Emily smiled as her grandfather handed her the large purple box with a golden bow. She had waited patiently, watching as the stacks of presents were handed out until finally, only one remained tucked away in the corner. The way it shimmered under the small fairy lights mesmerised her. It looked important, so much more than the baby-pink jersey, Barbie doll and Pepper Pig colouring book she had already received. This was special, like it was meant to be saved until everything else was opened.
Santa really did get it.
Emily had written a page long letter about how good she had been all year. Even after Tom broke the heads off all her dolls and tried to flush them down the toilet.
"Thanks pa,” she said excitedly while pulling at both ends of the bow.
Secretly, she had been wishing for the latest tickle me Elmo. It not only shook but also rolled around laughing the faster you rubbed its tummy. Emily smiled as she imagined hearing Elmo’s playful laugh when she tickled and squeezed him.
Just to be safe, she had visited Santa twice at the mall to tell him in case her letter didn’t reach the North-pole in time, or he made the mistake of sending her the older Elmo that just shook.
Now as the ribbon fell to its side, she let out a nervous giggle before wrapping her tiny fingers around the edge of the lid.
It was a teddy bear!
It wasn't Elmo.
Emily screwed up her face as she lifted the soft toy out of the box and held it in front of her with both hands. The brown bear was old and tattered. It stared back at her with large round eyes and a smile. Dressed in black shorts and a grass green vest, three large badges were pinned to it. The first read Master in red and had a picture of a yellow backpack. The one below it had a picture of a bow and arrow, and the third, which was on the opposite side, was white with the words To Serve and Protect written across it. A small blue and white sailor’s hat sat on top of its head with Johnny written across it in yellow writing.
"HAHA! Emily got a hand me down." Tom sang as he transformed Optimus Prime from a truck into a robot.
“Now listen here, Emily. I know this isn’t one of those fancy pants gizmos you were hoping for, but this bear is unique. That means it’s different from all your other toys, its special. I found this little guy at an antique store. The woman behind the counter said his name is Stan.”
Confused, Emily saw the small white hairs on his face move as he smiled. She wondered why Grandpa was giving her a present on Christmas. Isn’t that Santa’s job?
And where's Elmo!
***
Taking her presents back to her room, Emily sat Stan on her bed and looked at him. She heard a distant buzzing sound. It grew louder as it got closer, so did the galloping footsteps.
“Bzzzzzzz… Trans-formers, ro-bots in disguise,” landing a toy plane on her bed, Tom moved bits and pieces from it until a small robot stood in front of her.
“Starscream take out the smelly ugly bear.” Pushing a small button, Emily saw an orange missile fly from the robot’s arm and hit Stan in the left eye.
“Tom!” She yelled, “Get out!” She took Stan into her arms and rubbed his eye.
“Make me! Make me!” Tom replied, dancing from one foot to the other.
“MUM!” Emily yelled at the top of her voice. Shouting at Tom never worked, and he was too strong for her to fight, but yelling for mum always did.
“I’m going, I’m going, stay here with your stupid bear.” He said while making a face at it. Taking his action figurine and the small orange plastic piece with him, Emily watched as he slammed the door behind him.
“That’s just my dumb brother, Tom. He’s such a pain, but don’t you worry, I won’t let him hurt you.”
Looking past her new friend, she picked up Molly. The pink frizzy haired doll wore a bright blue dress and had a big white button for a nose with two smaller black ones for eyes. “Say hello Molly. This is Stan.” Emily put them side by side then smiled. “You two are going to be best friends forever.”
“Bedtime,” she heard her mother tell Tom in the room next door. Emily picked up Stan and placed him on the bedside table then hopped into bed with Molly. She pulled the pink duvet up until it covered them both then snuggled up until she was comfortable.
The door gently creaked open as her mother entered. She glanced at Stan and smiled.
“It looks like you have a new friend. What’s his name?”
“Grandpa gave him to me. His name’s Stan.”
“Hello Stan, I’m mum. It’s very nice to meet you.”
She leaned forward and gave Emily a kiss on her forehead then turned off her pink bedside lamp. “Goodnight sweetheart. Goodnight, Stan.”
“Goodnight, mummy,” she replied yawning.
***
Emily awoke the next morning to the sound of crying. It came from Tom. Quickly throwing her bed sheets aside, she ran from her room and saw both her parents standing over him. His bright red face was full of tears as he held onto broken pieces of plastic. He shrieked when he saw her. “You did it! You broke him, you broke Starscream!”
Her mother looked down at her. “It wasn’t Emily, sweetie. She just woke up. Are you sure you didn’t accidentally break it?”
Blubbering, he shouted at the top of his voice. “It was her! She did it! She broke him! Her and that dumb bear.”
Confused, Emily stared at the orange bits and pieces that lay in front of her. The toy was ruined, its wings broken in half, the red and blue body twisted and the small head snapped right off.
“Now that’s enough,” her father interrupted. “Emily had nothing to do with it. When you’re ready to tell us what really happened, you can. Until then, I don’t want to hear another word about it.”
Emily’s mother turned to her and gave her a warm smile, “darling can you please go outside and play, we would like to have a word with your brother.”
Nodding her head, she quickly ran back into her room and felt her heart begin to race when Stan wasn’t sitting on the night stand. Frantically searching for him, she eventually found him lying under the sheets next to Molly. She brought him close and spoke in a hushed voice. “Guess what Stan. Someone broke Tom’s toy and he thinks it was me and you, but it wasn’t. I’ll never let that happen to you Stan, I promise.”
She wrapped her arms around his fluffy body and gave him a hug. As her tiny fingers moved gently over the back of his green velvet vest she felt something underneath. Carefully slipping the vest off his arms, she turned it inside out. There was another round badge, but this one was different, it was sewn into the material. On it was a face of a purple robot bird and in small writing below were the words Decepticons immobilise. Surprised and confused by her new find, she slipped the thin piece of clothing back over the bear’s brown body. “We have to go outside and play. I think Tom is getting a growling for telling fibs.”
***
The bright morning sun hurt Emily’s eyes as she opened the back door and stepped outside. A sudden angry growl followed by a tirade of menacing barks from over the neighbour’s fence made her jump with fright, sending Stan tumbling down the concrete steps in front of her. “Stan!” Emily yelped chasing after him, before pulling him by the arm. “I’m sorry Stan, I hate that big, mean-old dog.”
Holding him tightly, she made her way to the small wooden box in the centre of the backyard and sat Stan down. She fixed his tiny sailors hat so it covered his eyes from the sun then smiled at him.
“This is where I play, Stan. Making sandcastles is my favourite. I start off by filling up my bucket with sand then I quickly turn it over. Like this.”
Emily was in the midst of turning over her third bucket load of sand when a dark shadow suddenly enveloped her.
She looked up and saw Tom in his favourite blue denim jacket holding his toy wrapped in cello tape. His narrow beady eyes glared at her. “I know it was you Emily. Mum and Dad say it wasn’t but I know it was and I’m going to get you back.”
He suddenly swung his leg down hard and kicked a clump of sand onto her then walked towards the swing set. Emily stood up, dusted the sand off her clothes then sat back down again.
“Tom’s such a meanie,” she told Stan. “I didn’t even touch his dumb toy but he keeps saying it was me. I wish he would just leave me alone for good.”
Turning her head, she watched as he sailed through the air. Emily wished she could swing that high. It was so high that he could almost see over the fence to the next door neighbour’s house. Emily had tried before but she wasn’t strong enough and Tom never helped push her. She let out a sigh then turned her attention back to Stan. “When I’m finished with the castle, I like to get some water and put a moat around it so monsters like Tom can’t get in.” She started to giggle.
Emily was putting the finishing touches on her castle when she heard her mother call from the open doorway. “Come on kids. Breakfast time!” Looking over her shoulder, Emily saw her mother waving for her to come inside. Tom flew through the air as he leaped from his swing. Landing on his feet he was already running towards the door. Emily clapped her hands together a few times trying to get rid of all the sand that was trapped between her fingers. When it looked clean, she wiped her palms on the seat of her pants then picked up Stan. “It’s breakfast time Stan. Mums making blueberry pancakes for us today, yum!”