Spring has sprung. And with that alliterative beginning I shall explain my pleasant puzzle. The following are the thoughts and narrative of one Kristin (or Kristin One if you should prefer) of a Tuesday morning early:
"What's this?"I walked into my British Lit class at 7:55 am on Tuesday morning and noticed a small sprig of fresh white flowers of unknown classification laying conspicuously on a long stretch of black tabletop- more specifically, my section of black tabletop.
"Curious. Where on earth did they come from? And who put them there? Are they supposed to be for me, or did someone just leave them there randomly? Maybe someone forgot them. No, that's silly; this is the first class of the morning, the doors are locked before this class, and they aren't wilted so they must be new."
These thoughts rushed through my head almost all at once.
"Who would have known that I sit here? No one, except the people in this class."
I looked around to see if there were any likely suspects. None.
"They must not be specifically for me. But who would have left flowers on anyone's desk? That's something that Caitlin would do, but it couldn't have been her."I began to set my backpack down and remove my books. Meanwhile, one of my fellow temporarily recurrent tabletop users came in to sit down at her usual seat, two seats away from me. She looked at the flowers and then smiled at me.
"Oh dear. She probably thinks that someone left them here for me as a gift. Oh well. I suppose she may think what she likes. But who on earth put them here? And why?"
Such was the puzzling scene I was met with early this morning, and it remains unsolved. I suppose I won't figure it out either, and so I have given it up as a pleasant puzzle with key pieces in absentia.
It was a long walk back, and as Baby Bear went further and further, his stomach began to hurt more and more.
“Ooooh,” groaned Baby Bear. “I don’t feel so good.”
Baby Bear thought about the berries he had eaten and remembered something that Papa Bear had told him once.
“Baby Bear, you must be patient and wait for the berries to be ripe.” Papa Bear had said.
“How do you know when they’re ripe?” he had asked.
“Well, berries are an awful green color before they’re ripe, but they’ll turn a nice dark black or a deep red color when they’re ready to be eaten.” Papa Bear had explained to him.
“I wish I hadn’t been so impatient to get up and eat,” thought Baby Bear as he came up to the entrance of the cave. “And I wish I had remembered not to eat those green berries. Papa told me I should be patient and wait until they’re ripe.”
Papa Bear and Mama Bear heard the small moans of Baby Bear as he found his way into the back of the cave.
“Baby Bear, what’s wrong?” Mama asked with concern.
“I ate some green berries,” Baby Bear replied. “My stomach hurts really bad.”
Papa Bear began to speak. “Now Baby Bear, remember, I told you that you have to—”
“I know, I know. I have to be patient and wait until the berries are ripe,” Baby Bear finished Papa Bear’s sentence.
And that was all the scolding that Baby Bear got. Mama Bear found some ginger root to help make Baby Bear’s stomach stop hurting, and Baby Bear was very thankful for that. Baby Bear learned a very important lesson that spring, and from then on, he made sure that he listened to Papa Bear and Mama Bear. Even when it meant that he had to wait and be patient.
Finis.
And with that, Baby Bear began his adventure. As he crawled out of the nice cozy cave, the light nearly blinded his poor little eyes. But Baby Bear was determined that he would find some food; he just could not wait any longer for Mama Bear to get up.
He wandered around in the forest looking for something, anything edible. His little paws were beginning to get rather cold and quite wet from walking about on the mostly melted snow. He looked around him at the trees and bushes that were just barely beginning to bud.
“There has got to be some food out here!” Baby Bear said in desperation.
Finally, after hours of wandering and searching, Baby Bear spotted a little bush. This bush wouldn’t have caught Baby Bear’s attention, except for one thing. It had clusters of small green berries on it!
“Hurray! I’ve found food!” Baby Bear said as he ran over to the tiny bush. He began to gobble up as many berries as he could fit into his mouth at a time. He ate and ate and ate. After all, it had been all winter long since he had eaten anything at all.
With his appetite satisfied, Baby Bear began to realize again how very cold he was. He wasn’t inside the cozy cave with its walls to shield him from the gusts of wind that swept through the woods, and his paws were almost numb, but not quite enough that he couldn’t feel the biting cold.
“Brrr… I think maybe I should go back home now. Maybe Papa and Mama will be awake when I get back and I can tell them all about the berries I found.” Baby Bear turned to make the long trek back to the cave where Papa Bear and Mama Bear were just starting to rise from sleep.
I have written a fable. For my Library Materials class I had to make a unit plan, (I did mine on The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe) and whatever writing assignments I planned to make my future students do, I had to do myself. One of the assignments was to write a short fable, and so I did. Someone suggested that I post it on here, but due to its length I wasn't planning on it. Then, the brilliant friend of mine who first suggested that I post it said that I could post it in parts. Thank you Caitlin :) Here is the first part:
Baby Bear in Spring
Deep in the woods, in a dark cave there lived a family of bears. Contrary to what most would think, this cave was actually quite cozy. Outside the winter snow was melting to reveal the remains of dry, crinkled leaves on the forest floor. Far back inside the cave Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear were all snuggled up together away from the end of winter wind chills.
Baby Bear was generally a good bear, as all little bears should be, but he had one big problem. You see, Baby Bear tried his very best to obey Papa Bear and Mama Bear, but when it came to being patient, Baby Bear just could not wait.
As most people know, bears like to sleep all winter long, and then they wake up in the springtime. Little Baby Bear had not been excited to learn that he would have to sleep for an entire season! But being obedient, he had laid down with Papa and Mama and had tried to fall asleep. Now, with winter almost, but not quite, over, Baby Bear opened his eyes and leapt to his feet.
“Mama! Papa! Spring is here!” he cried loudly, making the cave echo.
No response rewarded Baby Bear’s proclamation.
“Papa, get up!” Baby Bear said with a grunt as he pushed his head against Papa Bear’s slumbering form.
Papa Bear mumbled something about sleeping a little longer.
“Mama, it’s spring! Will you make me some food, I’m starving!” he tried his luck with Mama Bear.
Mama Bear groggily woke and looked at Baby Bear. “Baby Bear, it’s not time yet. Spring is at least another day or two away. Why don’t you lay back down and wait patiently with me and Papa Bear.” Mama Bear said while drifting off to sleep again.
“I don’t want to wait.” Baby Bear thought to himself. “I’ll just go find some food for myself.”
"Curious. Where on earth did they come from? And who put them there? Are they supposed to be for me, or did someone just leave them there randomly? Maybe someone forgot them. No, that's silly; this is the first class of the morning, the doors are locked before this class, and they aren't wilted so they must be new."
