Chapter 113: Picture Book: The Bear and the Girl, Volume Two
Chapter 113:
Picture Book:
The Bear and the Girl,
Volume Two
THE LITTLE GIRL looked after her mother today too. She found herbs, so her mommy got a little better. It was all thanks to the bear.
The girl headed into the woods again to make more medicine. When she got there, she called, “Bear, oh, bear!”
After a while, the bear came out from behind the trees. The bear would stay with the girl when she went to gather herbs. If the bear was there, the woods were safe.
The bear let the girl ride on its back, and took her to the place where herbs grow.
“Is your mother okay?” the bear asked.
“She’s doing better, thanks to you!”
(It was a secret that the girl and the bear could talk to each other.)
“Bear, thank you for everything.” The girl hugged the bear happily.
Instead of answering, the bear galloped faster.
Then, before they knew it, they were in the place where herbs grow. The girl got off the bear and picked the herbs.
She gathered lots of herbs today!
Now, the girl once heard a story about a flower that glittered like a rainbow, far up north on the mountains. People said that drinking the dew from that flower could heal any illness.
“Maybe it could heal my mother too,” the girl said to herself.
But the stories said that the flower was in a far-away village, and a dangerous one too. Many people had looked for it, but no one had found it.
Was it real? Or was it just a story?
One morning, the girl’s mother was very sick.
The girl tried giving her mother medicine, but she just kept coughing. The girl’s mom started to hold her chest because it hurt.
The little girl’s littler sister hugged their mother. “Mom!”
The mother opened her eyes real slow.
“I’m sorry. I really am.”
What was she sorry for?
The little girl didn’t understand at all…
“I’m sorry. I really am.”
…but she just kept saying sorry.
“Mom,” the girl said to herself, “why are you sorry?”
After that, her mom couldn’t get out of bed anymore, but the brave girl still went to gather herbs for her mom. It was the only thing the girl could do for her, after all.
“Bear, do you think my mom will get better?”
The girl tried not to cry, and the bear hugged her gently. The bear’s fur was so warm and comforting.
“Bear, do you know about the rainbow flower?”
The bear shook its head.
The girl told the bear about the story.
“They say it’s in a mountain to the north. They say it’s a rainbow flower. Oh, they say it’s very pretty, and its droplets will cure any sickness. Oh, bear, do you think it might make my mom better?”
The girl wondered, gripping a small bottle in her pocket.
Then, several days later, the girl came to the woods like she always did. There were so many herbs growing there that day.
“Bear?” The girl called out… “Bear! Bear!”
…but no matter how many times she called, the bear would not come.
“Bear! Bear!”
No matter how long she waited, the bear wouldn’t appear.
The little girl was sad, but she had to take the herbs and go home.
After that, the girl went to the woods every day.
She went when it was sunny and she went when it was gray. She even went in the rain, all to wait for the bear in the woods.
But no matter how many times she called for the bear, no matter how long she waited, the bear wouldn’t be there.
“Bear…”
Soon enough, the little girl’s mother couldn’t talk very well.
She got sicker and sicker.
The little girl held her littler sister while praying to God:
Please, somehow save my mom.
I don’t care what happens to me, as long as she’s okay.
The next day, the little girl went to the woods again. She watered the herbs with her many tears.
Today she was too tired to call for the bear. The bear was gone, and her mom wasn’t getting better. She thought of going deep into the woods and going to sleep.
“Bear, I’m so tired.”
Right then, she heard the grass deep in the woods moving…
“Bear!”
…but out came a wolf.
The little girl didn’t even have the strength to run away.
She thought: “Maybe I shall die here.”
But then she remembered her mom. The little girl remembered her littler sister’s face.
“Sorry,” she said without realizing it.
Was that why her mom had said sorry? Had she felt this way?
Sorry for dying.
She imagined her sister crying.
“I’m really sorry,” she apologized to her crying sister.
The wolf crept closer. Was this the end? But then…something jumped out!
The bear was back!
The bear attacked the wolf and drove it away.
“Bear!” The girl hugged the bear. “Bear, bear, bear, bear!”
She kept saying the bear’s name, over and over again.
Tears streamed from the little girl’s eyes.
“Bear, oh, bear!”
The bear gently hugged the little girl.
“Bear, where were you?” The girl looked closely. The bear was very dirty, she saw, and was hurt. “Bear, what happened?”
The bear took out a small bottle.
It was the same bottle the little girl had earlier.
The little girl dropped it somewhere.
“Bear, what is this?”
“Have your mom drink it.”
“Bear, you didn’t go to get the medicine, did you?”
“Hopefully, this will make her better.”
“Bear!”
The girl hugged the bear.
The girl called the bear’s name many times and cried.
“Bear, thank you.”
After the girl thanked the bear, she held the bottle and started running.
When she got home, she found her sister crying. “Sis, it’s mom…”
The little girl hugged her littler sister. Then she ran over to her mom.
Her mom was in a lot of pain.
She opened the lid of her bottle and put it to her mom’s lips.
A shimmering, transparent liquid went into her mom’s mouth.
Relief came over her mom’s face. Her mom wasn’t in pain anymore.
“Mom!”
The little girl’s mom slowly opened her eyes.
“Mom! Mom!”
The little girl and her littler sister hugged their mom.
The mom gently hugged the little girl and the littler sister back.
The little girl thanked the bear in her heart.
Thank you, bear.