My Cardibear

My Cardibear (One-Shot)

Rain came down in the somewhat quiet night in San Francisco, California. People of all shapes and sizes, walking along the sidewalks and wanting to get out of the rain. The sounds of the water hitting the hard ground creating a relaxing, yet not quite slightly unnatural noise. The people stepping in the water, creating the individual splashing sounds, and scattering more water on the ground, as more rain drops came down from the heavens.

As people passed by a small alleyway, a small box near the entrance of the alley, slightly opened, and soaked in rain water and dirt, was passed by all who walked past the alley. All, but one man. The man, neither very old, or too young, noticed the small box twice in his day. Once when he left the building he was making his way out of, and just now, as it moved just a small amount from where he saw it. The man thought that perhaps someone had moved it by accident on their way to work, he continued on his way. For only a few steps.

He heard a shuffling behind him, and noticed the small box moving slightly. Like something inside was pushing around. The man walked over to the water soaked box, and bent down to look at the contents inside. His hands opened the box, slowly and carefully, and what he saw shocked him; a small, light brown teddy bear, that seemed to move on its own, and have the knowledge of what was around it.

The small bear looked up at the man who was now hovering above it, and took in his features. Short dark brown hair, brown eyes, a pair of glasses, and a flannel shirt that has the sleeves rolled down.

The small bear kept staring at the man, and the man questioned why a stuffed bear could be moving, and possibly living. "What are you doing out here all by yourself?" The man asked the stuffed animal, and the bear just snapped out of its dreamlike observing state, to think of a response to the question. The bear looked around the box, the street, then back up at the man. The bear covered its head with its paws, not only to hide from the man, but also the water that would wet his already soaked and cold body.

The man looked at the bear with pity and sadness, no one should have to leave a small defenseless animal in the middle of the pouring rain. Even if it was just a toy. Slowly and gently, the man wrapped his arms around the shivering bear, and stood up. The bear began to get scared, but after feeling the man's hands, and the warmth of his body near his own shivering form, the bear cuddled closer.

The man took the bear inside of the building that was next to the alleyway, walking up the few steps, to the front door, and opening it, before stepping inside and shaking off the water droplets that had landed in his hair. He looked down at the small, shivering, stuffed bear in his arms that clung to him as if his life depended on the warmth radiating off of his body. He chuckled slightly, then proceeded to walk down the hallway of the building, past multiple doors, up a flight of stairs, and past a few more doors, before stopping at one, and reaching into his pocket. The bear took a quick glance at what the man was reaching for, and saw the man was pulling out a set of keys. Lifting his hand, and finding the correct key, the man reached his hand that was holding the key, to the lock of the door, and stuck the key inside. After turning the key and hearing a clicking noise, the man pulled the key out of the key hole, then opened the door.

The bear looked around the room, and took note of all of the items inside. A couch, a TV, and other assorted items for a living room. The man looked down at the bear as he looked around the room, and took the bear to another room in the apartment. As the man walked, the bear took notice of all of the photos in the hall, and all of the small details of the place the man seemed to know by heart, the man stopped walking, and the bear saw that the new room they entered in, was a white little room, with a counter that he was placed on gently. The bear looked around some more, and realized that this place was the man's home, and that he was sitting on the bathroom sink counter.