The Story of Teddy Adam: The Beginning Years

Teddy had a rucksack on his back with two pairs of clothes, a towel, one block of soap, a pack of biscuits and a gift he picked up along the way from the Almighty Himself. Having lost his job, no money and been kicked out from home, Teddy walked along the street aimlessly. He walked and walked for miles; eventually he reached a concrete bridge where, underneath, he decided to sit and take a rest. Teddy slept all through the afternoon. When he woke up late in the evening, just before the sunset, he took out the pack of bourbon biscuits from his bag, which he had bought for 50 cents. The pack had four round biscuits in it, chocolate with a crème centre. He ate each biscuit slowly and drank water from a nearby street pipe. He then returned to his place under the bridge. As night fell, Teddy sat back and looked at his life, where he was and how he ended up there, on the streets, underneath a concrete bridge. “Nineteen years of my life” He said aloud to himself, as he gazed back over them.

The year was 1979, the date May 5th. In the early morning young George was asleep in his small bed which lay beside his parents’ bed. He was awakened when he felt something touching his back, something warm and wet was lying in bed next to him. Blearily he turned over to find a small, tiny, naked murmuring baby by his side. As the baby contentedly gurgled to itself, George cried out in surprise “Baba! It’s a baby!” Tired and eager to comfort the mumbling newborn, George quickly rushed for the powder bottle as he had seen many mothers pamper their babies with it. The bottle was white with blue writing; it was shaped almost as a cone with a twist top for easy application. In his haste George opened the powder bottle, not by simply twisting the screw top, but by removing the whole lid, he then promptly emptied the bottle’s complete contents on his new born brother.

“No!” Cried Jasmine, his elder sister, in shocked confusion as she entered the room. “What are you doing?”

“It’s a baby.” George explained. “I’m putting power on him to comfort him.”

“You don’t need to do that.” Jasmine laughed, as she took the now empty powder bottle from her young brother’s hands. “We need some cloth. Go get me some quick as quick and I’ll clean up the powder before Mum wakes and sees it.” George did as he was bade and watched as his sister cleaned the baby, wiping away all the excess powder before wrapping him in a towline cloth from his muzzy head to his tiny toes. George gazed in wonderment as the now warm and comfortable baby made strange cooing sounds. “This is amazing,” thought George. “All of this and all before breakfast.”

“This is a day to remember.” Said George to his little big sister Sofia when she ambled out of bed a short time later. “We’ve got a new little brother.”

“Not another hothead.” Mumbled Sofia while George ran about the house shouting merrily, “Baby, baby, we’ve got a new baby!”

“Time to eat your breakfast and get ready for school.” Jasmine declared as she swiftly grabbed George who was making another giddy round of the kitchen. As Dad prepared for work, Jasmine got George and Sofia ready for school. At twelve Jasmine was the oldest child in the house, she helped Mum out the most and looked after her younger siblings. Sofia was less inclined to join in family scenarios and kept pretty much to herself because of a long standing rift between the two sisters prior to George’s arrival. While George was more of a wild card, he was mischievous, playful and quite the dare devil. Not long after Dad left for work, Jasmine sends her two school age siblings on the short walk to their school. She chose to remain at home for the day so as to help her exhausted Mum and care for the new born baby. At school George was hyperactive with joy and pleasure. He would talk of nothing else all day of his new brother, he told his school mates and the teachers of the new arrival. “I’ve got a baby brother!” He would say each time he spoke to someone new. “And he’s .....!” Words would often fail young George at this point, so he would take a huge sigh and finish with a joyful smile.

Meanwhile mother and daughter spent the day happily chatting and thinking of possible baby names. They ran through many names, Mum thought of names like Rahim, John, Arthur, Marcus and Abraham, whereas Jasmine suggested Daniel, Henry, Philip and many others beside. Both were filled with joy and spent several jolly hours trying to find the right name for their new charge. By the time that mother and the four children were sat at the dinner table that evening, the only topic for discussion was the new baby’s name. Jasmine rocked him softly in her lap while George bounced on the seat next to her and Sofia helped herself to the food their mother had just served. The table respectfully quieten as Dad entered the home after a long day at work. Slowly, calmly, he walked up to Jasmine and looked at the sleeping baby on her lap. “He’s chubby.” Dad said with a hint of a smile on his lips. An old fashioned man, Tony was not taught to display emotions; he did however feel them. As he watched his daughter rocking his youngest son, he was reminded forcefully of when Jasmine was George’s age. How she would play with a small teddy bear that she was given by her Aunty, that teddy bear was a pale brownish colour, had chubby cheeks and a fuzzy head just like the new baby. “He looks quite like a teddy bear.” Dad shared aloud. “Like your old teddy bear.” He directed at Jasmine. Everyone at the table laughed and agreed with their father’s assessment. Carefully Dad lifted his new baby, holding him at eye level. After a moment’s pause Dad said: “That is it then, he’ll be known as Teddy.”

It had been a long day at work for Dad, after passing Teddy back to Jasmine, he sat at the table and put the TV on for the evening NEWS as he waited for his meal to be served my Mum. Dad was surprised when he saw what was in the evening news; Britain had elected a new Prime Minister. It wasn’t the election that surprised him, but the fact that the new Prime Minister was a lady! Mum gently served dinner to Dad and with a soft voice said, “it’s about time women got a chance, men only think about two things”.

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Enjoy.