This is the story of the naughty teddy bear. And no, even though there are those who like to associate my name with certain animals and attribute to me all the negative qualities that these animals are supposed to possess, it is not about me. However, it is a rather naughty cloth teddy bear that is to be mentioned. It is quite light brown, has unkempt fur, is easy to paw at, and has round, brown glass eyes.
Generally, it is quite kind and straightforward and doesn't say much. But then it went on a trip south of the country, and it was almost a disaster. In just a few days in Tigerstaden, in the area near the Akerselva River, it was environmentally damaged and – yes, I would actually say that it became completely hardened. It became disobedient and shy, almost antisocial. We didn't notice anything right away. It didn't say anything in the car on the way to Gardermoen. But there, at Gardermoen, it turned around. It might have wanted to sneak back into the harsh capital environment. Because while we were waiting for them to call the passengers together for boarding, it curled up in the back of the seat and made itself almost invisible. And during the chaos and panic of getting on the plane, it found a way to sneak away. How it had planned to return to Oslo is unknown, but fortunately the presence of the military prevented these sneaky plans from being carried out. Because it was grabbed by the scruff of the neck by a stern soldier, arrested and interrogated, and then returned to its owner with a stern warning to be more careful. I don't know if, perhaps, in the heat of the battle the word tethering was mentioned, but if so, it would be completely irrelevant. Everyone knows that there is no tethering for teddy bears. They are free creatures who cannot be subdued with chains and leashes.
But it now voluntarily joined us, although it was somewhat silent and withdrawn and did not say a single word on the trip. It did not say a single word during the landing at Bardufoss either, but it now joined us for the baggage claim, at least we now think so, but it may be a bit difficult to say, as it still refused to say anything, and did not react to being spoken to. We had to wait a bit for the luggage, which is quite normal, they say. We had two suitcases, a large, black trolley suitcase, containing mostly clothes that suited me. In addition, we had a particularly fancy, red-violet suitcase belonging to my traveling companions.
I gleden ved gjensynet med koffertene, og begeistringen ved å kunne legge ut på reisens siste etappe, nemlig bilturen til Sørreisens grønne enger og dype skoger, så var det ingen som tenkte på hva den uskikkelige bamsen kunne finne på. Og nettopp det gjorde den. Den fant på uskikkeligheter. Den gjemte seg unna og unnlot å bli med på turen videre. Så slesk og fordektig var den at forsvinningsnummeret ikke ble oppdaget før etter at reisen var endt. Etterlysning ble straks utsendt og det ble organisert søkelag. Hva disse eventuelt avdekker er ennå ukjent, men saken oppdateres som det pleier å stå i folkebladet.