Marshmallow and Chicken

Marshmallow and Chicken

          The Killer Teddy Bear

                                      By Anastasia Hunt













      Chapter One: Where’s My Teddy?



Lydia Johnson was brushing away on her hair, when she remembered her dear teddy bear, whom she named Teddy- pretty predictable, right? She loved that cuddly little bear. He- or it- was extremely soft, and Lydia’s grandma had made it. She loved the scent of pumpernickel that had been baked into the bear. 

         But Lydia’s bear had its scary sides.  Whenever she held the bear, she looked into its black eyes and had to look away. It freaked the muffins out of her. She saw something evil in those eyes. Whenever she had already gotten dressed into her pajamas,  she would find her bear in the pantry- lifeless, with a small loaf of pumpernickel bread in its arms. Was it some dirty prank? Lydia, being 12 years old, was still freaked out  by the weird incidents she found each night. What was going on?  There was no way she was going to stay out to find out what Teddy was up to.

         Lydia noticed that all the lights were shut off in the house. All except the hall light.  Everything else had a faint light on it, but you wouldn’t be able to tell a cockroach from a cookie crumb (not good).



“Teddy, where are you?” Lydia asked softly. She was not expecting an answer, of course, because bears don’t talk.

“I’m right heeeeee-rrrrre,” the soft voice said, trailing at the end.



“Is this a trick, Dad? I know it’s you,” Lydia’s voice said, trembling. She didn’t really know who it was. She had an idea, but she forbid herself from thinking it.

“It’s me, Teddy,” the soft voice said. Something moved in the dark, because Lydia heard a pid-pad pid-pad on the carpet.

         Lydia looked down at her watch. It was midnight. She didn’t want to be out. Bad things on movies ALWAYS happen at midnight.

         The bear stepped into the light, holding a loaf of pumpernickel. He was stroking it with his claws. It turned into a huge dagger, and at that, Lydia fled into her room, locked the door behind her, and turned the light on. She plopped down on the bed and closed her eyes. She was never going to hold that bear again. NEVER. She was going to destroy it if it was the last thing she ever did. That bear had to meet his match, but who?

         “Marshmallow and Chicken!” Lydia said to herself. Finally, she had an answer.

         All night, Lydia heard a tapping and scratching noise on her door. All night, Lydia said to herself how she was going to rip that evil, spoiled, rotten little bear apart.













Chapter Two: Chicken’s Plan



Chicken woke up, startled, because she had nightmares about something evil trying to hurt Lydia. What was she going to do? Nah, don’t bother, Chicken thought, It’s just a dream.

         Chicken got out of her nesting box and waddled over to the feed bucket. She counted the eggs she had laid- ten in all. Lydia was going to have a rich breakfast, and Chicken was proud that she could provide for her friend and her family. Lydia’s parents were the owners of Clover Leaf Farm, anyway, and she had to do her duty.

         Chicken had a schedule. Get up, count the eggs she laid, eat seed for ten minutes, peck at grass for five. Sleep for ten minutes, drink water for two.  Eat more seed for ten minutes, peck at more grass for five. It was the same thing over and over until Lydia came or three o’clock. She watched the sun to tell time. Other chickens couldn’t give a cluck about what time was or who Lydia was or how many eggs they laid or how much they ate. They were like robots. But they were helpful in some cases. When Chicken had a problem, or didn’t feel right, the other chickens made her feel better. Their stupidity made her feel like a boss.

         Lydia was running downhill to the chicken pen. She had something in her hands. Pumpernickel bread. Lydia came over and ripped a piece of pumpernickel off. She stuck it through the wiring and handed it to Chicken. Chicken pecked at it. It had a sour taste, but Chicken found it better than the boring seed she had been eating every single breathing day of her life. She gobbled it up, not leaving a crumb (well, she did leave quite a few, but she immediately ate that, too).

         “Well, Chicken,” Lydia said. “You must be living a safe life. Last night was terrifying. I saw my teddy bear coming after me with a knife. You know what? Maybe it was all a nightmare.”

         Chicken could hear the doubt in Lydia’s voice. Something bad was happening. Chicken had to come up with a plan.



It was well past three o’clock by the time Chicken had formed a plan. She knew that the pumpernickel bread had something to do with the case, and she thought that her hunger for it would help. So, she followed Lydia into the house, and hid in her room until dark. She wandered the house, watching every step for the teddy bear that she dearly wanted to rip to shreds, but in her chicken sense, violence was not the answer unless it was truly needed.

         It was only nine o’clock at night when Chicken waddled past the living room into the kitchen. She heard a lot of noise in the pantry- where the pumpernickel was stored. She waddled closer, prepared to strike, when the evil bear walked slowly out with a loaf of pumpernickel. Chicken was confused. What could a loaf of bread do to a girl? Chicken waddled towards the bear and snatched the pumpernickel away. She pecked at the bread and gobbled it up, watching the bear the whole time.

         The bear headed back to the pantry.  Chicken had to form a new plan. The bear would just keep heading to the pantry for more bread. Why not just eat the bear?

         Chicken waited for the perfect moment before charging towards the stuffed bear. She tore at the arms and legs, devouring the stuffing inside. The bear was lifeless now.  One bear down. She had saved her human. She waddled to Lydia’s room and jumped on the bed with her.

         “Is he gone?” Lydia whispered. Chicken just lay there. A sigh of relief came from the girl.

         What Lydia didn’t know was that twelve more bears, armed with pumpernickel, hid in the shadows of the house. They stared at their torn fellow bear, lifeless and limbless on the kitchen floor. They were seeking revenge. This time, they knew the chicken would come. But Chicken couldn’t take down an army of killer bears by herself.



Chapter Three: Wait, there’s more?!



Chicken woke up the next morning in Lydia’s bed. She recalled the scene that had happened the night before and was proud of herself. She could tell Marshmallow about the whole thing. He would never believe her.

         Chicken leapt off the bed and waddled to the kitchen. Lydia followed the golden hen and laughed at the scene in the kitchen.

         Chicken waddled to the pantry and looked at the bag of pumpernickel. She nearly fainted at what she saw. Instead, she squawked and screamed, until Lydia came and looked at the supply of bread. 12 pieces of bread were missing. Lydia pounded her fists on the wall and did a groan.

         “No! I thought they were gone!” Lydia said. “Well, I do have twelve more bears… perhaps they decided to get revenge. Why are these crazy bears coming after me, anyway?”

         Chicken just lay there, thinking hard. Maybe this would be the time to use her chicken friends….



Chicken stood on the roof of the big nesting boxes. She stood tall and looked every chicken in the eye.

         “Lydia needs our help,” Chicken squawked.

         “Who’s Lydia?” one chicken asked.

         “Our person!” Chicken yelled.

         “What’s a person?” another asked.

         Chicken was ready to give up. But she couldn’t. An army of twelve killer bears were on the lookout for Lydia. She gestured all of the chickens out of the pen and up to the house. Marshmallow was in his meadow, grazing. The white pony looked up in interest as a group of 16 chickens marched to the house.

         “What in the meadows are you doing, Chicken?” whinnied Marshmallow.

         “Lydia needs our help from an army of killer teddy bears!” Chicken yelled.

         Marshmallow gave a watchful eye as the gang of chickens waddled one by one into the house.

         “With all those brainless heads waddling into a house full of killer teddy bears, something’s bound to go wrong,” Marshmallow said to himself.

         Marshmallow trotted over to the tool shed and searched for the big chainsaw. Things are about to get fun around here, Marshmallow thought. Grabbing the chainsaw in his mouth by the handle, Marshmallow plodded out of the pasture at towards the house.

         “Chickens, get straight!” yelled Chicken as the others huddled in a circle. Just ahead of them was a pair of bears, and the chickens were scared to death. A few of them were so scared, they laid eggs.

         Many of the golden and white chickens fled- all except the trembling Chicken. That was her name- and she was proud. Maybe one day it would be Chicken- Teddy Bear Killer. She now had to do this alone.

         Marshmallow walked in with the chainsaw, and Chicken admiringly looked up at the pony, who was ready to rip. Ahead lay a bear, who was prepared with his loaf of bread. The pony and chicken heard a scream, and followed it to Lydia’s room.

         Lydia was cornered in her room by a bunch of bears with forks. One wasn’t that bright and grabbed a spoon instead. Marshmallow turned on the chainsaw and headed towards the bears. The saw ripped off arms and heads and legs. Only bears’ legs and arms and heads. Lydia gave a sigh of relief and patted Chicken. She gave Marshmallow a hug and led them both outside. Marshmallow returned to his meadow and Chicken to her pen.

         “Well, Marshmallow and Chicken save the day,” Chicken said proudly. “Maybe we could save the day again. But for now, I think I’ll stick to laying eggs and being the boss around here.”

         So Chicken went back to her schedule of eating and sleeping, and keeping charge of the other chickens. She thought about a time when she could be the hero again. She went to sleep happily. She laid an egg the next day- but this one was special. And it wasn’t an ordinary egg- not even a chicken egg. Some strange accident had happened… and this looks like a case for Marshmallow and Chicken!