WHEN A SCARY THING CAME TO TEDDY BEAR LAND

Once upon a time, a scary thing arrived in Teddy Bear Land. It was sneaky, it was invisible and it made teddy bears very sick. It sneaked around all day and all night without needing to rest. It seemed to grow stronger and more dangerous as time passed, but no one knew why.

Teddy bears gathered around their honey pots, at picnics, at houses and at their jobs to share their concerns. They were nervous and edgy, cranky and testy and mostly just tired and afraid.

Then a wise, older bear proposed they call the smartest bear in the land. He said, “She’s an expert on scary things and knows how they devise their devious plans.” They asked her to come the very next day.

She patiently listened to all their concerns then went off to ponder the facts. She studied some graphs and studied some charts; she collected some data and soon it was clear: more bears got sick when they gathered in groups. It seemed that the scary thing’s trickiest tricks worked better when bears got together.

So, the very next day the bears all stayed home, they sat on their couches, they picked up their phones, they talked to their friends, they read some good books like Goldilocks and Winnie the Pooh. They had honey on toast, honey in tea, they played checkers and watched a lot of TV.

And slowly, the bears stopped getting sick and the scary thing quit playing dastardly tricks. It simply grew tired of working so hard. It whined and complained, growled and exclaimed and slowly, with time, grew decidedly tame.

One day, the scary thing wasn’t around. There wasn’t a trace; it couldn’t be found. The bears all rejoiced, they danced in the streets, they hugged and they smiled, they sang and did flips.

The bears are prepared now; they have a good plan, in case the scary thing comes back again. They’re ready in every conceivable way to stay safe and healthy, to care for their kin, to love one another through thick and through thin.

THE END