For A. Heuermann

It was the very end of October and three young bears sat hungry in their cottage, thinking about the months ahead. Soon winter would come and the three bears would have to go to sleep for a very, very long while.

The littlest bear listened to her stomach groan. She didn’t say anything because animals do not talk, and if you expected anything different form this story I’m afraid you will be sorely disappointed.

Littlest bear pointed to her stomach and growled at her brothers. The biggest bear waddled over to his sister and pressed his ear against her tummy. She was very hungry indeed, but it could have also been broken and in need of serious medical attention. He wasn’t able to guess; he was a just a bear after all.

The not-so-big bear pushed his brother out of the way so he could listen, too. He nodded in agreement, his sister was hungry. Not-so-big bear dug into his records and found an itemized list of things they had eaten over the last few months (just because they were bears, doesn’t mean they weren’t organized).

Not-so-big bear did a variety of calculations and came to the conclusion that littlest bear was right to be hungry. If the three bears did not eat soon, they would be hungry all winter. They would have to start right now if they wanted to be ready for their long nap.

Biggest bear opened up the cupboard and looked in the drawers, but there were only crumbs (which he picked at and swallowed). Not-so-big bear looked in the fridge and under furniture but there wasn’t anything tasty. Littlest bear opened the front door, and while there wasn’t any food there either, the three bears could go out into the woods and forage.

Biggest bear checked under rocks, but there was only slime and bugs under there, which he ate anyway. Not-so-big bear had climbed into trees, but all he found were acorns and very irate birds who didn’t want any hungry bears near their eggs. Littlest bear looked in the hollow of every tree to see if she left anything delicious, but then she remembered that she probably had already eaten it.

The three bears heard a rustling and turned to see a little girl standing in the middle of the woods. She wore a funny, old witch’s hat and carried a pillow case. Biggest bear stood up to get a better look at her, but the little girl screamed to see such a huge bear and ran out of the woods, leaving her pillowcase behind.

Not-so-big bear was going to apologize but the little girl ran off so quickly, and also he couldn’t speak (remember?). He picked up the pillowcase and found it rather heavy. Much too heavy for it to have been a pillow. He turned it upside-down and to his amazement dozens of pieces of shiny candy fell out. At first the bears had no idea what they had in their midst, that is until, without thinking or pause, biggest bear took a pawful and ate them, wrappers and all.

At first the taste was curious; it tasted like nothing and was difficult to chew. But then something sweet touched biggest bear’s tongue, and he knew what fell out of the pillowcase was something magical. Not-so-big bear was the first to take off the wrappers, and littlest bear was looking to see where the little girl had ran off to. The three bears ate all the candy and with wide, sugary eyes at a new world that opened up to them, they wondered where they could get more.

While picking candy and wrappers from their teeth, and with not-so-big bear carrying the empty pillow case, the three bears followed the path the little girl took. They reached the edge of the woods to see a neighborhood brimming with costumed children.

There were witches and goblins; devils and princesses; ghosts and cowboys, each running around with pillow cases, or pumpkins, or plastic baskets. The three bears watched as group after group of strange creatures banded together and walked up to the porch of a house and knocked at the door. To the bears’ amazement, the doors would open and handfuls of candy would rain down on the children.

It was almost too good to be true! The bears watched in awe at how each child seemed to work a certain magic. They packed together tightly, held out their arms, and waited for candy to fill their bags. Littlest bear approached the nearest door, then signaled her brothers to come or they wouldn’t get candy. Not-so-big bear came up to the door, readying the pillow case, while biggest bear struggled to fit on the porch.

When the bears were tightly packed onto the porch, with their snouts almost kissing the door did littlest bear gently knock. It opened to reveal a man and a woman, and while their hands were readying to dispense candy, the bears didn’t have a chance to get any. The woman screamed, the man slammed the door, and the bears were left empty pawed.

The bears grumbled and littlest bear’s stomach growled. They sat on the sidewalk trying to figure out what went wrong. Not-so-big bear handed the pillowcase to biggest bear who finished the last few pieces of candy and then he put the pillowcase over his head, just in case there might be another piece waiting at the bottom. That’s when not-so-big bear was hit by a caramel apple.

The man from the door was shouting at the bears to leave. The caramel apple stuck to not-so-big bear’s fur and fell to the ground where littlest bear ate it. That was when not-so-big bear realized where their plan had failed: none of them were wearing costumes!

Not-so-big bear took his siblings and the pillow case all the way back to their cottage in the woods. Littlest bear took the sheets from their beds. Not-so-big bear cut holes into them. Biggest bear went to the nearby pumpkin patch to find the three biggest pumpkins he could. He cut out their tops and dumped all the nasty pumpkin guts on the ground. Now they looked just like the ones all those costumed children had. Now no door could stop them!

The bears sauntered out of the woods (careful not to ruin their costumes or smash their pumpkins) and approached the door that had slammed in their faces earlier. Littlest bear gently knocked once more. The man and woman looked pale, and perhaps a little uncomfortable with the three big blankety shapes that stood on their porch.

The bears held their pumpkins high, waiting for their well-earned sweets. Despite the hairy, clawed paws poking out of the blankets the couple reluctantly handed each of them candy. It worked! The bears nodded their shaggy, covered heads in thanks and walked away gleefully.

They growled with joy and went to every house they could. Their pumpkins grew heavier and overflowed each time they knocked. None of the grown-ups questioned these gargantuan, ghostly shapes (nor did they want to peek at who was under those sheets).

Daylight dimmed and the bears, unable to carry any more candy, took their loot back to their cottage in the woods. Back at their home, they ravaged each wrapped, consumed every candy, and weather winter with only the slightest tummy aches.

And while they slept, they wondered what they were going to be next Halloween.

The End