Mrs. Bear's Lovely Surprise
© 2005 Sonia C. Jensen

It was a lovely, bright Spring day in Green Wood. The winter snow had quickly melted, and little rivers of pure, clear water ran down the rolling hills of the meadow.

All of the flowers were showing off their beautiful colors, and little leaves were forming on the tall trees, where birds of wonderful colors were building nests for their eggs. Eggs that would soon turn into baby birds that would fill the forest with their songs.

Mr. and Mrs. Bear lived in a cave, deep in the woods. They were just waking up from their long winter nap, and they were very hungry and dirty.

While Mr. Bear went out to look for food, Mrs. Bear walked down to the river to have a nice bath. She was washing her big, hairy tummy, when she felt a little lump.

"Oh my," she thought to herself. "I wonder what that is?" She was quite worried and quickly finished her bath, then hurried home to wait for Mr. Bear.

When Mr. Bear came home with breakfast, nice red berries and fresh fish, Mrs. Bear told him about the lump in her tummy. Mr. Bear scratched his head, thought a little bit and then he said, "Mrs. Bear, I think you should go and visit Doctor Owl today. Perhaps he will know what it is."

So that afternoon Mrs. Bear went to see Doctor Owl.

She was in the big Maple Tree Office for a very long time, but when she finally came out...she was singing and laughing! She certainly did not look worried now!

She skipped all the way home, picking flowers and calling out to her friends, "Mr. Deer! Mrs. Bunny! I am going to have a surprise!"

But she would not tell anyone what it was, except Mr. Bear of course.

For weeks afterward, Mr. Bear could be seen dragging big, dead trees to his home. Then the sounds of hammering and sawing rang through the forest.

Mrs. Bear was seen going to visit the Sheep family, who lived in the meadow. When she came back, she was carrying a big basket of soft white wool.

Mrs. Bunny found out about the wool and scampered off to see Mrs. Sheep. "Mrs. Sheep, can you please tell me what is going on with the Bear's? Mrs. Bear is acting so peculiar. Why did she buy all that nice soft wool from you?"

"Baa, I'm sorry Mrs. Bunny. You know just as much as I do. If I bother my customers with too many questions they won't come back again."

"Well, thank you anyway, Mrs. Sheep," said Mrs. Bunny, and she hopped back to Green Wood, not knowing any more than she did before.

The Bear's were talked about by all the forest friends. Everyone wanted in on the secret. They tried to get information from Doctor Owl, but he just winked and said "Whooo?"

After a few months had passed, Mrs. Bear's mother came to visit. Mrs. Bear went into Forest Hospital. She was there for three days while her mother cooked and cleaned for Mr. Bear, who was still busy working in his workshop.

Mrs. Bear's mother paid a visit to the Goose farm. She came home with a wheel barrow filled with soft goose feathers. That made the forest creatures even more curious!

When Mrs. Bear finally came home, all the forest creatures gathered outside her home to find out what the surprise was.

A few moments later Mrs. Bear came out of her house. She placed a little bundle wrapped in a blanket on the grass.

The little bundle began to wiggle around, all by itself.

"Now I know what the old trees were for," said Mr. Deer with a smile.

"Now I know what the wool was for," laughed Mrs. Sheep.

"Now I know what the feathers were for," chuckled Mrs. Goose.

"Now we all know what the surprise is," giggled Mrs. Bunny.

The feathers had been stuffed into a mattress. The soft white wool was made into blankets, and the dead trees had been made into a cradle.

Mrs. Bear's lovely surprise was a tiny little bear cub named Teddy.

The End