Title: Mission Grumpily Accomplished
Rating: K
Category: General
Pairings: none
Summary: It's a dark and stormy night...and Grumpy Bear finds himself stuck in the middle of it for a caring mission.
Spoilers: none
Notes and Disclaimer: All rights and properties belong to Nelvana and Dic. This was my audition piece for the role of Grumpy in TheCareBears RPG Group on Yahoo. It's not much in terms of plot but I was more concerned about characterization while writing it. Which was probably good because I was awarded the part. :)
Rain poured about the dark blue bear as he ran through the grass and trees of a small park. It was dark (from the night sky, not just because of the storm that resembled the symbol on his tummy) and the wind had picked up quite a bit since he had arrived on Earth. Not in a cloud car but rather courtesy of the Rainbow Rescue Beam, which had of course landed him a hundred feet from his wanted destination. The stupid contraption never failed to disappoint during a real emergency. Yet Grumpy Bear had to take it because there had been a very good chance that he wouldn't have made it in time with a cloud car.
He splashed through a few puddles and frowned as mud splayed all over his foot paws and knees. Great. He stopped between a lamppost and a metal merry-go-round to try and shake some of it off. He had just started off again when a flash of lightning lit up the sky and helped him make out a small figure huddled beneath a large, bumpy slide. He hurried over immediately and ran Wish Bear's description through his head.
"He's a small boy," She had told him while waving her starscope around in a panic, "Maybe six or seven years old. He has long brown hair and wears glasses. I saw him running from his home into the darkness and rain with only his pajamas on. He might be heading for the park just down the street from his house. Hurry Grumpy Bear, you have to find him before something bad happens!"
It looked like he had gotten there in time. The boy seemed unhurt, just soaked and frightened. Grumpy Bear crawled under the slide and sat in front of him. He knew that he should ask the child if he was okay but the combination of rain, frustration, worry and natural grumpiness made him change his mind. Instead, Grumpy Bear rambled heatedly with, "What are you doing out here in the dark? Don't you know that it's dangerous? And why don't you have on a coat or some shoes? Do you wanna get sick?"
Eyes a shade lighter than the bear's fur grew as big as hubcaps behind the oversized glasses and the boy buried his face in his hands and started sobbing.
Whoops. Darn it. Grumpy folded his arms and looked away. Sometimes it was hard to remember to be caring when all of his emotions were mixed up. Like the boy seated in front of him. Whatever it was that had made him unhappy enough to run away from home without caring about the storm or any other possible dangers must have been hugely emotional. The child had acted before he had thought. Grumpy Bear figured that it was almost foolish enough to be admirable in the boy's case.
He also figured that in his own case, it was probably considered very rude. So Grumpy Bear took a deep breath, faced the boy and tried again. "It really isn't safe for you out here. Please, let me walk you back home to your parents so they can take care of you."
The boy hiccupped and then wiped his nose. "They don't want me with them anymore."
Grumpy Bear almost toppled over in surprise. "What? That can't be true!"
"It is," the boy sniffed. "My Mommy had two baby girls a few days ago and now she and my Daddy love them and not me."
Siblings. Grumpy Bear blinked. He had seen this once or twice on other caring missions. He placed a paw on the boy's knee and shook his head. "You're wrong about that. I'm sure they still love you. It's just that new babies are a lot of work. They need your parents to help them with everything until they're old enough to do it themselves. Right now, though, they're just too little."
The boy sniffed again. "Mommy and Daddy tell me that all the time. But I think they're just saying that because every time they say they'll play with me or read me a story, they always have to leave and stay with my sisters. I never get to have time with them."
"That doesn't mean they don't love you anymore."
"Yes, it does."
Ugh. Grumpy Bear made a face. The boy just had to argue with him and be stubborn. What else could he do to help?
As if on a miraculous cue, a man's voice carried faintly over the wind. "Spencer! Spencer!"
The boy snapped his head up and looked around. Grumpy did the same.
"Spencer!" The voice called again. It sounded far away. "Spencer, can you hear me? Where are you?"
"Daddy?" the boy whispered.
Saved! Grumpy Bear nodded his head. "I bet that is him. Now, would he come out in a storm to look for you if he didn't love you?"
The boy – Spencer – chewed on his lower lip and then shook his head. "I-I guess not."
Satisfied, Grumpy Bear crawled back out from under the slide and then extended a paw out to Spencer. "Come on, we'll go find him together."
Spencer hesitated at first but then reached out and allowed Grumpy Bear to pull him out from the slide. But instead of letting go, he squeezed the paw and asked, "What's your name?"
The bear glanced down at their connected grasp and then back up at Spencer. "I'm Grumpy Bear."
Spencer thought about that as they started walking. "But you were nice to me. A nice bear can't be a grumpy bear."
Said -and aptly named- bear probably would have laughed at that if he hadn't chosen that moment to slip and fall into one of those blasted mud puddles from earlier.
Then he just scowled.
Caring mission accomplished.