bethybear

CHAPTER TWO: Bertie Bear goes to school

In a hole under the covers lives Bert Bear, Bertie as he likes to be called.
It’s not really a large hole but he has made it rather comfy. It’s a good place to hide when the world is too tough for a little bear to bare. And that was most days for Bertie who was a very small and shy little bear.

Whenever his owner, Sam, comes looking for him he would growl very softly and come out of hiding.
“Here I am” he says, “did you miss me?”
And Sam, who can speak Bearonese, answers “Of course I did, I always miss you when I have to go to school”.

Bertie had heard some pretty horrendous stories about school. He didn’t feel like going there himself. “The other children all pick on you”, Sam would tell Bertie , “and the teachers made you answer really hard questions.”
“Do you do anything fun? I don’t think I want to go to my school if it is no fun” Bertie replies sadly.

So Bertie Bear didn’t go to school for a very long time and he never knew about other bears or how much fun he could have playing dodge bear and making bear berry pies. He spent the day trying to think of a way to cheer Sam up, he wished he could help more but was only a tiny bear.

He hid in his special hole all day and wouldn’t go anywhere but looked out the window and wandered if perhaps things weren’t so bad as Sam had said. When the other neighbourhood bears came to play he wouldn’t come outside. He made himself as mall as a mouse so they wouldn’t see him.

News of poor little Bertie reached Mr Grizzly. The teacher fastened the buttons on his thick winter coat, put on his best black shoes and went to meet Bertie. When he got to Sam’s bedroom he called out so Bertie would know he had a friend looking for him.

Bertie saw Mr Grizzly had a friendly smile but he decided to stay in hiding just in case. “He’s awful big”, thought Bertie, “what if he wants to eat me? I can’t go and meet a big man like that.”
But then Mr Grizzly saw him and crouched down to say hello.

Bertie looked Mr Grizzly up and down then asked in a shy, scared little voice. “You’re not a teacher are you?”
Mr Grizzly shook his head and poked a nose in to Bertie’s secret cave..
“Not without my teacher’s hat on and I left that back at Cuddle College. But teachers aren’t all that bad are they?”

Bertie wasn’t sure what to say as he didn’t want to sound rude.
“I’m just a little scared”.
“That’s understandable but you don’t need to be afraid, ask any bear you like. We would love you to come to school so you can make lots of new friends. You must check with Sam that it’s okay first though, we will bring you back to his bedroom at the end of the day.”

Bertie thought about this. The idea of making friends appealed. He didn’t want to leave Sam all together but it might be nice to do something in the daytime. He looked at the rag dolly who slept on Sam’s pillow and Daphne Dolly said,
“Cuddle College is brilliant, I wish I could go there.”

He wasn’t really that sure about the older bear yet but he did think Mr Grizzly seemed safe enough for a pawshake. He was very polite and knew he should always shake paws with older bears when he met them. As they greeted each other Bertie began to laugh, something magic was happening.

Shaking hands made Bertie laugh because Mr Grizzly’s paws changed colour when you touched them. You thought they were brown but then you touched one and it changed depending on how you felt. When Bertie shook Mr Grizzly’s paw they turned blue.

“That means you are feeling lonely and sad” explained Mr Grizzly. “You have heard a lot of horrible stories about school and the world outside Sam’s bedroom.”
Bertie was amazed that Mr Grizzly knew so much but the old bear made it his job to find out about all his students and what they liked or disliked.

When Sam got home Bertie couldn’t wait to tell him how nice Mr Grizzly had been and how he wanted to go to Cuddle College and make friends. Sam didn’t want to know though because he’d had a hard day at school. Bertie came out and wrapped little bear paws around Sam.
He asked, “Why don’t you want o hear my happy news?”

“I’m not feeling happy right now” cried Sam. “The boys at school were rotten to me and stole my lunch. I told the teachers but they couldn’t really do anything. I don’t want you to go school in case you get hurt like I did.”
“Well, I met my teacher and he seems really nice” said Bertie. “Maybe your teachers are nice too, some of them.”

Sam thought about this and smiled. He did think that his school teacher had been particularly nice today and given him a gold star. Also, at the end of the day the teacher had told all the children a nice story. And the nasty boys had got in awful trouble and been made to stand with there noses on the wall all afternoon. So the teachers had done some really.

“Bertie” said Sam, “You go to Cuddle College. Maybe if you start learning things then you can help me with my homework as well. I don’t think we should cheat though. It wouldn’t be fair on the other children and they might like me even less if I did that.”
The next day Bertie Bear went to school and found it was the greatest fun he’d ever had.

When he came home Bertie told Sam what wonderful fun it was to study at Cuddle College. He brought home some heart cookies for Sam. Sam admitted the cookies were nice and he hoped Bertie could bring home some more soon.

nacreous

Maybe since nobody else had spoken on this on all day, I feel compelled to say something. Personally, I dont this this chapter had the same energy as the first, but that's just me. One thing else, it is written at a very nice age-level. My second-grade classes could probably go through this one, and they'd like it, too. But, as often happens, stories tend to lose their flair as they move along. The newness wears off, the plot becomes more and more predictable, and like all else, it eventually dies away. I'd say edit this part down to half size. I hope I am not offending you in any way. I am just another aspiring writer like you. I am not a editor or even a paid writer, just an amateur. It just seemed to really slow down. Please do not be offended. Keep up the pace of the first chapter, I think. Also, "appealed (to him.)" ANd also, this would be a good piece to work on the foods they eat. What is bear-berry pie? What color is it and what does it taste like. I think kids would like some details on that. Good luck with this, and all your projects.

__________________
nacreous - a type of high-flying cloud which often reflects the setting sun back to the earth long after darkness has fallen on the land.

needmoneyforcollege

the names are childish (not in the negative sense) and the characters are simple so it could definitely be read by kids