Bear B’s Easter Egg Hunt – a short story

It’s Easter, and I was thinking I should write a story. With that in mind, I was sitting here considering what story did I want to write. ‘How about a Bear B story?‘ I thought. It’s been ages since I wrote a story with him as the star.

Bear B’s Easter Egg Hunt

“He hid them outside.” Dad said the magic word.

Outside? I took off at full speed. I ran through the house, around the dinner table, through my girl…

“Bear B!” she shouted annoyedly.

…and to the back door. Dad hadn’t made it there yet, so I pranced in place like a pony at the gate ready to take off the second it opened.

“Do you have your baskets?” Mom asked.

Baskets? We don’t need baskets. Just open the door. I barked. As usual, nobody understood me. I ran another lap around the house before plowing face first into the door that still hadn’t been opened. What was taking so long? I impatiently tapped my tail.

My boy scratched behind my ears. It felt good, and I leaned into it, thoughts of outside temporarily abandoned. He asked me if I was going to help him find all the eggs.

“No way,” my girl disagreed as she handed her brother a basket. “Bear B’s my sniffer. Aren’t you boy?” she tickled me beneath the chin.

I wagged my tail excitedly in agreement. I’d help her with anything if she just kept getting my chin. All too soon, she stopped. Mom and Dad had joined us. That’s when I remembered Dad had said the magic word.

“Ready?” Dad asked, his hand on the handle.

Yeah. Yeah. I’m ready. I barked happily quivering with anticipation. The door didn’t open.

“Oh. Hold on,” Mom said as she walked away.

I whimpered. It had been ages since that first ‘outside’ was spoken. I was confused.

“Almost forgot the camera,” Mom explained as she rejoined us by the door.

“Ready, now?” Dad asked again.

“Ready!” my kids shouted in unison.

“Ready,” Mom had the camera poised.

Dad slid the glass door open. I ran out ahead of everybody.

“Watch out for dog poop!” Dad warned.

“We will,” my girl promised.

“Duh, Dad.”

Off they both ran in opposite directions. Mom was laughing as she snapped pictures. Dad just kept saying ‘yep’ and ‘nope’ over and over again. My kids were full of giggles and shouts of ‘found one’ and ‘and another one’ mixed with the occasional ‘hey, that was mine’.

I wanted to find one, too. The only problem was, I didn’t know what one was to find. I started sniffing around in my yard for things that didn’t belong. I was sure that somewhere along the way I would find one, too.

“What ya doing?” Cupcake asked as she wandered over to join me.

“Hunting,” my answer was muffled by the ground I sniffed.

“For what?” she asked.

“Easter eggs, they call them,” I still didn’t know what that meant.

“Why?”

“Look at them.”

I turned and watched my family. They were laughing and having the time of their life. My kids were crawling around in the mud and not caring at all how dirty they got. Nobody seemed to mind that my fur was matted with slimy spring mud.

I found something odd sticking out of a hole. Was it an Easter egg? I started digging it up. Cupcake announced that she better head home before she found herself covered in mud.

“Remember the thunderstorm?”

How could I forget? We’d only just begun to be friends. A sudden thunderstorm had left us all muddy and in trouble.

“See you later,” I tossed her way with a mouthful of dirt and what I hoped was an Easter egg.

I trotted over to my boy and dropped it at his feet.

“What is it boy?” he picked it up and dropped it again. “Ew.”

“What is it?” my girl wanted to know.

“I don’t know, but it was covered in slobber.”

Is it an egg? I asked, but as usual no one understood me.

“Ew. I think it’s something dead,” she suggested.

Dead? Was my Easter egg dead? Had I killed it? I looked from one to the other. My boy grabbed a stick and poked it. My girl kicked at it with the toe of her shoe.

“It’s definitely not an Easter egg,” my boy said.

“No. I think it’s just an old dog toy. Must’ve gotten left out when winter hit.”

I sniffed it. I blew out in disgust. They were right. It was one of my old, forgotten toys. Maybe this Easter egg hunting business was harder than it looked. I put my nose back to the ground and started sniffing again.

What did an Easter egg smell like? I tried to sniff my girl’s basket, but she shoved me away.

“No Bear B, that’s not for you.”

I went to my boy’s basket next, but he held it out of my reach.

“What do you need, Bear B? Go play.”

Harrumph.

“Only three left,” Dad announced.

“I’ll find ’em before you do!” exclaimed my boy.

“Not if I find ’em before you,” my girl retorted.

Off they ran, shoving each other playfully and laughing joyfully. I knew I had to hurry if I wanted one of those Easter eggs to be mine.

Sniff, sniff. I checked some of my favorite spots. Nothing there. Sniff, sniff. I checked where Mom planted her garden. I found something cold and smooth. Just there, under the corner of the deck. It was almost ball shaped.

It smelled like chocolate. I’m not allowed to eat chocolate, but I know the smell of it. I barked a quick bark. Nobody answered. I nudged it with my nose. It rolled out from beneath the corner.

Bark. I tried again. Still no answer. I nudged it again with my nose. It rolled a little bit.

“What ya go there, boy?” Dad asked, picking up my prize. “Did you find an Easter egg?”

I don’t know. Did I? I wagged my tail enthusiastically as I waited for confirmation.

“Bear B found one,” he announced.

I hopped up and down on my hind legs and tried to give him a hug. He skillfully evaded my attempts.

“He also found a whole lot of mud and a need for a bath as soon as we’re finished here.”

My kids started groaning. Gone were the happy cheers of only moments ago as they fought to see who would find those last Easter eggs.

I was happy. I’d found myself an Easter egg. My Easter egg hunt had been a success.

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Bear B stars in Bully Troubles –Moving is never easy. Living in a new house, in a new neighborhood, where nothing is familiar can be hard. Bear B and Stone are experiencing these changes in their life. They are making new friends and learning to love their new home. Not everyone is very welcoming. Bossy and Butch are downright mean. They don’t like Stone. It’s not anything he did. It’s just because he is a cat. Bully Troubles is about overcoming the bullies. Bear B and Stone want to be able to enjoy their lives. They don’t want to let Butch and Bossy get in the way. Can they defeat the bullies without becoming bullies themselves?

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