THE BEAR THAT WASN'T
Once upon a time, in fact it was a _________, the Bear stood at the edge of a great _________ and gazed up at the sky. Away up high, he saw a flock of _________ flying south.
Then he gazed up at the trees of the forest. The leaves had all turned brown and roseate and gold, and were falling from the branches.
The Bear knew when the geese flew south and the leaves fell from the trees, that winter would soon be here and snow would cover the forest.
It was time to go into a _________ and _________. And that's just what he did.
… the bear that wasn't... wasn't a bear at all... Have you heard about?
Not long _________, in fact it was on a Wednesday...
Al right you, the _________ is over!Get back to work.
But I... I don't work here!
Do you want to go on report, do you?
But I don't work here, I'm a _________.
What? A bear? Muahahahahahaaaa! Oh, boy! What an excuse to quit from working!
I am a bear!
Look, bud, don't give me none of that. You are a silly man that needs a _________and wears a _________fur _________! And the General Manager is going to hear of this!
… COME IN...
Yes sir, I am a bear, that's what I said.
You are not a bear, you are a _________ man that needs a shave and wears a ________ coat.
I am sorry to hear you say that, because, hum... you see, I am a bear!
Well, let's see what the Third Vice-president has to say about that.
… COME IN, COME IN...
Let us review this: you say you are not a silly man that needs a shave and wears a fur coat, that is what you say?
That's true! I am a bear! Just a plain, ordinary, everyday bear.
I see... And I am going to take you to the plain, ordinary, everyday Second Vice-president!
… COME IN, COME IN, COME IN...
You are not a bear. You are a silly man that needs a shave and wears a fur coat, obviously.
I must be dreaming... How can you say that, when I am a bear?
I can not only say so, I can say it to the First Vice-president!
… COME IN, COME IN, COME IN, COME IN...
You are not a man, you are a silly man that needs a shave – and perhaps a manicure – and you are wearing a fur coat.
I have always been a bear!
… COME IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...
Please, sir, I don't work here, I am a bear. And please don't tell me I am a silly man that needs a shave and like that because the First Vice-president, the Second Vice-president, the Third Vice-president, the General Manager and the Foreman had told me that already!
Thank you for telling me. But this is just what I __________you are.
I AM A BEAR!
You can't be a bear, bears are only in a _________ or in the circus, they are never inside a factory! And that's where you are, inside a ___________, so how can you be a bear?
I don't know, but I am a bear!
You are a stupid and silly man who needs a shave and wears a fur coat. And I am going to prove it to you once and for all!
I must be a bear, I don't have any practice being anything else.
Is he a bear?
Of course he isn't a _____________! If he was a bear, he wouldn't be outside with you, would he? I mean, he would be inside the cage here with us, right?
I don't want him here. He is a silly man that needs a shave and wears a fur coat.
One day, a long time afterward, when the factory closed down for the night, and the workers went home...
“But I can't go into a cave and _________ I am not a bear! I am just a silly man that needs a shave and wears a fur coat...”
I wish I was a bear!
And son the Bear was happily asleep and __________ sweet, slow dreams, just as all bears do when they hibernate.
Because he finally realized that even though the Foreman, The General Manager, and the Third and the Second and the First Vice-president, and yet the President himself, and even the zoo bears, had said he was a silly man that needs a shave and wears a fur coat... well, they make it so.
No indeed, he wasn't a silly ____________, and he wasn't a silly _____________ either.