Scare a Bear By Pete Donald
Bear lived in the forest with his family, friends and fellow bears. He was the master of the whole sleuth. He ruled the bears with an iron paw and was feared amongst all the other creatures that lived in the forest.
Bear believed that he was the scariest and most frightening animal there was.
For a start he was enormous, when he stood on his hind legs he was bigger than any other animal.
His claws were larger and sharper than those of any other animal.
His teeth were bigger and pointier than those of any other animal.
And as for Bear’s roar, it was so loud that even his echo was scarier than those of any other animal.
One quiet Sunday afternoon Bear was enjoying a nap, when a young cub, who wanted to be as scary as Bear, had a sudden shot of courage and decided to ask him some questions.
“How did you get so big?”
“I ate all my food and then some more.”
“How did you get so strong?”
“I pushed and pulled against the tallest trees until I could drag them to the ground.”
“How did you get so scary?”
“I started scaring small cubs and moved onto bigger nastier things.”
With that Bear made a small step towards the cub. The youngster stumbled backwards away from Bear until he fell right over into a great big puddle.
Bear laughed and helped the bedraggled cub back onto his feet, “See, I can scare you when I am not even trying.”
The little cub scrunched up his face, he didn’t think it was very funny. He was all wet and dirty from falling into the puddle and he knew his mother would insist that he would have to have a bath. Cubs hated baths. Even though he was cold and wet he was determined to continue with his questioning “What are you scared of?” he asked.
Bear stopped laughing, he had never been asked such a question. He thought and thought and then announced, “I am not scared of anything.”
“Are you sure?” said the cub, “have you actually seen everything? There might be something out there scarier than you that you have not yet met.”
“I doubt it” replied Bear, “but there is only one way to make sure and I am going to find out.” And with that Bear announced to the whole sleuth that he was going to set out to discover if he was scared of anything.
Bear travelled to the other side of the forest where he had asked the animals from the other lands to present their scariest creatures.
First were the desert animals.
“Oh great Bear may we present to you the deadly scorpion? With its poisonous sting in its tail, it can kill its enemy with a single strike.”
Bear looked at the very small scorpion and waved his paw, “Pah, that is nothing more than a spider with a tail.”
Next up were the swamp beasts, they had brought along the mighty anaconda.
“Here before you, oh mightiest Bear, is the king of the snakes. This majestic animal can swallow a whole buffalo in one go.”
Bear looked at the snake and waved his paw, “Pah, I could tie this overblown piece of string in knots.”
Then the big cats of the plains took their turn. The largest, most ferocious lion stood defiantly in front of Bear and roared so loud and long it made Bear’s fur bristle.
Bear looked at the lion and yawned whilst waving his paw, “Pah, should I go and get kitty a saucer of milk?”
Throughout the whole of the day nothing was able to scare Bear. The evening had started to draw in when the last of the animals had been sent away without any of them striking fear into him. Feeling proud of himself Bear made the long trek home. He would be able to boast to his friends and family, especially that little cub, that there was nothing that could scare him. Nothing at all.
It was dark when he returned to the forest clearing where all the bears lived, but he was surprised to find nobody there. He called out, but there was no reply. He used his loudest voice until he was hoarse but still no one replied. He looked all around the surrounding neighbourhood but again without success. He went to ask the other forest creatures where his family was but they were so frightened of Bear that they ran away when they saw him.
Bear sat down, scratched the back of his ear and sighed. He would just wait for them. Five minutes later he was fed up. He prowled around his patch; there was only the faintest smell of bear. Where could everyone be?
Bear started to get annoyed but that quickly subsided to worry.
The worry quickly became panic, as concern for his missing family made him start to shake and chew at his claws. There were even drops of sweat appearing on his forehead.
Bear realised he was scared, scared of being alone. He sat in the dark on his own, every noise made him twitch and he stayed wide eyed and awake all night.
Just as dawn was breaking, a nearby bush rustled causing Bear to leap out of his fur in alarm. But it was only the little cub.
Bear ran over to little cub and picked him up, giving him a great big bear hug.
The little cub was surprised by this. “What’s the matter Bear?”
“Where have you been? Where did you go?” He asked the questions spluttering out his words as he tried to compose himself.
“We have all been down to the river to catch some salmon” answered the cub. “It happens the same night every year. If you hadn’t been so busy trying to prove to yourself that you were all high and mighty you would have remembered where we were.”
“So where is everybody else?” Bear was looking all around, “you’re not here by yourself are you?
The little cub turned all the way around to see what Bear was looking at. He looked directly at Bear, whose eyes were darting left and right, and then the penny dropped.
“You weren’t worried, were you?”
“Of course not.”
“You weren’t concerned, were you?”
“Of course not.”
“You weren’t scared, were you?”
Bear said nothing.
The rest of the bears were starting to return to the family home, all with their bellies full of fish. A great big bear grin spread across Bear’s face, he was so happy to have all his family back around him.
He turned to the cub and placed a gentle paw upon his shoulder.
“Being alone was the scariest thing I have ever felt. I never want to be like that again. From now on I am going to be a loving and caring Bear and only use my fearsome reputation to defend my family and friends. That is the way to be.”
“With me around”, said the little cub, placing his small paw into Bears, “you will never need to be alone or scared ever again.”
Copyright Pete Donald 2011
http://www.feedbooks.com/userbook/24838/scare-a-bear to download
Bear believed that he was the scariest and most frightening animal there was.
For a start he was enormous, when he stood on his hind legs he was bigger than any other animal.
His claws were larger and sharper than those of any other animal.
His teeth were bigger and pointier than those of any other animal.
And as for Bear’s roar, it was so loud that even his echo was scarier than those of any other animal.
One quiet Sunday afternoon Bear was enjoying a nap, when a young cub, who wanted to be as scary as Bear, had a sudden shot of courage and decided to ask him some questions.
“How did you get so big?”
“I ate all my food and then some more.”
“How did you get so strong?”
“I pushed and pulled against the tallest trees until I could drag them to the ground.”
“How did you get so scary?”
“I started scaring small cubs and moved onto bigger nastier things.”
With that Bear made a small step towards the cub. The youngster stumbled backwards away from Bear until he fell right over into a great big puddle.
Bear laughed and helped the bedraggled cub back onto his feet, “See, I can scare you when I am not even trying.”
The little cub scrunched up his face, he didn’t think it was very funny. He was all wet and dirty from falling into the puddle and he knew his mother would insist that he would have to have a bath. Cubs hated baths. Even though he was cold and wet he was determined to continue with his questioning “What are you scared of?” he asked.
Bear stopped laughing, he had never been asked such a question. He thought and thought and then announced, “I am not scared of anything.”
“Are you sure?” said the cub, “have you actually seen everything? There might be something out there scarier than you that you have not yet met.”
“I doubt it” replied Bear, “but there is only one way to make sure and I am going to find out.” And with that Bear announced to the whole sleuth that he was going to set out to discover if he was scared of anything.
Bear travelled to the other side of the forest where he had asked the animals from the other lands to present their scariest creatures.
First were the desert animals.
“Oh great Bear may we present to you the deadly scorpion? With its poisonous sting in its tail, it can kill its enemy with a single strike.”
Bear looked at the very small scorpion and waved his paw, “Pah, that is nothing more than a spider with a tail.”
Next up were the swamp beasts, they had brought along the mighty anaconda.
“Here before you, oh mightiest Bear, is the king of the snakes. This majestic animal can swallow a whole buffalo in one go.”
Bear looked at the snake and waved his paw, “Pah, I could tie this overblown piece of string in knots.”
Then the big cats of the plains took their turn. The largest, most ferocious lion stood defiantly in front of Bear and roared so loud and long it made Bear’s fur bristle.
Bear looked at the lion and yawned whilst waving his paw, “Pah, should I go and get kitty a saucer of milk?”
Throughout the whole of the day nothing was able to scare Bear. The evening had started to draw in when the last of the animals had been sent away without any of them striking fear into him. Feeling proud of himself Bear made the long trek home. He would be able to boast to his friends and family, especially that little cub, that there was nothing that could scare him. Nothing at all.
It was dark when he returned to the forest clearing where all the bears lived, but he was surprised to find nobody there. He called out, but there was no reply. He used his loudest voice until he was hoarse but still no one replied. He looked all around the surrounding neighbourhood but again without success. He went to ask the other forest creatures where his family was but they were so frightened of Bear that they ran away when they saw him.
Bear sat down, scratched the back of his ear and sighed. He would just wait for them. Five minutes later he was fed up. He prowled around his patch; there was only the faintest smell of bear. Where could everyone be?
Bear started to get annoyed but that quickly subsided to worry.
The worry quickly became panic, as concern for his missing family made him start to shake and chew at his claws. There were even drops of sweat appearing on his forehead.
Bear realised he was scared, scared of being alone. He sat in the dark on his own, every noise made him twitch and he stayed wide eyed and awake all night.
Just as dawn was breaking, a nearby bush rustled causing Bear to leap out of his fur in alarm. But it was only the little cub.
Bear ran over to little cub and picked him up, giving him a great big bear hug.
The little cub was surprised by this. “What’s the matter Bear?”
“Where have you been? Where did you go?” He asked the questions spluttering out his words as he tried to compose himself.
“We have all been down to the river to catch some salmon” answered the cub. “It happens the same night every year. If you hadn’t been so busy trying to prove to yourself that you were all high and mighty you would have remembered where we were.”
“So where is everybody else?” Bear was looking all around, “you’re not here by yourself are you?
The little cub turned all the way around to see what Bear was looking at. He looked directly at Bear, whose eyes were darting left and right, and then the penny dropped.
“You weren’t worried, were you?”
“Of course not.”
“You weren’t concerned, were you?”
“Of course not.”
“You weren’t scared, were you?”
Bear said nothing.
The rest of the bears were starting to return to the family home, all with their bellies full of fish. A great big bear grin spread across Bear’s face, he was so happy to have all his family back around him.
He turned to the cub and placed a gentle paw upon his shoulder.
“Being alone was the scariest thing I have ever felt. I never want to be like that again. From now on I am going to be a loving and caring Bear and only use my fearsome reputation to defend my family and friends. That is the way to be.”
“With me around”, said the little cub, placing his small paw into Bears, “you will never need to be alone or scared ever again.”
Copyright Pete Donald 2011
http://www.feedbooks.com/userbook/24838/scare-a-bear to download
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