He should have just kept running.

Instead, Grumpy Bear now carried yet another small token for Share Bear in the same paw that held his balloon. Tender Heart had chased him down and insisted that Grumpy take the thank you card with him. Grumpy had refused at first but Tender Heart wouldn't stop following him until he agreed.

Grumpy felt that he hadn't had a choice. After all, the last thing he wanted was an audience when he found Share Bear. So he accepted the card and continued running.

He was now on the rainbow path that led up to the Hall of Hearts. Once it came into view he ran even faster. From the Hall the path would turn right, run straight past Wish Bear's post and then end in the middle of the playground.

And was Grumpy Bear ever grateful! It felt like months had passed since he had started his small quest for Share Bear. Saying thank you and that you were sorry sure could take a long time.

He tried to decide how to approach her when he found her. Should he hide everything behind his back and then surprise Share with it? Or should he just give her everything outright and start apologizing? Which would Share Bear expect? Which would she prefer?

"LOOK OUT!"

The young voice scared Grumpy out of his thoughts just in time to see the little red wagon right in front of him. Somehow, he managed to jump up in time and sail safely over it, congratulating himself on the way down for avoiding disaster.

"Grumpy Bear!"

Or so he thought.

He landed right on a yellow skateboard that had been hiding on the other side of the wagon and shot forward down the path.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" He yelled as he waved his arms and struggled to keep his balance, balloon and Share Bear's gifts in his paws. Soon, the turn in the path he had reminded himself about was upon him and he just closed his eyes in defeat. Since Grumpy Bear had never learned how to ride a skateboard properly turning was completely out of the question. So he held the bundle tighter in his paws and braced himself for the crash.

It went pretty much the way he expected. The turn came, he kept going straight, the world tilted upside down and the dark blue bear found himself stuck head first in the clouds.

Minus everything he had been holding.

Two things came to mind as he kicked his feet in the air. One was that this REALLY wasn't his day, and the other was, I'm going to get those cubs.

Paws grabbed his legs and the next thing Grumpy knew, he was pulled out from the cloud and sitting right side up. He shook the last of the daze from his head and then focused on the two small bears that stood in front of him. One looked worried, while the other looked both worried and scared.

Grumpy Bear glared at them. "Baby Hugs and Baby Tugs."

The two cubs squeaked and then grabbed onto each other. "We're sorry!" Baby Tugs cried. "Hugs and I were playing and then Share Bear came with balloons for us and-and we just forgot about our toys!"

"We didn't mean to hurt anyone!" Baby Hugs added. "We're really, really sorry!"

"Er, Share Bear?" was all Grumpy could say.

A paw rested on his shoulder. "Are you all right, Grumpy Bear?"

He turned his head and found Share standing behind him. Surprised, he yelped and then hurriedly crawled around the cloud in search of her things.

Flower…flower…another flower…another flower…! He snatched them up as he came upon them, trying hard not to grimace at the condition most of them were in and not caring a bit about how silly he must have looked. Darn it, where was the card and clover?

"Here, let me help you."

Grumpy Bear almost yelped again as Share Bear knelt beside him. Panicked, he glanced at the flowers in his hand, hid them behind his back, changed his mind, hid them again and then finally just shoved the damaged bouquet into Share's arms and babbled, "He-here! These are for you! Thank you for the balloon and I'm sorry for running away and not telling you thank you sooner but I'm here now saying it so thank you again!"

He stopped there to take a much-needed deep breath and felt his cheeks redden again. Somewhere off to the right the cubs giggled and Grumpy scowled for what must have been the fiftieth time that morning.

Then all at once he was being hugged by Share so tightly that he started to run out of breath again. Then she smiled and surprised him by kissing his cheek. "See? That wasn't so hard to say, was it?"

The scowl vanished a bit and Grumpy touched his cheek. Well, let's see. A misunderstanding, Share Bear's hurt feelings, meddling bears, a crash landing, lost presents and giggly baby cubs.

He'd never had a harder time saying thank you in his life.