A little while after tucking their three-year-old boy Georgie in for bed one night, his parents heard sobbing coming from his room. Rushing back in, they found him by now crying hysterically. He was clutching his teddy bear, Bartholomew, and hiccuping between gasps for air.
“Georgie, sweetheart, what’s wrong?” his mother asked, kneeling beside him.
Georgie, between sobs, managed to blurt out, “Bartholomew…he…he lost his passport!”
His father, a man of logic and practicality even at 10 PM, looked at the teddy bear. “Well, son,” he said, trying to maintain a straight face, “I think Bartholomew might be okay. He doesn’t really need a passport to stay in his own bed.”
Georgie hiccuped again, his sobs intensifying. “But,” he wailed, “he needs it to go to Teddy Bear Land! He’s got a very important meeting with Princess Fluffybutt tomorrow about the annual honey-pot heist!”
His mother, bless her heart, decided to play along. “Oh dear,” she said, adopting a concerned expression. “Well, we can’t have Bartholomew missing this crucial meeting. Let’s look for his passport!”
They spent the next ten minutes meticulously searching Georgie’s room. Under the bed, behind the bookshelf, even inside Bartholomew’s tiny, button eyes. Nothing. Georgie’s sobs were becoming more theatrical, complete with dramatic pauses for effect.
Finally, his father, pretending to discover something incredibly important, held up a small, crumpled piece of paper. “Aha!” he exclaimed. “I found it! It’s a…a…certificate of teddy bear citizenship!”
Georgie looked at the paper, his eyes widening slightly. He sniffled, then a tiny smile appeared. “Oh!” he said, his voice trembling with relief. “He *does* have that! He can still go to Teddy Bear Land! Thank you!”
He snuggled Bartholomew close, his sobs fading into contented sighs. His parents exchanged weary but amused glances. Apparently, even in the land of imaginary honey-pot heists, proper documentation was essential. They quietly tiptoed out, leaving Georgie and Bartholomew to dream of adventure, and his parents to wonder about the alarmingly detailed world of their three-year-old’s imagination.
