The Christmas Bear

The wind howled, the oncoming winter storm inevitable.

The light sprinkling of rain would soon turn to slush as the temperature continued to drop. People rushed in attempts to finish their tasks and get home before the worst of it hit.

Steven found himself at one of the few open toy stores, praying he was not too late to pick up his child’s most-wanted gift.

His wife had tasked him with this one thing, and he had failed miserably, citing overtime at work as an excuse.

Now, it was two days before Christmas, and the panic had fully gripped him,

One present.

A reasonable request for his 7-year-old.

Phone blowing up from his wife, Steven decided to ignore the texts to focus on strolling down the aisles of the toy store.

Jayden wanted a plushy bear, and Steven was determined to find it to make up for all the work he had been putting in.

It wouldn’t solve anything, but it was a start.

Steven had already been to two stores, Walmart and Target, with no luck.

His next stop was Sam’s, hoping beyond hope that their bears had not been sold out as well,

No luck there either.

Pulling up the Amazon app on his phone, he heaved a sigh of relief that there was a similar bear that could be delivered in the morning.

He ordered the bear and paid for next-day shipping, feeling accomplished.

“I found a bear on Amazon,” Steven texted his wife. “It’s not the exact bear, but he will be able to cuddle with it like he wanted.”

“I hope that he likes it.” She responded immediately.

Steven sighed, sensing the frustration in the text.

“It’s even better than what he wanted, I promise.”

Throwing his phone in the passenger seat, Steven whistled as he made the trek home.

*****

The next morning, Steven hoped he could sneak the bear past Jayden and hide it in the closet with the other gifts.

Thankfully, he got the alert that it had been delivered while Jaden was distracted by video games in the game room.

Quietly, he snuck the bear into the primary bedroom closet without being detected.

Once he placed the bear in the closet, he breathed a sigh of relief as he studied it.

Six feet tall and fluffy, he tilted his head as he looked at its eyes… something seemed off, but Steven couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

A wave of unease passed through him, but he chalked it up to it not being the same bear that his son wanted.

This will have to be enough at this point, so close to Christmas, and he was lucky to find something on short notice.

*****

That night when Clara got home, Steven was excited to show off the bear.

He opened the closet and tilted his head as some of the prewrapped gifts had been torn open.

“I think Jayden may have found the stash of presents.” Steven chewed on his bottom lip.

“To be fair, hiding them in the closet wasn’t our brightest idea. He knows that’s where we stash them,” Clara sighed and evaluated the damage. “It’s only a couple of them, so I will wrap them back up, and if he’s not surprised, that is his own fault.”

“We should get ready for dinner and then bake the cookies for Santa to put out tonight.” Steven sighed. “We can re-wrap everything after he goes to sleep.”

Clara leaned on Steven and kissed him on the cheek. “You really pulled through with the bear. Thank you.”

Steven beamed, but that unease from earlier was back when he realized the head was tilted at an angle when it hadn’t been before.

*****

Christmas Eve dinner consisted of a traditional breakfast-for-dinner, with the kitchen table full of pancakes, French Toast, bacon, and fruit.

Jayden sat excitedly in his seat, bouncing as his parents served him a platter.

“Are you excited to see what Santa brings you?” Clara asked with a chuckle as Jayden dug right in before their nightly prayer.

“Yes!” Jayden replied around a mouthful of pancake.

Steven watched his family devour their food, the unease that had shadowed him all day refusing to ease.

“Don’t overeat,” Steven said gently. “We still have to make cookies for Santa, so he knows that he is welcome here.”

Jayden smiled with syrup dripping down his chin. “Do you think that anyone has ever caught Santa in their house?” He wondered.

“Santa knows when you are sleeping, so he takes that opportunity to bring you your presents. That’s why it’s important to go to bed on time and sleep.” Clara explained with a smile.

Jayden showed off a grin that was missing a couple of teeth. “If I go to bed right now, I can wake up early and see what he brought me!”

Steven looked at his watch. “It’s only six, bud. Maybe after we make the cookies and set them out.”

“Okay.” Jayden pouted.

“What kind of cookies do you want to leave out? I have chocolate chip and sugar.” Clara smiled at her adorable son.

“Chocolate chip!” He exclaimed.

After clearing the table from dinner, Clara got out the cookie dough and went to work with her little helper. Jayden was a great sous chef and was meticulous about where he placed the cookies on the sheet.

Once the cookies were in the oven, it was time to get ready for bed and then place them out before retreating to their rooms for the night.

*****

It was sometime in the middle of the night that a thud awoke Steven, and the family cat, sitting in front of the closet, was crying and growling, but not moving closer.

Steven observed the cat, a cold chill running over him as he had never heard those sounds from her. Standing up out of the bed, he realized the closet door was cracked open even though he had been sure it was shut when they went to bed.

Shutting the door, he reached down to scratch the cat behind the ears, unaware of the damp scent coming from the small closet.

*****

The next morning, Steven and Clara were awakened at 5:30 by Jayden, who stormed into the room and jumped onto the bed.

“It’s Christmas! Santa was here, and there are loads of presents under the tree, he said with a childlike glee.

Steven groaned, and Clara buried her face further in her pillow.

“Did he eat the cookies and milk you left out for him?” She grumbled into her pillow, wanting just a few more moments of reprieve.

Jayden sat bolt upright before launching off the bed to check.

Steven yawned and wiped his hands down his face. “Merry Christmas.”

Clara rolled over to peck him on the lips. “Merry Christmas.” She sighed. “I guess it’s time to get up and see what Santa brought.”

“We can all take a nap later,” Steven promised, earning a sleepy nod from his wife.

*****

“Look at all of the gifts! I must have been really nice this year for him to bring me so many!” Jayden laughed as only a child can, sitting down in the midst of all of the presents.

“Do you want to eat some breakfast first, kiddo?” Steven asked, earning an unamused look from the child.

“Can I please open them now?” Jayden begged.

Both parents chuckled and sat on the couch.

“Have at it, little man,” Clara said, and no sooner than the words were out of her mouth, wrapping paper started flying.

The child ooh-ed and ahh-ed at every gift, taking the time to admire each one before moving on to the next.

Once all the presents had been opened, Jayden played with each one for a while before moving on to the next.

Clara leaned over and whispered in Steven’s ear. “I thought you put the bear out last night, too.”

Steven’s brow furrowed. “I did.” He looked around the room to see if it had gotten shoved somewhere. “Let me go find it.”

“Daddy, where are you going?” Jayden asked when Steven stood up and began walking into the other room.

“Santa saved the best for last by asking me to hold onto it for you.” Steven wiggled his eyebrows.

Making it the bedroom, he opened the closet to find the bear wrapped in cellophane and sitting in the corner. It felt like the heat had dropped 10 degrees. He didn’t wrap it, planning on just giving it to Jayden as it was, but Clara must have done it sometime last night.

The only thing that threw Steven off was that the fingerprints appeared to come from inside the cellophane, not from the outside.

He shivered as he went to reach for the bear.

Lifting the bear, Steven grunted at the weight of the stuffed animal, not remembering it being so heavy.

He used both arms to bring it back to the living room, and as soon as Jayden’s eyes saw it, they lit up, and he began to jump up and down.

“Oh boy!” He exclaimed as he ran up to his dad. “Look at how big he is!”

“Did you wrap him last night?” Steven asked lowly.

Clara whipped around to look at him. “No, I thought you might have.”

With an uneasy sense that something wasn’t right, both parents watched as Jayden unwrapped the bear.

“He’s just what I wanted,” Jayden exclaimed happily as he threw himself onto the bear and knocked it over, snuggling into the soft fur.

Steven watched like a hawk as the bear fell over, its head turning to face him, eyes blank but looking alive.

Clara slapped her palms together and stood up. “I’m going to go start breakfast while you help assemble some of the toys.”

Steven nodded, unable to tear his eyes away from his son lying on the bear.

*****

After a full day of playing with new toys and enjoying the family time they so rarely got, Steven decided to put on a movie to calm everyone down before bed.

Jayden dragged the big bear to the front of the couch and cuddled up on it, pulling one of its arms across his stomach to hold onto.

Halfway through the movie, Steven noticed a damp smell, he same one he’d ignored last night — now unmistakable.

He looked down at the floor and noticed that Jayden was fast asleep, but the bear’s arm was still wrapped around him, almost of its own accord.

The eyes that had been unsettling Steven since it had arrived appeared to be watching Jayden sleep.

Impossible. Steven thought. It’s just a stupid stuffed bear.

Clara was passed out on Steven’s shoulder, but there was no peace to be felt at this moment.

Steven gently nudged Clara awake and nodded at Jayden and the bear.

“Something isn’t right with that thing.” He finally voiced his concern.

Clara made a face and studied Steven. “It’s a stuffed bear. It’s fine. You need sleep.”

Maybe she was right.

Not wanting to wake Jayden up, Steve bent down and scooped him into his arms. The bear’s arm felt like it tightened around the child, resisting as if it didn’t want to let go, and Steven knocked it aside and glared at the stuffed animal.

Tucking the child into bed, Steven placed a kiss on his forehead and shut the bedroom door.

*****

A scraping sound in the middle of the night had Steven sit bolt upright in bed, his heart pounding.

Was someone in the house?

Had they locked all of the doors before retreating to bed?

The cat was curled up at the edge of the bed, her ears all the way back, staring at the dark hallway past the door of the room.

Steven slowly got out of bed and crept toward the bedroom door.

A shadow in the hallway had him choking down a scream, but as quickly as it was there it was gone.

Steven took a deep breath and walked out into the hallway, turning the light on to find nothing out of place.

Or so he initially thought.

There were marks along the wood floor of the hallway leading to Jayden’s room.

He could feel the color drain from his face as he reached his son’s room. Cracking the door open, not wanting to disturb him, he noticed that the bear was in bed with Jayden.

Jayden was still sound asleep.

Taking a breath in an attempt to calm his heart rate, Steven watched as the bear put its arm around his son.

Backing away, he reached for the door—just wanting to close it—when the bear turned its head toward him, slow and deliberate.

Its stitched mouth stretched into a snarling smile, revealing sharp, impossible teeth.

Steven slammed the door shut, but Jayden’s scream split the silence before he could turn the handle to rush back in.