“Yes.” She paused for a moment, thinking of some way to explain or not explain to her child what had happened. “He left. That’s all.” “Oh. Why does he leave the Bear?” She asked again; playing with the Bear in both hands now, moving the arms and pushing the fur here and there, moving it all around. “Oh, I get it now. He leave the Bear here for Me!” Answering her own question. Her mother nodded quietly and stepped out of the room. Bear was not in the slightest confused. He knew what had happened and he knew where he lived now. Embala looked at him questioningly. “So, are you a tea bear or a fashion bear? You know what, we will just do both!” Years of happy and fun days passed as Bear and Embala lived together, worked together, and in the scarcity of things to do up on the cliff where they lived, talked to each other—or rather Embala talked to Bear. Embala was not treated to a traditional education nor was she allowed to leave the property much in her youth. Her mother, desperate to get some more money to be able to afford Embala a better lifestyle, worked odd jobs and long hours, leaving Embala at home and at times, very lonely. As the years went by her lifestyle changed; old interests swayed and fell, giving room to new hobbies and passions. Bear found himself in a longing memory of days far past, days when they would play for hours and hours. Then, Bear found himself in a box. He did not know why he was there. Bear had long been tucked in the overflowing closet, ecstatic to see the sunlight just once a year. Then, the mother, now growing older as time caught up with her, put him in a large box and brought him to what sounded like a market. Bear looked through the holes in the box, desperately trying to see where he was being taken, getting more frantic by the second. Then, the box moved hands, a new man took hold of it, and off the mother went, off the memories left.
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