“How utterly degrading,” Barney moaned, his pride crushed by the image of himself propped in the middle of the roundabout with a stubby of beer, dangling out of his mouth. His nostrils twitched under the stench of the stale malt overpowering the smell of his own, wet fur.
“They’ve abandoned me!” He declared, choking on his words as the broken bottle ripped into his lower lip. His amber eyes began to well with tears as the realization set in, that he was no longer wanted. Barney had never cried before but he knew what was happening to him because he’d seen Tahlia shed tears, many times, especially when she was a little girl.
‘Zoom!’ A car whizzed past; the sound of its exhaust loudly rattled as it spun around the roundabout. Young lads hung out the car windows. Crudely they laughed and jeered at Barney who sat mortified. Stuck, unable to move. “Suck on that Teddy Bear!” One lad yelled, thrusting his empty bottle of beer right in the direction of Barney. “Knock yourself out!” The driver of the menacing vehicle, yahooed, while abusively he banged hard upon the horn. The sound of torment was immediately joined by an echo of chaotic, horn blowing on the arrival of a second car of hooligans. Eagerly spinning their reconstructed vehicle around the roundabout behind the initiating predators, whose aggressive language vomited out of their rebellious mouths as they competed against the other lout’s jeering.
Barney had never been a victim to such vile vocabulary before, but he understood the hurtful meaning of what was said. It reminded him of the times when Tahlia was not getting her own way with her parents. When he’d be sitting on her bed and bearing witness to her tantrums, where he’d watch her tiny body shake, and her sweet face turn scarlet and her eyes twinkle with mischievous anger. He’d seen her small feet in her tiny, red shoes, stomp down on the floorboards while she let her agitated arms fly up and down at the sides of her petite body. Tahlia would then gather up her neatly ironed dress into her little hands and scrunch the material into a ball, before dragging it into her mouth where she’d suck upon it like a dummy. Her parents, like primed clockwork would always come rushing in to console her. “Sweetheart what’s the matter?” Her father would sympathetically ask gently patting her on the shoulder, while her mother retrieved the dress from out Tahlia’s lips so she could take hold of her hands and place them into her own. “Darling, mummy and daddy are here now, everything is alright. No need to get upset.” Her mother would say, allowing their daughter to melt back into their sweet little girl, where whatever she wanted, she got.
Barney felt a drop of rain fall onto his ears, drawing him back into the present. Thankfully, he found the two cars had sped off down the bends, he clearly hearing their haunting revelry shocking the oncoming traffic as driver’s wended their way up the Peninsula’s notorious, twisty road.
“Oh, my, why oh, why have they left me here? I don’t deserve this,” Barney asked himself, or any other invisible entity who might be listening. “I have always been a faithful family member. I adore Tahlia. Why?” He sighed with great remorse now knowing his life of comfort, and a warm bed was no longer available. And, worst of all, he was again going to be subjected to another chilling down pour of rain. Another cold night, he was already soaked through from three days out in the weather. Just as the rain began to trickle down, he saw another car drive past but this time it slowed in for Barney to see that the blonde lady driving took a detailed note of his predicament. Shaking her head, she then drove on. With a sad face and a heart filled with disappointment the lady had not stopped to rescue him as he’d hoped. He hung his head in sorrow. His torn ears flinched under the crack of thunder as it smashed across the dark sky.
“Oh, Tahlia!” Barney sighed. “What did I do to deserve this cruel torture? You love me, I know you do. You said so yourself, the first time you saw me sitting proudly on the shelf in the Toy Shop. You looked at me with great big eyes and told your mother you wanted me. She’d replied that you’d enough dolls to play with and said, ‘No! Not today dear, we are here to get a present for Salina’s birthday.’ And then you proved how much you loved me by putting on the tantrum of all tantrums. Embarrassed, your mother gave in. You then, picked me up off the shelf and wrapped me in your little arms and with tears in your eyes and a contented smile upon your face you sang, ‘Barney Bear is mine! I love you Barney Bear!’ And I was so happy. To feel your beating heart filled with joy tap against my furry chest, I learnt then, what love meant.”
Lightening ripped over Barney’s head. While he refused to watch anymore cars flash past and completely ignore him, he closed his eyes and sent his thoughts back to the day Tahlia took him home. She’d carried him into her bedroom and purposely placed him onto her pink quilted, bed. The lace on the pillowcases had tickled his back and legs as he sat in full view of her collection of dolls. Seven of them, sat on the French, antique, dressing table beside each other. Each of them dressed in fancy clothes and each allotted an individual, colour theme. ‘Dollies meet my Barney Bear, he is my bestest friend, so you must be very nice to him.’
Rain fell in hard droplets onto his body. Resenting the pain and with his heart broken, the tears fell down his cheeks as the loneliness set in, once again. His lip suddenly split under the weight of the beer bottle. Making a tear as it fell out his mouth, the glass dropped to the bitumen and smashed into fragments. Relieved, the intrusive object was gone. The louts who had shoved it into his mouth so violently had thought they were being oh, so funny, it all a joke. Being abused was never a joke. It was a cruel act. Something Barney had learnt about the- human- race when he’d seen such things on the television when Tahlia had propped him on the lounge room, settee. She’d been much older then, but she’d always kept him close. That was up until she found another to love. Her boyfriend.
Barney’s mind churned with torturous thoughts, over how rarely she wanted to cuddle him, then. He had only seemed to be required as a comfort item whenever her boyfriend had upset her or said, or done something she didn’t like, or if she was unable to sleep worrying over him or a forthcoming exam. Barney was aware Tahlia’s lack of affection was a part of her being older. Her dollies agreed with him, that she’d changed.
And then this happened Barney’s whole life, changed. He fell asleep one night and woke up to find himself crudely positioned on a metal frame in the centre of the Avalon Roundabout. How did he get here? Who placed him in such a precarious position that he was open to the elements? Who had no respect for his Wellbeing? All these thoughts had gone through his brain, over and over again.
And then, the scenario began again. The rain fell, the storm thundered over his head and lightning crashed around him. The cars passed splashing water off the road, over him and their horns honked. He awoke the next morning drenched to the core. Miserable, he opened his eyes against the bright rays of sunshine to find his smart jacket had shrunk against his chest. He knew he must look a dreadful sight, but if the cars that passed refused to have any pity on him, then this is what they must be subjected to gloat upon. His pride was all but diminished. But wait! He heard the idling engine of a car. Lifting his beaded eyes away from his dire attire he stared straight ahead, amazed to see the blonde haired, lady, from the previous day opening her car door and stepping out onto the roundabout. She ran over to him. She picked him up in her strong grasp and then rushed back and jumped back into her car, where she placed him onto the lap of a young girl. It happened so quickly Barney was out of breath as he felt hands spin him, enthusiastically around. “Hello Mr Teddy Bear, my name is Dina,” a smiling face declared as he stared up into the kindest face he’d ever seen. The car jerked. It sped off down the road, where it twisted and weaved its way along the Bilgola Bends.
Within minutes the car travelled up a wide, welcoming driveway and stopped out the front of a white, weathered board, house. A man stood waiting. He opened the passenger’s side door and held out his hand to the young girl. “Oh, I see you have a new patient!” He smiled, looking down at Barney who appeared dazed and bruised yet thoroughly euphoric. He took the girl’s hand and guided her into her awaiting wheelchair, Barney firmly held in her other hand by his front, left paw. “Daddy this is Mr Teddy Bear, I love him dearly already. He will fit in well with the others,” she said, as her mother got out the car and joined them, and walked beside them, while her father pushed her chair up a slight incline and guided them through the front door, which was already wide open. “Well Mr Teddy Bear, welcome to Dina’s Hospice,” the blonde lady exclaimed as she opened the little girl’s bedroom door to allow the wheelchair to enter. “Yes, with a new coat, a few stitches to his lips and ears plus a hot bath, and a soft bed to sleep in Mr Teddy Bear is sure to recover. Just like all my patients. They’ve all had terrible experiences.”
Barney heard the sweet child say as he stared into the patched faces and bodies of fifty, rescued toys scattered around the bedroom. He knew then, everything would be alright.