Maddie's Bear

Any child who passed by the shop of Schultz in New York City couldn’t help but stop at the front window display. In contrast to the rest of the city, the radiant bear featured there gleamed pure white. A single red ribbon donned his neck, and he was surrounded by evergreens and poinsettias. A pile of gifts lay wrapped at his feet, but every boy and girl who passed that window felt as if the true present was already unwrapped—just waiting to have his huggable, plush stuffing squeezed in appreciation. 

Children often wandered into the toy shop around Christmas time. Many were initially attracted to the shop by the white bear, but many left with trains, yoyos and peppermints that caught their eye long after the bear had faded from memory. And so, while the white bear was admired and recognized by children from each of the five boroughs, he had never been truly loved by anyone. Instead of a toy belonging to one child, he became a mascot of sorts—an icon of the store who’s owner wouldn’t allow any sticky-fingered child to handle his soft, white fur.

Before long, the bear developed a sense that he was better than the other toys in the shop. He felt a great sense of worth sitting in the front display window behind glass—untouchable and beautiful for all to adore. He stared boldly at children of all kinds: girls, boys, poor, wealthy, black, Hispanic, white, Asian. Each child had a language, a style, a set of clothing all his own. And beyond that—some children gazed at him thoughtfully, while others breezed into the shop with barely a glance. There really are all different kinds of people in the world, mused the bear in the window. 

Many years went by before the bear realized he was missing something. Until this point, he had spent each Christmas season curious about the world around him. But now—despite the clusters of people that surrounded his window and the hundreds of toys in the shop behind him—he realized he was desperately lonely. 

The white bear had never truly belonged to anyone. Not the owner who had come into the shop daily for the last twenty years. Not the Polish lady who dusted and maintained his snow-white appearance at the beginning of each new day. Not the children who came in and out of the shop.

 As soon as he realized this simple truth, the bear ached with longing. Suddenly, each new child who stopped to look in the window took on new significance. The bear searched their eyes. But it was rare to find a child who looked him in the eye with the same level of needing to belong. When would his child come? 

Each brown bag that left the store filled the bear’s heart with envy. Yet another toy had found the boy or girl to whom it could belong. Even candy was readily enjoyed by the children. But the bear passed another two Christmases sitting in the window—separated from the world by a thick pane of glass. 

The winter of the following year started the way all years did. He was taken from his box, brushed and dusted. The windows were scrubbed until they gleamed. The white bear had been on display for a brief three days when everything changed. A young, rascally boy slipped behind the evergreen trees in the window to enjoy a stolen chocolate bar. The white bear watched as the boy eagerly ate each bite, licking his fingers. The boy finished off the last bit of chocolate just in time. 

“Renzo!” The boy’s mother called as she searched up and down the aisles. 

The boy called Renzo looked around quickly, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Then, realizing the dark stain would immediately give him away, he wiped his chocolate-covered hand on the back of the bear and jumped down to the store level to rejoin his mother. The candy wrapper lay crumpled next to the soiled bear he had left behind.

  The bear was horrified. He felt the rays of the sun drying and baking the chocolate stain into his glorious white fur, filling him with shame and stealing any hope he had of ever belonging to anyone. He remembered other toys who had broken in the past—and the dumpster out back where they met their end. 

Rather than proudly meeting the eye of each child now, trying to look white and pure—the bear felt like shrinking into the shadows. Each child filled him with anxiety. Would they notice his stain? Would they tell the owner? What would he do when the cleaning woman came to inspect his fur?

Instead of passing quickly, the afternoon dragged by painfully. The clock in the store seemed so much louder than it ever had before—ticking off slow seconds, adding to his dread. 

At last, the store closed. The time had come. Of course, the Polish woman’s sharp eyes immediately detected the stain. Her cleaning products couldn’t remove the damage that had happened hours before. So she grabbed the bear with a firm hand to show the stain to the owner. 

The conversation to get rid of the bear took place very briefly. The matter was completely decided in a few minutes. The bear was sent to the storage room and stuffed into a plain cardboard box in the corner—his replacement put in the window before the cleaning staff left for the night. 

The cardboard box flaps closed over the bear’s head, shutting out all light. He didn’t realize they would not open again for another three years. During those years, the bear grew dull. Just as his white color took on a layer of dust and grime from the storage room corner, so his mind took on a layer of soot making him feel worthless. No longer proud or pure—the bear forgot he had ever made children happy. His purpose seemed to disappear as soon as the chocolate had touched his fur. One terribly swift action had tarnished the bear and ruined his future in a single moment. 

But a different moment was coming that would again forever alter the bear—a moment he never could have expected. 

The men and women who worked in the shop often came through the storage room. But none had touched his little corner in all the years he had been gathering dust. He had grown used to the idea that no one would come near his box. 

But one Christmas season, an elderly woman humming softly to herself pulled open the stubborn flaps of the bear’s box. She rummaged through the packing peanuts stuffed all around him and stared in surprise at the bear she uncovered. 

“Why, my goodness! This is him—the famed Schultz bear! Why on earth are you back here?” Her skillful fingers fluffed his stuffing while gently removing the dust of the years from his once-fine fur. As soon as she turned the bear over, her eyes fell immediately on the chocolate stain. 

“Oh, I see. You’ve been stained.” Peering through her glasses, the elderly woman smiled gently. “Nothing a bit of love can’t change,” she concluded. 

She set the bear down and left the room as suddenly as she had come. 

No, no, no! You can’t leave me in here! thought the bear in desperation. I’ll never get out of this room without you! 

The frightened bear needn’t have worried, for the woman flew back just a short time later. 

“Well, that’s settled. You are to come home with me. Orders from the top!” The woman smiled at the bear as if she had just gained a wonderful treasure instead of a musty-smelling, chocolate-stained bear who had long ago been rejected.

“Just wait until Maddie sees you. She won’t know what to do with herself—she’ll be delighted!”

That very evening, the Schultz bear was scrubbed from top to bottom. Soaps, brushes and blowdryer were used to transform this once-forgotten toy into something beautiful again. The chocolate stain never did quite come out, but it faded enough to satisfy both the elderly lady and the bear himself. 

A brand new ribbon was tied around his neck. This one was a brilliant silver that captured the moon’s light as the lady worked by her laundry room window. 

She stepped back at last, pleased with her work. The bear himself felt as good as he had the first year in the store’s display window—even better if that were possible! 

The last thing the lady did was wrap the bear carefully into a box. Not just any box—a Christmas gift box with a tag that read, “For my Maddie. All my love, Grandma. Merry Christmas!”  

How different this box felt when it closed! Instead of the painful feelings of rejection he had felt in the storage room, the bear was filled with anticipation—knowing soon he would belong to a little girl named Maddie. 

The next morning, underneath the humble Christmas tree of a cleaning woman from New York, a few precious gifts lay wrapped and waiting. 

Little Maddie bounded through the door and threw her arms around her grandma. With the blast of cold wind and winter snow that accompanied her came warmth, joy and love. The poorly lit apartment seemed to brighten with the little girl’s presence, for she was filled with the same spirit as her grandma. 

The box where the bear lay remained the last one under the tree. “The most special gift,” said Grandma to Maddie. 

Maddie tore off the paper and the lid, clasping her hands together with delight as soon as she saw the snow-white bear. The little bear never knew such an explosion of happiness and love that filled his heart. Maddie held him close to her face, kissing him and holding him tightly. The soapy smell of his fur made her smile, and she ran her finger appreciatively along his silver ribbon. 

“Oh, Grandma. Thank you so much! He is perfect! Wherever did you find him?” Maddie asked. 

The bear’s heart raced as he wondered what Grandma would say. Would she mention his chocolate stain? Would she say he was just discarded trash? 

“He was tucked away, waiting for me to come along at the right time. He’s been in the store all along! And now he belongs to you.” 

The bear was filled to bursting with joy. At last—he belonged. His last surprise of the day was when Maddie decided he needed a name. And from then on, he was no longer “the Schultz bear” or even “the white bear.” He was Addison, and he belonged to Maddie.