The bus pulled up to the honey bar in Nutville as it started to get dark. The parking lot was crowded, showing there must've been a lot of patrons inside the bar.

"Stay close, Beary", Henry said as everyone stepped off the bus. "Don't talk to anyone and don't take anything from anyone."

Vivian held Beary's hand as they walked into the bar. Sure enough, this definitely seemed the type of place Zeb would be sure to hang around. The inside was decorated with plastic beehives with large gallons of honey at the bar. The whole place seemed to glow with amber lighting, matching the honey tone.

"Excuse me, miss", Henry said going to the barmaid. "Would you happen to know if there's a Zeb Zoober here?"

"Zeb Zoober?" the woman asked. "The Zeb Zoober that sleeps on my floor?"

Everyone looked at her speechless. They couldn't believe Zeb had gotten this bad.

"The Zeb Zoober that owes me $500?" the barmaid continued. "The Zeb Zoober that won't stop calling me Cha-Cha?"

"Set me up, Cha-Cha!" a familiar voice yelled from the back.

"Sounds like him", Henry smiled as he led everyone to the back.

"Do you think he'll recognize us?" Vivian whispered in his ear. "I mean, he's been on the honey for 10 years. Don't you think that's done some kind of damage to his brain?"

"He's known us much longer than he's been on the honey", he whispered back. "I'm sure Zeb will be able to recognize us."

They walked to the back of the bar, almost speechless when they finally saw Zeb. He seemed to be already half drunk as he stood at an automatic back scratcher, moaning and shaking as the wood scratched and massaged his back.

"Hey there, Zeb", Henry said.

Zeb pushed up his hat and lifted his head, getting a glimpse of the friends he hadn't seen or heard from in 10 years. It had been so long, but those faces, he could never forget.

"Henry?" he said. "Fred? Viv? Is that you?"

Vivian smiled as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"Oh, Zeb!" she said. "It's so good to see you!"

Zeb shuddered as he continued standing against the wood. Vivian pulled him away from the log as Roadie ordered a pot of coffee. They needed to get him sober if they were going to get him to understand what was going on.


"Now come on, Zeb", Henry said. "What do you say? You give up the honey and come with us."

"Guys, even if I wanted to leave town, I couldn't!" Zeb said. "I owe Cha-Cha over there a lot of money."

"Zeb, what happened?" Vivian sighed shaking her head.

"I lost everything", he said shrugging. "I don't have any money. I didn't know what to do."

Everyone sat at the table, unsure of what to do. No one even noticed Beary until he got up and walked over to the bar.

"Hey, what's that boy doing?" Zeb asked seeing he was talking to Cha-Cha.

"I don't know", Henry sighed sick of Beary's ideas.

They watched Beary come back, almost all worried to see what he had in mind.

"You're Zeb Zoober", he simply said.

"Well, that may be true", Zeb said. "But I…"

He didn't know what to say. He had zero confidence that his name held any ability to do anything significant anymore. What could he say, especially to someone he didn't even know?

"Who is this guy?"

"Oh, that's Beary", Henry shrugged.

Everyone's attention turned to the stage when Cha-Cha spoke.

"Ladies and Gentleman, can I have your attention here for one minute?" she announced. "Now, as most of you know, Zeb Zoober owes me a whole heap of money. Well, his little friend there has proposed a wager. My house band versus Zeb's fiddle in a little musical duel."

Vivian looked at Zeb who looked excited about this. At last, a chance to get out of this place.

"Now, if he wins, he owes me nothing", Cha-Cha said. "But if he loses, I get to keep the Country Bear tour bus.

"What?!" everyone gasped.

"This should be good."

Everyone looked at Beary worried and angry. Just what was he thinking to make a deal as stupid as that?

"Son, that bus is our only means of transportation!" Henry said.

"Not to mention, that's where I raised my kids", Roadie said upset he was going to lose his home

"Plus, I don't think you've all seen the house band", Zeb said, pointing to the stage.

"Are they really that good?" Vivian asked nervously.