Title:  The Bear went over a Glow Worm (2/2)
Authors:  Cousin Shelley and Arletta Asbury
Faction: Cousins
Date: Saturday, July 7th, 2001
Time: Sometime in the Early Evening
      After "The Bear went over a Glow Worm (1/2)"
Disclaimers:  All participants used with permission.  Vampbear borrowed
                    with permission of the Glowworms.  Catriona is a
                    fictional character created by us.





--------------------

Leaving the cantina some time later, Shelley and Arletta saw
a small cardboard box sitting a little off to one side of the
door.  "Does that box have Brandi's name on it?" Shelley
asked.

"It DOES look like her name, but the box is so beat up, it's
hard to tell," Arletta agreed.

"I wonder what it would be doing here?" Shelley asked.

"Wait, Brandi is on the Glowworm's list...I wonder if it got
delivered to the wrong place?"

"We could take it to her...do you see anyone around to ask?"

Both women looked around and saw their waitress from the
Pub.  "Catriona?" Arletta called out, getting the woman's
attention.

"Yes, OH!  You are Lucien, right?"

"Ummmm, no.  But we do have a question for you," Shelley said.
"This box here, we think it's addressed to a friend of ours,
could we take it to her?"

"What's your friends name?" asked Catriona.

"Brandi."

"That *does* look like it says 'Brandi' there," the waitress
agreed.  "I don't see why you can't take it to her."  As Catriona
picked up the box, which sounded as if it must contain broken glass,
to hand it to Shelley, it's wet and aparently damaged bottom
disintegrated completely and an unusually dressed teddy
bear fell out.

"Isn't he just the CUTEST little thing!" said Shelley, scooping
him up.

"Ummm...yeah, he's sorta cute," Arletta agreed.

"Well, I really don't want that dripping box in my car," said
Shelley, "so why don't we just take the cutsie wittle beary-
weary to Brandi-andi and tell her the box is here if she wants
it?"

"Sounds good to me," Arletta said, wishing they could get out
of there before Shelley lost any more of her ability to speak.

"All right with me," replied Catriona.

The two women finally left and began to walk towards the
van.  As they did, Shelley took the bear and began to cuddle
him.  Holding him up to her shoulder, she began speaking
baby talk to him yet again. "Is dat a beary-weary?  Good
widdle beary-weary!"

Arletta glanced at Shelley and wondered if all mothers
became blabbering fools when confronted with stuffed animals.

"HEY!" yelled Shelley suddenly.  She pulled the stuffed bear
away from her and held it at arms length.  As she did, she
managed to dislodge her purse from her arm, dumping it to
the ground.

"Now what?" sighed Arletta.

"He tried to...bite me!"

"A *stuffed* bear?"

"He did....like a, a, a vampire! He's a stuffed VAMPIRE bear!"

"Shelley, I think the war is going to your head....do you have
the car keys?  I'd like to sit down, my back is hurting me."

Handing over the keys, she replied, "I have to pick up my
purse, I'll be there in a few minutes."  Stooping over,
Shelley tried unsuccessfully to both scoop up the contents
of her purse and hold the bear away at arms length.  It wasn't
working.  Just then, someone bent over and began to help
her.

"Thanks," Shelley said, as the last of the purse's contents
were put away.

"No problem," said the newcomer.  "What's with the bear?"

"It's a vampire," Shelley replied, matter-of-factly.

"Vampire?  Are you here for the war?"

"Yes, Cousins...you?"

"UF. My name is Les."

"Well, then, Les, see you around...and thanks again," Shelley
said as he walked away.

Still holding the stuffed animal away from her, she opened
the van's sliding door.  Shelley stared at the stuffed bear.
Then at the car.  She didn't trust this thing.  However, if
it was Brandi's, she couldn't just leave it either.  Finally
making a decision, she reached into the van and strapped the
furry animal into her son's car seat.

"Why are you strapping that bear into a car seat??" Arletta
asked, half wishing she wouldn't hear the answer she knew
was coming.

"If my escape artist son can't get out this seat, neither
can a stuffed animal," Shelley responded, smiling.

Arletta groaned.  Shelley was *definitely* losing it.

-------------------

"Where should we head next?" Shelley asked, driving the van
through the Toronto traffic.

"Let's see..."' Arletta said, thumbing through the "Toronto
Eat's" book.  "The Toronto Taco Palace?  The Ontario Octopus
Farm?? Lakeside Liver and Linguini???"

"They have *food*?" Shelley asked, sarcastically.  Arletta
just snickered.

At that moment, Shelley thought she saw something move in
the review mirror.  Not that this would be something odd in
the middle of rush hour traffic, but *this* movement seemed
to come from the *inside* of the van.

"Did you see something?" she asked Arletta.

"What?"

"I don't know, I thought something was moving back there."

"Did you bring Tiger?"

"Nope, she's happily staring at the walls in our rooms.  Was
it the....you know?"

"You know??"

"The *bear*," she whispered, as if it might hear her.

"Shelley, you need to get a grip....no stuffed animal could
have possibly tried to bite you!"

"I'm telling you, I was half way to becoming a carouche!"
Shelley shivered.

"Uh huh," Arletta said patronizingly.

"Do you think Brandi would mind if we...uhhhh...got rid of
the bear??"

"I don't think she'd mind too much, given your unnatural
phobia of it.  We can always tell her where we put it, if she
wants to go get it?"

"Good plan....I know where we can take it too," Shelley said,
sounding much relieved.  She pulled the van into a small
parking lot.  There was a large bin to one said labeled
"Teddy Bear Lost and Found".  Under the sign, was the
symbol for the Salvation Army, who ran this rather unusual
lost and found in Toronto.

Carefully getting the bear out of the car seat, Shelley placed
it in the lost and found bin.  "Bye, you cute, but oh-so
hungry little bear," she said quietly.
**************