Anne Frank's Tales from the Secret Annex (12 page)

O
NCE, WHEN
B
LURRY
was a very little bear, he felt a terrible urge to get away from his mother’s care for a while and to see for himself a bit of the big wide world.

For days, he was so busy trying to come up with a plan that he wasn’t his usual lively self. But on the evening of the fourth day, it ‘hit’ him. Now that his plan was ready, all he had to do was carry it out. Early the next morning he would go into the garden, quietly of course so that Miesje, his little mistress, wouldn’t notice, then he’d crawl through a hole in the hedge and after that…well, after that he’d go out and discover the world!

All of which he did, and so quietly that he had already been gone for several hours before anyone noticed that he’d made his escape.

His fur was completely covered with dirt and mud when he emerged from the hedge, but a bear, especially a little teddy bear out to discover the world, couldn’t be bothered by a little thing like dirt! So, with his eyes on the ground to keep from stumbling over the bumpy
cobblestones, Blurry stepped jauntily down the alleyway between the gardens and on to the street.

Once there, he was startled for a moment by the many tall people, whose long legs seemed to swallow him up. ‘I’d better move over to the side to keep from getting trampled,’ he thought, and that was in fact the most sensible thing to do. Blurry was a sensible bear, no doubt about it, for, despite his tender age, he wanted to discover the world all by himself!

So he kept to the side and made sure he didn’t get crushed. But suddenly his heart began pounding like a sledgehammer. What on earth was that? A huge, dark, black abyss was yawning at his feet. The trapdoor to a cellar had been left open, but Blurry didn’t know that, and his head began to spin. Would he have to go in there?

He cast an anxious glance in all directions, but the stockinged legs of the ladies and the trousered legs of the gentlemen were walking around the dark hole as if nothing were the matter. Not quite recovered from his fright, Blurry inched his way past it, step by step, until he was again able to continue along the wall normally.

‘Well, I’m out in the big wide world now, but where is it? I can’t see the world through all these stockings and trousers,’ Blurry thought to himself. ‘I suppose I’m too small to go exploring. But I don’t care. The older I get, the taller I’ll be, and if I drink my milk with the skin on it (the very thought of it made him shudder), I’ll be as tall as all these people. So I suppose I should just keep on going, and sooner or later I’m bound to bump into the world.’

Blurry therefore walked on, taking as little notice as he
could of the many legs, both fat and thin, around him. But…did he have to keep walking? He was very hungry, and it was also starting to get dark. Blurry hadn’t thought of that – that he’d have to eat and sleep. He’d been so full of exploration plans that he’d forgotten all about such ordinary and unheroic things as eating and sleeping.

Sighing, he kept walking for a while, until he discovered an open door. For a moment he hesitated. Then he made up his mind and tiptoed inside. He was in luck, because, after going through another door, he saw two food bowls placed on the floor between four wooden legs. There was milk with skin on it in one of the bowls, and a stew of some kind in the other. Starving, and eager to try such delicious food, Blurry first gulped down the milk, skin and all – as grown-up bears should – then immediately polished off the stew. He was happy and full.

But, oh, horrors, what was that? A white creature with huge green eyes was slowly creeping forwards and staring straight at him. It stopped directly in front of him and asked in a high-pitched voice, ‘Who are you and why have you eaten my food?’

‘I’m Blurry, and I need to eat if I’m going to see the big wide world, which is why I ate your dinner, though I didn’t know it was yours!’

‘Ah, so you’re out exploring the world. But why did you have to explore my food bowl?’

‘Because I didn’t see any others,’ Blurry said, in as unfriendly a voice as he could muster. Then he thought better of it and asked in a friendlier tone, ‘So, what’s your name and what kind of strange creature are you?’

‘I’m Mirwa and I’m an Angora cat. I’m extremely valuable. Anyway, that’s what my mistress always says. But you know, Blurry, I’m lonely and bored a lot of the time. Will you stay here and keep me company for a while?’

‘I’m willing to spend the night,’ Blurry replied firmly, with an air of doing the beautiful Mirwa a favour. ‘But tomorrow I have to get back to exploring!’

Mirwa was happy to leave it at that for the time being. ‘Come with me,’ she said, and Blurry followed her into another room, which was filled with legs – wooden legs, both big ones and small ones – but also…over in the corner, a large wicker basket with a green silk cushion. Mirwa leapt right on to that cushion with her dirty feet, but Blurry thought it would be a shame to get it dirty.

‘Can’t you clean me up a bit first?’ he asked.

‘Of course,’ she said. ‘I’ll wash you the same way I wash myself.’

Blurry wasn’t at all familiar with her method, which was just as well, since if he’d known he would never have let her begin. Anyway, the cat ordered him to stand up, then proceeded very calmly to lick his feet with her tongue. Blurry shivered and anxiously asked Mirwa whether that was the way she usually washed herself.

‘Of course,’ she said. ‘Wait and see how clean you’ll be. You’ll be all shiny and sleek, and since shiny teddy bears are welcome everywhere, you’ll get to see even more of the world!’

Blurry tried to hide his shivers. And like a brave little teddy bear, he didn’t utter another peep.

The cat’s washing took a very long time. Blurry was
starting to get impatient and his feet hurt from having to stand so long. But finally…finally, his fur was shiny again!

Mirwa climbed back into the basket and Blurry, who was exhausted, lay down beside her. Mirwa tucked him in, you might say, by covering him with her furry coat, since she was practically lying on top of him. Within five minutes, they were both fast asleep.

The next morning Blurry woke up bewildered, and it was several moments before he worked out what was on top of him. Mirwa was snoring a little, and Blurry was dying to have breakfast. So, without a thought to the comfort of his gracious hostess, he shook her off and immediately began issuing orders: ‘My breakfast now, please, Mirwa. I’m starving!’

Mirwa had a good yawn, stretched herself out until she was twice as long as usual, then replied, ‘No, you’ve had all you’re going to get. My mistress mustn’t notice you’re here. You’ll have to sneak out through the garden as quick as you can!’ And Mirwa sprang out of her basket, raced across the room, out of one door, in another, out again – through a glass door this time – and they found themselves outside. ‘Good-bye, Blurry, have a good trip.’ And she was gone.

Lonely and not at all sure of himself any more (a change that must have come over him in the night), Blurry scampered across the garden, under the hedge and on to the street. Where was he supposed to go now, and how long would it be before he discovered the world? Blurry had no idea.

He was slowly making his way down the street when a huge four-legged beast suddenly came charging round the corner at full speed. It was making such a frightful noise that Blurry’s ears hurt. Terrified, he pressed himself as tightly as he could against the side of a house. The monster stopped a few feet away, then started coming closer. Blurry was so scared he began to cry, but the huge whatever-it-was didn’t seem to care. On the contrary, it sat down and kept staring, wide-eyed, at the poor little teddy bear.

Blurry was shaking from head to toe, but all of a sudden he plucked up his courage enough to ask, ‘What do you want?’

‘I just want to look at you, because I’ve never seen anything like you before.’

Blurry breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently you could talk to the creature. That was odd, because why didn’t his own mistress ever understand what he said? Still, he didn’t have time to ponder this weighty question because just then the huge animal opened its mouth so wide you could see every one of its teeth. Blurry shivered, much more than he had when Mirwa was licking him clean. What was that frightful creature going to do with him?

The answer came sooner than he would have liked, for, without so much as a by-your-leave, the animal grabbed him by the neck and started dragging him down the street. Blurry couldn’t cry any more, since he’d choke to death if he did, and screaming was totally out of the question, so all he could do was tremble, which did nothing to boost his courage.

At least he didn’t have to walk. If his neck wasn’t hurting so much, it wouldn’t be so bad, a bit like going for a ride. Actually, it wasn’t that awful. Hmm, all those thumpity-thumps made you sleepy. Where’s my ride taking me? Where’s my…Where’s…? Blurry, clutched firmly in the creature’s mouth, had dozed off.

But his nap didn’t last long, because the big beast suddenly wondered what he was doing with this thing between his teeth. So he blithely let go of Blurry, after first chomping down hard on his neck, and then ran off.

The helpless little teddy bear who had wanted to see the world lay there on the ground, all alone and in pain. Still, he managed to scramble to his feet so he wouldn’t get stepped on. Rubbing his eyes, he looked around. Far fewer legs, far fewer walls, much more sun and not as many cobblestones beneath your feet. Was this the world?

His head was throbbing and pounding so badly that he couldn’t think. He didn’t want to walk any more. Why should he? Where would he go? Mirwa was far away, his mother was even further, and with her little mistress. No, now that he’d left, he had to keep going until he’d discovered the world.

Startled by a noise behind him, he quickly turned his head. Not another beast that was going to bite him? No, this time it was a little girl who had found Blurry.

‘Look, Mummy, a teddy bear. Can I take it home with me?’ she asked her mother, who had followed behind her.

‘No, it’s filthy. Besides, it’s bleeding!’

‘That doesn’t matter, we can wash it off when we get
home. I’m going to take it with me so I’ll have something to play with.’

Blurry couldn’t understand a word, since his little ears were only used to animal talk. But the little girl with the blonde hair seemed nice, so he didn’t put up a struggle when she wrapped him in a cloth and tucked him in her bag. Rocking back and forth, Blurry continued on his travels through the world.

After the little girl had walked for a while, she took Blurry, still wrapped in the cloth, out of her bag and propped him up on her arm. That was a lucky break – he could now look at the street from above for the first time.

What a lot of bricks there were, and look how high they’d been stacked, with here and there an opening. And that thing on top, up near the sky – it must be some kind of decoration, like the feather on his mistress’s hat. There was a plume of smoke coming out of it. Do you suppose it had a cigarette in its mouth, one of those thin ones that the master of the house was always smoking? Such a funny sight! But above the bricks there was apparently even more space, because there was a bit of blue. Oh, look, it was moving. Something white came and covered up the blue, drifting closer and closer until it was right above their heads, and then it kept on drifting until once more the area above that tall smoking thing was as blue as it had been before.

Down on the street, something honked and whizzed by. But where were its legs and feet? It didn’t have any. Instead, there were a couple of round inflated things. Oh my, going out to see the world was certainly worth the
effort. What could you learn by sitting at home? Why else had you been born? Not to stay at your mother’s side for ever and ever, but to see things, do things. That’s why he wanted to grow up. Oh, yes, Blurry knew what he wanted.

Finally…finally, the little girl came to a halt beside a door. She went in, and the first thing Blurry saw was the same kind of creature as Mirwa, a ‘cat’, it was called, if he remembered correctly. This cat rubbed itself against the little blonde girl’s legs, but she pushed him aside and, still carrying Blurry, walked over to one of those white things that his mistress had at home too, though Blurry had forgotten its name. It was high up off the floor – broad, white and smooth. On one side there was a shiny metal object that could be turned, and that’s just what the little blonde girl did. She set Blurry down on top of the hard cold surface and began to wash him, especially his neck, where he’d been bitten by that awful beast. It hurt, and Blurry growled a lot, but no one paid the slightest bit of attention.

Fortunately, this washing didn’t last as long as Mirwa’s had…though it was a lot colder and wetter. The little girl finished fairly quickly. She dried him off, wrapped him in a clean cloth and tucked him into a moving bed, just like the one his little mistress was always putting him in.

Why did he have to go to bed now? Blurry wasn’t the least bit tired and didn’t want to go to bed. As soon as the little girl left the room, Blurry slipped out of bed and wandered through a large number of doors and openings until he once again found himself on the street.

‘It’s definitely time for me to eat,’ Blurry thought. He sniffed. There must be food nearby, since he could smell it. Following his nose, he soon came to the door from which the appetizing smell was coming. He slipped past a pair of stockinged legs and into the shop.

Two young girls, standing behind a big, tall object of some kind, caught sight of Blurry almost immediately. They had to work long hard hours and could use a little extra help. So they snatched him up and put him in a dimly lit room, which was incredibly hot.

It wasn’t so bad, however, since you could eat as much as you wanted. The floor, the benches – everywhere you looked there were rows and rows of cakes and buns. Blurry had never seen so many of them, or such pretty ones. Just what had Blurry ever seen? Not much, in fact! He dug in, eating so many pastries that he almost made himself sick.