Jingles Meets Edgar the Bear
(Story written by Molly Untiedt, October 2005)

It was a beautiful day and the circus had come to Edgar. Everyone was scurrying around doing their jobs. I never got tired of watching the elephants pull up the Big Top. The ring master was busy getting the high wire up for the pretty swinging girls in their sparkling costumes. The clowns were painting their faces and pulling on their funny looking shoes.

Later in the afternoon all the people from Edgar, young and old, started to arrive for the show under the Big Top. The boys and girls were excited for the show carrying their balloons and cotton candy as they made their way to their seats. Finally, the ringmaster signaled for the show to begin. The prancing ponies were in the center with pretty girls twirling on their backs, the trapeze performers were swinging like angels float in the sky, the clowns were making everyone laugh at their tricks. At last it was my turn to enter the center of the ring. I am Jingles the Dancing Bear. I was so proud of the bright red straps around my neck and paws with bells that jingle as I danced. Everyone clapped when I finished my dance. What a wonderful day at the circus.

Evening came and everything was quiet in the Big Top. I was just dozing off when a bolt of lightning lit up the sky and the clap of thunder echoed thru the park. The rain came down and the wind started blowing harder and harder. The poles on the “Big Top” started to topple over and soon the big tent was in pieces and blowing all over the park. My cage was rolling over and over when suddenly it slammed into a big tree and broke into a million pieces. Frantically I looked for my pretty red straps with the bells on but I could not find them anywhere. I was so frightened I started to run as fast as I could towards the woods. Trees were snapping off all around me but I just kept running faster and faster. It was so dark I couldn’t see where I was going. I tripped over a big log and rolled head over heels down a big hill and landed in the middle of a creek. My paw was really sore but I managed to crawl back up the bank. What am I ever going to do I thought? I was such a mess after I fell in the creek. I found an old tree that had fallen down and I crawled under its big roots. I was so tired and afraid, but finally I fell asleep.

When morning came I woke to the sweetest smell I could ever remember smelling. As I crawled out from under the fallen tree, I saw all the beautiful flowers. White, purple and yellow flowers covered the forest. In the daylight I thought, the forest is really not a very scary place to be.

I wandered through the forest for a long time hoping to find my way back to the circus and all my friends. As I came to the edge of the forest, there was a lot of noise and so many cars and big trucks going past me. I decided to wait at the edge of the forest until nightfall before I ventured out. As darkness came, I started out on my journey into the village. As I wandered around the village, I came upon an old boat sitting in a yard and I decided to spend the night there.

The next morning as I woke up I realized I was very, very hungry. I had never been this hungry in my whole life. As I crawled out from under the boat, I saw a lady in the yard filling her bird feeders. I had never eaten bird food before but I was ready to eat anything I could find. Suddenly she saw me and ran screaming to the porch. “Bob,” she called, “there’s a bear in our yard!” The man came out of the garage and we looked at each other for a long time. At least he didn’t scream and run away. I’m a friendly bear. I don’t know why they would be afraid of me I thought. The man said, “Joanne, go inside and bring me a bowl of berries and a bowl of honey.” Slowly the man walked to the boat and put the two bowls under the boat. I raced back under the boat and started eating the food as fast as I could. After eating, I stayed under the boat and watched the birds flying about eating out of the feeders. There were so many beautiful flowers in the yard with all the sweet smells that I had remembered smelling in the forest. I was so happy to have a found a place to stay instead of the dark forest. I decided to call my new friends Mr. B and Mrs. J since they sure had funny names especially in bear language. Soon I fell sound asleep.

A noise in the yard woke me the next morning. Mr. B was backing a trailer into the yard with a big box on top of it. Mrs. J brought out more bowls of berries and honey and put them in the big box. I guess if I wanted to eat I would have to crawl out of the safety of the boat into that big, big box on Mr. B’s trailer.

Soon the truck started moving. I wondered where Mr. B was taking me. Oh my, I thought, I hope he isn’t taking me back to the black, dark forest. I bounced around in the big box for a long time before the truck came to a stop in a big field with a big forest next to the field. I was beginning to get very frightened.

All day long I watched Mr. B from my box as he pounded with his hammer and carried boards up and down his ladder. I wondered what he was doing. Later that day Mrs. J came with berries and honey. They put the food in the big cage that Mr. B had been working on all day. They took me out of the big box and led me into the cage to eat my food. Then I realized what Mr. B had been building. There was a big log in the back for me to crawl under and sleep and my very own food dishes. Mr. B had made me my very own house to live in. Oh how happy I was going to be living here with Mr. B and Mrs. J.

Day after day Mr. B came out, opened my cage and left me roam around. I never went too far into the forest for fear that I would get lost. I was so happy running in the forest, climbing the trees and seeing all the beautiful flowers again. I loved all the smells in the forest during the day. Every night I went back into my new house and Mr. B would lock the cage door. I felt so happy and safe with my new family.

One day Mr. B and Mrs. J drove up the road to see me. Mrs. J had a beautiful red collar with a tinkling bell on it in her hand. However did she know that I had a collar just like that when I danced in the circus? What a wonderful thing for her to get me. They put the collar around my neck. What a beautiful bear I was once again.

I romped in the forest all afternoon wearing my new collar with the little bell tingling. Later that afternoon when I came back to my new house that Mr. B had built me, the led me into the big box on the trailer and away they drove with me bouncing around in the box. I was really confused. I did not know why they were taking me away from my new house that Mr. B had built for me.

The truck stopped in front of the yellow house where Mr. B and Mrs. J lived. They led me out of the big box and showed me a really funny looking tree in their front yard. It sure did not look like any of the trees I had seen in the big forest. Slowly I climbed up the tree. When I reached the top, there was a bear that looked just like me. We looked at each other for a long time. I touched his paw but it did not feel soft and furry like mine did. Then I realized that Mr. B and Mrs. J had made a bear just like me on top of their tree.

Mrs. J said, “I think we should call our new friend Edgar the Bear.” Mr. B thought that was a very good idea. I thought about my new name for awhile and then decided that I would like to be called Edgar the Bear and I would name my new friend on top of the tree Jingles.

The End