Jordan the Bear: Part One

There was a sad and lonely girl on Devyn Street, who needed a friend more than anything else. Her name was Lauren.

Little Lauren cried every night after prayers and lights out. She prayed that the good Lord would send to her a good and loyal friend, one that would never leave her, even in the worst of times.

“Please send me a friend,” Lauren prayed, “and I promise I'll be a good girl.”

One night, before bed, Lauren noticed something sitting on her bed; a teddy bear, tan with shades of brown, with a stitched nose and beady eyes. She ran to her bed for a closer look. There was a handwritten note with the bear, which read, “Your new friend. Jordan is his name. He is yours forever.”

Lauren hugged the teddy bear close to her. “I have a friend.” she said. “I'll never let you go.”

For years, Lauren and Jordan were inseparable. They did everything together, from morning to night, everyday. In the morning, they would get up from bed and tidy their room. Lauren would share her breakfast with Jordan, then let him him use half the crayons and the paper for their play time. After lunch, Lauren and Jordan would both use the mat for their nap time. When Daddy came home from work, Lauren made sure he also greeted Jordan.

On the first day of school, Lauren took Jordan with her. The teacher told Lauren, “I'll let you carry your doll this time, but from now on, it will have to stay at home. School's for people, not dolls.”

Lauren protested. “He's not a doll; he's my best friend in the whole, wide world.”

The next day, Lauren cried at school. She was not allowed to bring Jordan with her. “I want my Jordan.” she told her teacher. “This isn't fair.”

The teacher sat Lauren down. “You may not have Jordan now, but when you get home, he will be waiting for you. While you and he are apart, why don't you tell your fellow classmates about you good friend? We can even draw pictures and write stories about Jordan. When the day is over, you can tell him all about your day, and show him the pictures. I bet he would love that.”

“You think so?” Lauren asked.

“Why don't we give it a try?” Teacher took Lauren to the table with the rest of her classmates.

They all painted, drew and shared stories about their best friends. Lauren learned that she was not the only one who had someone special waiting at home. Many of her fellow classmates also had friends they could not bring to class; dogs, cats, fish and other assorted pets. She stopped crying and learned to have fun instead.

When she got home, she ran to her room, with her drawings in hand. She spent the rest of the night telling 

Jordan about her day. Every day, after school, she would tell Jordan everything first, then tell her parents at the dinner table about her day.

“You won't believe what happened at school today...”

As the years progressed, Lauren's connection to Jordan deepened. She turned to him as a safe haven, a solid rock in the turbulent ocean of life. Jordan was there for her when she broke a tooth, when she fell of her bike, when she got in trouble at school, and when she came home crying from the insults her fellow students threw in her direction. Jordan was there for her when she fell ill, or felt terrible. Jordan comforted Lauren when her Grandma died from the cancer, and when her family moved away from everyone she knew.

Jordan rocked Lauren to sleep after the difficult, cross-country move, and during the transition to Lauren's new schools, first middle, and then high. She held onto him tightly after her first crush, Bradley, humiliated her in front of the whole sophomore class.

She whispered into Jordan's soft and fluffy ear, “I know you'll never call me such horrible names, my friend. You know I'm not what Bradley said I am.”

Lauren's problems with the bully Bradley did not end there.

As high school wore on, Lauren withdrew from her so-called friends, even from her parents at times. No matter how withdrawn she became, Lauren would still tell Jordan every thought, every fear and every feeling.

When the seniors were told to bring with them one thing that they value most in the world and present it in-class, Lauren did not hesitate to bring Jordan with her. It would be the first time she would bring him to school since that one day in Kindergarten.

She held Jordan close to her. “I want to show the Bradleys of the world that you are my best friend, now and forever.”

Some students stopped and stared at Lauren as she walked by with Jordan in her arms. Some pointed, others chuckled. She did not care what they thought of her or her best friend.

“I'm sure some of them will understand.” Lauren assured herself. “They can't have all forgotten the importance of a soul mate.”

At lunch, Lauren sat at the table reserved for the loners, her usual space in the hall. She placed Jordan in the seat next to her. It was the first time she had let go of her friend. Had she seen Bradley only feet behind her, she would have held tightly onto Jordan, for both their sakes. By the time she saw Bradley and his obnoxiously orange shirt, it was too late.

“What's this?” Bradley asked. “Is he your boyfriend?”

Bradley grabbed Jordan before Lauren could react. “Hey,” Lauren shouted, “put him back.”

“Him?” Bradley shook his head. “You think this thing is alive, do you?”

“He's more alive than you are.”

“Oh yeah?” Bradley whipped out a pocket knife. “We'll see about that.”

He stuck the edge of the blade into Jordan's chest, near the left arm. Lauren gasped in terror. “No.”

“I don't hear any screaming.” Bradley laughed. “I guess he isn't so alive after all.”

“Give him back.” Lauren cried. “He's my friend.”

“You mean ex.” Bradley pulled the knife down, slicing through Jordan's stomach and all the down to his stubby legs. His stuffing protruded from the gaping wound. Some of it fell on the linoleum flooring.

Lauren could not believe what had happened before her eyes. She knelt on the floor to collect her friend's cottony innards. “Please let him go.” she begged Bradley. “You have no idea how much he means to me.”

“You want him back?” he asked. “Then you're going to have to do something for me.”

“No.” she cried. “Just give me back my Jordan.”

“Not until I get what I want.” Bradley said. “I'll see you after school, in the gym. No one else will be in there. We'll be alone. No pain, no gain. Be there or your buddy bites it.”

Lauren wanted to run home, and leave the school forever. She wanted to hit Bradley, and teach him a lesson, but she also wanted Jordan back.

She could not concentrate on her next class. She wondered what she would do for her in-class presentation, with Jordan in the hands of the enemy. She felt terrible. Jordan had long protected he, though she failed to protect him.

“Wherever you are,” Lauren thought to her self, “I hope you will take care of yourself, my friend.”

She prayed to the Good Lord. “Lord, help Jordan. Let him return to me safe and sound, and I promise I'll be a good girl.”

Lauren walked slowly toward the classroom, where she and her fellow classmates were to present their items. She noticed a large crowd at the head of the class. They were all inspecting something which was on the tables, which had been set-up for the presentation.

One of the students noticed Lauren and motioned to her. “Come up here and take a look at this cute thing.”

Lauren walked up. She nearly fainted when she saw Jordan on the table. He looked as good as the day Lauren had gotten him, so many years before. There was no visible sign of the place he had been sliced so cruelly by Bradley, except for a discoloration in the fabric where the cut had been. Lauren seized Jordan and hugged him tightly.

“I thought I'd never see you again.” she said. “I'll never let you go.”

The teacher walked in and told everyone to sit down. “I was hoping to have all the seniors here for this presentation.” the teacher said. “But unfortunately Bradley won't be with us today. As some of you may have heard, he had an accident with a pocket knife. This is why we don't allow students to have weapons on campus. It's too easy for someone to get hurt, and he did. He cut himself from below the left arm all the way down to his leg. He'll miss graduation, and all other ceremonies, just because he was disobeying rules. He'll be fine, though, since the injures were minor; just a scratch and a ruined shirt. They could have been a lot worse, though.”

Lauren looked at the discoloration on Jordan once more. She noticed that Jordan had been expertly repaired, that the cut was sealed with a single thread, with an obnoxiously orange hue to it.

Lauren smiled. “That color looks much better on you than it did on Bradley.”