Stump

                                            Stump 

  The forest was green and lush with a crispness in the air that promised to soon change the leaves to the beautiful autumn colors Berry loved so much.
Berry the bear was searching for his friend Stump. No one remembered Stumps real name, except maybe Stump himself. Stump had the ability to slump into a stump, as he called it. When he slumped it was very hard to find him. He liked to watch the people dens at the edges of the forest.
  Berry had a message to deliver to Stump from Great Bear. So even though he had been searching a very long time, he continued looking for Stump.
It's a good thing there aren't many people dens in the area or I would never find him thought Berry.


  Stump was teaching Berry to slump into a stump which took a lot of concentration and patience. Berry thought back to when his studies with Stump began.
  When Berry first asked Stump to teach him, Stump grumbled and grouched but Berry knew it was just Stumps way.
  The first time Stump tried to teach Berry to slump, he took one look at the results and laughed till he cried, he told Berry he looked more like a mushroom than a stump. Since that very moment Stump called Berry, Mush.
  Berry thought at the time this is great! Now instead of just being a bear stuck between cub hood and a young bear, he was also stuck between being a mushroom and a stump.
  Since he started studying with Stump his older brothers Bramble and Winder teasingly called him Branch. Berry just considered his self lucky they didn't know about Mush.
  Berry thought that since this is the last people den I should find him soon, unless I missed him somewhere.
  Stump is very good at what he does.
  Berry was the only one who could find Stump and he was getting better at it, so he didn't think he had missed him.
He was nearing the people den, so he moved slower and quieter. When he reached the edge of the forest he was moving so slowly you wouldn't know he was there unless you stared very hard at the tree line for awhile.
  Berry came to a spot where he could see most of the area around the people den, and then he slumped, trying hard to remember everything Stump had taught him. He completely slumped, his head down so far between his shoulders that he looked headless and his body taking on the appearance of being hard and unmovable. He calmed his mind so much he could see and feel everything around him. Berry loved the feeling it was like he was a part of the forest it's self, he squinted his eyes; Stump taught him that eye shine would get him caught quicker than anything else.
    The people den had a quiet empty feel to it. No voices or music coming out of shiny wood boxes, no water running, no cooking or playing. All of the noisy things people do were absent.

  Berry looked long and hard for Stump, he stared a long time in each area but saw no sign of him. Berry had just decided to give up when a voice whispered in his ear low and gruff. "Can you see me now"! Berry yelled and jumped straight up in the air.
  "You’re supposed to look like a stump not a rabbit, Mush." Stump chuckled.
"Remember you can't let anything distract or startle you, you must listen well so no one can sneak up on you." noticing the look on Berry's face he said "The people are gone so relax."
  "I'll try harder, but you know you could sneak up on a bear with eyes in the back of his head don't you?" Berry replied. Stump just laughed.
  "Listen Mush." grumbled Stump.
Berry sat quietly as Stump told him that he had seen a stump when he saw Berry slumped, his teaching was over and all he needed now was practice and as always the patience to do it well.
  Berry was so surprised he almost forgot to tell Stump Great Bear wanted to see him.
  "And what does he want?" huffed Stump
  "Come on Stump you know Great Bear wouldn't tell me, I'm just the delivery bear!" Berry said.
  "Oh alright let's go." as they moved farther into the woods he continued with "What do we call you now? You don't look like a mushroom any more and I am the one and only Stump! Let me see." He said as he waggled his eyebrows at Berry and got a sneaky look in his eyes.
  Berry thought oh no what's he going to saddle me with now.
  "I know, Branch!" and Stump started laughing till tears dripped off his nose.
  "Just who have you been talking too?" Berry demanded, laughing along with him.
  "Bramble" wheezed Stump.
  "That figures, at least it's not Mush any longer." laughed Berry.
  "Yes, I for one am going to miss that name" Stump chuckled.
They reached the place in the deep forest known as Sambadens, named after the Samba Bear; he is the magical protector of the forest and all of its dwellers. Few saw him but every creature knew he was around.
  In the middle of Sambadens, there were short stumps and logs where the elders talked and the teachers taught cubs.
  Great Bear slapped Stump on the back in greeting and asked him to walk and talk alone with him. As they moved off Berry sat down and listened to the lessons the teacher was teaching the cubs.
  It's not been long since I finished cubschool and I miss it already, Berry thought.
Great Bear and Stump returned after a few minutes and they were laughing and acting like they had a secret. They walked up to Berry and told him to tell his mother to prepare the coming of age dinner for him and to be quick about it since he wasn't getting any younger.
  "Close your mouth Branch, and go give your parents the good news!" laughed Stump.
  "Oh yes! Thank you!" Berry said as he bowed to Great Bear and Stump and ran home.
  On the way he thought about how happy and proud his parents would be and the feasting with everyone they knew attending.
He suddenly realized he was no longer stuck in the middle, and the fact that he spent all his time learning his lessons from his teachers and Stump instead of worrying about it made the time seem to fly by. He was no longer a cub or a mushroom; he was a young bear and a Stump....Branch....whatever!
  Berry smiled happily.