Week 9 Story: Pretty Flowers and Bear Pals

 Pretty Flowers and Bear Pals

    "Don't wander too far Ian!" Ian ignored the yell of the head of the orphanage and continued on his way into the forest to look for pretty flowers. He liked to collect flowers and then press them in his journal he had gotten last Christmas. Each page had at least three flowers pressed, as Ian did not want to waste any of the space among the pages. After wandering for five minutes, the young boy saw a path he had yet to travel down. Ian quickly changed the path of his footsteps and began to head down the newfound path. Wow! So many new kinds of flowers! The path was lined with flowers of all colors, shapes, and sizes. Most of which the boy had never seen before. Ian quickly unzipped his jacket and tied it into a makeshift bag so he could carry all the flowers back with him. Just around the bend, he could see a GIGANTIC flower, and it was his favorite color too! The boy took off running towards the huge purple flower, only realizing that the flower was right at the edge of a steep drop. Unable to stop the momentum he had built up, Ian went tumbling down the incline, luckily avoiding any big rocks or branches during his descent. 

    "Owie! And I didn't even getted the flower!" The young boy punched his tiny fist into the dirt, upset he had taken such a big tumble for nothing. When Ian tried to stand, his ankle buckled under his weight, causing him to fall back to the ground. With his ankle hurt and quite a distance between him and the orphanage, the young boy began to cry loudly. Unbeknownst to the little boy, a momma bear and her cubs had just finished swimming in the river nearby and heard the boy's loud cries. The momma bear gestured to her cubs to stay hidden while she went to see what was wrong. She came across the injured little boy and, taking pity on him, she walked up to check on him. Upon seeing the bear, the little boy yelled in fright and tried to run away, but was not able to due to his ankle. The momma bear sat on her haunches to show the little boy that she was not a threat. Ian slowly calmed down when he realized the bear meant him no harm. She approached him slowly, checking to make sure he was not going to run away, and gently nudged at his ankle. When the boy cried out, she quickly backed away and began to try to put the boy on her back.

    The boy understood the intentions of the bear and lifted himself by placing his hands on her back. Once he managed to stand up, the boy climbed his way onto the back of the bear. She began to walk back into the woods where her cubs were waiting. Seeing the little boy their mom was carrying, the three cubs began to jump around in excitement, happy to have a new friend. The rag-tag group made their way back to the bear's den, where the boy ended up staying for a little over the week. He spent the week eating with the family and playing with the cubs. Despite the fact that he should be scared, the boy felt completely at ease among the little bear family.

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    When Ian was found within the bear's den, the policemen were relieved to see the boy unharmed. However, when they saw the bears behind him, they lifted their guns, ready to protect the boy from danger. The momma bear pushed her cubs and Ian behind her, sensing that these men were dangerous.

    "They're my friends!" Ian frantically told the policemen, scared they were going to hurt his new friends. He didn't know much about guns, but Ms. Ida always told him they caused really big boo-boos.

    "Son," the policeman closest to the den entrance began, "bears are are dangerous creatures. We're gonna need you to slowly walk over to us." Looking up at the momma bear and at the cubs, Ian was scared of what would happen if he left them.

    "When I hurted my ankle, they helped me! They feed me and play with me. Look! I don't have any boo-boos! They're nice bears!" Ian desperately told the story of his rescue to the policemen. Upon hearing his story, the men lowered their guns, believing the bears to be harmless. The momma bear finally relaxed, allowing her cubs and Ian to move out from behind her.

    Ian was returned to the orphanage, but he always remembered to visit his newfound friends every weekend. The orphanage even began to make it a play date, bringing all the older children along to have a picnic near the bears' den.

    Author's Note:

For my story this week, I took inspiration from Androcles and the Lion from Aesop's Fables by Jacobs. The story tells of a slave who had escaped from his master and came across a lion in pain. At first fearful, the slave was hesitant to approach the lion, but when he saw how in pain the lion was, he helped him. The lion decided to take the man back to his cave with him, feeding him. When the two were later captured and pitted against each other by the king. However, the lion recognized his friend and instead began to lick his hands and greeted him as a puppy would. When the slave told of their story, the king allowed the man to go free and released the lion back into the wild. 

    Instead of a lion, I went with a bear, and I wanted to have a happier story. Realistically, a young child probably would not be helpful to an injured animal, so I reversed the situation. The end is kind of abrupt, but I didn't really have a better ending lined up. In the original story, the two went their separate ways, but I thought it would be nice if the momma bear and cubs were still able to stay in contact with the boy, and even make more friends!