Donnie's sorrows.

Gretchen, Patsy, and Nina were on their Yacht-like ship, taunting the Jelly Beans. A new Bean Scout, Donnie the lion, snuck on to their boat as a joke. His plan was to cannonball of the ship, and yell "FREEDOM!" on his way down, as if to imply they had taken him prisoner. Then he noted sight of Nina and her massive neck,

I bet, thought the born prankster, that'd make an excellent springboard, hmmm. Nina felt a foot on the top of her head, and it pushed down rapidly. Everyone heard a cry, and a head banging against the side of the ship. But when Donnie surfaced, laughing, an angry look from all eyes except Nina's silenced him well. Nina grunted and strained, trying to pull her head up,

"Look what you've done, you idiot," Seethed Patsy,

"You ruined our holiday, you jerk!" shouted Gretchen,

"Don't try that, Nina," said Lazlo, trying to calm the panicking Giraffe, "You will only hurt more." Nina's glasses fell of her snout and hit the murky waters, and soon sank into the depths of the lake; the girls pulled Lazlo, who volunteered to help, onto the boat, leaving Raj and Clam to lecture Donnie. He clutched his chest,

"Ow," he cried, "I'm having chest pains,"

"No, no, no, no, no." said Raj, "you are not feeling chest pains; you are feeling guilt pains. You hurt Nina, whereas the guilt is so high, it hurts. There is no easier explanation." Donnie was still in pain,

"I'm going nuts!" he nearly shouted, "where's Tylenol when you need it?"

"Tylenol won't help anything," said Raj, "If you want the pain to go away, you need another type of medicine: forgiveness. If Nina forgives you, the pain will stop. But until she does, the pain will linger."

"If it'll stop the pain," said Donnie through gritted teeth, "I'm all for it. Hey, the pain lightened,"

"The first step of the cure is to agree to help that person feel better, at least in this case. Now that you have done so, the pain lightened." Slinkman came to the waters edge.

"Donnie," he said sternly, "I want to see you in my office right now" By this time, Lumpus was finished with the bean scouts and had retired.

"Can I dry off first?" asked Donnie, as if fishing for an excuse,

"The furniture in that building has seen worse. Now come on, or I will have security escort you. And trust me, they won't be nice about it. Not after what you did to Ms. Neckerly."

"YOU ALREADY KNOW?" asked Donnie, "How'd you find out?"

"Ms. Smiles reported you. You should be ashamed." Donnie dragged himself out of the water and followed Slinkman to his office, ashamedly hanging his head.

…

Donnie plopped himself into one of the Chairs in front of Slinkman's almond wood desk.

"Because of you, Donnie," Slinkman scolded at the lion, "Ms. Neckerly can only hold up her head for a fraction of a second. I would report this to Ms. Jane Doe, but since you have hurt Ms. Neckerly, I think you should tell her."

"But Acorn Flats is across the lake," said Donnie, "Do I get a boat?"

"No, as part of your punishment, you will swim. And on the way, retrieve her glasses. Now get out before I think of a worse punishment." Donnie stood before the lake. He was alone, and was about to be chewed out BIG TIME. He dove into the water. He was the only Lion who liked water. About halfway across, he submerged, and he had Nina's glasses, they were filthy. Every inch had either mud or seaweed. Donnie swam the rest of the way, and then when he reached the shore, he quickly changed into his scout uniform. He snuck by Patsy and Gretchen, and into Ms. Jane Doe's office.

…

The bell above the office door rang. Donnie came to the desk,

"What can I do for you, Mr. Bean Scout?" Donnie told her of his deed.

"YOU DID WHAT?!?" she seethed, then calmed down, "since you came clean, i won't punish you. But you'll have to work it out with Nina; you're in her debt big time." She took a flower off her windowsill, and placed it in his hands. "the medic clinic is at end of this trail. And this flower is said to have healing properties, now go. visiting hours are over at 8:00" Donnie looked at his watch; 7:30. He sprinted down the path, towards the girl he hurt.

R&R NO FLAMES