in Texas
March 2nd, 2002
Casey Owings was a young boy who lived on a farm. Casey was happy with his mom and dad. But something was wrong. Everyone else had a bear's hide to dry right outside their barn. But Casey's barn didn't. Not even a snake skin. So, on a crisp, sunny day in January, Casey went outside and into the woods with his rifle. He walked for awhile until he came upon a blueberry bush rustling. He curiously stopped, rifle loaded and saw a cub walk out.
Casey dropped his rifle and bent to pet the cub. The small bear sniffed Casey's pocket. Casey pulled out a piece of maple sugar he'd bought from a market. The bear gobbled it up. Casey grabbed his rifle and motioned for the cub to come with him. The small bear followed him. They walked out of the woods together and to Casey's house.
Casey's father said,"I see you found a cub." Casey slept with the bear that night in a moss of hay in the barn. The next day, Casey found interest in the bears habits. The cub ate maple sugar and anything that was meant to be eaten. But the bear was a lot of trouble. One time he had eaten all of the chickens in Olga Ralpha's chicken yard. He also had left empty honeypots in Farmer Ben's kitchen. Finally, Casey's father told him he had to take the bear back in the wild. "No!!!" Casey cried.
He gathered a bag of food, his pocket knife and his locket that had a picture of his mother and father in it. He put on his raccoon-skin hat and jumped on the bear who had grown to be 9 feet 3 inches tall. The bear was thinking what Casey was thinking. He ran like a horse into the woods. Casey had also brought an ax. When the bear stopped Casey started chopping wood.
By the next day the bear and Casey had a nice log cabin. Casey kept matches for fires to cook meat or beans and the bear would listen to his friend's wild tales. The two of them found that the forest had much to offer.
One day Casey found a lump of gold. He went into town and bought a nice, warm quilt for the bear on cold winter nights. Casey would lay between the bear on his stomach and the bear would curl up and warm his friend. As they grew older, the bear grew wider and wider and taller and taller. But that wasn't a problem at all. Besides, with his fine warm hide and his own quilt, he and his human friend were snug and safe.
One morning Casey cooked a large wild pigs meat into ham and bacon. The bear had ham and Casey had the bacon. Then they went for a walk and walked until they were tired.
They sat down and Casey rested in the bears' lap while the bear rested against a boulder.
They noticed a blueberry patch. They started eating blueberries and then went home. But have you forgotten about what dangers might come upon these two? Well, dangers pop up every once in a while and boy did this one give a whack at 'em.
While they were hiking mountains for a pretty view at the top, that afternoon they came upon a mountain lion. At first, the bear was doing some strange sniffing. Casey could tell the bear was trying to warn him but they were too late. A ferocious roar caught their attention. Then a huge lion that lived in an old cave pounced on Casey. The bear knew the mountain lion was hurting his friend and this bear would be any mountain lions' worst nightmare.
The bear angrily grabbed the mountain lion and threw him onto the ground. Then, with a roar of anger the bear crushed the mountain lion the way a tidal wave covers you when you're in the water. Casey patted his furry friend on the back, grabbed the meat from the lion after taking its hide. Then the two of them went home.
By then, it was dark, but they made it home safely. Then Casey made a big fire and cooked the meat. The bear ate it. Casey stirred up the longest, best tale he ever had told the bear. After he was done, the bear let out a trmendously big yawn. Casey yawned and lay against the bear's big belly. The bear curled up and they both dreamed things they had never seen. They dreamed safe and warm in their old log cabin, for they had hard days like this one ahead.
The End
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