Today I am publishing a short story written especially for very young children. Teddy Edward is a wonderful cuddly teddy that has adventures when his owner is fast asleep. Shall we see what he gets up to in this first story?

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TEDDY EDWARD PLAYS SLIDES

By Paul Dorset

Emma’s mum kissed her goodnight and crept silently out of the bedroom. She had left the light on, just a little bit, so Emma didn’t feel too scared. Emma didn’t like to be completely in the dark. It wasn’t nice, not being able to see all her teddies. Especially Teddy Edward.

Teddy Edward was Emma’s favourite teddy. He was all squishy and soft, and he had an enormous, lovely smile. He always looked just like he wanted to kiss everybody. Of course, he wasn’t allowed to kiss just anybody. Only those people who Emma allowed. Emma smiled to herself. She was very happy to have Teddy Edward in bed with her. She cuddled up close to him and shut her eyes.

When he was sure that Emma was asleep, Teddy Edward sat up straight and looked around the bedroom. He waved at Big Ted. Then he waved at Scraggy Ted. They both waved back to him. Teddy Edward smiled. It certainly was an enormous smile. He looked ever so happy. “Shall we go and play slides?” he asked the other teddies.

All three teddies carefully crept out of the bedroom. It was a very funny sight. There was Teddy Edward in front, his checked waistcoat shining in the soft light. Next there was Big Ted. He towered above the other two. He looked a little like a monster in the nearly dark room, his shadow covering Scraggy Ted completely. Then last was Scraggy Ted, moving uneasily on his long legs.

At last they reached the top of the stairs.

“Okay,” said Teddy Edward, “let’s play slides.” Teddy Edward climbed up onto the banister rail that was next to the stairs and swung his legs over it. “Wheeee!” he cried out as he slid to the bottom. “Come on Big Ted, it’s your turn now.”

Big Ted quickly climbed onto the banister rail and zoomed down to the bottom. “Ho, ho, that was fun,” he said.

Scraggy Ted hadn’t played slides before, and he was very scared. The other two teddies looked up at him from the bottom of the stairs.

“It’s easy. Just climb up, and then slide down. That’s all there is to it,” Teddy Edward said, calling up to him.

Carefully, Scraggy Ted climbed up onto the banister rail. When he reached the top he awkwardly placed one leg on either side. “I’m ready,” he whispered.

What happened next, no one was quite sure. But somehow, Scraggy Ted had an accident. He was lying on the stairs, about halfway down, crying. Poor Scraggy Ted. He looked like it was hurting a lot. His legs were in an unusual position, too. They seemed to be twisted across his tummy, not laid out straight like they were supposed to be.

Teddy Edward quickly took control of the situation. “We need a stretcher to carry him on,” he said, disappearing into the kitchen.

Very soon Teddy Edward was at the bottom of the stairs again, but this time he was dragging something very big behind him. It was one of the trays that Emma’s mum used to carry the tea and the cups.

“What’s that for?” asked Big Ted.

“You’ll see,” replied Teddy Edward.

Teddy Edward and Big Ted climbed the stairs to where Scraggy Ted was lying. Then, very carefully, they lifted Scraggy Ted onto the tray. He looked very funny just lying in the middle of it. Finally, Teddy Edward and Big Ted stood at each end of the tray and carried it, with Scraggy Ted on the top, back to the top of the stairs.

“Now what do we do?” asked Big Ted.

Teddy Edward wanted to be a doctor when he was bigger, and so he knew just what to do. He asked Scraggy Ted if he could wiggle his toes and Scraggy Ted did just that.

“Good,” said Teddy Edward, “I don’t think anything’s broken. Now see if you can straighten your legs again.”

Carefully Scraggy Ted moved his legs, one at a time, until they were back in the right place.

“Now for the hard part,” said Teddy Edward. “I want you to try and stand up.”

Scraggy Ted slowly sat up. Then he tried to stand up. He wobbled a bit at first, but soon he felt much better. “I think I’m Okay,” he said to Teddy Edward.

“Good, then we had all better get back into bed, hadn’t we? It will soon be morning and we don’t want to be caught.”

So quickly and quietly they all climbed back onto Emma’s bed.

The sunlight peeked through a gap in Emma’s curtains and woke her up. She rubbed her eyes and looked all around.

“It’s going to be a lovely sunny day today,” she said to herself. It was then that she noticed the kitchen tray lying by the side of her bed. “I wonder where that came from?” she said.

Emma had no idea. But we know how it got there, don’t we?