Serease was a small but eager grizzly on her second spring. Streaks of yellow sunlight shone through the tall green trees of the forest, early birds were awake and chatting away about the morning. Serease ran out of the cave at full sprint, her tall, darker brown father slowly stomping behind her.
“Serease, slow down, your friends aren’t going anywhere.” Father Grizzly laughed.
“I know but Dad, this is the first spring you’ll actually let me play outside the cave when I’m not at school! I’m gonna enjoy every bit!”
“Okay, young cub. Stay where I can see you.”
Rella the Racoon and Fenira the fox were busy eating berries when they saw Serease galloping towards them.
“Hey Rella! Hi Fenira!” Serease yelled and ran to Fenira. She skidded to a stop at the wrong time and crashed into her.
“Oops, sorry, sorry.” Serease backed up and looked at the small fluffy fox, who had knocked over like a domino.
“Woah, slow down,” Fenira slowly got up again. “You almost crushed me.”
“I know, I’m sorry,” Serease said. She really didn’t want to crush her friends. Rella and Fenira were the only friends Serease had, as it had always been hard for her to make friends.
“Your parents finally let you leave the cave huh?” asked Rella.
“Yep. They said I’m old enough to leave the cave to play with my friends!” Serease said excitedly. Until now, her parents made her stay inside the cave. “The dangers of the forest are too great for a precious young cub like you,” Mother Grizzly would always say. Rella and Fenira always had ask to come inside the cave to play with Serease, and Serease was always most grateful when they did come. She spent many months inside the cave miserable staring out at other animals who ran and played with their friends.
“Let’s play by the river,” Rella said smiling, and her friends agreed.
“Mom, me and my friends are going to play by the river!” Serease went and told Mother Grizzly.
“No. You can’t go. Predators lurk by the river.” Mother Grizzly said seriously. “Stay around the cave okay?”
Serease turned to her friends. Rella was snickering behind a black sharp paw, while Fenira looked on.
“Aww, Mom, please.”
“N.O. spells no.”
Serease huffed and turned to her friends. “Sorry girls. I can’t go.”
“If your parents weren’t so overprotective,” Rella started.
“I know right?” Serease aggread.
“Well, let’s just play around the cave.” Fenira said, and all the girls' smiles returned and they played around the cave.
As Serease got a tad older she found Mother Grizzly to be ‘uncool’. It seemed Mother Grizzly had a list of things Serease couldn’t do. She could never stay out till dark, she was never allowed to eat too much honey, and she could NEVER go by the river. Rules, rules rules!
Father Grizzly was lit though. He usually let her have an extra serving of honey if she asked, and he even let her play until the crickets began to dance, as long as he could see her.
“You must be careful, Serease,” Father Grizzly would say sometimes. “You’re Mom and I only give you rules for your own good.”
I bet, thought the young Grizzly, even though she said “Okay,” when her father asked if she heard him.
By next fall, Serease and her friend Rella felt they were grown.
“We’re so big now, we can do anything we want!” Rella told her friends. “Let’s go by the river and celebrate!”
“Sure! I bet Mom and Dad will let me go to the river now!” Serease smiled.
She ran up to Mother Grizzly, who was at the mouth of the cave eating honey.
“Mom, can I go to the river with friends!? Please!?” Serease asked.
“No. You know the rules.”
“But Mom, I’m two and a half now. I’m grown enough to know my way to the river and back. I’ve always known it!”
“That’s not the reason I won’t let you leave. You can’t go Serease.”
“But-”
“N. O. spells no.”
Serease’s throat vibrated and she bared her teeth at those words.
“Excuse me young lady, are you growling at me?”
“N. O. spells no,” Serease said in a mocking voice.
Mother Grizzly scratched her daughter so fast Serease had the same angry face on when she turned back.
“Don’t you dare talk to me like that!” Mother Grizzly growled.
“But you said it to me!” Serease argued.
Mother Grizzly sat quietly for a moment. “Tell your friends goodbye. You’re coming inside.”
“Mom-”
“I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT! TELL THEM TO LEAVE NOW, SEREASE!”
Serease had tears in her eyes when she turned and started back to her friends.
TO BE CONTINUED
Stay tuned...
My name is Shila Williams, and I have been passionate about writing and drawing since I knew how to spell. I grew up in North Carolina, as well as living and traveling abroad. I write to inspire children's minds to imagine and take them on a fun and adventurous journey.
I'm now a published author! Please support my debut book! Check it out here on Amazon! Imagination by Shila Williams
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