Shanatays Little Teddy

Retold by: Jerome Hurt

Shanatays Little Teddy

Once upon a time in a faraway land in a small kingdom, lived a king, a
queen, many villagers, and a few brave knights. One day a princess
named Shanatay was born. Although an ordinary child, there was
something remarkably special about Shanatay. When she smiled,
everyone in the room smiled with her. Her smiles were contagious.
She was born a simple, loving child.

During the princess's childhood the village came under repeated

attack by fierce dragons. The dragons were such evil and unhappy
creatures that they could not stand that the villagers were such happy
people. The dragons and the brave knights did battle again and again,
until there were only a few of each remaining. Their numbers so
drastically reduced, neither side could find the energy to bring an end
to the other and so, in time, it became a standoff.

When Shanatay was four years old, an evil dragon tried to take the
princess away from her home. The dragon had scared the princess
badly. For weeks she cried alone in bed each night, but nobody could
help her shake this fear she had of dragons.
Finally, the king asked the court wizard if he might find a cure. The
wizard thought and thought, and finally came up with a wonderful
idea. He told the king that he was going to give the princess a teddy
bear to help her feel safe at night, and that he would endow this bear
with magic powers. This bear would be able to walk, talk and to hug.
The bear could hold the princess at night and ease her fears. The
wizard told the king that the bear would be as strong as her love for
him. The king was ecstatic.

The princess loved the little bear, and held him close and told him how
much she loved him. The bear seemed to move a little within her
arms, and all was well.
That night the princess took the teddy to bed with her. She held the
bear close and loved it with all her might. For the first time in weeks,
she fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. She slept
soundly for a while and then woke up screaming once again. The
teddy bear reached around her, and held the princess in his furcovered little arms and said, "You have nothing to fear, I am here to
protect you, and I love you, Princess." The princess fell back to sleep
with a smile on her face and never had bad dreams again.

As the years went by the princess grew, as princesses are apt to do,
she began to outgrow childish fears. Her need to hold the teddy bear
decreased and more and more often she left him sitting beside,
instead of on the bed. As her needs waned, so did the strength of her
love. The teddy bear became more and more sluggish. Finally, he could
no longer talk and was barely able to walk, but he never complained,
for he loved the princess.

Now, the teddy was a good sort, as teddies usually are. He was kind,
loving, and especially forgiving. He did not understand why his

princess had forsaken him and thought that maybe he had done
something bad. He did not know what this bad thing was, but
eventually became consumed with the idea that he was a bad teddy
bear and was hurt. He kept mumbling this word over and over.
Although not quite clearly spoken, he said it so many times that soon
he became known as Hurt throughout the village. Eventually, the
princess outgrew Hurt. As her love diminished, so did Hurt's magic.
Finally, he became what the wizard had predicted, a big lump of fur
just like every other teddy bear in the land.
In time, the princess moved to a new and bigger room befitting a
woman of her stature. Her childhood toys and Hurt were left behind.
The little teddy remembered and was sad, not for himself, but for the
princess. He had known her when she was full of the life, hope, love
and energy of childhood. Now she was happy as an adult but, like all
other humans, had lost something in growing up. He could never have
found a way to put it into words even if he could speak, but he shed
many a tear while thinking of how sad it was to watch her lose the
innocence of childhood.

Many years passed and Hurt was now locked in the princess's
childhood bedroom gathering dust, but still he loved her and
remembered.

One day, a horrible thing happened. A giant dragon, over fifty feet tall,
came to the village. He spied the princess, remembered her from long
ago and stole her away to his cave many miles away.

There he kept her prisoner as he would keep a pet. In the meantime,

the king gathered together the entire village looking for someone to
save his daughter, but there were few knights left and most were past
their prime, for many had been killed during the dragon wars. The king
offered his kingdom and his daughter's hand in marriage to the one
knight who would save the princess. The few remaining knights then
set out with dreams in their heads of the king's offer, never to return.
None were a match for the mighty fire-breathing dragon.

The king was left with no one to save his daughter. He would have
tried himself, had he not been so old and feeble. He went to the room
of her childhood, to remember and to cry for her, for he knew that his
daughter was lost forever. As he sat on her bed with tears flowing
down his cheek, he repeated over and over again that there was no
one left to save his daughter from the dragon. The king looked up and
could not believe his eyes. In the chair across the room, Hurt was
trying to rise. He had lain there so long that even the king had
forgotten about him. As the king watched, the little bear fell out of the
chair and began dragging himself towards the door.

The king said, "Little bear, friend of my daughter, where are you
going?" But the little bear could not speak, so he kept going. The king
squatted down in front of him and said again, "Where are you going,
my little friend?" Again, the bear could not speak, but the king saw the
most marvelous thing. There were tears streaming from Hurt's eyes.
Remembering the tears in his own eyes, and the reason for them, the
king understood. He said, "Little bear, I know you love the princess
and you want to save her, but you are too small. Brave knights ten
times your size have tried and failed. How could you succeed where
they have failed? Don't you realize you will die?"
Since the little bear could not speak, he said nothing, but kept
dragging himself toward the door. The king, knowing the bear had no
chance, felt something begin to stir in his heart. He realized that this
little bear would die, but also that he was a very brave little bear. The
king, in a moment of kindness, made an offer to the little teddy: that
he could have his kingdom if he saved the princess. The bear shook his
head in a manner that the king interpreted as a dismissal of the
reward. The king asked, "Why then?" One look into the teddy's eyes

was enough for the king to understand. The king offered to at least
have a suit of armor made for him, but the teddy refused, indicating
he had no time to waste.
The king brought over a beautiful sword, the hilt of which was covered
with beautiful rubies and other precious stones. The teddy just shook
his head no. The king was flabbergasted. To explain, the teddy tried to
pick up the sword and the king realized that Hurt could not lift it. So
the king brought the teddy a small sword, the smallest in the land.

This, the teddy took with him. The king asked if the bear would need a
horse. Teddy just stood there and the king realized that Teddy was too
small to ride a horse, much less get on and off. All of this made the
king say to the bear, "I love my daughter, and if there was a chance, I
would let you go, but you are too small and the dragon too big. Stay
here and be safe, no one will think less of you." In response, the teddy
dragged himself out the castle door.

Everyone expected him to stop at any moment, but he kept going.

Closer and closer he got to the dragon's cave. A few of the kinder souls
began telling him it was all right to turn back now, that he had proven
his bravery, but the little bear just kept moving towards the dragon's
lair.
Finally, he approached the valley. He could see the dragon in the
distance. The dragon had the princess grasped in one giant meaty
claw.

As they saw this, the villagers began to turn back, but Hurt continued
advancing towards the dragon. In spite of their fears, the villagers

turned and continued to follow the little bear. As the little bear began
to approach the giant dragon, the dragon began to laugh, as did some
of the villagers.
The dragon said, "Turn away, little bear. You are not even a snack, and
if you get too close, I will burn your fur." The little bear continued
walking towards the dragon, never hesitating for a second.
When she saw this, the princess, bless her soul, began begging the
little bear to turn around, prompting a few of the villagers to join in
her request, but the bear kept coming. The little bear came to a small
stream, one which any man or knight could have jumped across, but
the little bear had short legs and had to swim across. Climbing out on
the other side, looking like a wet towel, with his fur all soaked and
hanging straight down, he continued with determination. The dragon
threatened to burn the bear again, but the little bear kept on coming.
Finally, the dragon turned and blew fire on the little bear. The little
bear cringed, but did not run.
The dragon blew flames until he had none left, at which point the
princess began to cry. The villagers, seeing nothing but flames and
smoke, began to turn back, thinking that the little bear had died
foolishly. Then, suddenly, someone cried out, "He is alive! The little
bear is still alive!"

As the smoke cleared, they could all see that indeed Hurt had
survived. His fur was scorched and smoking, but the fact that he had

been forced to swim across the stream had saved his life, because all
the water trapped in his fur had prevented the flames from setting
him on fire. They all cried for the little bear to come back home with
them but, fur scorched and smoking, the little bear began walking
once more towards the dragon.
They could not believe it. The little bear was going to attack. How
foolish could he be? The little bear approached the dragon. Barely
reaching the dragon's ankles, the bear kept coming. The dragon said,
"Little bear, run home, or I will send you flying," but the little bear was
not intimidated by these threats. The dragon kicked the little bear
with his giant dragon foot, sending him crashing through the trees.

Once more, the villagers turned away headed for town, and the
princess began to cry, while the dragon just laughed. Again, the
villagers stopped in surprise as they heard a noise coming from the
trees ahead of them. A few branches moved aside, and from the
brambles emerged the little teddy, his fur scorched, dragging one leg,
one arm now hanging uselessly by his side, but still alive.
The villagers rejoiced and the princess cried tears of happiness until
Hurt started walking towards the dragon again. The villagers were
crying and begging the teddy to stop, "Please, no more." The princess

was crying once again. The dragon just laughed louder and called him
a dumb little bear. The teddy staggered towards the dragon. The
dragon threatened him once again. He said, "This time, I am going to
kick you twice as far." But the little bear kept coming, and the dragon
kicked him over a hundred yards.
The princess and all the villagers were now in tears, but the dragon
just laughed. Many began to wonder at their own cowardice. How was
it that a little teddy bear had more courage than all of them put
together? What had happened to turn them into cowards? Then, the
realization that the little teddy was finally dead sank in and they
began to walk the long road home once again. Unbelievably, up
ahead, a small lump of fur next to the road began to stir. Could it be,
was it possible? No, it could not be, but the little teddy was still alive!
Everyone was amazed when they saw Hurt trying to stand, there was
so much damage to his little body. It was amazing that he was still
alive at all. One of the villagers, a small boy, had to help him to his
feet, because with a hurt leg and a broken arm, the little teddy could
not find the leverage to stand. The villagers saw with relief that the
little teddy was facing away from the dragon. He had finally come to
his senses and they could all go home now. But the little teddy turned,
staggered and nearly fell but, once again, he faced the dragon.

Some of the villagers tried to stop him but couldn't. Finally, they stood
aside to let him pass. There were no more jeers and no one laughed.

Many cried in shame and regret. But the little teddy paid no attention
to their crying. He just kept walking ahead.

Nearly doubling over, the dragon continued

to laugh aloud. This was just too much fun.
This little bear was the most fun that he'd
had in years. The dragon began threatening
the little bear again. He said, "Little bear, this time I am going to crush
you under my foot like a grape." The princess begged Teddy to stop
and to go back. All the adult emotions had left her; once more she was
a child. Her love for the little bear was back and with it, the little
bear's strength gradually returned. If he was lucky, maybe he could
walk all the way to the dragon before he would collapse.
Hurt raised his sword over his head and prepared to attack. With this,
the dragon raised a giant foot into the air, preparing to crush the little
bear.

As the dragon's foot started to come down it changed direction and

missed its intended target. They could hear the dragon yelling and
howling. The little boy who had helped Hurt get up had begun
throwing rocks at the dragon.
As the dragon turned from the bear to the little boy and began to
advance, someone else began to throw rocks at the dragon from
behind and forced the dragon to turn in that direction. Before long,
rocks were coming from all directions at once. The villagers had

overcome their fear

and had learned a
lesson from the
little bear. The
dragon became
disoriented. He was
so mad he could
not decide whom
to kill first. So he
stood there
snarling, snapping
and turning his
head back and
forth as each rock
hit him.
All at once there
was a bloodcurdling scream. The dragon howled in mortal agony. It seems that
while the villagers had distracted the dragon, the little teddy had
climbed up the spines on the dragon's back and had planted his little
sword through the dragon's throat. In his pain, the dragon dropped
the princess, who was caught by the villagers below and they at once
ran with her to safety. The mighty dragon that so many had feared for
so long, fell down dead with a thunderous crash that could be heard
for miles around.
The villagers rejoiced. They danced with happiness and merriment.
The king, who despite his old age, had finally managed to reach the
scene of the battle, was beside himself with joy when he heard the
news that the dragon had been slain and his daughter was safe. But
when he came upon the princess, she was in tears. "Why are you
crying, my daughter," asked the king. "The dragon is dead and you
have been freed."
"Where is Teddy? Has anyone seen Hurt? Where is he?" cried the
princess. The king in turn asked the villagers the same question. The
villagers looked around, and then realized what had happened. When
the dragon fell dying, he had toppled over on Hurt. Just then, the little
boy began to scream for help. He was down next to the dragon's feet.
When the villagers arrived, they saw one small, battered, slightly
burned paw sticking out from under the dragon. The paw was
quivering; the little bear was obviously dying. The villagers quickly
gathered ropes and branches to create leverage to free the little bear.
Once he was freed, they laid him on the ground. There was not much
left, and he was not breathing. He had a broken arm and a broken leg,

his fur blackened from the fire and covered in mud and dragon's
blood. There was no way this little bear could possibly be alive. The
king began to cry as he thought of the brave little bear who risked so
much to save his daughter. The villagers also began to cry, and finally
the princess knelt over the little bear with tears running down her face
and hugged him tightly while she said, "I love you." Hurt opened one
eye lid and said, " I love you too, Shanatay."

When the princess said, "I love you", magic occurred and the little
bear was saved. The words "I love you" had saved the little bear's life,
and something else magical happened. Little teddy bears started
appearing in the homes of children around the world. Teddy bears
have become the protectors of children, and the children make the
teddy bears come to life by saying, "I love you".

THE MORAL OF THE STORY

You don't have to be big and powerful to change the world. One
person can change the world, by having the courage to lead by
example.

I dont know what the future holds but I want you in mine.

You are everything I want an more.