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Wild raspberries grew
plump, juicy and red all over the prickly bushes. This year, they were
bigger than ever because it had rained more than usual. Brock, a small
brown bear, was walking through the woods, gathering acorns, seeds and
hazelnuts that had fallen from the trees. His paws crunched the small
twigs and leaves that lay scattered about on the ground as he walked
along. Soon he came to a pile of rocks. "I think I’ll sit here for a while
and eat my hazelnuts," Brock said. He sat down, being very careful not to
drop anything. He tossed an acorn into the air and it fell right into his
mouth. "Delicious," he said, chewing it up. A hazelnut went flying up and
came down, hit him on his wet, black nose, rolled down his tongue and into
his mouth. "Delicious," he mumbled, chewing the hazelnut, even the shell.
It didn’t take long for all the acorns, seeds and nuts to vanish. "I’m
still hungry," Brock said, rubbing his tummy.
He stood up and stretched.
"Surely there has to be some more food around here," he yawned. Walking
into the woods, Brock began his search. He saw several bees buzzing
around. "Where there are bees, there’s either honey or berries. Yum," he
giggled, rubbing his paws together. He walked on, trying to follow the
bees.
A few butterflies fluttered
by. "Aha, butterflies. Where there are butterflies, there are either
flowers or berries. Yum," he smiled, getting hungrier by the minute. He
followed the bees and the butterflies deeper into the woods.
There they were; several
bushes filled with ripe, juicy, red, and big raspberries. "Yum. Berries!"
Brock said, running towards the bushes. There were so many bees and so
many butterflies that he had to shoo them away. "Shoo! Shoo! Shoo!" he
said, swatting at them with his hairy paws. After all the bugs had left,
Brock stuck his paw into the bush. "Ouch!" he shouted. "These are
prickly."
The bees and butterflies
hadn’t gone too far. They were watching Brock. "Hee, hee, hee," went a
bee.
Brock turned and looked
behind him. "Who’s laughing?" he asked.
"Hee, hee, hee," went
another bee.
Brock ignored them and
stuck his paw in again. "Ouch!" he shouted once more. "How am I going to
get the raspberries? They look so delicious and so ripe and sweet. Oh my!"
Just then one of the
butterflies fluttered over to Brock. "We can get them for you and we would
have, but you shooed us away. You wanted them all for yourself. Now you
can’t have any!"
Brock sighed. He realized
the butterfly was right. "If you’ll help me get some berries, I’ll help
you with something," he said to the bugs, which had now gathered back
around the bush.
"There is something you can
do for us, Brock. If you’ll help us find some flowers, we’ll help you get
the raspberries," one of the bees said.
"I’ll do it. Follow me,"
Brock said. They went into the woods. Brock walked through the trees, up
hills, down hills, crossed over a stream and finally came to a clearing.
It was filled with beautiful wild flowers. There were poppies, bog myrtle,
periwinkle, daisies, heather and honeysuckle. "There you are, lots of
flowers. Why don’t you enjoy them for a while and I’ll take a little nap?
When you’re full, you can help me get the raspberries," Brock said.
The bees and butterflies
agreed and spent a while gathering pollen, sipping nectar and enjoying the
fragrance and beautiful of the colorful flowers. Brock curled up in a ball
and fell asleep. "Bzzzzzz. Bzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzz," went one of the bees, near
Brock’s ear. Brock sat up and yawned. "You’re finished?" he asked. "Good.
I’m starving for some raspberries."
The bear ran back towards
the raspberries. He jumped over the stream, ran up the hills and down the
hills and walked through the trees until the came to the juicy berries.
The bees and butterflies picked the plump fruit and dropped them into
Brock’s paws. "Thank you," he called.
"Thank you," the bees and
butterflies buzzed.
Brock sat down and leaned
back on the rocks. He laid the berries on his furry tummy, picked one up
at a time and plopped it in his mouth. "Delicious!" he said. "Yum." Brock
enjoyed his raspberries and thought about how it is much better to help
each other than to be greedy. |
