Pranksters Demand $10,000 In Cupcakes For Lost Bear
Some merry pranksters are having fun in Cobble Hill at the expense of a traumatized two-year-old and his parents. The Brooklyn Paper this week reports on the sad story of a tot's lost teddy and the "kidnappers" who are demanding payment in the form of $10,000 worth of gluten and peanut-free cupcakes.
Back in May young Donovan Bortner dropped his teddy bear, Mr. Bear, wrapped in a blue blanket in the PS 29 schoolyard. When his parents went to retrieve it from the playground, the bear was gone. Since Donovan couldn't be persuaded to let the teddy go, his parents started putting up "lost" signs around town this weekend. In the poster they offered "Baked goods reward. Good karma, too." As Donovan's mother, Susannah Bortner, explained, “It may seem ridiculous to some people, but he [Mr. Bear] is very important to my son."
And then things got interesting. Earlier this week someone started tacking a response to the lost bear signs that read "We have the blanket. Nothing will happen to it if we get $10,000 of gluten-free cupcakes delivered to this park.” And they went on. The "kidnappers" say that “I’ll be dressed as a pregnant woman with a baby in a stroller. My accomplice will be wearing a T-shirt, baseball cap, cargo shorts and mandrals. We’ll be obsessing over our toddler...Come alone or this blanket (and bear) goes into the washer. No gentle cycle!”
The response is pretty certainly a spoof, but Susannah Bortner still kind of wishes it were real. At least so her boy can get a good night's rest: “I would gladly bake 10,000 cupcakes,” Bortner said. “There is a part of me wishing this is real.”
While Bortner gets baking, may we suggest other parents consider toy leashes to hold onto their wee one's beloveds? Meanwhile, at least the pranksters didn't leave any ghost bears in the playground.