Tales of the Boo
A children's series under development
Dedicated to our grandson
by jdb_educator
2. Boo's Surprise
Boo slept late. His dreams were full of honey and nuts, berries and fish, and warm, sunny, meadows. He stretched his short, brown, furry arms out in front of him and yawned. Then he stretched his legs, arching his back, just like an old dog. He thought he heard a sound, so he stopped and listened. The cave was silent, quiet as if he were alone in the world. Mom and dad must be outside, he thought to himself. He looked around the cave, snuffling after something to eat. "Nothing here, " he grumbled quietly. Little bears are often grumpy and growly when they first get up, and they have not eaten! Boo's thoughts were only on food as he lifted his black fuzzy nose into the air coming from outside the cave. "Snuff, snuff, snuffle, mmmmmm!" Boo was sure he smelled food. "Fooood!" He growled in hope and delight. His fuzzy brown ears stood straight up; he slowly lumbered toward the smell in the open forest glen, just like he thought his father would. That, of course, meant rolling his body first to one side then to the next, like he was a big, heavy, grown-up bear. It didn't quite work, because Boo was so small. Shhh, don't tell him!
As he left the cave, his nose told him that Dad, Mom, and a bunch of his friends were down by the lake. To his left. He wondered why no one woke him up like they usually did, with chores to do! He didn't have to worry which way was left, Boo just followed his nose! It was a pleasant, pleasing, warm smell, because the smell said family and friends.
Now, Boo forgets things really easily, since he is a just a very small bear. He doesn't remember one day to the next in any detail. Only if it is a regular, daily thing does he even kind of remember. Today, Boo had already forgotten yesterday! Do you remember yesterday? Do you remember what happened to Boo?
Did you remember or are you a very small bear too?
As Boo came closer to the lake, he began to see better too. Bears are pretty near sighted. They have to be close to what they need to see. Sometimes they have to be really close! Well, Boo has gotten close enough to see and recognize all the different relatives. He knows them better by smell than sight. They all appear to be standing and lying around the lake. As Boo gets within ten feet of the lake he sees more. The voices from the bears, the wolf, the three deer, lots of turtles, doves, and even two big cows all reach him just as he sees them. They are singing! Do you know what they might be singing?
With this group, the singing kind of sounds like growling, howling, warbling mixed up with other strange sounds, like whistles and grunts. In fact, only the deer sang sweetly. Still, it all brought Boo to a complete stop. All those friends and relatives were singing, "Happy Birthday dear Boo, happy birthday to you!"
I'm sure you will be as surprised as I am, but Boo's dream came true. For spread out under the trees in the green grassy meadow near the lake were lots of nuts, bowls of honey, berries and fresh fish filled several platters… It was his dream come true. And all of this simply because today was finally Boo's Birthday.
