Teddy Trouble

• Emily Walker, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2010

Teddy Trouble
One day I was walking around town when a strange old man hobbled over to me. He gave me a blue bottle and said: “Have this bottle. It’s full of magic dust so be very careful with it.” Then he disappeared. I usually don’t believe in that sort of stuff but you don’t see someone vanish in thin air every day. I rushed back home to tell my parents but when I got there they had gone to check out a house for sale. The only people home were my sister, Ella and my dog, Clay. Ella was eating Tiny Teddies and Clay was chewing on a bone. I rushed up to my sister and told her everything. When I had finished she rolled her eyes and frowned. “How old to you think I am?” she asked, “I’m not stupid! I know your tricking me so stop lying.” “But I’m telling the truth!” I shouted, “Where do you think I got this bottle from?” “If you’re telling the truth,” said Ella, “prove it. Put some magic dust on the Tiny Teddies in my hand.” I knew the old man had told me to use the bottle carefully but sometimes my sister can be extremely annoying. So I poured a handful of gold dust from the bottle and sprinkled it on the Tiny Teddies. At first nothing happened and then the Teddies suddenly grew big and became alive! A silly teddy started to blow raspberries, a happy teddy started to sing, a sleepy teddy began to cuddle up on the couch and a grumpy teddy started to throw a tantrum. Ella’s eyes were as big as truck tyres and she started to stutter whenever she tried to talk. I smiled triumphantly. “O.k.,” she said when she had calmed down, “you were right but how do we get them back to their normal size. They are already causing trouble.” She pointed at grumpy teddy, which had just knocked over a vase and started kicking the furniture. What a mess! “Listen to me!” I yelled, “Stop! STOP NOW!” The tiny teddies just laughed and kept making a mess. “We will never stop!” they squeaked, “This is much better than being eaten.” I pulled Ella into the garden shed and locked us in there. We needed to get rid of the Teddies. We couldn’t eat them because they were too strong. Ella started to cry. Seeing her tears gave me an idea. I told Ella my plan and she thought it was great. So we grabbed two garden hoses and some tape. We sneaked inside and taped the hoses to the bathroom and kitchen taps. Then we turned the taps on and aimed the hoses at the Teddies. In no time at all, the Teddies were soaked and became moosh. Clay came in and started to eat it. Ella and I quickly cleaned up the mess. Later, Ella and I threw the bottle into the sea. It was a bottle of trouble.
By Emily Walker