The Adventures of Henry the Bear and That Scott Guy

A short story by Mary M. Isaacs.

“When it looked like CLT [COVID Lockdown Time] was here to stay,
I wrote this story for two boys I know well, beset on all sides
by ZOOM school days and no more team sports. At least their
imaginations could wander free…”

[Episode 1: Riley’s Easter Bunny]

Chapter One—The Big Plan

Henry the Bear ran to his brother’s room. Without bothering to knock on the door (he never did when it was important) he burst in, only to find his brother, That Scott Guy, busy at his desk with piles of paper, pencils, and a calculator. A whiteboard with sketches, diagrams, and arrows on it was on the wall next to him.

“What are you doing?” asked Henry the Bear, momentarily diverted.

“I’m trying to figure out a new way to get Aunt Cindy’s pillow,” answered That Scott Guy.

“That’s a waste of time,” said Henry the Bear, “She always gets it back from you.”

“THIS time it will WORK!” replied That Scott Guy. “I’m going to use calculus and imaginary numbers!”

“How is that going to help?” Henry the Bear asked, skeptically.

“Aunt Cindy is TERRIBLE at math. She’ll never figure this one out!” That Scott Guy said triumphantly. “Then I’ll have her pillow forever!”

“Yeah, we’ll see,” said Henry the Bear. “Remember the last time? She had aliens helping her. THEY know all about math.”

“Oh, yeah, right,” said That Scott Guy, sadly. “I’ll have to think about that…” and he furrowed his brow and turned back to his desk.

“Never mind that right now!” said Henry the Bear. “We have something more important to do!”

“What?” said That Scott Guy, dropping the calculator and turning around to face his brother directly.

“We have to get Riley’s Easter present,” announced Henry the Bear.

“But Easter’s over now!” That Scott Guy replied.

“That doesn’t matter,” said Henry the Bear. “We weren’t able to give her a present AT Easter, but we can give her one now. It’ll just be bladed. No, flated. Bated? Never mind, it’ll just be LATE.”

“How can we give her any kind of present? We’re stuck here at home and she’s stuck THERE at home.”

“We’ll figure that out later,” said Henry the Bear. “First we have to get the present.”

“Well, we both have some Christmas money left over. We can go shopping,” said That Scott Guy.

Henry the Bear looked at his brother, shaking his head. “Just where do you think we can go shopping? The stores are all closed! Anyway, ANYBODY could BUY her something. WE have to get something SPECIAL. We’re her COUSINS, and we’re the BEST. We need to get her a pet.”

“Did you forget about Mooch? She already has a pet.”

“Mooch is Uncle Jason and Aunt Brenda’s pet. We have to get a pet just for Riley,” replied Henry the Bear.

“Another dog?” asked That Scott Guy.

“No, Mooch wouldn’t like that,” replied Henry the Bear.

“Can’t be a cat. Mooch would eat a cat,” That Scott Guy said.

“I know, but there must be something…something really special we could find.”

“I’ve got it!” exclaimed That Scott Guy. “She needs an Easter bunny—everybody does–but WE’LL get her an Easter BUBBLE Bunny!”

“Where can we find one of those?” asked Henry the Bear. “I don’t think Amazon carries them.”

“In the forest!” said That Scott Guy, digging through his bookcase. “Here it is—the map of the forest. Look!” he said, unfolding the map and pointing to a fuzzy area right in the middle. “This is where they live! Well, that’s where people THINK they live… But I believe it!”

“Is that the Redwood Forest? Where Gampa and Gamma took us? That was a cool place!”

“Dude! They took us there in their RV! How could we WALK there? I mean the forest behind the shopping mall where the Dollar Store is.”

“How are we going to find exactly where the Bubble Bunnies live?” Henry the Bear asked.

“Using your tracking skills and your paracord bracelet, of course,” answered That Scott Guy.

“Oh, right! And you can build the trap!”

“Of course!” said That Scott Guy. “Fortunately for us, I just restocked my duct tape, kite string, and paper clips before the stores closed. That’s all we’ll need. Well, and my new Fit-Bit, of course. I need to find out how many steps to the forest.”

“But wait a minute,” said Henry the Bear. “We’re not supposed to go anywhere! We’re stuck here at home.”

“Hmmm…” That Scott Guy thought for a moment. “I know! If anyone asks, we can tell them we’re going to the Dollar Store. I know that’s still open, because that’s where everyone gets their toilet paper. But we’ll go to the forest instead…”

“Great idea!” said Henry the Bear. “Let’s go tell Mom and Dad!”

Chapter Two—-Mom Makes Sandwiches

Both boys ran into the living room where their parents were trying to train Penny the dog to sit still. As soon as the boys burst in, however, Penny got super excited and started running around and barking.

“Mom, why does Penny bark so funny?” asked Henry the Bear, looking puzzled.

“That’s just her accent, dear,” their mom replied.

“Dude! She’s an English cocker spaniel, remember?” said That Scott Guy.

“Oh, yeah, that’s right…” said Henry the Bear.

“Sorry, Mom,” said That Scott Guy. “We didn’t mean to get Penny all worked up.” Henry the Bear sat down on the floor and tried to calm Penny down.

“It’s okay, guys,” said their dad. “We’ll just start over again.”

“You’ll have some quiet time for the rest of the day,” said That Scott Guy. “We have to go into the forest to look for something special.”

“What for this time?” said their mom, as she dusted dog hair off her sweater. “You were just there last week.”

“We’re getting a late Easter present for Riley,” Henry the Bear said as he patted Penny on the head.

“What a great idea!” said their mom. “Shall I make you some sandwiches for the trip?”

“Sure!” said both boys. “But remember,” said Henry the Bear, “NO lettuce! You tried to sneak lettuce on our sandwiches last time!”

“I’m sorry,” their mom said, looking contrite. “I promise never to do that again. So what kind of sandwiches would you like? Vanilla ice cream and kumquat?”

“Hooray!” said Henry the Bear. “Make that for me, mom, please!”

“Yuck!” said That Scott Guy. “I can’t eat THOSE!”

“I know, dear,” said his mom. “I’ll make you a Breakfast Sandwich sandwich. How’ll that be?”

“Mom, you’re the greatest!” said That Scott Guy, giving her a hug.

Henry the Bear turned to his father. “Hey, Dad, want to come with us?”

“You mean go into the forest? Outdoors? Like in camping and everything?” Their father turned a little pale. “I—I–don’t think so—but, um—thanks for asking!” he said, pretending to be chagrined.

“Dad, you’re going to have to go camping SOME day,” said That Scott Guy.

“I know,” said his father, looking hunted. “But I—uh—I have to help Mom train Penny right now! She needs me!”

“Oookay, Dad,” both boys said, in unison, looking at each other.

As their mom made sandwiches and their dad tried—unsuccessfully–to keep Penny quiet, the boys gathered their supplies and got ready. That Scott Guy took his trapping gear and his Fit-Bit, and Henry the Bear packed all his tracking equipment and put on his paracord bracelet. In no time at all they were ready and met their parents at the front door. Their mom handed them lunch bags and kissed them good-bye.

“Have fun, dears! We’ll see you when we see you!” she said.

Both boys looked at each other and rolled their eyes. “Right…” they said together. “We’ll be back by dinner time,” said That Scott Guy.

“That’s fine! Whenever!” their mom waved. And the boys started off down the street.

Chapter Three—-The Dollar Store

After a short walk they reached the Dollar Store.

“I think we should go IN,” said Henry the Bear, staring at it in awe.

“But we’re almost at the forest,” said That Scott Guy. “Do we need anything from the Dollar Store?”

“Do we ever NEED anything from the Dollar Store?” answered Henry the Bear.

“Well, not really…” but then That Scott Guy slapped his forehead. “Oh, no! We forgot our $5 from Gamma! We can’t buy anything without our $5 from Gamma!”

Henry the Bear slowly put his hand in his pocket. “Guess what?” he said, smiling widely.

“You didn’t!” said That Scott Guy.

“I did!” said Henry the Bear, pulling out two five-dollar bills.

They looked at each other and grinned. “GO FOR IT!” they shouted simultaneously and then dashed toward the front door. At the last minute, though, Henry the Bear stopped suddenly and put his hands on his head. “Oh, no–we forgot our MASKS! We can’t go IN!”

That Scott Guy looked smug as he put his hand in HIS pocket. “Guess what?” he said, smiling widely.

“You didn’t!” said Henry the Bear.

“I did!” said That Scott Guy, pulling out two masks. “Good thing I have extras in all my pockets,” he said, as he handed one to his brother.

“You’re the greatest!” said Henry the Bear, and both boys rushed into the store while putting on their masks.

Each boy wandered up and down the aisles, looking at all the treasures. That Scott Guy spent a lot of time in the magic tricks section, trying to find something that his Uncle Jason didn’t already know about. Henry the Bear went to the toy section but when he saw a bag of rubber spiders, he ran screaming down the aisle. They both finally found themselves in the paper products section.

“Look…” said That Scott Guy in awe. “Toilet paper! Lots and lots of toilet paper!” They stood in silence for a few moments, trying to absorb the bounty.

After a while, Henry the Bear asked, “Don’t we need some of this for your trap?”

“That’s right, we do!” said That Scott Guy. “But not a lot. What’ll we do with the extra?” They looked at each other, momentarily puzzled.

Then Henry the Bear said, “I know! We’ll give it to Mom and Dad for THEIR late Easter present!”

“Great thinking,” said That Scott Guy. “Everybody says you can never have enough toilet paper these days.”

So the boys put a package of toilet paper into their basket and added a shiny bow to go on top. When they finally chose everything they wanted to buy, they stood together in the checkout line. When they got to the front of the line, That Scott Guy put his things on the moving belt.

“Wow, those are great magic tricks,” said Henry the Bear, looking at his brother’s pile. “Uncle Jason will never figure out how they work!”

“Thanks,” said That Scott Guy. “What did you get?”

“Gummy candy, a couple of different kinds. I was going to get some Hot Wheels but the toy aisle was full of spiders… Look, here’s some Mike and Ike’s for us both.”

“Cool! Hey, I’ll teach you some of these magic tricks, and then we’ll really fool Uncle Jason. He won’t be expecting YOU to trick him, too. What else did you get?”

Henry the Bear put the rest of his things on the conveyer belt. “Glow sticks, bubble stuff, and, um–this…” he said quickly, as he put down something else.

“What the heck?! Why did you buy a DRESS-UP PURSE? A PINK dress-up purse??! Double-yuck!!!” That Scott Guy looked at it as if it was crawling with cooties.

“Well, we need SOMETHING to bring the Bubble Bunny home in,” said Henry the Bear defensively. “It would get squashed in one of our pockets! Anyway, the Bubble Bunny will think it’s a cute pink house to live in. And so will Riley. Girls like pink.”

“Okay,” said That Scott Guy, “I guess you’re right. But YOU have to carry it. I ain’t touching it. And why did you get another bottle of bubble stuff? You have tons of it at home.”

Henry the Bear looked pityingly at his brother. “Bait,” he said simply.

“Bait? Ohhhhh, I get it! For the BUBBLE Bunny! DUH!” said That Scott Guy, slapping his forehead again.

As they finished paying for everything, the boys heard a noise from just outside the store. “Wow, that dog sure is loud!” said Henry the Bear. “I guess he doesn’t like being left in the car.”

“It must be parked right in front of the door, too!” replied That Scott Guy.

Henry the Bear listened closely. “That bark sounds funny—like it has an accent or something.”

Both boys looked at each other with wide eyes. “PENNY!” they cried and ran to the door, pulling off their masks.

Sure enough, there was Penny outside the door, barking, jumping, and wagging her tail.

“NOW what do we do?” Henry the Bear asked his brother.

Chapter Four—-On To The Forest

When Penny saw the two boys through the Dollar Store door, she ran around in circles, continuing to bark.

“We have to make her stop barking! The store people won’t like all that noise,” said That Scott Guy. But as soon as they got outside, Penny started barking even louder.

“Do something!” said That Scott Guy, as Penny jumped on the Dollar Store bags.

“I don’t know what to do. YOU do something!” replied Henry the Bear. “Wow—we’ll have to tell Gampa that she’s even louder than when he burps!” They looked at each other and started to laugh, but Penny’s barks drowned them out.

That Scott Guy finally stopped laughing and said, in desperation, “Try singing to her!”

“Singing?” Henry the Bear looked startled, and then said, “Okay, here goes…” and he started singing “Anything But Mine”.

To their amazement, as soon as Henry the Bear started singing, Penny stopped barking and jumping. She sat and then lay down, watching Henry the Bear quietly. When he finished the song, she stood up and nosed him, then jumped up on him and licked his face.

“Whew!” That Scott Guy said. “Glad THAT worked. Now we’ll know what to do when she gets too excited—you’ll sing that song to her! Mom and Dad will love it.”

“I wonder if any other song will work?” Henry the Bear said and began singing “Radioactive”.

But That Scott Guy interrupted him. “No time for that now! We need to go to the forest and find Riley’s Bubble Bunny right away. If we don’t get Penny home soon, Mom will have a cow.”

“A cow? Cool! A cow would be great! Would it be a brown cow? If it was, we could call it ‘How’. Then when someone comes to visit, we could introduce them to our new pet—we could point and say, ‘ “How”, now: brown cow!’ ” Henry the Bear grinned excitedly.

“Stop it! We don’t have room for a cow! C’mon, we have to get going. Here, carry this purse.” That Scott Guy tried to give Henry the Bear the pink purse.

“No way—put it in the bag!”

“Can’t—when Penny jumped on the bags, she tore one, and now the purse is falling out.”

“I’m not going to carry that thing! People will LOOK!”

“YOU bought it—YOU carry it!” That Scott Guy held the purse out by two fingers.

Henry the Bear backed off. “Nope, uh-uh, forget it.”

Then Penny surprised them both by coming up and taking the purse handle in her mouth. She then sat down quietly, looking from one boy to the other. They stared back at her, completely amazed.

“She’s never done THAT before!” said That Scott Guy.

“Well, Penny’s a girl, isn’t she? I told you that girls like pink,” responded Henry the Bear smugly. “Hey–now neither of us will have to carry it! Penny will! Let’s go!”

So off they went, all three of them: That Scott Guy in the front, Penny and the pink purse in the middle, and Henry the Bear bringing up the rear.

As they approached the forest, suddenly there was a strange noise. Henry the Bear looked around and then grabbed his nose. “Hey, why did you toot?” he yelled at his brother, and then started laughing.

“Wasn’t me!” said That Scott Guy, turning around.

“Was, too!”

“Was not! I oughta know!” and then both boys looked down. “PENNY!” they said together.

Penny sat down with the pink purse in her mouth, and looked as innocent as possible, which didn’t work—because all of a sudden there was another strange noise.

Both boys collapsed in laughter. “DOG toots!” they shrieked, holding their noses, laughing, and rolling on the ground. Penny sat quietly, looking off into the distance with a dignified expression.

After a few moments, both boys stopped laughing and wiped their eyes. “Maybe Penny should walk behind BOTH of us,” said Henry the Bear. “No dog toots will bother us then!”

“Good idea,” said That Scott Guy, and Henry the Bear and Penny changed places. They continued toward the forest, ignoring the strange noises from behind them.

Chapter Five—-Setting the Trap

Soon they reached the forest and went in. That Scott Guy got out his map and handed it to Henry the Bear. “Time to use your tracking skills!” he said. “I’ll set my Fit-Bit so we’ll know how many steps to the middle of the forest. That way, we’ll know how many steps to take getting out!

His brother looked at the map and checked the forest around them. Then he looked at the ground. “Look!” he said. “Bubble Bunny spoor!” That Scott Guy looked, but could see nothing, and shook his head. “Trust me on this,” said Henry the Bear, and then he pointed off to the west. “Go this way!” he said.

As Henry the Bear tracked the Bubble Bunny spoor, That Scott Guy went behind him, followed by Penny with the pink purse. After a lot of turnings and twistings and doublings-back, they found themselves in a small clearing in the middle of the forest. That Scott Guy checked his Fit-Bit to find out how many steps they had gone.

“Good thing Penny’s got something in her mouth,” said Henry the Bear. “If she barked, she’d scare off every Bubble Bunny for miles. Good dog, Penny!” and he patted her. Penny wagged her tail wildly but kept hold of the pink purse.

“Where shall we set the trap?” said That Scott Guy. “Where do the Bubble Bunnies like to meet?”

Henry the Bear consulted the compass on his Paracord bracelet, continued tracking the Bubble Bunny spoor around the clearing, and finally stopped at a large flat stump. “Right here!” he said. “And look, there’s a big tree we can hide behind while we wait for the Bubble Bunny to come and get trapped.”

The boys put their supplies and the Dollar Store bags behind the big tree. That Scott Guy looked at Penny. “Sit! Hold the purse!” he commanded. Penny obeyed. “If she starts getting restless, sing that song again, but quietly—we don’t know what kind of music Bubble Bunnies like,” he told his brother, who gave him a thumbs-up. That Scott Guy gave him a thumbs-up right back, and they kept on thumbs-upping each other for a while, back and forth, grinning the entire time. Finally, That Scott Guy stopped, got out his duct tape, kite string, paper clips, and a roll of toilet paper, and began making the trap.

Henry the Bear looked on in admiration. “You make the best traps ever,” he said. “I bet you could even trap a tiger, or an elephant!”

“Sure I could, but no room to keep ‘em at home. I coulda trapped a dinosaur if I’d been around then,” said That Scott Guy nonchalantly, “but no room to keep one of them either, so that’s that.” When he finished the trap, he stepped back to check his work. “Done!” he said and gathered up his supplies to put back behind the tree.

“Now for the bait,” said Henry the Bear. He got out one of his glowsticks, snapped it, and carefully put it inside the trap. “I’ll bet that Bubble Bunnies really like shiny things,” he explained to his brother. Then he retreated behind the tree and got out his bubble bottle. After unscrewing the top, he blew a few bubbles into the clearing. “We have to be patient,” he said to his brother. “They might be on their lunch hour.”

“Lunch!” said That Scott Guy, slapping his head yet once again. “We need to eat OUR lunch! Put those bubbles away for a while.”

They got out the lunch bags their mom had given them and started eating their sandwiches. Penny looked imploringly at both of them. “You’d better give her some of your Breakfast Sandwich sandwich,” said Henry the Bear.

“Give her some of yours first,” his brother replied. “I’m hungry!” And he took a giant bite.

“I don’t know if Penny will EAT vanilla ice cream and kumquats…” said Henry the Bear, frowning, but he broke off a big piece and held it out. Penny set down the pink purse and gobbled the bite of sandwich. “Hey, she likes it! We’ll have to tell Mom and Dad. Then we’ll have vanilla ice cream and kumquats in the house ALL the time!” When Penny finished the bite, she looked directly at That Scott Guy, with a quiet little whine. “She says it’s YOUR turn to share now,” said Henry the Bear, as he worked on the rest of his sandwich.

“Okay, okay,” said his brother, and he held out a big piece of his sandwich. Penny ate that, too, wagged her tail, and picked up the pink purse again.

When they were finished eating, they stuffed the lunch bags in their pockets. Then Henry the Bear got out his bubble bottle again and began blowing bubbles into the clearing. They floated among the trees and some went up into the sky.

“I hope we won’t have to wait long,” whispered his brother. “I’m still hungry, and it’s a long way home.”

“Shhh!” said Henry the Bear. “I think I see one!!!!!”

That Scott Guy grabbed his brother’s arm and they held their breaths. Penny stayed very, very still…

Chapter Six—-We Trapped HOW Many?

While the boys sat motionless, a big cloud of sparkling pink bubbles floated into the clearing. They moved slowly toward the big flat stump.

“Man, there’s tons of them! Maybe even millions! How are we going to trap just ONE?” whispered Henry the Bear.

“Shhhh!” said That Scott Guy. “You’ll scare them away!” He glanced at Penny, who didn’t move an inch. “Good girl, Penny, stay!” She sat quietly, with the pink purse in her mouth, following every move of the sparkling bubbles with her eyes.

“You know, she’s following our directions really well,” said Henry the Bear, distractedly. “I wonder why Mom and Dad have so much trouble with her?”

“Be quiet,” whispered That Scott Guy. “One’s going inside the trap!”

All three of them watched the sparkling bubbles crowding around the trap until Henry the Bear suddenly sneezed. That Scott Guy turned to stare at him. “Oh, great! Did you forget your allergy medicine AGAIN???”

As soon as they heard the sneeze, the pink bubbles immediately darted away, leaving the clearing empty. Both boys jumped to their feet and ran to the stump. Peering inside the trap, they saw not one but THREE pink Bubble Bunnies inside, sitting happily on the glowstick. They could see three little wiggling noses, three sets of ears and whiskers, and three tiny cotton tails. “Hooray, we got some!” said That Scott Guy.

“But what are we going to do with three of them?” asked Henry the Bear. “Riley only needs one! WE sure don’t want any—these are girls’ pets!!!”

That Scott Guy stood up and grinned widely. “Three is great! Couldn’t be better!”

“What do you mean?” asked his brother.

“We have THREE girl cousins now, remember? Well, almost three…”

“Hey, yeah! We can send one to Aunt Tina and Uncle Frank to give to Baby Rose! And the extra one can be for Riley’s sister! We don’t know her name yet, though…” and Henry the Bear paused, looking perturbed.

“Don’t worry about that now. Uncle Jason and Aunt Brenda can take care of the other Bubble Bunny until Riley’s baby sister is born. We trapped three, we needed three–and they even match the purse! Man, we are the greatest!”

The boys high-fived each other and then started packing up. When they were finished, they turned to Penny, who was still sitting quietly. “Come, Penny!” said That Scott Guy. Penny walked over to the stump, carrying the pink purse. “Put the purse down, Penny,” said That Scott Guy.

Penny put down the purse and then sat without being told. She waited patiently while That Scott Guy opened the purse, carefully picked up the trap, and put it inside the purse. “We’ll have to keep the purse open a bit, so the Bubble Bunnies will get air.”

“Do you think she can carry it carefully enough so they won’t get hurt or scared?” asked Henry the Bear.

“Sure! Penny will take good care of them, won’t you, girl?” Penny wagged her tail and then gently picked up the pink purse. “See? Now let’s go!” said That Scott Guy. “You lead the way with your compass and I’ll check the number of steps we take on my Fit-Bit. That way we won’t get lost.”

They left the clearing, Penny proudly carrying the three Bubble Bunnies in their new pink house. “Hey! We need to get another pink purse at the Dollar Store, for a house for Baby Rose’s Bubble Bunny,” said Henry the Bear. “But we spent all our money already! What’ll we do?”

“Maybe Gamma will give us another dollar,” said That Scott Guy hopefully. “As it’s for a good cause.”

“You’re right,” replied Henry the Bear. “Gamma’s cool like that. Maybe she’ll even drive us there in her car—in Sports mode! Yeah!”

Then Henry the Bear led the way out of the forest.

Chapter Seven—-Home Again

Before they got to the edge of the forest, they heard the noise of feet coming toward them through the brush. They stopped in their tracks, looking a bit scared.

“Do you think it’s a forest ranger?” asked Henry the Bear nervously. “Maybe the Bubble Bunnies are an endangered species. Maybe we’ll get arrested for trapping them! Maybe we’ll go to jail!”

‘Nah, they’re not endangered. Remember how many millions of them there were? Besides, I don’t think there are any rangers here,” That Scott guy paused, listening carefully. “It sounds more like something with long legs. Really long legs. Do you think…maybe it’s a…GIANT SPIDER?” he said, with his eyes opened as far as they could go.

Henry the Bear yelped and started shaking. “I don’t want to meet any giant spiders! We need to hide!” He looked around wildly and then stopped. “Hey, wait a minute—look at Penny! She’s wagging her tail! Ewww, does she LIKE spiders?”

“I don’t know…” began That Scott Guy but was interrupted by a big Something that came through the bushes in front of them.

“Auuggghhh, it’s going to eat us! …oh, whew, it’s just Dad!”

“You scared us, Dad! We thought you were a giant spider!”

“Hey, you never come in the forest! Why are you here?”

The words came tumbling out as they raced to hug their dad. Penny followed them sedately, tail wagging, still carrying the pink purse carefully in her mouth.

“Hold on, guys, everything’s okay. Mom wanted me to come and pick you up—she said you’d been gone long enough and were probably getting hungry for dinner.” Their dad hugged them both and then stared behind them. “Hey, what’s up with Penny? She’s not barking or jumping around! And what in the world is that…that…PINK thing she’s carrying?” he said, making a face.

“It’s a Bubble Bunny house, Dad!”

“We trapped them in the forest!”

“For Riley and Baby Rose and Baby We-don’t-know-her-name-yet!”

“Look at ‘em, Dad. They’re kinda cute, even though they ARE pink!”

Their dad looked inside the purse. “Why, they ARE kinda cute–even though they are pink. Good job, guys! Your cousins will love them. High fives all around!” They all high-fived each other for a few minutes, and then all three of them patted Penny.

The boys clamored to explain everything as they walked out of the forest and got into their dad’s van. By the time they reached home, their dad had heard the whole story, but then they had to go through it all over again with their mom, while showing her the Bubble Bunnies.

“Oh, my clever boys!” she said as she hugged them. “Three darling little Bubble Bunnies for three darling little cousins! And a cute little pink house for them to live in! And you ate your sandwiches all up, too!” she added, as she threw away the empty lunch bags with a satisfied smile.

“And guess what, Mom? Penny likes vanilla ice cream and kumquat sandwiches, too, like me—maybe even more than her dog food!” Henry the Bear informed her excitedly.

“That’s wonderful! I’ll add those to my shopping list–let’s see, fifteen gallons of vanilla ice cream…six loaves of bread…and eight dozen kumquats…” she said, as she wrote on a list on the refrigerator. Henry the Bear raised his eyebrows and grinned, while giving Penny a thumbs-up.

That Scott Guy said, “We need to get another pink purse house, Mom, for Baby Rose’s Bubble Bunny–but we ran out of money…”

Their mom smiled at them. “Don’t worry, dear. I’m sure your Gamma will give you another dollar—or your Gampa will. As it’s for a good cause!”

Their dad added, “Your Gamma’s cool that way. I should know!” and he winked at the boys.

Penny looked up from watching over the Bubble Bunnies sitting on the glowstick in their new pink house. She barked a quiet little bark and wagged her tail.

“And look how well Penny’s behaving!” said their mom. “I was so worried when she disappeared, but you took good care of her AND trained her! I’m so proud of you both! Now—what do you want for dinner tonight?”

Both boys grinned and said simultaneously, “Mexican food, blueberry pancakes, smoothies, and apple juice!”

“And you shall have them,” said their mother, lovingly.

THE END

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Mary M. Isaacs — copyright, 2021, from a forthcoming book.

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