Teddy Bear Time

When a visitor to Bearborough last
year forgot to put on her watch, she
asked some local bears the time and
she got some strange answers.
"Half past three," the bear who sells
fruit and vegetables said, glancing up
at the Town Hall clock.

"A quarter to nine," the bear in the
bakery replied, looking at the clock
high on the church.
"Nine minutes after fi ve," the bear
who sells ice cream on the corner of the
main street said, peering at the clock in
front of the train station.
You have probably guessed that all
the clocks in Bearborough were wrong.
That was because old Mr Minim, the
only clock mender in town, had become
a little shaky on his legs. Although fi t
and well in every other way, he simply
could not face climbing up a ladder to
mend clocks high up.
As you can imagine, the clocks really
were a problem. The trains were never
on time, and the shopkeepers didn't
know when to open their shops.
Then, one day, Bearborough had
two very special visitors. They were
bears called Alfred and his friend
Jumble-who was an elephant! Now
most bears in Bearborough had never
seen an elephant before, so they all
gathered round. And the elephant,
pleased to show off his size and strength,
wrapped his trunk around each of the
little bears in turn and lifted them up
high, squealing with excitement.


"Excuse me, Jumble," said Mr
Minim, tapping him lightly on the toe
with his walking stick. "Could you lift a
grown-up bear, like me, for example?"
In seconds, Mr Minim found
himself dangling above the crowd, yet
he felt as safe as if he was standing on
fi rm ground.
And that is why, if you visit
Bearborough these days, all the clocks
are exactly right, for Jumble visits every
twelve months, and Mr Minim always
says that's the highlight of his year!

Taken from My Treasury of Five Minute Stories, 2000