and let him in.

The small boy went to the door and opened it. The bear looked up at the boy--his eyes were filled with tears, and the tears which had run down his face had frozen to his fat little cheeks. He said to the small boy, "I can't find my house--I can't find my house, .... and my legs are so tired I don't think I can walk any farther tonight."

The small boy lifted the fat Teddy bear over the doorstep and brought him into the kitchen. He could not imagine where the bear might be going, but he knew he must warm the bear's arms and legs without delay. He wrapped him in a blanket which he had warmed at the fireplace, sat down in his rocker before the fire and took the bear on his lap.

After wiping all the tears from the fat Teddy's face, he said, "Now tell me where you are going, whose house you are looking for, and maybe I can help you." The fat Teddy bear said, "This morning when I left the forest the good fairy told me that I had to go out into the world and find a house in which to live. I have been walking all day and I can't find my house."

"What does your house look like?" said the small boy. The Teddy replied, "I don't know. The fairy gave me this star that I have in my pocket and she said that--
When you find the right house, you will know
Because at that time, this star will glow.

And this star is just the same as it has been all day."

The small boy said to the bear, "You can stay here with me for as long as you like, and I will fix a bed for you to sleep in tonight. It is time for my lunch. Would you like some too?" And the bear replied that he would. So the boy heated some milk in a pan, poured a large cup of warm milk into a bowl, took some graham crackers from the cupboard and sitting back down in his rocker, with the bear on his lap, proceeded to eat his lunch with the bear, each taking his turn drinking the warm milk from the bowl. The boy rocked back and forth before the fire, and the littlest bear was soon fast asleep.

The small boy looked down at the fat Teddy asleep in his lap and thought how wonderful it would be to have a friend with him each day like the bear, someone to play with, and someone to talk to, and he wondered why his house could not have been chosen as the right house for the bear, and soon, he too, was fast asleep.

The boy was awakened when the small bear began to shake his arm. It was night and he found the room in darkness except for the light from the fire. The bear said, "The star in my pocket is very warm indeed. Would you loosen this blanket from around me so that I can remove the star?"

The boy stood up, took the blanket from the bear, and shook the crumbs from the crackers into the fireplace. When he turned about the room was bright as day, and the bear was jumping up and down with joy, holding the star in his hand, and screaming as hard as his little bear lungs could scream, "Look! The star is glowing--this is my house. I've found my house and I can hear the fairies singing." The small boy listened and sure enough, he could hear from very far away the fairies singing--

"When you find the right house, you will know-- Because at that time, this star will glow."

And that is the story of how the littlest Teddy bear found his own house, and of a lonesome and sad small boy, who was never lonesome or sad again. And if you ever walk through the streets of this village, you will see a boy and a bear, walking hand in hand, and they live in the house on the corner where the star glows for ever and ever over the door.