紫色泰迪熊

金柏莉·瓦納

（根據真實故事改寫）

連恩不喜歡他的聖誕禮物。

Panel 1 1 SPOT: Boy, Liam (Age 11) gets a hand-made teddy bear for his gift on Christmas morning. He’s not too happy about it. In the background we can see stockings hung by a fireplace and maybe a little bit of a tree poking in on the side. 2 SPOT: 2 of his younger sisters opening-up presents with their own home-made stuffed animals, not teddy bears. They should look happy and excited about their gifts. 3 SPOT: Mom sewing late at night, making the purple teddy bear. 4 SPOT: Boy in the first image hugging his mom, looking happy.

聖誕節的早晨，連恩起得特別早。他和兩個妹妹，荷莉和莎拉，偷偷溜進客廳。在那裡，七隻自製的長筒襪掛成一排；它們有的又小又寬，有的又長又細，還有的太舊，都褪色了。但對連恩來說，每隻襪子都裝滿了美味的糖果，這才是重要的。

連恩抓起他的襪子，把它倒過來。他皺起了眉頭。裡面有一支拐杖糖，一顆橘子，還有一小把糖果。

「就只有這些嗎？」他問道。

荷莉和莎拉也皺起了眉頭。連恩接著笑了——或許這表示他的禮物會非常好！他希望的禮物，是他所有的朋友都在玩的新款電動遊戲。

但到最後，當連恩打開他的禮物時，他的失望卻只增不減——他的禮物是一隻紫色泰迪熊。它是手工縫製的，有黑鈕扣作的眼睛，還有線縫出來的一絲笑容。

「聖誕快樂，連恩。」媽媽滿面笑容地說。

連恩沒有笑。這不是他想要的禮物。

他的妹妹們也得到了填充動物玩偶，三個姊姊也一樣；但這並沒有讓他感覺好一些。這是有史以來最糟糕的聖誕節！

Panel 2 1 SPOT: Boy, Liam (Age 11) gets a hand-made teddy bear for his gift on Christmas morning. He’s not too happy about it. In the background we can see stockings hung by a fireplace and maybe a little bit of a tree poking in on the side. 2 SPOT: 2 of his younger sisters opening-up presents with their own home-made stuffed animals, not teddy bears. They should look happy and excited about their gifts. 3 SPOT: Mom sewing late at night, making the purple teddy bear. 4 SPOT: Boy in the first image hugging his mom, looking happy.

「怎麼了？」他的姊姊艾琳在早餐後問道，「你整個早上都氣呼呼的。」

「我一點也不喜歡我的禮物，」他說，「它只是媽媽做的泰迪熊而已。她為什麼不給我想要的東西？」

艾琳笑著說：「跟我來。」

她帶他到媽媽的臥室，指了指桌上的舊縫紉機。

「這是媽媽的縫紉機，」他說，「那又怎麼樣？」

「你還看到什麼？」

連恩皺起了眉頭。他看到了縫紉針、五顏六色的線，還有一些折疊的布塊。他也看到一袋填充物，像雲朵一樣柔軟、蓬鬆。

「我知道，你希望媽媽買別的東西給你作聖誕禮物，」艾琳說，「但我們沒有錢買那些東西。我喜歡媽媽做給我的泰迪熊，它證明她有多麼愛我。」

「你的意思是什麼？」

「做填充玩偶是需要花時間的，也需要耐心。媽媽一連幾個小時坐在這張桌子前，為我們每個人縫製玩偶。她確保我們每個人都有一份禮物。你不覺得，那表示她愛我們嗎？」

Panel 3 1 SPOT: Boy, Liam (Age 11) gets a hand-made teddy bear for his gift on Christmas morning. He’s not too happy about it. In the background we can see stockings hung by a fireplace and maybe a little bit of a tree poking in on the side. 2 SPOT: 2 of his younger sisters opening-up presents with their own home-made stuffed animals, not teddy bears. They should look happy and excited about their gifts. 3 SPOT: Mom sewing late at night, making the purple teddy bear. 4 SPOT: Boy in the first image hugging his mom, looking happy.

連恩摸了摸媽媽用來做他泰迪熊的紫色布料。或許艾琳說得對，禮物不一定要奢華，才能成為好禮物。在初級會，連恩學習到，耶穌是最偉大的禮物，而耶穌誕生在簡陋的馬廄裡。

連恩跑去找媽媽，給了她一個大大的擁抱。「謝謝你做的泰迪熊。」他說。

Panel 4 1 SPOT: Boy, Liam (Age 11) gets a hand-made teddy bear for his gift on Christmas morning. He’s not too happy about it. In the background we can see stockings hung by a fireplace and maybe a little bit of a tree poking in on the side. 2 SPOT: 2 of his younger sisters opening-up presents with their own home-made stuffed animals, not teddy bears. They should look happy and excited about their gifts. 3 SPOT: Mom sewing late at night, making the purple teddy bear. 4 SPOT: Boy in the first image hugging his mom, looking happy.

現在他不覺得收到泰迪熊很可笑了。即使一份禮物都沒有，他仍感受到家人的愛，而那才讓聖誕節變得很特別。●

這個故事發生在紐西蘭。

Page from the December 2022 Friend Magazine.

黛比·拉瑪利繪