Enough is enough!!!

Mrs. Mary Bear dashed into the dining room with a smile across her face. She was a big, obese bear indeed. She tapped her son, Small Bear, in the back and said,

“Tomorrow, we’re going to town, you know, to spend some time away and experience the outside world. What about that, my son?” She gazed at her son straight in the eyes with excitement.

Small Bear was small, energetic, and fun-loving with smooth oily hair and bright eyes.

“Me, go to town, no way! I enjoy staying here in the forest with my friends like Sister Sarah, the Bear. She’s beautiful, fun-loving and full of energy. She makes me happy. Above all, I want to marry her when I grow up and start my own family like you and Dad.” he said with excitement in his voice.

Mrs. Mary Bear grabbed her son by his paw and dragged him to the dining table. They sat down.

“It’s good to be in the forest my son, but there are opportunities out there. You must get proper education and perhaps even go overseas to learn more civilized ways of life,” She said. She was drumming her paw on the table. Small Bear leapt up to his feet and pounded the table with his fist, and his mother leaped back.

“I’m fine the way I am! I don’t want to dilute my cultural identity. I enjoy watching baboons and monkeys climbing trees and the like,” he said.

“Please, please, my son, give it a try. If you don’t like it, you won’t have to set your feet in town ever again, Ok?” she said, grabbing his paws and squeezed them gently.

“Ok Mum. Promise that I will be fine,” he said as he leaned across the table.

“I Promise.” his mother answered.

When Mr. Big Bear, big, fat round and hairy returned home from hunting, his wife told him their plans. He was resistant at first, but his wife assured him that everything would be fine. He was convinced, and she went to the kitchen to prepare supper. When it was ready, everybody served themselves after a short prayer by Mr. Big bear; the father of the house. They ate to their fill. Then, they flushed down the food with some water from the river that divided the forest into two parts.

Mr. Big Bear told his son great stories of victories in battles. He told him that bears were the best animals in the whole world. Small Bear wasn’t paying any attention; he was thinking about their trip the following day. His little, lively eyes were glittering in the glowing light from the lamp in the far corner of the dining room. He started to stretch his hands and yawned.

He leapt to his feet and said goodnight to his parents. He ascended upstairs to his small room. His pictures as a little lad swung over his wooden bed.

He grabbed the doorknob, turned the key with a “click” sound and locked the door. Across the room, he strolled to his bed and took off his clothes. He grabbed his pajamas and scrambled into them. He then crawled under his blankets in the dim light glowing from the bedside lamp.

“Me! going to town. I do not particularly appreciate going there. I am going to miss the peace and harmony in the forest. Why can’t my mother understand me? I am proud of the way I am and who I am. I am a bear, full stop!” He said that in the office of his mind. His voice reverberated in the compartment of his mind.

He lapsed into unconsciousness. And what echoed in the four corners of his room was his usual little and smooth snoring sound. Meanwhile, his parents also retired to bed.