Sea Teddy

I found Sea Teddy one cold, stormy afternoon a few months ago at my 'sit spot'. He was in the water, drenched, dirty and covered in seaweed; so much so the poor chap was barely visible amongst all the other debris. I had no camera at the time, but trust me, you would not have enjoyed a picture anyway - the scene was heart-wrenching. And, as always seems to be the case with me, it made no difference at all that he was 'not even real'.

The moment I spotted Sea Teddy my heart sank, my stomach churned and every cell in my body when into 'must rescue' mode. So, there I was, in the pouring rain, dragging him out of the water, up the embankment and into a little patch of long (dead) grass, where I proceeded to try and make him 'comfortable' and so leave him there. It was a rather pathetic effort, pretty humorous and utterly hopeless. And there was really no way at all that I was going to be able to walk away and just leave him there.

So...home he came, heavy and dripping in a plastic bag and into the washing machine for a high temperature wash, de-bug etc. A few days later he emerged dry and....still looking pretty worse for wear. I didn't know what to 'do' with him, and I pondered. I came to the conclusion that he was still 'not fit for purpose' and so, my only resort was to dispose of him somehow. Several unsatisfactory options (and days) later I was still getting nowhere. Should he stay or should he go? Then my daughter came home, and that was it. Sea Teddy was immediately loved and cherished, bald patches, stains and all. There was no disposing of him now! So, then what?

Well, Sea Teddy has lived in a bit of a limbo in the flat since then, perched awkwardly in various precarious places round my little space, not really finding a proper niche or resting place. Bit of a refugee really. Bless him. And now, finally I know why!! It looks like Sea Teddy might be destined to go on a big adventurous journey, joining his friend Little Blue on a vitally important mission. [ See recent posts by Teleologous to see what I mean]. It is most exciting indeed.

Boy, am I SO glad we did not 'humanely dispose' of Sea Teddy!! And SO many life lessons in this adventure so far, and many more to come, I am certain. My daughter's first reaction was to want to keep Sea Teddy as hers, but now she knows of how important his mission is, she is on board and we are all ready to go!