The world was a blur of emerald trees and grey asphalt, shaking with the rhythmic thrum of the station wagon tires. Barnaby, a bear of considerable fluff and even greater heart, sat perched on the edge of the booster seat. He felt the vibration in his velvet paws. Beside him, little Leo was fast asleep, his head lolling like a heavy flower in a breeze.
Suddenly, the car hit a bump. Not a small, polite bump, but a legendary, bone-shaking crater of a pothole. *Ka-thump!* Barnaby felt himself lift into the air. For a glorious, terrifying second, he was a flying bear. Then gravity reclaimed him. He bounced off the floor mat, rolled past a discarded juice box, and tumbled down, down, down into the shadows.
He landed with a soft *floof* on a carpet that felt suspiciously like dried cereal and ancient crumbs. It was dark. It was dusty. It smelled faintly of old french fries and mystery. Barnaby reached up to wipe his face, but his paw met a smooth, empty patch of fabric where his right eye should have been.
"Oh, bother and biscuits," Barnaby whispered, his voice muffled by the heavy scent of upholstery. "My eye! My beautiful, shiny black button eye! It must have popped off in the tumble."
He looked around, squinting with his remaining eye. The underside of the car seat loomed above him like a vast, iron-ribbed sky. Wires dangled like black vines, and the floor was littered with the ghosts of road trips past. He was no longer in the warm, sunlit world of the backseat. He was in the Under-Seat Kingdom, a place where things went to be forgotten.
"Psst! Hey, you! The one with the leaking fluff!"
A voice squeaked from behind a crumpled fast-food napkin. Barnaby jumped, his stuffing shifting nervously. Out crawled a small, jagged shape. It was a Graham Cracker, or at least, half of one. One of his corners had been bitten off in a very decisive manner, giving him a permanent, lopsided grin.
"I am Sir Crunch-a-Lot," the cracker declared, puffing out his chest and sending a small shower of crumbs to the floor. "Guardian of the Left Rail. Who goes there?"
"I am Barnaby," the bear replied, trying to look as brave as a bear with one eye could. "I have lost my eye, Sir Crunch. Have you seen it? It is round, black, and very shiny."
Sir Crunch-a-Lot tapped his chin thoughtfully. "A Great Orb? Many have fallen, but few remain. The Dust Bunnies usually claim the shiny things for their queen. But hark! What is that sound?"
From the darkness near the air vent came a high-pitched, bubbly sound. *Tee-hee-hee! Snort! Guffaw!*
A bright neon-yellow object tumbled out of the shadows, rolling and twisting like an overexcited caterpillar. It was a sock, striped with purple, and it seemed to be having the time of its life.
"A visitor! A visitor!" the sock squealed, collapsing into a heap of giggles. "I am Lefty! I got lost three vacations ago when the laundry basket tipped. I have been tickling the floor mats ever since! *Tee-hee!*"
Barnaby felt a flicker of hope. "Lefty, have you seen a button? I cannot go back to Leo without my eye. He will think I am broken."
Lefty did a little somersault. "The Great Orb? The silver-tongued paperclip said he saw something shiny rolling toward the Forbidden Crevice, near the heater vent! But beware, the air there is chilly and the shadows are deep!"
The trio set off across the vast expanse of the floor mat. The car swerved to the left, and they all slid toward the door panel.
"Hold fast!" Sir Crunch-a-Lot cried, stabbing his jagged edge into the carpet to anchor himself. Barnaby grabbed Lefty, who was giggling so hard he couldn't find his footing.
As they approached the heater vent, the temperature dropped. A draft of cold air whistled through the metal grates. Sir Crunch-a-Lot began to shiver, his crumbs rattling like tiny castanets. "It is... quite... c-c-cold," the cracker chattered. "My wheat is becoming brittle. I fear I may snap in two!"
Lefty, usually so vibrant, began to go limp. "I am just a thin summer sock," he sighed, his voice losing its giggle. "I was not made for the Arctic regions of the Under-Seat."
Barnaby looked at his new friends. He felt the warmth of his own thick, polyester stuffing. He looked at a small tear in his side, a souvenir from an old tug-of-war with a puppy. He reached in with his paw and gently pulled out a soft, white cloud of fluff.
"Here," Barnaby said, wrapping the fluff around Sir Crunch-a-Lot like a warm scarf. He pulled out another handful and stuffed it inside Lefty’s open toe. "This will keep you cozy. I have plenty to spare. A bear is mostly heart and fluff, after all."
Sir Crunch-a-Lot gasped as the warmth returned to his toasted edges. "Barnaby, you are a knight of the highest order! You give of your own essence!"
Lefty began to wiggle again. "*Tee-hee!* It feels like I’m wearing a cloud! I’m a cloud-sock! Look at me go!"
With their spirits renewed, they reached the Forbidden Crevice. There, wedged between a rusted bolt and a petrified gummy bear, sat the Great Orb. It caught a stray beam of light from the car door window and sparkled like a diamond.
Barnaby lunged for the button, his velvet paws catching it just as the car took a sharp turn. "I have it! I have it!" he cheered.
But the journey was not over. Above them, they heard the muffled sound of a car door opening. The engine’s hum died down.
"We’re here!" a voice boomed from the world above. It was Grandma’s house.
"If we do not move now, we shall be left in the dark forever!" Sir Crunch-a-Lot shouted. "Lefty, give us a boost!"
Lefty coiled himself like a spring. "Hop on, Barnaby! I’ll give you the Big Bounce!"
Barnaby climbed onto the neon sock. With a mighty *sproing*, Lefty launched the bear upward. Barnaby soared through the air, his missing eye clutched tight to his chest. He grabbed the edge of the seat cushion and hauled himself up, just as a hand reached into the car.
"Barnaby! There you are!" Leo cried, grabbing the bear and hugging him tight. "I thought I lost you!"
Leo looked down and saw the button in Barnaby’s paw. "Oh, you found your eye! And look, you’re losing some stuffing. You must have had a big adventure."
As Leo carried Barnaby toward the warm, yellow light of Grandma’s porch, the bear looked back down into the shadows. He saw a tiny, jagged cracker waving a crumbly hand and a neon-yellow sock doing a victory dance.
Barnaby didn't mind the small hole in his side or the fact that his eye was currently unattached. He felt fuller than he ever had before. He had entered the Under-Seat Kingdom a lonely bear, but he was leaving it a hero with friends who would always remember the bear who shared his fluff.
Inside the house, Grandma smiled. "Let’s get a needle and thread, Leo. We’ll have Barnaby fixed up in no time."
Barnaby sat on the sofa, feeling the warmth of the fireplace, knowing that even the longest, wigglest trips are better when you have a story to tell and a friend to keep you company.
