halloween 2011: little lost polar bear and the herbivorous dinosaur

- guest appearance by Cinderella -

Once upon a time, there lived an energetic polar bear with a rainbow tummy.

She had been displaced from her Arctic homeland.

Polar Bear was on a search that had taken her far from her natural habitat.
It was a search for what we all crave: meaningful effort, a sense of belonging,
and candy.

Before she knew it, she was wandering the fields and highways of North Dakota.

Little Lamb was Polar Bear's trusty companion.

The trip had been hard on Little Lamb -

a broken leg, a lot of riding by the neck in the crook of Polar Bear's arm -

but he had no idea of the dangers that were just beyond the next hay bale.

Or maybe he did.

"A little patch of woods!" squealed Polar Bear with delight.

"Now this is the type of terrain I recognize!"

"Weeee! Aren't the woods fun, Little Lamb?"
Polar Bear looked around to see what other fun might be had.

She noticed something in the grass just a few trees away.

Why, it was an herbivorous dinosaur! He sure was hungry, but apparently well-fed.

And pensive.

And tricky!

Polar Bear watched the little dinosaur from her vantage point behind a tree of some sort.

He seemed friendly enough. She was about to step out and make his acquaintance, when

Oh, no! What was that in the background, approaching so deftly,

while the dinosaur sucked his thumb in oblivion?

Polar Bear wasted not a single second.

"Raaawr!" she cried ferociously, as she jumped out from her place of hiding.

But she suddenly felt weak and inadequate with her felt cloth claws.

Polar Bear grabbed two sticks from the forest floor.

The creature was all up ons the tiny herbivorous dinosaur!

He was a goner for certain unless Polar Bear could intervene!

"Oh, no you don't!" yelled Polar Bear, and she threw those two sticks far, far into the woods.

The toothy creature, inches from the herbivorous dinosaur, screeched to a halt

and ran instead toward the deep woods after the sticks.

"Oh mies, little herbivorous dinosaur! Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah. Why?"

"Well," began Polar Bear, "I was hiding behind a tree, hugging it like this, watching you."

"Creepy, but okay," said the dinosaur. "Then what happened?"

And Polar Bear recounted to the herbivorous dinosaur the haunting events

that had taken place behind his Bumbo seat only seconds before.

"You're kidding!" said the herbivorous dinosaur, and he sucked his thumb to calm down.

"Well, Polar Bear, I owe you one! Hey, why don't you come with me tonight

to a special little event they call Trick or Treating? I'm going with my pal, Cinderella.

I'm not 100% certain what the deal is with it, but we wind up with a basket of candy."

"Are you for real?" asked Polar Bear. Was this actually happening?

Did this space cadet of an herbivorous dinosaur really know

where to find copious amounts of candy?

"I'm in!" she declared, and off they went for town.

Cinderella warmly greeted Polar Bear.

"Any friend of the herbivorous dinosaur is a friend of mine," she gushed.

And then they played it cool for a couple of minutes.

Cinderella had a little slipper trouble...

"Why does that seem familiar?" wondered Polar Bear.

And with empty candy baskets, they prepared to take Cinderella's neighborhood by cute storm.

Cinderella was the definite front man, the go-getter, the ringer of bells, the stater of phrases.

Polar Bear was not a fan of either the halloween decor or any masked children she encountered.

Before she had left Cinderella's house, two young Spidermen walked by,

and she'd jumped into the car in utter fright.

Polar Bear hung back, approaching doors just close and just long enough

to receive the blessed candies. A long trip makes a bear cautious.

But little by little, she found the bravery she had summoned in the woods,

helped along by grandmas like this, who handed out trinkets one at a time,

slowly and gently, enjoying the presence of those who visited her doorstep.

There was much glee all around.

"Let's go to another house!" Cinderella and Polar Bear exclaimed after each house.

Knowing that Polar Bear had found her place amongst the other random candy-seekers

and had exercised bravery in saving his life,

the herbivorous dinosaur quietly took it all in from his perch.

And sucked his thumb to stay calm.