The Story of Teddy Rucksbag

Teddy Rucksbag loved to travel.

Teddy was literally born to travel. Well, really more like “made” to travel since he was handcrafted in the mountains of India from fine goat leather and treated with natural oils before he

was sent out into the world. So he wasn’t really born. But he still liked to travel. A lot.

As soon as he sprang to life, with the last stitch stitched and the last zipper zipped, Teddy traveled down the mountain, across the ocean, and to a strange and exotic land called “Florida” to meet his new family.

Teddy’s new family was a handsome and kind man whom Teddy called “Shoulder,” a beautiful young princess named Lily, and two small, hairy people named Zoe and Charlie. Zoe and Charlie called the handsome and kind man “Lap” when he wasn’t around because whenever he came home and sat in Teddy’s cousin, Recliner, Zoe and Charlie would pile onto his lap. So they called him “Lap.”

But Teddy called the man “Shoulder” because that was the part that Teddy grabbed onto whenever the two of them went out on their daily adventures. Teddy loved to go on adventures with Shoulder and Shoulder took him on an adventure every single day.

Sometimes Teddy and Shoulder would just walk outside and go for a ride in a truck to Shoulder’s office, where Teddy would sit on the floor and watch Shoulder work all day. But that was OK with Teddy. He loved Shoulder and he knew that after Shoulder was done working, they would go for another ride in Shoulder’s truck again and go home to see Lily, Zoe, and Charlie.

When Teddy and Shoulder got home, Teddy sat at the bar on a barstool. Even though he wasn’t traveling, he loved his barstool and Shoulder would come visit throughout the day and evening to get things out of Teddy. Teddy loved it when Shoulder would visit because he liked to be useful. So he decided he would be the most useful rucksack ever.

But sometimes when Shoulder, Lily, Zoe, and Charlie were asleep, Teddy would think back to another friend, the first friend Teddy ever had. Teddy and his friend were made together, in the mountains of India. But Teddy’s first friend was more than just a friend. She was Teddy’s girlfriend. And her name was Sandy.

Teddy and Sandy left the house on the mountain on the same day. While Teddy went to live with Shoulder in the strange and exotic land called “Florida,” Sandy travelled to another strange land called “Texas.” Sandy was adopted by a beautiful and gentle woman whom Sandy called Queen Flower. Sandy loved Queen Flower and loved to go places with her but she still sometimes missed her boyfriend, Teddy. She sometimes missed him a lot.

Both Teddy and Sandy thought about their brothers, sisters, and cousins back at the house on the mountain. Besides Teddy’s brother and sister rucksacks and Sandy’s family, the Satchels, they had lots of cousins. Their cousins were all bags and had family names like Briefcase, Laptop, Messenger, Camera, Handbags, and Travelers.

And not all of the bags were brown like Teddy and Sandy. The Funny-talking man whom everyone called “Grandpa” (even though his real name was Trevor) didn’t want just brown bags. He also wanted bags made with black leather, too. “All bags will be equal, wot?” Trevor said, in that funny way he talked. And the people who made the bags at the house on the mountain smiled because they liked brown bags and black bags and all bags. They were bag-happy and Teddy and Sandy were glad about that because they were bag-happy, too.

Teddy and Sandy got to see each other one time after they left the house on the mountain, when Shoulder went to visit Queen Flower in Texas. The four of them had a wonderful time and Teddy and Sandy were able to talk and laugh and tell each other about their adventures in the strange places they lived, “Florida” and “Texas.” The visit was very short but Teddy and Sandy were very happy to spend time together. Plus they were happy when Shoulder and Queen Flower told them they would get to visit again real soon.

Not long after visiting Sandy and Queen Flower in “Texas,” Shoulder told Teddy that they were going on another trip, this time to a place called “Washington, DC.” Teddy was very excited to get to travel again, since traveling was what Teddy was made for. Shoulder even introduced Teddy to another new friend, Sam S. O’Knight. Teddy and Sam quickly became good friends and Sam would even let Teddy ride on his shoulders when Teddy got tired or just to let him see more of the fun things there were to see on their trip.

Even though he had fun on the trip to Washington with Shoulder and Sam, Teddy was sad that he didn’t get to see Sandy. When Teddy got to ride on a train for the first time, all he could think about as he stared out the window was how much Sandy would have enjoyed it, too. When he rode in the fancy car with Shoulder and Sam, Teddy was still lonely and sad because his girlfriend Sandy wasn’t there to ride in the fancy car with him.

Still, Teddy was grateful that he got to travel to a new place and get to become friends with Sam. After all, Teddy was a travel bag and travelling was what he was made for. He got to fly on another airplane, see new and exciting things, and begin to fulfill his destiny as the greatest travel bag in the history of the world.

Once Teddy, Sam, and Shoulder got home, Sam went back to his place under Shoulder’s bed. Teddy went back to his routine of riding in the truck to Shoulder’s office and then sitting on the barstool when he and Shoulder got home. Teddy thought about Sandy and Queen Flower often during the long, quiet nights when Shoulder, Lily, Zoe, Charlie, and Sam were sleeping. He thought about how much fun they had in Texas and thought about how great it would be when he got to see Sandy and Queen Flower again.

Then one morning, Shoulder told Teddy some exciting news.

“So, Teddy, ol’ buddy...guess who’s coming to visit us in a few weeks?”

Teddy hated guessing games because he wasn’t very good at them.

“Who?”

Shoulder smiled and slipped Teddy onto his left shoulder as he walked out the door toward his truck.

“Let’s just say that both of us will be getting to see our girlfriends again very, very soon.”

Teddy knew immediately that Shoulder was telling him that Sandy and Queen Flower were going to come visit them in their strange and exotic home of  “Florida.”

And that news made Teddy very, very happy.