A
Teddy Bear Story
Part 4 
Sebastian flapped his way into
their little cabin where Peter was sleeping soundly (as all
little bears do!). “Wake up Peter, wake up!“ gabbled Sebastian.
“Come with me, there is a giant coathanger above our ship. Come
and look, come and look!“ cried Sebastian.
Peter was dreaming - he was walking
through the snow, lovely and cool in the forest. Everything was
cloaked in white and the birds were singing songs he knew. “Giant
coathangers? What have giant coathangers to do with my lovely
dream of home?“ thought Peter sleepily. He blinked one eye open
and struggled to remember where he was. „“Oh yes“, thought Peter,
“I‘m on a big cruise ship, sailing to Australia with my friend
Sebastian Goose.“
“Good morning Sebastian“, smiled
Peter. “What is all this about a giant coathanger?“ Sebastian
flapped and waddled his way to the cabin door. “Peter, you are
such a sleepy head! Hurry now, you must see this, it really must
be a giant coathanger, I have never seen anything like it.“ “Can
I have breakfast first?“ laughed Peter. One look from Sebastian
was enough to tell Peter that breakfast was going to have to wait.
“Follow me“ was all Peter heard as Sebastrian made an ungainly
goosely dash out of the cabin.
Peter followed Sebastian up
the three flights of stairs to the main deck. Peter loved
to watch Sebastian going up stairs – a big flap, a jump and
a scramble and then another big flap as he got ready to make
the hop up to the next step. And Sebastian‘s incessant Honk!
Honk! made sure the other passengers cleared a path for the
two friends. As he made his way out into the throng of other
passengers, he looked out on the most spectacular sight he had
ever seen. Their ship had docked in Sydney overnight and, to
Peter, it felt as though they were in the very centre of the
city. In all directions there seemed to be huge buildings looking
down onto their ship. Sebastian pointed his wing to the
sky above and said, “Look, look! – tell me what you see!“ Peter
looked up and was astonished to see just what Sebastian had
described – a gant coathanger!
Peter tugged the sleeve of Mr
Hewitt, the ship Steward, who was standing nearby. “Excuse me,
Mr Hewitt, can you tell me what that is?“
Mr Hewitt looked down to see who had him
by the arm.
“Good morning Peter, good morning Sebastian,
how are my two favourite passengers this morning?“ said Mr Hewitt,
flashing his famous smile. “What do you think of my home city?
Isn‘t it a sight to see?“
“Oh yes, it‘s lovely, Mr Hewitt“, piped up
Sebastian, “but why is that coathanger above our ship?“ Mr Hewitt
looked up, following Peter‘s pointing paw.
Mr Hewitt chuckled. “That‘s not
a coathanger, that‘s the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Isn‘t it beautiful?
It is one arch that spreads right across the Harbour – thousands
of people use it every day to get to and from the city.“ As Peter
looked again he could see cars and, could it be...a train!, all
heading into the centre of the city.
Though Sebastian was pleased to
find out what it was, he was sure that Peter was as disappointed
as he to find their giant coathanger was just a bridge!! Mr Hewitt
knelt down and reached out to Peter.
“Have you thought any more about my offer?
We have the whole day in Sydney and since it is my hometown, I
can show you two around the city before the ship leaves to go
back to Europe tomorrow.“
Peter looked at Sebastian. Though
they had discussed Mr. Hewitt‘s offer a few days earlier, they
still hadn‘t agreed on what they would do when they finally landed
in Australia. “Well Sebastian, what do you think?“ Sebastian was
deep in thought. Finally, he decided.
“I think..... I think that a city that builds
bridges that look like giant coathangers will probably have lots
of new and interesting things to see. So let‘s go see them. Mr
Hewitt is our friend, and it will be nice to be with someone who
is always so happy.“
©2001
Creative Dreams
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