Disclaimer: This humble author does not own (but deeply loves) the Care Bear Family. The characters are based on the old movies and episodes by Dic and Nelvana, but have been inevitably infused with the interpretations of their authors.
NOTE: This short story was meant to be a small chapter (or part of a chapter) of a larger story about the Care Bear Family sometime during Movie 2, when they are growing up under the shadow of Dark Heart. Hope you all enjoy it!
Wake Up, Sleepy Head!
"SURPRISE!"
"BLAAARGH!" roared Brave Heart in alarm, landing in a tangled heap on the floor. When he finally managed to find a hole in the orange bed sheets that were pinioning his arms to his sides, he poked his head through, to find Playful Heart Monkey and Funshine Bear on either side of him, collapsed in intense fits of hilarity.
"That was the best!"
"Oh – oh – oh – !" gasped Funshine, laughing too hard to verbalize her agreement.
"What's the big idea?" growled Brave Heart, who had recovered enough to extricate himself from his hand-quilted comforter.
"Well, that's what you get when you sleep too much!" chortled the tan monkey, taking care to leap out of Brave Heart's reach before he could swipe.
"And," came a voice from the bedchamber door, "we even caught you on camera!"
Brave Heart turned his gaze toward the new voice and groaned. There was Swift Heart Rabbit, holding the new video camera Bright Heart and Grumpy had just assembled. No wonder she had been so eager to help them test it! She had been planning to use it on him all along.
Before Brave Heart could come up with a clever enough retort (which was limited by the fact that he was still groggy), quick footsteps resounded down the hallway, and True Heart was through the double doors in seconds. "I heard a loud noise – is everyone okay?"
Swift Heart hastily hid the camera behind her back and answered before Brave Heart could gain the upper hand. "It was nothing, True Heart – Brave Heart fell out of bed. He's okay, but Playful Heart and Funshine are taking care of him anyway." Brave Heart bristled at his foster sister's ingenuity, but True Heart didn't seem to notice.
"Oh, good," said the distracted True Heart, looking over her lion cub for cuts and bruises, but forgetting to take in his face. "Be more careful, okay?" Brave Heart opened his mouth to argue, but True Heart interrupted with a hurried "See you at breakfast!" and was gone, no doubt to keep her eye on the stove.
Scowling, Brave Heart looked from one twisted face to the other, knowing that they would all spread the story of how they had managed to frighten the fearless lion-hearted hero of the Care Bear Family. "I'll get you guys, you'll see…"
"But you can't!" said Funshine at once. "You're supposed to be helping Noble Heart with the charts today – he sent us to wake you up!"
"Yeah, fuzzy head," chimed in Playful Heart. "And he even told us to use whatever means necessary!" With that, he succumbed to another fit of giggles.
"But that wasn't necessary," pointed out Brave Heart, who was throwing his tangled bedding back onto the mattress where it belonged.
"Yes, it was," insisted Swift Heart. "We tried everything – shaking your shoulder, tickling your feet – we even pulled out a whisker!"
"What!" Brave Heart rounded on Swift Heart.
"Oops," murmured the blue rabbit, and dashed off to the dining room before she could let something else slip.
"Don't look at me, she pulled out the whisker," said Playful Heart with a smirk. "See you at breakfast." And with that, he and Funshine left Brave Heart alone in the bedchamber to contemplate his most embarrassing start to the day.