Xander the Panda

XANDER THE PANDA

by

Leyland Perree

Xander the Panda sat in Daisy’s rocking chair, rocking as he thought. The rocking chair was his thinking place – and Xander thought a lot.

Daisy owned a lot of bears. They were all very different.
Some were BIG. Some were small. Some were in-between.
All of them, Xander noticed, had:
One fuzzy head.
Two fuzzy ears.
One felt nose.
Two button eyes.
And a stitched-on smiley mouth.

Xander’s head and ears were patchy and the felt on his nose was worn.
He had one blue button eye and one brown button eye.
His mouth wasn’t smiley - it had been stitched on sad.
And the seams were loose on his bottom.

Sometimes Xander felt as sad as he looked.
But today he just felt thoughtful.

Some of Daisy’s bears were dark brown. Some were light brown. Some were in-between. There was even a raggedy old yellow bear that used to belong to Daisy’s mummy. Daisy’s mummy had given it to Daisy, and it now sat on Daisy’s toy box, staring back at Xander.

Xander wasn’t brown or yellow or even in-between. He was black with white patches, but sometimes, just for fun, he decided to be white with black patches instead.

Sometimes, he wished he were a more exciting colour, just like old Yellow Bear.
But not today. Today he just felt thoughtful.

Xander sat and rocked and thought. And as he sat and rocked and thought, he stared at all the bears in Daisy’s room.
There were many different types.
There were Grizzly bears.
There were Koala bears.
There were Polar bears.
There were Cave Bears.
There was even a bear dressed up like a Fireman. Xander liked him a lot.

Sometimes wished he had a smart red jacket and a bright yellow helmet like him.
But not today. Today he just felt thoughtful.

Xander didn’t look like any of the other bears.
He was short and dumpy.
He was black and white.
His eyes were different colours.
His fur was patchy and his nose was worn.
And the seams were STILL loose on his bottom.

Also, Xander had only one arm. All the other bears had two.
(Even old Yellow Bear).
Xander couldn’t even remember where he had left it. Maybe it left him. Or maybe he was just made that way.

Sometimes Xander felt sad because he was different.
But not today. Today he just felt thoughtful.

Xander sat and rocked and thought of how very different all the bears were from each other, and how Daisy loved each and every one of them.

It didn’t matter to Daisy that some were BIG.
Or small.
Or smiley.
Or sad.
Or brown.
Or yellow.
Or even black-and-white.

She didn’t mind if her bears were Grizzly, Koala-ry, Polary or dressed-up like Firemen.

And she loved one-armed, odd-eyed, loose-bottomed bears the best of all. That’s why Xander the Panda was allowed to sit in her favourite chair.
Rocking back and forth.
Thinking.
About how lucky he was.
To be Daisy’s SPECIAL bear.

END