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Have You Seen this Bear?

The boy loved his teddy-bear, the soft mop of it, the sunflower paws. He carried it around with him during vanilla days, slept with it through marzipan nights.

I’m going to marry Teddy someday, he told his mother.

I thought you wanted to marry me, she chuckled.

Daddy won’t let me.

Does he know Teddy is your girlfriend?

I don’t know if Teddy is a girl, he said. Does it have to be?

Well not always, and the name Teddy works for both boys and girls.

So Teddi and the boy grew up together, but when Teddi became bigger than the boy, she was always hungry, her pewter tongue searching for pebbles to crunch when there was no more food. She ate the parents out of house and home, but it wasn’t enough: one night she swallowed all six feet two inches of the boy. She ran away to join the circus, with him cocooned inside her, past the sirens, the Missing Persons and Wanted posters. They made a good team, although they were billed as a solo act. The customers who saw Teddi unscrewing her head to let the man enjoy some sunshine simply thought they saw a man in a bear suit taking a break.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Cheryl Snell’s books include several poetry collections and novels. Her most recent writing has appeared in Blink-Ink, Eunoia Review, BULL, Ink Sweat &Tears, MacQueen’s Quinterly, and other journals.

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