"Throw the ball to me!" Grizz cried out.
It was a beautiful sunny day. The sky was clear. Birds were chirping and animals were going about their business. The bear brothers: Grizz, Ice bear, and Panda decided that they would spend the day outdoors, enjoying each other's company and playing a game of catch.
Actually, Panda and Ice bear wanted to stay inside for the day but Grizz was the older brother so he got to decide what they would do and he really wanted to go out and play catch.
Panda reeled back his arm. "Catch Grizz!" He chucked the ball as hard as he could. The ball sailed over the top of Grizz's head and disappeared into the woods behind him.
"Wow! Good arm Pan-Pan." Grizz said.
"I'll go get it." Panda said.
"It's ok, I got it." Grizz went into the woods, searching for the ball.
The woods was shady. A gentle breeze wafted by gently blowing across Grizz's fir. He checked under and in the bushes trying to find his ball. He checked around trees, searched inside logs, he even asked a couple of squirrels if they've seen his toy (although they were far from helpful).
He sighed. "Where are you, ball?"
He was about to head back to his bros when something caught his eye. In a clump of bushes, sticking out of the branches was something red and rubbery.
"My ball!" Grizz happily grabbed it from the bush. "There you are, you little sneak!"
Moan…
Grizz looked uncomfortably at his ball. "Ball…was that you?"
Moan…
The noise wasn't coming from his ball. It was coming from the bushes where he found the ball.
Carefully, he poked his head in the bush and discovered that there was a small, black bear. Its fir was pitch black save for the little patch of yellow on its muzzle. Its tiny paws were curled up in a sleeping position. The expression it wore was one of complete exhaustion.
Grizz stifled an "Aww!" This little guy was so cute and cuddly! Wait… was it a guy or a girl? Grizz wasn't sure. It certainly looked like a he. In fact, it almost looked like him when he was a cub. Although Grizz wasn't as large as a cub as this cub was.
Where'd you come from little guy? He thought to himself. He looked around… where was his mom? Did he get lost or something? She must be awfully worried.
"Grizz!" Panda said, rushing up to him with Ice bear. "Are you ok? We thought you were lost."
Grizz held a paw. "Shh! You'll wake him up."
"Wake who up?"
"Ice bear only sees two bears."
He gestured them over by the bush and they poked their heads inside. Panda and Ice bear gasped at the sight of the little cub.
"He's so cute!" Panda gushed.
Ice bear couldn't help but smile at the little cub.
The cub stretched his little legs and sept in a different sleeping pose. Everyone gushed, "Aww!" They un- poked their heads from the bush. "I wonder were the mom is?" Panda asked.
"I was wondering that too," Grizz said, "do you think that they got separated or something."
"Probably. We should wake him up and ask him where his mom is."
"But that will wake him up from his nap! We don't want to do that. You saw how tired he looks."
"Icebear suggests we take him to Ranger Tabes."
Grizz nodded. "Good idea. She's really good with animals, she'll know what to do with him."
The bears arrived at the ranger station and gently knocked on the door. The door opened and Tabes greeted them with a friendly hello.
"Shh! Not so loud," Panda said, "you'll wake him!"
Tabes looked confused. "Wake who?" She then noticed the sleeping cub snuggled up in Grizz's arms. "Whoa! A black bear cub! Where'd you find him?"
"Well, my bros and I were playing catch and Panda threw the ball and I had to go in the woods to chase it and I found it in the bushes along with this little cutie. He was all alone when I found him. We were hoping you could help us find his mom."
"Let's bring him inside and see what we can find." Tabes said.
Once they set the sleeping cub on the bench, they went over to the computer and looked up information on their slumbering visitor.
"Black bears typically don't live in California," Tabes explained to the bears, "according to this article, their natural habitat would be Alaska or Northwest Canada."
"He walked all the way from Canada!" Grizz exclaimed. "Man, his mom must be super worried about him. How did he manage to walk from Canada to here?"
"Grizz, he didn't walk here from Canada." Panda said, "He's probably a circus bear that got lost."
Tabes kept reading the article. "Stipes is right. Some black bears are trained to become circus animals, but there aren't any circus's in town or anywhere in this area."
Grizz gasped, "What if he's from a traveling circus and they left without him!"
Tabes looked over at the cub. "If that's the case, we should ask him what circus he's from."
"I'll go wake him." Grizz approached the cub and whispered, "Wakey-wakey little bear."
The cub slumbered on.
Grizz gently shook the cub. "Common little guy, were going to help you find your mom, ok?"
The eyes of the cub slowly opened. They stared into Grizz's eyes for a few seconds, right before the cub lunged for him with teeth barring.
"AAAHHHHH!"