Dad unlocked the door and then went to the moving van where two guys were getting out of the cab. Melvin went into the house, a blast of cold air hitting him. He went upstair to the room he had chosen as his own. He sat his stuffed bear on the floor and went over to the windows in the corner of the room.
"It's a nice room," a voice behind Melvin said. "It'll be better once your bed and other things get in here."
Melvin turned to the voice. His stuffed bear was now a 750 pound, four and a half foot tall brown bear. "I know, Helu. I worry about the floor though in a two-story house what with your size and all."
"Well, I have been eating more," Helu chuckled and patted his stomach. "You want to explore the neighborhood or something. Get out of the way of the movers?" he asked as he heard the movers grunted up the stairs. Helu reverted back to a stuffed animal and Melvin picked him up, waited for the movers to pass by and then went down the stairs.
"Helu and I are going to explore the neighborhood," Melvin said to Mom and Dad.
"Okay. Check in in a couple of hours. Be safe," Dad said.
As they got away from the parents, Helu was back to being a full grown bear, walking next to Melvin on all four legs. "I wonder if there are any other kids on this block," Melvin questioned out loud.
"More than likely. This seems like a neighborhood that won't let you live here unless you have at least 2.5 children," Helu said.
"Don't remind me. Why would Mom and Dad want another kid? I should be all they need."
Helu rolled his eyes. "Oh, I know."
The two of them heard a loud gasp. "You have a bear, too!" a voice squealed with delight.
Melvin looked down into his left arm where Helu had reverted back to his stuffed animal persona. He then looked back at the girl, maybe a year or two younger than him, who was playing with a stuffed panda and a kids table with a couple other dolls in the chairs. The girl grabbed her panda and ran up to Melvin.
"I have a panda. What kind of bear do you have?"
Melvin was confused. "A brown bear. A Kodiak bear."
"Ooo. My panda is named Mrs. Precious Panda. I just call her Mrs. Precious. What's your bear's name?"
"Helu."
"That's a strange name. I'd call him Mr. Brownie Bear. My name is Peggy Paulen. What's yours."
"Melvin."
"That's a strange name. We should play Bear House. We can have Mrs. Precious and Mr. Brownie get married and raise children."
"Yeah, maybe. Or not."
"I've never seen you before. Did you just move here?"
"Yeah, I live..." Melvin started to point to his house but stopped himself. "Yeah."
"Cool. I'll see you around then. And you, Mr. Brownie Bear," Peggy cooed at Helu, in Melvin's arm.
Peggy bounded off, grabbed Mrs. Precious Panda, and went inside her house. She waved at Melvin and Helu before closing the screen door.
"If her name is Mrs. Precious Panda, wouldn't that mean she's already married?" Helu asked.
"She's a six-year-old girl, don't think too much about it," Melvin said.
"Maybe we could do, like, a tea party or something," Helu said. The two of them had started walking again down the street again.
"Are you serious?"
"I'm just trying to be polite. She seemed nice and she was friendly. The least we could do is be friendly back."
"You are too nice sometimes, Helu. Where do you get that from?"
"Clearly not you," Helu sighed. "Did you notice that Mrs. Precious Panda had only one eye? The other was just a button sewn onto her."
"Probably lost it during the war," Melvin said. "Are you having second thoughts about tea now that you know Mrs. Precious Panda is deformed?"
"No, but it does make you wonder what happened. What did Peggy do to her?"
"Same thing that happens to a lot of stuffed animals. They get loved too much," Melvin looked at Helu and smiled. "Come on. Let's see if there are any lizards in that creek, Mr. Brownie Bear." Melvin and Helu ran off down the street toward a small creek that ran between the houses in the neighborhood.
