Abigail pushed open the door at the back of the supermarket and blinked. The lights were dim but she could see rows and rows of shelves and they were all filled with…. ‘Food…’ breathed Abigail, running her paw over a stack of tins. ‘There’s food everywhere!’ Padding quickly down the aisle she started to run towards a huge pile of chocolate bars. ‘Grigs would love these!’ She glanced at her bag, it wasn’t nearly big enough and she’d lost the other ones when she’d climbed into the window. What was she going to do? Near the shelves were some tall wire box looking things on wheels. They looked just like the picture on the screen when they ordered food at home. ‘Trolley,’ said Abigail happily to herself, ‘Thats’s a trolley. I’ll just fill it up and get it delivered.’ She wasn’t quite sure how she would get it delivered but she was sure she could work it out. Reaching up on the tips of her paws she tried to push the handle but she wasn’t tall enough. This was going to be tricky, trolleys weren’t made for bears.
Picking up a pile of the chocolate bars, she leant back, then with a heave threw them as hard as she could up into the air. A few went in over the wire but lots fell back down hard onto the floor and she ducked. Brushing them crossly off of the top of her head and stepping over them, she pushed the trolley forward. There was so much to choose from. Gathering up some more chocolate she tossed it up into the air again. This time most of it went in, she was getting the hang of this.
The next aisle was full of tins with pictures of food on them. Abigail tapped them with her claw, it was hard to get things out of tins, they had some at home. She didn’t really want tins. With a sniff she pushed the trolly forward again. Where were the cakes? Turning the corner she stopped suddenly. Licking her lips she leant forward and her eyes went wide. She had never known there could be so many cakes in one place! When she chose them from the polars laptop, there was only one in every picture, but here there were hundreds. Boxes and boxes of cakes. Orange cake, chocolate cake, lemon cake, fruit cake, vanilla cake.. Hurrying forward she started to throw them into the trolley.
It was getting very late and Abigail yawned. Glancing back she looked at the trail of packets of food, tins and cakes on the floor. It did look a bit messy, but shopping was hard when you only had paws. She was sure no one would notice. Things fell off shelves all the time she was sure of it. The trolley was very full now and very hard to push. It wouldn’t go where she wanted it to at all and she kicked the wheels. Stupid thing. Perhaps she should find somewhere to hide it, she was sure she could find a way in the morning to get it delivered. It was far too big to get on the bus.
Looking up at the shelves she wondered if she could squeeze in and hide for the night. A little nap would be lovely, she was very tired. She wondered what the others were doing and if they knew she was gone. Guiltily she pushed the thought aside. She’d be back in the morning she was sure of it, she just needed to find the right bus. She seemed to have lost the piece of paper with the number written on it. Pushing the trolley into a corner, she looked for somewhere to hide. Here? Climbing up onto a shelf she pushed some tins aside and looked out. No this wasn’t comfy at all. Clambering down again she padded into the next aisle. The shelves here didn’t seem to be full of food but had towels and cushions on them. They looked very comfy. Climbing up again carefully, she patted them with her paw. The towels were very soft and fluffy. Pushing them aside she wriggled towards the back. No one would find her here. Pulling a cushion towards her she put one of the towels along the shelf and laid another over her as a blanket. It was very quiet and dark. With a sigh she curled up and closed her eyes, thinking happily of which cake to choose for breakfast.
Patrick pushed open the kitchen door. Sitting on the table outlined by the dim blue light of the laptop was Preston. Beside him he had a small piece of paper and a pencil.
‘What are you doing?’ asked Patrick, rubbing his eyes and yawning.
‘Couldn’t sleep,’ mumbled Preston, ‘I was just double checking the times of the first bus.’
‘I couldn’t really sleep either,’ said Patrick, sitting down beside him with a sigh, ‘I just hope she’s in the supermarket and we haven’t lost her. What time’s the first one? Let me see.’ He leant around the edge of the laptop.
Preston tapped the piece of paper, ‘Six o clock, that’s only four hours.’
‘Hmm..’ Patrick tapped some of the keys.
‘Stop checking, I’ve got it right,’ snapped Preston.
‘Hmm..’ said Patrick again, ‘always better to double check.’ Getting to his paws he jumped down and opened the fridge. ‘May as well stay up now, do you want a sandwich?’
Preston nodded. ‘Yes please, we need to keep our strength up.’
With her head on a cushion and wrapped in the fluffy towel Abigail slept soundly. Every now and then her paw twitched and she snored softly. She loved supermarkets…
Tales by a bear 