The Search for Shiny Things: Part 1

The teddy made good progress all morning, but saw no one. Not a lot of anyone ever came to nowhere. Thus it wasn't until far beyond the corner of anywhere and elsewhere, a good way into the fields of somewhere, that the teddy saw another living thing. Coming down the road, the teddy saw a scarecrow standing in the fields, and two colorful birds hovering near it.

"Good morning," the teddy greeted the scarecrow.

"Morning," said the scarecrow, and there was something decidedly mopey about how it hung on its sticks.

"This is not a time to be sad, scarecrow," said the teddy bear. "It is a beautiful day."

"Perhaps," said the scarecrow.

"You do seem sad," said the teddy, a little disappointed that such a beautiful day had to be ruined by sadness.

"I feel trapped," said the scarecrow. "These are beautiful fields, and beautiful birds, and I am meant to sit here and scare the birds away, and so I am. But I feel trapped, stuck to the ground, and lonely I think, for even if I make excellent conversation with myself, sometimes one wishes for another voice, and the birds do not speak."

The teddy glanced over at the birds. They did not seem to be very frightened of the scarecrow, in fact they were lingering around mostly on purpose, taking a nip of the grains now and then and waving their beautiful feathers. He should help, thought the teddy. Because the teddy loved to help, and did it far too rarely, in fact if he could he would help all the time with everything, because everything was better with a bit of teddy help. So he let out a loud and happy sound; loud and happy came naturally to teddies, and waved his arms at the birds, who immediately lifted into the air and circled their heads.

"Oh woe! Why would you do that," complained the scarecrow.

"I was helping," said the teddy warily. There were those that did not want teddy help, he had forgotten.

"The birds were my only company, however poor." The scarecrow lifted its skinny branches dressed in rags to the sky and the circling birds. "Oh if only I could leave this field! I could go see where the birds go when they fly away. Or find other company, or work, or activity, or possibly a singing lesson."

The teddy hummed and looked at the scarecrow, or more specifically the pole that it was stuck on. It was driven deep in the ground, but looked old and dry and not terribly strong.

"I will help!" said the teddy enthusiastically, to declare intent so that the scarecrow would not be surprised like before, and with a hearty kick the teddy broke the pole right off.

With a shriek and waving its arms quite comically, the scarecrow fell crashing to the ground.