Abigail woke up early. They were going to the shop today to choose her bed, she was very excited. In fact she was so excited she felt a bit dizzy. Pushing her cover aside she sat up. Ow! Her head hurt! She lay down again quickly. Perhaps she’d better stay in bed for a little while longer before she had breakfast. But she didn’t feel like breakfast! There was a fluttering in her stomach and she swallowed hard and thought firmly of chocolate cake. Nothing. She licked her lips. Still nothing, she wasn’t hungry at all. What was wrong with her?
‘Patrick..’ she called, her voice trembling, ‘Patrick!’
Both polars appeared at the door. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘I don’t feel right, my head hurts and… and.. I’m not hungry!’ She sneezed loudly.
Preston shook his head. ‘Not hungry!’ He looked at Patrick, ‘there really must be something wrong.’
Abigail groaned and pulled her cover up around her, she was very cold too. ‘Is the window open?’
Patrick put his paw on her head. ‘You’re really hot.’
Sneezing again Abigail shivered. ‘No I’m not, can I have another blanket?’
‘Oh dear,’ said Preston, backing away quickly. ‘I think you’ve caught a cold, make sure you don’t give it to us.’
Abigail was confused, she hadn’t caught anything. She’d thrown a bar of chocolate towards Grigs the other day and he’d caught it in his paws but no one had thrown anything at her. What was a cold? And how did you catch it. Maybe it was invisible. She looked around suspiciously and then under the blankets.
Patrick scampered back in with another cover and laid it over her. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Looking for the cold.’
The polar sighed, ‘you can’t see a cold Abigail, it’s something that gets inside you and makes you sick.’
Abigails eyes went wide and she put her paws on her tummy. ‘Inside me?’
‘Yes but it’s not serious, you’ll be all right in a day or so, you just need to stay in bed.’ He pulled the other cover more tightly over her and patted it down. ‘There. Preston will get you a glass of water, try to go back to sleep.’ He looked around. ‘Preston? Preston?’
There was a muffled sound from the hall. ‘I’m not coming back in, I don’t want a cold.’
Abigail sneezed again.
Having a cold was very strange. Abigail pushed and prodded her tummy but couldn’t feel anything inside her at all. Not even cake. Suppose she was never hungry again, that would be horrible. Patrick had left a glass of water beside her and a straw, she was quite thirsty. Curling up on her side she closed her eyes again. Perhaps just another little nap.
The polars sat in the kitchen, Grigs was bouncing under the table. Every now and then he bounced up extra high and hit his head. ‘Ow!’
‘Will you stop doing that,’ said Preston with a sigh, ‘you’re making the table shake.’
Grigs did it again.
‘I hope she’s all right,’ said Patrick, ‘Abigails probably not very good at staying in bed.’
Preston shrugged. ‘She’s not very good at doing anything she’s told to do, but she’s never had a cold before.’
There was a loud sneeze from upstairs, silence and then a thud.
‘Get back into bed,’ shouted Patrick, ‘I’ll bring you up a hot drink.’
Abigail looked at the mug. It had hot water, lemon and honey in it. It smelt very nice and sitting up she took a big gulp, then another. It tasted very nice too. Perhaps she was beginning to feel better. She thought hard about a chocolate cake, or a lemon one. Her ears drooped. No, nothing, she still wasn’t hungry. Laying back on the pillows again she stared at the ceiling, the stars were very pretty. It was very boring staying in bed though. She yawned and closed her eyes.
Holding out her paws Abigail flew through the sky. The stars were so shiny and she reached out a paw and pulled one towards her. It was soft and squishy. It was made of lemon! And covered in lemon icing! One of her favourites! Swooping forwards again she licked her paws and shot towards another one. Orange! This star tasted of orange. ‘Whee…’ Flipping over she flew between them, her paws out wide. ‘This is fun!’ Pushing one paw forward she hooked her claws into something hard. Chocolate! This one was made of chocolate!
‘Not all of it,’ said Grigs quickly, pulling the chocolate bar away, ‘just a little bit.’ He looked at the floor uneasily and waved his tail too and fro. ‘I thought it might make you feel better,’ he said gruffly.
‘And it was a very kind thought too,’ said Patrick padding into the room.
Abigail blinked. Where had the stars gone? Raising her paws she flapped them. She’d been flying she was sure of it.
‘You were dreaming Abigail,’ said Patrick patiently.
‘And shouting ‘Whee’ a lot,’ said Preston, peering around the door. ‘We could hear you all over the house.’
Abigail looked up at the stars on the ceiling crossly, she was sure she hadn’t been dreaming. Putting her paws under the covers so that no one could see she flapped them gently again. No, nothing, she wasn’t flying any more.
Patrick put his paw on her head again. ‘You’ve been sleeping for most of the day, and you don’t feel as hot. I think you’re getting a bit better. By tomorrow you can probably get up again.’
Turning over Abigail pulled the covers up around her. ‘Thank you,’ she said, ‘I’ve never had a cold before.’ Laying her head on her paws she sniffed. Her paw smelt of lemon! She sniffed the other one. Orange! She was sure of it. Looking up at the stars she smiled and closed her eyes.
Tales by a bear 