My daddy the bear

Chapter 4: Clouds... The Moon... The Sun... and then?

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The days in the sky seemed to be the same: the same sun, the same clouds and the same moon. That relationship was not toxic at all, although the rain, the hailstorm or the snowing were stuck in the middle. Everything worked as if these guys would have never soiled these radiant days and those mysterious nights.

   Frederick, in the other hand, was neither radiant nor mysterious. Bonnie started doubting a little about his behavior toward him, because, since he was born, aunt Chyna always told him how valuable and friendly his dad was. When they were alone... everything was different. At least he still found that warm and tickling sensation in his heart every time Frederick made up his basic necessities: changing diapers, wash him in the tub and feed him.

   Today was a new day, and Bonnie was willing to demonstrate how servile he was so he could show his dad how much he loved him.

   Frederick had once again green tamales on the same porcelain plate with rice atole for breakfast; regardless of not being the best of options, that still gave him some grace. When he was done, he glanced over Bonnie to see him playing with that mountain made out of plushies: he had the brown bear, a red-eyed, purple rabbit; a red fox and a yellow chicken next to every edge of a Monopoly board. Of course, he did not know how to play, but he was pretty keen on watching a game on live.

   And then Frederick walked in.

   "What are you doing?" he asked him with the same hoarse and monotonous voice.

   Bonnie stared at him as if he would have screwed it up. He told the truth.

   "Playing Molopoly," he replied with a stack of orange dollars between his paws.

   Not even that scene changed Frederick's mind.

   "Go to Mabel's and take this back," he stretched the plate in front of Bonnie's face.

   Bonnie hesitated for a moment, but he immediately remembered that little promise he made to himself: everything for my daddy bear-y. And then he grabbed the plate and ran with that smile no one was ever going to erase. Besides, he loved to go out over the grass, see the butterflies, say hi to the ants, to those neighbors that had already once seen him running errands, to the clouds, to The Moon, to The Sun... to the... Well... whatever was up there higher.

   When he was at Mabel's front door, Bonnie stood on his toes so he could reach the doorbell, but nobody answered. Maybe she was busy cooking too many tamales and she did not hear? He tried one more time. She did not answer again. Strange, wasn't it? Because Mabel was always here. They did not call her Mailbox for nothing.

   Not being answered at the door made Bonnie a little ashamed. What was he going to do? He knew that if he got home and told his dad that he could not return the plate, he would get mad and yell at him, because, yes, that had already happened! Although, eventually, he apologized with a brief whisper and plopped himself back onto his homework chair to eat.

   And then he got the best of ideas ever, yes! He remembered that Mabel's front yard was right away when entering the house, and then her living room, which did have a roof and windows. If the yard was roofless... Bonnie walked backwards. He measured the distance between him and the wall shielding the yard. It was not too far or high. Just like those cartoons about battles, he aimed over that wall before him and fired the projectile. In his mind he exclaimed the same statement his good, ol' friend Dora the Explorer always said at the end of any chapter: we did it! The plate was taken back.

   For some reason Bonnie ran back home.

   "All set!" he told dad when he was at home.

   Frederick, who was standing next to the door gazing the blue sky, nodded to acknowledge him. Bonnie went back to the bedroom to play with his plushies.