The toy maker's pet

The summer that Chen turned nine, he began helping his father cut down and collect bamboo. He lived in a small home with his parents and four younger siblings. In China, there was an abundance of bamboo, and Chen's parents were very good at crafting objects out of it. They made jewelry boxes and small toys. This was how they made a living. This was also how Chen became a toy maker. One day, when Chen was in the rainforest with his father collecting bamboo, he came across a small panda cub. Chen broke off some bamboo leaves from the large stems he had found. He fed them to the panda. He decided to call the panda Jinshu. Every day, he looked forward to going out and collecting the bamboo. He knew he would always see Jinshu waiting for him. Several years went by with Chen taking care of his secret pet, Jinshu. Chen was now an adult and owned his own toy shop. For each toy he made, Chen would carve a tiny bamboo heart and hide it somewhere on or inside the toy. These hearts made the toys special. Sometimes, when a child would play with one, gold coins would suddenly turn up in their backpack for no reason at all. Word spread of Chen's magical toys and soon there was no bamboo left for him to make anymore, so he closed his shop. He spent all of his time in the rainforest taking care of Jinshu. One day, while out in the rainforest, Chen heard a noise. He hid behind a tree and looked around to see what it was. There was a poacher out hunting for pandas. Chen raced over to Jinshu and pulled one of the tiny bamboo hearts from his pocket. He fed it to Jinshu, who became still and quiet. Jinshu also began to shrink and when he had stopped shrinking, he was small enough for a young child to play with. Jinshu had turned into a toy. Chen picked him up and began to walk home. When he was almost there, a little girl stopped him and pointed at the panda with a big smile. Reluctantly, Chen handed Jinshu to her. He knew he was getting old and could no longer take care of him. The little girl was delighted and took very good care of Jinshu. When she grew old, she passed him down to her daughter, then her grandaughter, and so on. At some point, he was given away again. Now, he exists somewhere out in the world and one day when you come across a small toy panda, it might just be Jinshu.