Fifth Grade
Worksheets
A Teddy Bear's Wish
Toby was a zebra-striped teddy bear. He was made in China. He had been shipped to America in a crate with hundreds of other teddy bears. He had been in the cramped carton for weeks. His face felt flat from being under the weight of the other bears for so long. Toby was the only striped bear in the carton. His brown eyes looked straight ahead. A yellow ribbon was tied in a bow under his chin. It gave him a cheerful appearance.
Before he left the factory, Toby heard stories about the jobs toys were given. He heard about toy cars that won races. He heard about toy airplanes that zoomed above fields of grass in the eager hands of a budding aviator. He heard about toys that were used to build things and toys that were used for playing games. He heard about superhero toys: toys that could do wonderful things using special powers. Toby wondered what job he would be given.
Toby imagined himself as a superhero bear. In his dreams, his stripes became lightning bolts. His round brown eyes had x-ray vision. His small black ears heard sounds no one else heard. In his mind, Toby became a striped superhero teddy bear that saved the day.
When his crate arrived at its destination, nothing happened. Toby and the others waited in the carton for a long, long time. Weeks went by without hearing the sound of a single footstep. Finally, light appeared between the cracks in the box. Blue-capped faces opened the carton. They plucked Toby and his friends from the darkness into the light. One by one, the teddy bears were re-packed into large plastic bags by the blue-capped people. Toby and the others were placed together in a large, dark space in the back of a car called a trunk.
