The Teddy Bear is a mystery short story by Isaac Asimov.
Part of the Union Club series, it was first published in the May 1987 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.
Summary[]
In the Union Club library, the narrator mentions he has bought his wife a birthday card, leading to a discussion among the members about the annoyances of gift-giving. This prompts Griswold to recount a story about how a birthday tradition destroyed a friendship.
Griswold tells of his two friends, Oswald Tracy and David Stern, lifelong friends who shared the same birthday. One year, Stern gave Tracy a teddy bear as a sentimental gift. This began an annual game where the recipient from the previous year had to secretly deliver the teddy bear back to the other on their birthday. The competition escalated over the years into an intense and costly rivalry.
On one birthday, Stern tried to evade the game by checking into a hotel in another city. Tracy, having hired a detective to track him, followed. Tracy and an associate secured a room two floors above Stern's. In the middle of the night, Tracy had himself lowered by rope down the building's exterior to what he believed was Stern's window, delivered the teddy bear onto the pillow of the sleeping occupant, and left.
However, Stern returned home claiming he never received the bear, causing a bitter rift and a physical fight. Griswold, hearing the story, asked Tracy if his room had been on the fourteenth floor. It was. Griswold deduced that the hotel had skipped a thirteenth floor for superstition. Therefore, when Tracy descended two floors, he actually entered the room on the twelfth floor, not Stern's room on the eleventh. Tracy had delivered the teddy bear to a complete stranger. This explained why both men were telling the truth from their perspectives. The misunderstanding was resolved, and the two friends reconciled, agreeing to never mention teddy bears again.
Characters[]
- Griswold
- Club Member (the narrator)
- Baranov
- Jennings
- Oswald Tracy
- David Stern
- Tracy's Business Associate
Historical Figures Mentioned[]
- Damon
- Pythias
See Also[]
List of short stories by Isaac Asimov