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The Story of Little
Bear
Author Unknown
Once upon a time, my
dear, there was a little
bear whose name was Ted. He was a very special little
bear, for his was the best boy in the whole world... well,
at least in the Beforetime.
Today, you see, he was a sad little bear. He sat
at the side of the road and looked as though a tear
would drown him. He was the scruftiest, muftiest little
bear you ever did see and just by looking at him you
would never know how special he was. It just so
happened that Nana Bear was walking down the street
on her way to town when she saw Little Ted looking
ever so sad and stopped to talk to him.
"Why are you so sad, Little Ted?" said Nana
Bear kindly. "You used to be the happiest little bear in
the land."
"That was in the Beforetimes," answered Little
Ted, sad-as-sad could be, "I don't have my boy any
more. I've lost him, I'm never going to find him again
and I am so unhappy."
"Well," said Nana Bear. "Suppose you tell me
all about it." And she sat down on the tree stump by
the side of the road, settling herself in quite comfortably
and waited for Ted to tell her his story. But he didn't
say a word.
"What was your boy's name?" asked Nana Bear.
She knew quite well what the boy's name was, for
everyone had known what a special boy he had been.
But she wanted to hear Little Ted say his name.
"Christopher," answered Ted, and he hiccupped.
A big tear started to roll down his face and straight
away he stopped it and was Very Very Brave.
"Why, Little Ted, whatever are you doing?"
asked Nana Bear, very puzzled, seeing the tear stop
rolling on an instant and the Very Very Brave face
freeze Ted's face like concrete on a very hot day.
"I'm being Very Very Brave," answered Little
Ted, bravely. "Very Brave," he added on, just to make
sure she knew what a good little bear he was being.
"Well," said Nana Bear. "But WHY are you
being Very Very Brave? It doesn't look like it makes
you very happy and I am sure I don't know what good
of a thing being Very Very Brave is if it doesn't make
you happy."
"The Bear by the Field said I must," said Little
Ted, wisely. "He said that losing your boy can be Very
Very Hard and I must be Very Very Brave."
"Oh," said Nana Bear, thoughtfully. "Tell me,
Little Ted, what else did the Bear by the Field tell you?"
"Well," said Little Ted, remembering as best as
he could. "He said that I would get another boy soon
and that would make everything better."
"Oh," said Nana Bear, even more thoughtfully.
"And would it make everything better if you got another
boy right away?"
Little Ted sat mournfully. "No one could ever be
the best boy that Christopher was. He was wonderful
and he loved me ever so much. I don't think any other
boy would ever be as good."
"Ah," said Nana Bear, "I see. And what else
else did the Bear by the Field tell you?"
"He said that I would feel much better soon. 'It's
just a matter of time' he told me, 'just a matter of time..
But Nana Bear, I don't want to forget Christopher. I
want to remember what a nice boy he was. Does that
mean in time I will forget all about him?"
"Oh, I don't think so, Little Ted," said Nana Bear.
"When you love someone as much as you loved
Christopher, I don't think you'll ever forget him. What
else did the Bear by the Field say?"
"He didn't," said Little Ted, sadly, "I wanted to
talk about Christopher and he didn't. I said I wished I
had my boy back and he said he thought the corn
would grow nicely. I said I wanted to remember my boy
forever and he said what nice weather we are having. I
suppose that all the bears are tired of hearing me
talking about my boy."
"Oh Little Ted," said Nana Bear, "Come up here
this very instant and not a second longer."
Little Bear climbed up on Nana Bear's lap. He
was very glad to be there because it was hard being
Very Very Brave all the time and it was so good to have
someone hug and cuddle him again. He did not realize
what an all-alone feeling it had been without his boy to
hug him and kiss him. He snuggled down in Nana
Bear's lap, his heart aching for the missing of
Christopher.
"Should I tell you what I think, Little Ted?" she
said softly as she stroked his little bear head. "I think
that Christopher would want you to cry if you were sad.
If Christopher was peeking from behind those bushes
and saw your Very Very Brave face, why he might not
even know it was you.
"And I will tell you what else I think... Maybe one
day you will find another boy to love and who will love
you very much. But the little soft fuzzy spot in your
heart that belongs to Christopher will always be just for
him and not for your new boy. Your new boy will have
his very own place that you will make just for him.
"And I will tell you what else I think. Time is a
taker of many things, but not a taker of heartache. All
the time in the world will not stop you missing
Christopher. But time cannot steal your memories and
cannot take away all the good times you ever had in
your whole lives together.
"And, Little Ted, of course you must talk about
him. You loved him so much and it would be hard not
to talk about him. You must pick your very good friends
who loved him ever so much and you can talk about
him together. And there's a spot right here on my lap
whenever a Christopher-thought needs to be spoken."
"Oh thank you, Nana Bear," breathed Little Ted
softly, "Thank you so much for telling me that. And
Nana Bear, tell me this, just one more thing, can I be
happy again one day? Am I supposed to be sad for my
boy forever"
"Oh what a wonderful thing that will be when you
have happy thoughts," said Nana Bear. "After all, you
have only lost your boy for a short while. Boys aren't
like socks in the dryer, never to be seen again. In the
Big Cloud in the Sky, in the Aftertimes, you will see him
again. In the meantime, you have to love the world for
him because he cannot do it by himself anymore.
When you see a little butterfly flying around, you must
look at it for your boy, and laugh for him and dance with
it for him. You must live all the happiness left in the
world and store it up in your heart to take for him when
you see him again. When you are ready, you can
begin to store those happy thoughts, Little Ted, when
you are ready."
And a big tear rolled down Little Ted's face, and
another and another. Pretty soon, there were so many
tears he made a puddle, and the puddle made a bath.
Pretty soon, Ted was all wet and before you know it, he
was clean as a whistle and didn't look anywhere near
as scruftie-muftie as he did before. And the tears made
the flowers grow and the butterflies come and before
you knew it the world was clean and sparking and
wonderful again.
Did Little Ted every stop missing his boy? Oh,
no, never in a million years. But he learned that it is a
fine thing to cry and get the fur all nice and clean and
he learned that tears grow flowers and flowers bring
butterflies. And Little Ted learned that one day, in a
long and far off time a bear and his boy would see each
other again, but until that time he would keep his eye
out for joy-things to store up and take as a great and
wonderful gift to the best boy who ever lived in this
whole wide world
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