A The Daily Growler Children's Tale

Foto by tgw, New York City, Jan. 2012
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Bundy Buell & His Three Bears

Act 1
Bundy Buell was a shadow boy. His mother and father were 3-D shadows. As a shadow boy, Bundy Buell liked to take risks. Like, you know, positioning himself as a one-dimensional shadow on his parents's bedroom wall. "Like a fly am I," he boasted with shadowy glee. And then observing the antics of his parents he observed to himself, "That's real flesh, I'm truly sure, yes, it's real flesh."

Incidentally, Bundy Buell had a dog named God. God was a wonder dog who did tricks in response to his master's wanting God to cover for him while he did his shadowy spying on his parents's bedroom wall. Like being a wonder dog, God could play the piano, and very loudly, enough to distract Bundy's parents while he spied on them.

"What will we do about Bundy?" his mother in the flesh said one night to his father in the flesh.

"Let's buy him a bear," the father replied.

"A bear of his own?"

"Yes indeedy...in fact, why not two bears?"

"But, hun, where will we put two bears?"

"We'll build them a house of their own on that vacant lot next door."

"Wow! Two bears of my very own," Bundy thought to himself as he positioned himself on his parents's bedroom wall.

"But, hun, why just two bears?" the mother suddenly asked.

"Of course, how lame of me not to make it a magic number of bears...of course we'll get him three bears," the father proclaimed.

"And a little blonde white girl, too?" the mother said chortling.

"Let's don't get carried away with this," the father replied judiciously.

"Hun, I was only jesting...you know how I love jesting, especially jesting you, hun," the mother said continuing to chortle.

Act 2
"The bears are here! The bears are here!" Bundy was screaming at the top of his lungs.

A huge 18-wheeler truck was backed up into the Buell's driveway. "Uncle Floyd Banger's Zoo Animal & Circus Animal Haulers" was painted in big scripted calliope-gold letters on the side of the truck.

"Hey, folks, where you want these bears?" a big brute of a man who had hopped out of the cab of the truck hollered up toward the Buell house.

"You're at the wrong house. The bears live next door," Bundy's father hollered back, going to the front door in his bathrobe.

"Next door?" the other moving man asked astonished.

"Yes, that's their house, that low-level villa-like structure over there. Just back your truck up in the circular drive and the butler will let you in."

"The butler will let us in?" the big brute of a moving van man asked sarcastically, then shaking his head in disbelief he turned and climbed up into the cab of the huge truck and soon had its big motor roaring and black smoke coming out of its huge silver stack.

"Listen, hun," the mother said to the father, "you can hear the bears growling pleasurably from inside the van."

"It's a pleasurable sound that is bringing us all together," the father, a poet, said blissfully.

"It'll be so nice and rewarding having those bears living next door to us," the mother beamed.

"I just hope they can pay the rent on time," the father joshed.

Both then broke into guffaws.

Act 3
The bears held a dance their first night in their new home. And oh what a joyous affair it was. Bundy, due to his age, could only watch the goings on from his room's bay window.

"Those are my bears, darn it, but I can't even enjoy them because of my age. Dad says it's the insurance man's fault."

Bundy squinted as he spied on the goings on next door. He shared his disappointment with God, who was trying to cheer him up by playing the Buell's baby grand very loudly.

Bundy gasped as he watched his mother dancing gaily with Papa Bear. And his father! Gosh! What he was doing with Mama Bear! Surely that's wrong. But? And it was a long lingering but, but where was the other bear, the third bear? Bundy knew there were three bears ordered and that three bears were delivered but he hadn't seen the third bear only Papa and Mama Bear. Where was that other bear? Baby Bear, Bundy assumed, "My own little brother or sister bear," he thought continuing to assume.

Soon Bundy Buell went to sleep with God by his side. And Bundy dreamed all night of being a bear himself.

Act 4
At breakfast the next morning, Bundy was solemn as he ate his Farina.

"What's wrong, son?" his mother asked him.

"Mother, I've got to admit to spying on the bears's party last night and I saw you with Pappa Bear and I saw daddy with Mama Bear, but I didn't see my third bear, who is Baby Bear, I assume. I thought daddy bought me three bears...and bought them for me."

"Yes, my little honey bun, he bought those bears for you, but you see, son, it's like this--hold on to your hat--but last night, you see, son, your mother fell in love with Papa Bear, his name's Leon, and you see, son, your father, well, he fell in love with Mama Bear, Nelly's her name. As a result, your dad and I have agreed to a divorce so I can legally marry Leon and he can legally marry Nelly--and tonight, we're all getting together and celebrating and you can decide which new parents you want to live with, and as a surprise we're all gonna eat big thick juicy steaks!"

"OH NO!" Bundy screamed horrifically, "BABY BEAR!"

"They say it's more tasty than beef," his mother replied trying to calm him down.

The End

thethedailygrowlerstaff: No one on our staff will admit to writing this child's rather highly dramatic tale--let's blame it on our editing horse, shall we?

A Little Taste of American Indian Art:

Spirit Bear art card by Joe Wilson measures 6 x 9 inches. "In this design I have tried to provide the best rendition of a traditional 'Spirit Bear' design in Coast Salish Style. My research over the past 25 years has included most of the ancient bone, stone and wood carvings. The idea for this design came from an old comb design made of bone and represents to me a revival of some of the powerful art forms of our ancient people. The design with the huge protruding tongue and eye style is reminiscent of the traditional 'Sxwaixwe' mask- a sacred and rarely seen mask outside our culture."

From: www.theeaglesnestonline.com