Ben and Tony Bear. Book 1. Ben meets Tony.

Ben and Tony Bear Stories. Book 17. It's all to much to take in.

     The school holidays were almost over.  Mummy had bought all new uniform for Ben.  She had spent most of the day writing his name and class on the labels, in case he lost any of it. The only things to get were his new shoes.  Mummy and Daddy and Ben had a check up at the dentist in the big town the next day.  So Mummy thought that then would be a great time to get Ben some new shoes.  

     The next day after everyone had  eaten their dinner.  Mummy, Daddy and Ben got into the car and went into the big town.  There were cars everywhere.  Ben watched them all from the window.  He got really excited when he saw the big lorries going past the car.  They were huge and make the car shake as they went past on the fast dual carriage way. 

     Daddy parked the car in the shopping centre car park.  Ben loved going up and down the escalators in the shopping centre.  But he also did not like the shopping centre because they had lifts.  The lifts were noisy.  The voice was like a robots.  The lift smelt funny, the lighting was wrong and there was always tinny sounding music playing.  

       Mummy and Daddy took Ben in his special buggy.  They got to the lift.  Before they even got in, Ben had his fingers in his ears and Tony Bear was pressed tight against his head. Ben started to cry, it was too much.  He hated the lifts.  Mummy bent down and held his hand.  Luckily they only had one floor to go up too.  

     Once they got out of the lift and into the shopping centre , Ben was fine.  The shopping centre was big and light.  There were lots of words to look at and logos were everywhere.  Ben rode along in his buggy pointing to every shop they went past.  They came to the escalator.  Ben and Daddy went down the escalator.  Ben jumped up and down excitedly.  Mummy could not go down the escalator as she had to take the buggy down.  Mummy waved to Ben and Daddy as they went down the escalator.  Mummy then went along to the glass lift.

     Ben and Daddy watched as Mummy came down to the ground floor.  Daddy tried to get Ben to wave but Ben and Tony Bear were looking at a shop sign.  When the doors opened Ben came running excitedly up to Mummy and hugged her.  

     Ben climbed back into his buggy, and they walked through the shopping centre to the shoe shop. 

     Ben did not like shops.  They were always so crowded and noisy.  Lights humming, people talking and moving about. Music playing loudly.  The shoe shop though was small, but it was full of shoes.  New shoes, that lay in rows.  New shoes that filled the whole room.  

     Ben did not like new.

     Ben screamed,  jumped out of the pushchair and headed for the door.  Daddy grabbed him and sat down on the seat with him.   Ben started to cry loudly while Mummy explained to the lady that Ben needed new shoes.  Tony Bear held Ben's hand and patted it.  Daddy cuddled him tightly and spoke calmly to him.   

     The lady had a look at Ben's old shoes.  The lady did not have any in Ben's size the same as the old ones.   The three ladies in the shop all helped to find some shoes for Ben.  They were a special shop used to children like Ben and knew that speed and the correct shoes were needed quickly. 

      They found one pair and put them one Ben's feet.  

     " They look really nice. " Said Tony Bear.  Ben looked at his feet.  They had new shoes on, not like his old ones.  They smelt new, and were too big.  But Ben could not tell them.  Ben cried even more.  Daddy stood Ben on the floor and started to walk him round.  The ladies watched him walk round the room.

     Ben walked on his tippy toes everywhere.   He did not like walking with his feet flat on the ground. He did not want to touch the ground.   If he put his foot flat and walked normally the ground would open up and swallow him.  The less of him touching the ground the better.  The young lady felt for his toes, they were down the end of the shoe. 

     " They seem to fit nicely." She said.  Ben continued to cry.  He did not like the shoes. They felt bumpy inside on the top of his feet. And they slipped up and down on his heels.  Tony Bear knew that Ben did not like the shoes.  He had to do something to make the grown ups see that.  Tony took a deep breath and jumped from Ben's hand.  Ben put his feet down on the floor and picked Tony up.  Mummy was getting ready to pay for the new shoes.

     " Hold on a minute. " Said the older shop lady. " Something does not look right. "  She bent down and tapped the back of the shoes.  The shoe moved forward.  The lady felt for Ben's toes.  There was almost a whole thumbs worth of space between the end of the shoe and his toes.  " They are too big for him.  " Ben stopped crying for a second.  Finally they were going to leave. " I will get another pair a bit smaller. " Ben  started crying again.  More shoes.  They were never going to get out of this little crowded shop.  

     The lady was very fast though.  She bought back a pair of shoes.  They had no seams on them like the others.  They were nice and smooth.    The lady slipped them onto Ben's feet.  She felt for his toes, only half a thumbs gap between the end of the shoe and his toes.  Daddy walked him around the room.  Ben stopped crying.  The new shoes felt good on his feet.  He could walk on tippy toe and they did not move up or down.  And they did not feel bumpy on the top of his feet.  Ben stopped crying.   The new shoes were great.  Tony Bear gave a cheer.  Mummy paid for the shoes and said thank you to the ladies as Ben pulled Daddy quickly out of the shop.  

       They made their way back to the car.  Mummy took the glass lift and Daddy and Ben waved as she went up.  They then made their way to the escalator.  Mummy waved as they came up.  When they reached the top Ben could see Mummy on the other side of the balcony.  Ben and Tony Bear waved hard and Ben let go of Daddy's hand and ran round to Mummy.  He nearly fell several times as he ran on his tippy toes in his new shoes.  Ben had very weak muscles in his ankles and he would fall down a lot.   Daddy ran to catch up in case he fell over.

     Mummy was very relieved when he finally reached her  safely and gave her a big hug.  The made their way to the big lifts to get back to the car park.

     " Be brave Ben, you can do this." Said Tony Bear as the doors slid open.  The tinny music and robot voice drifted out to them.  Ben cringed back in his pushchair and put his fingers in his ears.  Tony held tightly round his arm and patted his hand.  Mummy knelt down and talked to him.   Ben tried to block it out.  The noise, the hum of the lift . The voice and the music but it was too much,  Ben started to cry again.  The door opened.  

Ben stopped crying and breathed a sigh of relief.  They were out of the shopping centre.  It was over for now.  No more crowded shops. No more new stuff.  No more lifts. Ben hugged Tony tightly.  They were safe in the quiet car.

     Next was the dentist but that is a story for next time.