A large green bear picked at an old twig quietly humming and la la-ing to himself a melody half remembered but mainly made up and as quickly forgot. Humming his own personal soundtrack, a theme tune announcing his arrival, heeerrrre’s… ‘A Large Green Bear’. He was not going anywhere in particular, just rambling this way and that, away from here mostly.

The day was pleasant, a could of done with a jumper on sort of day but he was a bear so he did not need one, though if he had a button on his collar he might have opened it. Suddenly from behind a broad prickly bush appeared a large orange goat. ‘Oh!’ slightly startled, slightly embarrassed and blushing the large green bear said a mumbled ‘hello goat’. The goat was glad to hear somebody singing and generally pleased to have a visitor close to his spot in the forest here beside the river and so close his favourite bush.

‘Hi bear’ he popped, as his black rectangles scanned the great lump of a green bear from his popping yellow eyes. ‘Would you like some of my leaves, they are the best in these here parts, this bush has magical qualities’ rapped the goat gleefully, ‘I used to be plain old grey colour but this bush has turned me this super shade of Osage Orange, I am hoping for Sun Burst with the more I eat.’ ‘I am a large green bear and I am happy to be green, and a bear, I would just like to meet some other green bears to see if I like them too’ explained the large green bear, ‘have you seen any goat?’

‘I have never seen a green bear before and that is a certainty as a green bear is something I would definitely remember, not every day you see a large green bear, no, not ever… although I might have heard one’ goat pondered loudly. ‘I have heard music like that which you do hummed and sung on occasion from up up and beyond around the river bend on the ridge among the trees. Music not dissimilar to yours for sure and only recently too, around dusk, in twilight on the horizon silhouettes move through the trees, I used to think they were gigantic bees, but they could be bears, would make more sense if they were bears rather than huge bees.’

This story of possible sightings and heard songs aroused a curiosity in the large green bear that he had never before experienced. He giddily shuffled and scampered of up the hill, almost forgetting to thank goat, ‘cheers and cheerio goat’ he called over his shoulder as he bound through the trees and along the river bank, crossing willy-nilly da-da pow-powing his own personal theme tune of ‘here he is, here he comes, a Large Green Bear…’

Through a break in the trees bear could see the bend in the river just up ahead. He quickened his pace. He breathe heavier, deep in through his nose and a long blow out his pouted mouth. Just an occasional word from his constant song would come out between breaths, ‘green… bear… here… near… start… beginning… singing… bear… nearly there…’, and so on and so forth.

Suddenly from behind a great cloud of bright pine needles stumbled an upright blue wolf holding a large red basin between his paws. ‘Ah bear’ he exclaimed, ‘so nice to see you, I think, are you friendly, might you cause me harm?’ ‘I could ask the same’ replied bear now slightly bewildered because he knew for a fact wolves can be dangerous and they normally are not blue but most of all he was interested by what was in the red basin, so he asked. ‘I am delighted to share my basin secrets with you bear if you share a secret with me’. ‘Secrets are not a good thing to have’ murmured bear afraid of upsetting the wild blue wolf. ‘Poppycock’ declared the wolf, ‘my secret is I am blue and it is a secret, I know you can see I am blue but how do you know I know I am blue, how about you bear?’ ‘I am green, I am a bear, I do not know if there are other green bears and that may not be a secret but it is special knowledge I have only recently become aware of and it is important to me’ blurted bear. ‘Precisely, I am blue and I am glad for you to know it and thank you for sharing something important with me, you’re alright, now come check out the contents of my bowl’ and with a lunge forward and an over reaching stretch of his paws the wolf shoved the big red basin right under the large green bears nose. WHHHOOOWWW’ yelped bear and tears ran out of his nose and his eyes snotted up for the smell was wild wild wild. ‘Now I don’t want to know but I need to know so I can avoid it in the future, what a crazy crazy wild and stinking thing is that and how and where and most of all why! why would you have a basin full of such a pungent mess?’. Wolf just smiled and softly replied ‘you asked’, he turned on his upright back blue paws and mooched off behind the luminous pines. Bear knew wolves were dangerous but now he knew for sure and knew too that danger has many different shapes, colours and smells. Off he fumbled in a gruff trying to get as much fresh air in through his stinging poisoned nose as possible ‘nasty mean blue wolf, why I oughta’.

The afternoon was pleasant. The sky was mainly clear blue with just an odd wisp of ice cream like cloud. Birds were singing, the river gurgling and the leaves on the branches of the trees flapped in the gentle breeze. Bear had been walking all morning and now he was a little hungry. The incident with the red basin of bad smelling things has almost changed his mood but he was a clever green bear and knew to be strong and not let blue wolves and bad smelling things and the like upset him. He picked up his chest, his chin, stuck his nose in the fresh air and marched on up the hill, through the trees and along the river bank, humming songs about food now with hunger on his mind. ‘Broccoli, eat your greens, especially broccoli, wise words from your elders, hum humus, chirpy chirpy chip chip’.

Suddenly, as if by magic, just when he wanted it most, a falafel stall appeared. It was not on the other side of the rock or around the next bend or behind a tree, no, it just appeared, lovely delicious falafel. The unusual appearance of a falafel stall beside a river on the side of a hill in the middle of the forest was not the strange part either as the stall owner was an ostrich on roller skates & with two heads. He was candy stripped. From heads to wheels he had red and white twisted stripes running down and around his long slender necks through his girth of feather and on down and around and around his long gangly legs, even his wheels were alternate red and white. When he spoke the more red of his heads spoke first and the second mostly white head spoke secondly, every other word. Bear got quite dizzy after a while watching red beak white beak red beak white beak and so on as he spoke. Bear politely interrupt and requested some food from ostrich, he spoke clearly and directly and to the point as he did not want to be drawn in. Bear did not mind the two heads, the stripes or roller skates as he himself was a green bear, but it was the bizarre sudden appearance of the ostrich and food stall that he was trying not to become involved with as magic confused him and today he was on a mission and could not be distracted.

‘One large falafel and a bottle of water quickly please ostrich as I have some where important to be before dusk’. ‘BEFORE dusk YOU say, BUT that IS hours AWAY yet, HOW far HAVE you TO travel?’ hiccupped ostrich. Even that short sentence was enough to make a large hungry green bear dizzy. ‘I am on a mission to find some green bears in the tree line on the ridge, I must be there before it gets dark.’ BEWARE of THE super HUGE bees IN the TREES along THE ridge THERE, they COME out JUST before DARK every EVENING’. ’Bees? Are you sure they are not bears?’ ‘I know A bee FROM a BEAR’ clacked ostrich. ‘But you are certain?’ bear enquired more disappointingly than quizzically. ‘CERTAIN I KNOW the DIFFERENCE between A bee AND a BEAR, but I have NEVER been IN the TREES on THE ridge THERE at DUSK so I can NOT be SURE if THEY in FACT are BEES or BEARS, they SURE sound LIKE bees’ exclaimed the dizzying bird heads. This was indeed disappointing for bear to hear, but he remembered his theme tune exclaiming his greenness and hummed a phrase for ostrich to make a comparison. ‘DEFINITELY bees, SOUNDS just ABOUT right, THAT is THEIR exact NOIZE’ clack clacked the strobbing beaks. ‘Brilliant’ thought bear, that is the sound of a humming green bear, I am on the right path, and to avoid more confusion he did not let on to ostrich that bees and green bear song are similar, he just thanked him for his time and paid for his lunch with a six percent tip and went on his merry with a full tummy and hope in his heart of finding some large green bears.
‘I am a large green bear, I am on a mission, no more wishin’, I am taking action, gonna find out real soon, if I am the only large green bear aroun’… or not.’

Bear took some time out after lunch to consider ‘is the Pope Catholic?’ then he was on his way, skipping and singing full of the joys of life. He stopped occasionally to smell the wild flowers, he hugged a tree or two, stopped to watch clouds form then dissolve and every now and again he would throw a stick in the river just to see if he could race it but of course he was going uphill to its source and it: off in a hurry down the mountains and hills, through the valleys and across the plains off to the ocean to evaporate and become clouds and start all over again as rain on the mountain peaks. ‘Exhausting’ thought bear, I am glad I am a bear, ‘bye water, see you next time round’.

Off and on up the hill through the woods along the river bank crossing more often as the river narrows to a stream and he sang along now to its new rapid flowing tempo. He could hear animal skin drums and horns in its sloops and falls and spills over rocks and through felled branches. He was just starting to recall in his song all the events of the day so far when suddenly a ball of water zoomed up from the stream and flew toward him. It was massive. It was nearly as big as himself. It stopped right in front of him, shimmering. A full ball of water just hung there, slightly wobbling, distorting the forest behind and reflecting the bear in front like a peculiar mirror. ‘WOW. What is are you am I seeing for real?’ He could not get the words out, or at least the right words, or at least in the right order. Wobble wobble splash shake went the ball, then another little shimmer sort of shake all prism soaked and reflective. ‘Yea, you’re trying to talk to me right? You want to play?’ and with that the ball spun around and off up up into the trees then back down, gave a little shake like an excited dog wagging his tail before shooting off up along the stream. ‘Oh I’m gonna catch you called bear, delighted to be playing and cavorting. He ran and ran, leaping tickle the water but each time his great big paws just went straight through splashing himself all over head to belly to big bear paw toe. This went on for some time and the ball of water never tired or reduced in size even with all the splashing and spilling. Eventually bear collapsed in a great laughing heap and the ball came to rest on his big furry green stomach. It wobbled in convulsions seemingly laughing too then exploded and refreshed bear in a way he never imagined possible. What a day I am having, this is some adventure thought bear as he picked his big soggy green ass off the ground. ‘Hay water sphere, see you ‘’round’’ he shouted with glee, delighted at his own little joke.

The large green bear ambled on ward and so too did the day. Doing all that a day does takes some considerable time and today was no different, almost the whole day had been taken up doing day time tings and this day was almost spent. A giddy nervous kaleidoscope of butterflies swarmed the large green bears belly to the extent he believed at any moment now they would fly up his throat and out his mouth. The thought of this extreme effervescent eruption made him all the more giddy and excited. He sang his song, hummed and shouted, ‘I am a large green bear and I am off to a large green bear party’. Up along the river, now just a rapid twisting stream through odd rocks and hollow trunks whistling on its way. Through the forest, now beginning to clear and revealing the sky in greater expanse, the large green bear plod along head upright staring straight up, he loved the woods but the sky was his next best friend. Already there were stars even though the sky was still powered baby blue. Purple and orange and on fire the clouds gently make way for the nights illuminated illustrations of ancient tales, crabs, rams, mythological Greek hunters and Ursa Major of course, bear especially loved staring at this constellation, especially through Aurora Borealis, he was certain this is where all his ancestors now reside, blissful in glowing magnificence.

Dusk. The last sliver of sun like an electrocardiography runs the length of the mount ridge wider than any celestial sphere, all liquid gold and shrinking to single web strand blinding bright simply implodes and suddenly silence. Cicada and crickets in the distance, their chatter chatter adding depth to the unseen in the darkness. Cloud shifts, moon lifts and all is bright again, eyes adjust and things are not as dark as one first thought. There is a commotion breaking the silence somewhere off not too distant, a hussle, a cheer, a party atmosphere. Large green bear leaps and bounds in the direction hopeful to find, to find, SURPRISE!

What is it? What is this? Why I never. Astonished. The large green bear had indeed arrived on the ridge among the trees at dusk and found a gathering, not of huge bees, not of large green bears either, but of friends. Goat, Wolf, Ostrich, Sphere, all gathered here to welcome the large green bear. ‘We all enjoyed meeting you today and we all wanted to meet you again, we knew you would be here so we came along too, friends?’ They held out their hands, hoofs, paws, claws, wings, auroras and danced in circles singing together and in turn ‘I am a large green bear, goat, wolf, ostrich, sphere, green, orange, blue, candy STRIPED, translucent prism soaked – friend!
BD 2015