To prevent catastrophe they took a substantial amount of cash out of the bank before they left, and Dawn had sewn a pretty stuffed teddy bear with a zipper down the back that opened a pocket. It was there that they kept their cash.
They kept the teddy bear crammed under the front passenger seat of the car. It wasn’t only emergency money inside the bear pocket; it was money for day to day expenses. It was proving to be most inconvenient, so often Dawn would carry the teddy bear around with her while shopping. Looking through things in a shop, for example turning a mug upside down to see if it could be put in the microwave, proved difficult while holding a teddy bear. Dawn frequently put the teddy bear down while she fossicked. (I’ve just discovered that apparently only Australia, New Zealand, and Cornwall use the word “fossick”. It means to “rummage”).
Of course we’ve all been shopping and know that purchases are not made in every shop one goes into. It was not surprising that Dawn suddenly realized she no longer had the teddy bear. They’d been in and out of so many shops. They began retracing their steps from shop to shop with little luck; in fact with no luck. Panic set in. What are we going to do? The car needs to be fueled. We haven’t paid for the motel. What a disaster. What a catastrophe.
And there it was! Sitting on a shelf next to the microwaveable coffee mugs. What a relief! What a relief! Dawn and Casper kept saying “What a relief!” all the way back to their car. They were wrung out. It had been a nerve-wracking experience.
“Let’s get a coffee,” suggested Casper. And they did! They each ordered a coffee and a large slice of carrot cake. When they went to pay there was no money inside the teddy bear.
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