Short Story 28 : The Last Night In The Shop

The Last Night In The Shop

                                         - T ABRAHAM

    It was only Liddy and the white teddy bear who were left in the shop. The month of December has already arrived and Christmas was coming shortly. The store had begun to take orders through the e-commerce stores. It was on the day before Christmas the store had received an order for the white teddy bear. The employee who needs to pack the teddy bear was on leave and the teddy bear was taken away from the table where it was kept for sale. They need to deliver the order to an agent by tomorrow afternoon. It was the last day for the teddy bear with Liddy.

(SOURCE: AI GENERATED IMAGE)

    ‘Finally, you are not going to be left all alone in the shop. Someone has bought you and we will be bidding our goodbyes tomorrow’, said Liddy to the white teddy bear. Liddy did not feel worried about parting ways and neither did the white teddy bear.
    Liddy narrated their two years of existence inside this shop and how they were able to see the human race who came in and went everyday. And this was the first time they did not see the customer but would be packed and sent directly to their residence.
    The white teddy bear was very joyous as it was not the last one to leave the store in idleness. Liddy was not worried about being the last one left all alone without any companion but she knew that soon she will lose the autonomy over herself once a loving family is willing to buy her. Only Liddy was desirous to enter a royal family as she was one among the costliest teddy bears found in the town. Even though the region is not being ruled by any king, the family of the royal lineage was residing near the house next to the shop.
    ‘Soon a baby girl will be born to them and they would need a teddy bear’, said Liddy to herself. Then morning came, but an unexpected thing had happened. The order for the white teddy bear was suddenly cancelled and a customer came to the store that afternoon with a bill from an online shopping website. It was the customer who had placed the order and had cancelled it abruptly.
    ‘Can I get the teddy bear?’, asked a middle-aged woman. Immediately the package was handed over to her and she paid the price of the white teddy bear in cash and went home happily.
    Liddy had heard the words of the woman. It was something to do with the quality of the teddy bear. She asked the shop’s owner whether there was an option to return the teddy bear and she had also mentioned that, the online merchant did not have the return and replace window for the teddy bear. The shop owner immediately agreed and she took the white teddy bear with her.
    Liddy knew that the teddy bear would not be returned as it was flawless and also a beautiful one.