(prompts:  'special' 10 Sep 2021  and   'skill' 17 Sep 2021)

At first glance, he looked pretty much like any other ancient teddy bear. Not the soft, fluffy type common to this century. Not the pastel 'new chums' with rainbows across their chests and beatific smiles stretching from softly forward turned ear-to-ear. No. From 'go' to 'whoa' (and all stops in between), Ted Bear has been special. It would be some years before his forever mother was old enough to fully appreciate this, and grant him 'Esquire' status.

Pardon? You don't know where/why the title was ever granted? Pull up a chair and lissen up, honey-chile!

In the mystical, wondrous land of historic Scotland, 'Esquire' was a feudal designation (and WHAT is THAT? you grumble), meaning tenure of large pieces of land and/or castles (and encompassing villages, even...) granted to favourite subjects by the Royalty of the day. In the 'modern' world, it is a social dignity referring to Scottish gentry, holding the next precedence ABOVE that of 'Gentleman'. Rightly or not, this is MY choice for the most dignified Teddy Bear I have ever seen or heard about. In 74 years together so far, Ted Bear Esq. has never been heard to murmur or even softly growl any dissent whatsoever. Could be that tiny tag on the back of his neck, declaring he was 'Made in Great Britain', kind of influenced the small Christine from Downunder.

In their joint old age, Ted Bear Esq. and Christine have both found the necessity to wear glasses for 'close inspection' type work (and shhh, don't tell anyone... but some days it seems they need some type of glasses for almost EVERY job). In truth, this applies to Christine almost exclusively, with her having — computer glasses (to magnify and with the tiniest tint to reduce glare from screen), TV glasses (to magnify the teletext. This is for the benefit of the reducing hearing of the hubby — 'pardon??' — C's hearing is still fantastic... 'praise the Lord and bless the people', etc.)

Then there are driving glasses (magnifying long vision — which some dopey dame chose to have made in sunglasses mode, making her look even dumber than usual when it's slowly getting dark) An added problem she didn't foresee is that long-distance magnification looks pretty dumb when trying to step up onto a pavement... demented horsey-type pawing of the gutter results in the need to remove sunglasses... in the FULL sun! Huh??

And we can't leave this scintillating story with mention of the chemist 'el cheapo', 'all-purpose' magnification ones for reading medication labels with the added assistance of a hand-held magnifying glass. (Sometimes a combination of two layers of any of the above perched on the nose work a real treat, and defy world odds. This is supremely satisfying for some simple souls!)

Ted Bear Esq. is the all-time winner in these treacherous days where so much of the tried and true (in the over-lap of two centuries!) tends to be flailing around, if not failing completely! Christine thoughtfully found him some 'specs' without any glass at all, so he can wear them 24/7 for any purpose that valiant heart beneath his hairy chest can devise. (Again, not a growl out of him in all these decades! We don't tell the rest of the world about the secrets we share.) Currently, he has joined the crew of the great ship 'Survivor', led by the 'throw caution to the wind' Captain Christine, as joint First Mate with her inner child, MICA. Other motley crew include every positive that can be amassed, like jewels in a treasure chest. The enemy will be well advised to quake in their boots. They'll not see the like of this gathering again, any time soon.

Of course, you would not be aware that instructions have been left with the assorted Wills, Power of Attorney, and Advanced Directive for the Finale (or similar docs), that Ted Bear Esq. is to be tucked into Christine's coffin. This will ensure she arrives at the Rainbow Bridge and the mass welcome from all her beloved furries and feathereds who have gone before her, waiting the moment to romp once again... with Ted Bear Esq. tightly tucked against her side. With the mountain of special skills he has amassed in their lifetime, he has also obtained special permission for the pair of them to stay 'sunny side up' for as long as they ALL wish.

Eventually, when the intrepid pair are absolutely ready to move on, Ted Bear Esq. has special permission (and a special seat Reserved right alongside his Mum on Cloud 9 (the one Christine has booked for writers and other artists). It's not that he has much in the leg department to swing over the front edge of that cloud, but he knows Mum Christine will look after the incidentals like that for him. She always has. And they will remind each other of all the idiocies they worried about down on Earth, and watch all the people so preoccupied with their 'busyness' they forgot to cherish each other.

And they'll smile, knowingly.

This bear and this hooman have had a plethora of practice in this department over their combined lifetimes.

Author's Note: Some readers will complain this is not within the 500 words suggested length. Others, of the more perspicacious variety (dictionary definition: having a ready insight into and understanding of things), will see the truth of the matter. It does, in fact, cover two weeks of prompts which should therefore permit 1,000 words in total and the author has only used a paltry 870 words. Owzat then?!?