My son asked me to tell him a story one night, and getting restless with the usual books, I decided to tell him a new story. On the fly, I told him the story of a Mountain Bear named Zak. [Keep in mind this is "on the fly" so the flow is different :-) ]
One day, in a land far, far away, there lived a bear named Zak. As most bears are near where Zak lived, he was a Mountain Bear because he lived in the Mountains. All of Zak's friends were Mountain Bears. Even Zak's family, his mama, his papa, his brothers and sisters and cousins were all Mountain Bears. Every day, they would do Mountain Bear things, like fishing in the streams or digging in the dirt or walking around the Mountains. All of Zak's friends and family were content. They were happy to be Mountain Bears and do Mountain Bear things.
But not Zak.
Zak was not a normal Mountain Bear. He woke up every morning with a sparkle in his eye, ready for the unknown. Zak was ready for something amazing to happen that was out of the ordinary. He always looked around for something new to do. His friends and family, of course, gave him a growl and a scowl and told him to stop such foolish things. He was a Mountain Bear and needn't worry with such things that were never going to happen. Mountain Bears have always done the same things for as long as anyone can remember and it has never been any different.
But Zak felt he was different.
So every evening, when the rest of the sloth of bears would shuffle as they always did back to the den to rest for the night, Zak would sit back a bit to savor the wonder of the night and look to the stars. He stared at the moon. He wondered at the sky. He imagined a world beyond. Usually, an older Mountain Bear would grunt at him to get in the den, so before he hurried in, he took one last smell, hoping for adventure.
But Zak dreamed.
Zak dreamed of adventure. Zak knew he was meant for something more. Zak dreamed of different kinds of fishing from bigger areas of water than just streams. Zak dreamed of different birds than he had ever seen Zak wanted to
love the things he did every day instead of just doing what had been done before. Of course, all the other Mountain Bears told him that he was crazy. They called him silly and taunted him. They doused his dreams with buckets of nasty and shunned him for being different.
But Zak kept dreaming.
Soon Zak was getting in trouble by the older bears for pushing the limits and venturing out farther than he was allowed. His Mountain Bear mama would scold him, his Mountain Bear papa would shake his head and his Mountain Bear brother and sister and cousins would sneer at his "bad behavior." It was bad enough that he had these silly dreams, but now he had to break the rules?
But Zak kept pushing.
One day, not long after he began to get in trouble, he woke up and smelled a smell that he had never smelled before. He asked all the other Mountain Bears if they could smell it, but they just looked at him funny! There goes crazy Zak, dreaming up silly things again. But Zak was not dreaming. This smell was new. It was beautiful. It made him remember all of his dreams. The smell was so strong that he couldn't help but follow it. As he smelled and followed and smelled some more, he walked in places he had never gone before. He began to see things he had never seen before. The ground began to change and the trees looked different. The feel of the air was different and the breeze came faster than he had ever felt before. This was different.
But Zak kept smelling.
Soon, Zak reached a point where he could no longer call it the Mountains. He reached a point where if he kept going farther, he could not turn around and go back. He looked back at his old Mountain Bear life and pondered for a while what life would be like back there. Then he turned and looked forward, where he had never seen any of what lie ahead. After a while, he smelled again to see if this amazing new odor was still there. It was! Stronger than ever, it drew images of the new birds, the new fish, the unknown.
But Zak chose the new and unknown.
After not very long, Zak reached a completely new ground. It was unlike anything he had ever seen. There were the birds he dreamed of but had never seen. There was so much water but not moving like the steams of the Mountain. Nothing looked like it had before, but everything was just like his dream. Do you know where Zak was? The Beach! Zak had dreamed his way to the Beach and
LOVED it. He ran up and down the Beach and played with the new birds, scratched the new trees, and fished in the water for new fish. Zak looked up and down the land and couldn't find another bear anywhere.
But Zak did not care.
He was where he dreamed. Zak was where he prayed for. He was a Beach Bear now. He was in
LOVE.
