Little Bear
Lucy was the first one awake in the
morning. Her nose was sticking out of
her sleeping bag feeling just how chilly the air was going to be as soon as she
got out. The sound of the rushing river made Lucy need to rush on over to the
bathroom.
The rest of the family was still asleep
as the sound of the river grew louder and louder.
Lucy quickly unzipped her nice warm
sleeping bag and felt the chilly air rush in.
“My goodness!” she mumbled gritting her
teeth.
She quickly found her clothes and jacket,
finally changing out of her pajamas as fast as she could.
After returning from the bathroom, Lucy
noticed how extremely peaceful and quiet the camp was. The perfect time for a
bike ride.
She rode up to a large brown trash
dumpster after noticing two short and furry black animal legs poking out of the
dumpster door.
“Those are bear cub legs!” she said,
riding closer to see if they were real.
She saw the legs moving and heard a
familiar bear cub cry.
“Hold on little bear, I got you!” she
grunted right as she took hold of the bear cubs legs, pulling it right out of
the dumpster.
“Stop right there!” called a voice from
behind her.
Lucy immediately froze while slowly
turning around to see who it was. He sounded too young to be a grown up.
“Who are you?” she immediately asked,
trying not to look him in the eyes.
She already noticed that he was around
her age with and amazing smile and dimples.
“You can’t just go pulling on bear cubs
like that without getting attacked by its mother,” he explained.
Lucy ignored his warning, still
mesmerized with the cute young man in front of her.
“Hello!” he called, trying to get Lucy
to listen.
Lucy felt the bear cub lick her hand,
breaking her out of the boy’s spell.
“I couldn’t just leave it in the trash,”
she said keeping it from climbing back in.
“Why does it want to get inside?” asked
the boy.
When Lucy pulled the bear cub away from
the trash, the cub cried out causing a large ‘BANG and a muffled roar to
explode from inside the large dumpster.
“I think that’s the mother inside,” Lucy
said, almost opening the trash door to look inside.
“STOP!” the boy shouted. “Now I know you
are crazy. That bear could kill you,” he warned.
“You’re right,” Lucy replied. “We need
to find a Ranger.”
The bear cub did not seem afraid of
Lucy. Normally wild bear cubs just run away. This cub just looked up at her
while sitting at her feet.
Lucy reached down and started petting it
causing the boy to freak out even more.
“Who are you, the bear whisperer?” he
asked. “A-AND You can’t pet bears; didn’t anyone teach you that as a kid?” the
young man insisted nervously.
“I know!” replied Lucy reaching down to
give the cub a big hug. “I always wanted
to do this.”
“You can’t hug them either!” he insisted
nervously.
Unexpectedly a large garbage truck came
around the corner to empty the large dumpster with the mother bear inside.
Lucy called the bear cub away from the
road and began to wave her arms.
“Help me warn the driver!” Lucy told the
boy.
The bear cub ran back over again trying
to climb back into the dumpster.
The trash truck driver finally saw them
and climbed down from his truck and to see why they were making him stop. As soon as he saw the bear cub he ran back to
the truck to call for a Ranger.
The trash truck driver called and
reported the bear inside the dumpster with a bear cub just outside.
The mother bear was starting to become
very upset, making mean noises and pounding on dumpster from the inside.
The boy took a few steps back, while
Lucy stepped forward and put her hand on the side of the dumpster.
“That’s scary!” he said. “Don’t get so
close.”
Lucy tapped the side of the dumpster
again to get the mother bear’s attention.
“It’s ok, we are going to get you out,
and your baby is right here is just fine,” she explained hoping the mother bear
would understand.
The movement inside the dumpster
immediately stopped.
Both impressed at Lucy’s gift of calming
baby and mother bears, the driver and the boy both asked Lucy the same question,
at the same time.
“What’s your name?” they asked.
Lucy giggled.
“I’m Lucy,” she replied.
The driver seemed in a hurry, so he
immediately shook her hand.
“Great work saving bears today!” he said
right before turning to leave. “You guys need to wait for the ranger and stay
away from the cub,” he added.
The bear cub was now rolled over on its
back waiting for Lucy to scratch its tummy.
“That is amazing!’ the boy said reaching
down to scratching its fuzzy tummy.
“Don’t pet the bear,” Lucy teased.
“I’m Paul Jr.,” the boy finally
declared, standing up to brush off his pants. “I could not resist the
cuteness.”
“He said I saved a life,” Lucy replied.
“Why did he say that?”
Paul Jr. looked over at the dumpster.
“Right after each dump, the truck driver
pushes a button crushing up everything inside,” he explained.
“I am glad the river forced me out of
bed this morning!” Lucy thought to herself while actually saying the words out
loud.
“I’ve never heard that one before, how
did the river force you out of bed?” Paul Jr. asked.
Lucy just realized what she just said.
“I meant, it was a good thing I got up
early to see the river,” she clarified.
The truck driver smiled and waved as he
drove past the two of them.
Lucy and Paul Jr. began scratching the
bear cub on the tummy. It kicked its
legs as if the cub was ticklish.
“This may be the only time we ever get
to pet a real bear,” Paul Jr. said while breaking his own rule again.
Lucy smiled, knowing that she was the
one calming the cub in her mind.
The bear cub rested its head by lying on
Lucy’s leg. “Hey there, little cub. We need to give you a name,” she said,
scratching behind its little ears.
“You can’t name bear cubs?” he warned.
“You will become attached.”
Lucy looked back at him like he was
crazy.
“I name him Elmer!” she replied.
Paul Jr. covered his face with his
hands.
“You’re hopeless!” he mumbled. “Now I’m
going to think of a bear cub every time I hear people shouting that name.”
Lucy pulled his hands away from his face
causing Paul Jr. to look at her.
“Repeat after me!” she insisted.
Paul Jr. was not used to anyone touching
him and was confused about Lucy’s request.
“Repeat what?” he asked.
“When I am doing a good deed, I can, I
will, and will not stop until I succeed.”
Paul Jr. chuckled.
“That rhymes!” he celebrated.
“Just say it back to me!” Lucy insisted.
“I will not succeed until I bleed.” Paul
Jr. said as fast as he could.
Lucy laughed.
“No, that’s not it,” she replied.
“It rhymed, didn’t it?” Paul Jr. joked.
Lucy repeated it one more time.
“When I am doing a good deed, I can, I
will, and will not stop until I succeed.”
Paul Jr. listened carefully this time,
trying to impress Lucy.
“When I am doing a good deed, I can, I
will, and will not stop, until I succeed,” he repeated perfectly.
“You’re a fast learner,” Lucy cheered.
“Who taught you to say that?” he asked.
Lucy was proud to explain.
“My mom always says that if we remember
to always be positive, we will not need to say I can’t very often, and earlier
you said I CAN’T, about five different times.”
“I did?” Paul Jr. asked, feeling like an
idiot.
“You-did!” Lucy teased. “Mom also taught
me to do a good deed daily.
“How old are you?” Paul Jr. asked
causing Lucy to blush.
“I am ten. Why?”
“You sound smarter than any girl I
know,” replied Paul Jr.
Lucy blushed even more.
Paul Jr. looked down to notice the bear
cub asleep on Lucy’s lap.
“There is something magical about you,”
he told her. “I bet you did something to put the mother bear to sleep as well.”
Lucy looked over and realized that he
was right. The mother bear was completely calm inside the dumpster.
“Do you know why Rangers tell us that
it’s not safe to pet bears or other wild animals?” Paul Jr. asked.
Lucy thought as hard as she could to
give him a good answer.
“No,” she replied.
Paul Jr. was excited to finally prove
how smart he was to Lucy.
“Wild animals will feel comfortable with
humans and start getting closer and closer to them. Eventually, someone will
get hurt, and most bears are killed after hurting a human.”
Lucy carefully set the bear cubs head on
the ground before he said anything else. She just realized the danger she was
causing this bear cub by petting it.
Finally, a Ranger with a ladder pulled
up in front of the dumpster.
“It’s Ranger Pam,” Lucy said. “Come and
meet her, she is amazing.”
“How do you know Ranger Pam?” he asked.
Lucy stopped walking when she realized
Paul Jr. knew her too.
“She is friends with my mom,” Lucy
replied. “How do you know her?”
Ranger Pam stepped out of the truck
before Paul Jr. could answer.
“I would never have guessed that it was
the two of you,” Ranger Pam said cheerfully.
Her ranger clothes were in perfect order
once again, perfectly ironed with her long hair braided perfectly into a bun
behind her Ranger hat.
“Hi Ranger Pam,” Lucy called. Ranger Pam pointed at the bear cub that was
sleeping on the side of the road.
“What is that?” she asked.
“It’s the cub that was sticking out of
the dumpster. I pulled him out,” Lucy explained. “The mother is inside.”
Paul Jr. backed up, trying to avoid
Ranger Pam.
Ranger Pam looked around the dumpster
and found a little clip that was missing.
“What is that for?” asked Lucy.
“It keeps the bears from getting
inside,” Ranger Pam explained. “Someone in this camp did not put the clip back
on after dumping their trash.”
Ranger Pam was beginning to feel angry.
“Several bears have died this way,” she
added.
“I told her what happens when they get
inside,” Paul Jr. interrupted.
Ranger Pan turned and looked at him.
“What are you doing out this early?” she
asked.
Lucy noticed how strange Paul Jr. was
acting around her.
“I was just riding my bike,” Paul Jr.
explained to her.
“Well, I hope you finished your chores,”
she warned.
Lucy started to giggle.
Lucy interrupted by tapping on Ranger
Pam’s arm.
“Is he your son?” she asked.
Ranger Pam looked at Paul Jr. causing
him to blush.
“I am his nanny, but he calls me mom!”
Ranger Pam replied.
“It’s a long story!” Paul Jr. insisted.
Ranger Pam removed the ladder and
started getting ready to help the bear out of the dumpster.
Several other Park Rangers arrived to
help keep any campers from getting too close.
“You two need to go back to your camps!”
one of the Rangers insisted.
Ranger Pam paused to tell them one more
thing.
“Finish your chores, Paul,” she
demanded, then looked over at Lucy. “I will see you later Lucy. Please tell your mom to call me when you
return from the river.”
Lucy waved goodbye and quickly jumped on
her bike to ride straight back to camp.
“See you later Paul!” she called out
without looking back.
Paul Jr. smiled and quickly jumped on
his own bike, riding towards the wooden pathway to cross the meadow.