The Story of Thomas the Bear
Hello there! My name is Father Bob, and I am the Vicar at St Thomas of Canterbury Church. Many is the time I have been asked about my little friend, Thomas the Bear, so I have decided to tell his story here.
Thomas the Bear was born in the wilds of
I first met him on a cold and snowy winter's night when he appeared on my doorstep. He was shivering with the cold and clutching a tiny suitcase. I invited him in and set him in front of the fire to thaw out. He drank three cups of hot tea laced with honey, and he told me that he couldn't remember how he got here. He remembered seeing the lights of the Vicarage, and stumbled up the drive seeking shelter.
That night, we made up a small bed on the floor of the airing cupboard - the warmest place in the house. He slept for three days and nights before emerging bleary-eyed and sleepy, but claiming he felt much better. We were curious to see what was contained in Thomas the Bear's little suitcase, but typically he had lost the key. Eventually we managed to open the lock, and to our surprise, we found it contained no clothes or other belongings. Inside the suitcase there were just six empty jars that had once contained honey. These turned out to be his only possessions. |
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That was five years ago, and he seems to have taken up permanent residence at the Vicarage, still sleeping in the airing cupboard, and emerging only to raid the larder for honey.
From time to time, he ventures out to accompany me to church - although he hides in the vestry if anyone else appears. But his favourite outing is to come with me to visit the children at St. Thomas' Infant School. Being of a nervous disposition, he is rather scared of older children, but he is very much at home with small children, provided they don't try to grab him! He is also very wary of some of the teachers, preferring to stay with me during assemblies. But he is, for some reason, very fond of the head-teacher, Mrs L'Estrange, who he finds is rather sympathetic towards him.
He is generally quite well-behaved - especially when he is asleep, which is most of the time! But there are times when he can be extremely naughty, and can get himself, and me, into a great deal of trouble. He is very excited at the prospect of having his own web-page on the Infant School website, and this will give us the opportunity to tell for the first time some of the Adventures of Thomas the Bear!
So watch this space!