Flapjax was King of his castle, and it was THE BEST! He had the whole place to himself and no one to tell him to stop causing trouble or to go to bed. Of course, he also had no bed…or TV…or snacks…or his best friend, Libby. But as long as he didn’t think about those things, he was okay.

When it got dark out and Libby still hadn’t come back to get him, Flapjax panicked. He ran all around the big, empty house that used to be filled with his family and all of the things they loved. He looked for anything he could use to survive being home alone.

Luckily for Flapjax, his humans had forgotten a few things particularly useful to a stuffed bear trying to make it on his own…

Flapjax was rooting around all of the kitchen drawers (at least the ones at bear height), looking for something to quell the rumbling in his tummy, when he made his first discovery: the menu for Papa Luke’s, their favorite restaurant, where every Friday they went for a big, cheesy pizza. Flapjax knew that menu like he knew his favorite book—or at least he knew the picture of the pizza on the front of it like he knew the red hat and blue coat of his idol, Paddington Bear.

But how could he order pizza without a phone?

Flapjax dug through closets and opened cabinets, and that’s where he found it—an old cellphone. He tried to turn it on, but it was dead. He climbed into the cabinet and jumped excitedly when he felt the long, thin cord of a plug that fit perfectly into the phone. He plugged the charger into an outlet and grinned with joy when the little red light on the phone lit up, telling him it was working. He was saved!

But when he typed in the numbers and waited for the dial-tone, nothing happened. He frowned with frustration and kept typing and pushing all the buttons on the phone. Finally…success!

“Town Police Department,” a voice spoke hurriedly on the other side. “What is your

emergency?”

Flapjax wasn’t sure exactly how to communicate this exact emergency. Did a hungry tummy count? Or maybe being left behind by your humans?

Before he could think of what to do, the human at the other end spoke again.

“Hello? Are you still there? Are you unable to speak?”

Flapjax stared at the phone in awe. She was reading his mind!

“Okay, I have the address where you are calling from on your phone and will send a unit over. Stay with me, now!”

Flapjax grinned. He would be waiting!

*****

Libby was sitting with her parents at Papa Luke’s, but she didn’t want to eat—not even the steaming, hot pizza dripping melty cheese on the plate in front of her. She was too worried about Flapjax to eat!

Suddenly, the door to Papa Lukes flew open and two police officers walked in. One was holding a fluffy teddy bear under his arm. The teddy bear looked over at Libby with a sheepish face.

“Flapjax!” Libby screamed, running over and grabbing her best friend when the police officer held him out to her.

Mom and Dad looked at each other and then over at the police officers, confused.

“How in the world…?” Mom began as Dad walked over to speak with the officers.

“Sir, someone called the police department, and when we showed up, the house was empty, and this bear was sitting in the entryway holding a menu for Papa Luke’s. It was about break time, so we figured we’d come by for dinner and see if this little guy belonged to someone here.” The officer glanced over at Libby and Flapjax and smiled.

Dad smiled too and shook the officers’ hands. “Thank you! You saved the day!”

The other officer picked up two slices of pizza from the counter and said, “Don’t thank us yet, sir, you haven’t seen what we had to do to get into your house.”

Dad’s smile faded as he looked over to the still sheepish-looking Flapjax.

Flapjax buried his face in Libby’s arms. He wasn’t about to tell Dad about Flapjax-shaped hole in the ceiling either…

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