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The wind howled across the ice,
blowing crystally flakes of snow through the air. Some caught the glimmer
of the sun that shone through the clouds, filling the sky with a million
twinkles. Iceberg, the baby polar bear, lay snug and warm inside the snow
cave with his mum, Icelyn, and his father, Frosty. "Can I go outside and
play?" he asked his parents.
"No, son, not right now. There’s a
terrible blizzard blowing. You’ll get lost," his mum replied, and then she
curled back up into a fluffy white ball next to Frosty and fell asleep.
Iceberg lay still, listening to the
wind howling. He lifted up his head and saw that his mum and dad were both
asleep. He stood up and walked over to the entrance to the cave and stuck
his head outside to see. "It’s not so bad," he said. He went all the way
out and was hit with a blast of arctic air. "Brrrr, it is kind of cold
though," he shivered. He was about to go back inside the cave when he
noticed the sparkly pieces of ice. "Wow, look at that. It’s beautiful," he
said. He ran through the snowflakes, letting them gather on his fur. Soon
he was a twinkling fur ball. He was so excited. He ran across the ice,
giggling and having fun.
Icelyn opened one of her eyes to
check on her baby. He wasn’t lying in the same spot. She yawned and lifted
her head. She couldn’t see him anywhere. She shook Frosty. "Wake up.
Iceberg is gone. He asked if he could go outside to play and I told him
no. He must have gone anyway. We’d better go and find him. There’s quite a
snowstorm out there and he’ll get lost."
Frosty stood up. He was so huge that
he took up most of the space in the snow cave. "I was sleeping so nicely,"
he yawned.
The two bears left the warmth of
their cave and went out into the blizzard to look for their bear cub. They
called his name, "Iceberg! Iceberg! Where are you?" They looked for a long
time, but they couldn’t find him.
"We’d better keep looking. I’m
worried about him," Icelyn said.
"We’ll find him. Don’t worry,"
Frosty assured her.
The two bears had a hard time
because the wind was blowing the snow so hard. After a few minutes they
spotted a penguin. He was standing next to a mound of snow. "Hello,
penguin. Have you seen a baby polar bear wandering around?" Frosty asked.
"No, can’t say that I have. Is he
lost?" the penguin asked. "My name is Tux. Would you like me to help you
look for him?" he offered.
"Thanks, Tux. We could use your
help. What are you doing standing by that mound of snow anyway?" Icelyn
asked him.
"It’s a slide. Watch," he said. He
climbed to the top of the mound and slid down. "Wheeeeeeeeee," he called
as he zoomed down.
Icelyn and Frosty smiled. "Iceberg,
our cub, would love to do that. When we find him, can he slide with you?"
Icelyn asked.
"Why sure. Let’s go and look for
him. It’s not a good day for a bear cub to be lost," Tux said.
The two bears and the penguin walked
on, looking behind other mounds of snow, in crevasses, and anywhere they
thought Iceberg might be. Soon the blizzard began to lighten up. They
could see much better. Off in the distance Tux noticed a seal lying on the
ice near a hole. The three walked up to him. "Have you seen a polar bear
cub wandering around?" Frosty asked the seal.
The gray seal looked up at the bears
and the penguin. "I haven’t seen anything. I’ve been sitting at this hole
all day long, waiting for a fish to swim by," he said. He sloshed away
from the hole. "My name is Coal. You say your cub is lost? Can I help you
find him? I’m not doing much else."
"That would be nice of you. We need
all the help we can get. He’s just a baby and we’re so worried about him,"
Icelyn said.
So, Frosty, Icelyn, Tux, and Coal
went off to look for the lost cub. They walked and walked and walked, each
of them were calling, "Iceberg! Iceberg! Iceberg! Where are you?" But
there was no answer.
The storm had soon all but stopped.
Only an occasional flake of snow fell and the wind had died down. The sky
turned blue and the sun started to shine down on the icy ground. "Hey,
what’s that over there?" Tux asked, pointing to a mass lying on the ice.
"It looks like a big blob. Do you think that’s Iceberg?"
The four animals went closer and
Frosty began to laugh. "It’s a walrus," he said.
The walrus looked at the approaching
animals. "What’s so funny?" he asked.
"Nothing really. We’re looking for
our cub. He went out in the storm earlier and now we can’t find him. Have
you seen him?" asked Icelyn.
"Nope. Haven’t seen a thing. I’ve
been taking a nap. A walrus can get tired really easily," he smiled. "By
the way, my name is Tusk. Appropriate, wouldn’t you say by the size of
these two sticking out of my face?"
The others looked at his ivory
tusks. They were almost as big as Tusk was. "My name is Tux," introduced
the penguin. "This is Icelyn and Frosty, the polar bears. This is Coal.
We’re all out looking for baby Iceberg. Do you want to come and help us?"
he asked the huge walrus.
"Sure, I’ll come and help. Where do
you think he went?" Tusk asked.
"We don’t know. He’s such a little
bear cub. We’d better find him before dark though. He’ll be frightened
then," Icelyn sighed.
The five animals walked on, calling,
"Iceberg! Iceberg! Iceberg! Where are you?" But there was no answer.
As the group continued, they came
upon Cammy, the ptarmigan. She was preening her white feathers. She hadn’t
seen Iceberg either, but joined the group in their search. Next, they came
upon Snowflake, the lemming. She was scurrying about from plant to plant,
looking for some seeds. She hadn’t seen Iceberg, but went with the group
to help look for the cub.
Tundra, the caribou, was rubbing his
antlers against a rock when the seven animals appeared out of nowhere.
"What are you all doing wandering about?" he asked.
"We’re looking for a lost polar bear
cub," Snowflake answered.
"Have you seen him?" asked Tux.
The caribou stopped rubbing. He
looked around. "I haven’t seen anything, but I’ll come and help you look.
By the way, my name’s Tundra."
"Thanks for your help, Tundra,"
Frosty said and the group walked along calling, "Iceberg! Iceberg!
Iceberg! Where are you?" But there was no answer.
As they neared the edge of the ice
where it meets the sea, they spotted a white snowy owl sitting on a rock.
"Owl, have you seen a baby polar bear?" Cammy the ptarmigan asked.
"No, I haven’t. My name is Socrates.
Why do you ask?" the owl wondered.
"Our cub is lost. He’s just a little
polar bear cub and we can’t find him anywhere," Icelyn cried. She was
starting to get very worried about her cub.
"I’ll come with you and help you
look. Hoot! Hoot!" Socrates offered.
That meant all nine animals were
looking for the baby bear and all calling, "Iceberg! Iceberg! Iceberg!"
But still, there was no answer.
Out in the sea, Patches, the killer
whale, was swimming around. She heard the animals calling and swam over to
them. She blew a stream of water out of her spout. "What’s going on? Who
is Iceberg?"
They stood at the edge of the ice
looking down at the whale. "He’s our cub and he’s lost," said Frosty.
"I’ll help you find him. I’ll swim
around and see what I can see," she said and swam off.
The others sat down. They were very
tired. They’d been walking for hours, so in no time they all fell asleep.
In the meantime, Patches swam around. She looked under the ice floes,
watched the tops of the glaciers that were crumbling and falling in the
sea, but she couldn’t see any sign of the polar bear cub. She was about to
give up when she spotted something bobbing up and down in the water. She
swam over to see what it was. There was little Iceberg, lying on a piece
of ice that had broken off. She swam up to him. "Iceberg? Is that you?"
she asked.
The little bear opened his eyes.
"Yes, I’m Iceberg. Where am I?" he asked, looking around. When he noticed
that he was floating about on the sea, he shouted, "Help! Help!" He began
to cry. He was afraid of the dark, deep water.
"Hold on tight, little bear. I’ll
push you back to the edge of the ice. Don’t be afraid." She used her nose
and pushed the large piece of ice over the waves to the shore.
Iceberg was frantic. He held onto
the piece of ice. When he saw his parents, he forgot his fear and began to
jump up and down on the ice. "I’m here! I’m here!" he called.
Frosty and Icelyn woke up. The other
animals did too. They stood up and saw Patches bringing the bear cub
towards them. In a few minutes, Iceberg was in his mother’s arms. She
cried little frozen teardrops of joy. "Don’t you ever wander off again in
a storm. You scared us to death," she said, hugging him tightly.
"Thank you, Patches, for saving our
cub," Frosty said. They had lost their baby for a while, but had gained
many new friends – Tux, the penguin, Coal, the seal, Tusk, the walrus,
Snowflake, the lemming, Cammy, the ptarmigan, Tundra, the caribou,
Socrates, the snowy owl and Patches, the killer whale. Never again would
Iceberg get lost because there were so many others looking out for him. |
