Let me tell you about Scruffs. . . .

It was a beautiful sunny day and Nathan Bear and his friend Brock had been having fun in the yard. They played hide-and-seek and watched a snail slowly slip across the lawn and a grasshopper that was busy eating up a leaf. They had run races, turned a few somersaults and climbed a tree or two.

"Phew, but I am hot now," said Brock, "let us sit down on that bench in the shade for a while." "Good idea," Nathan Bear replied. "I'll race you over there and see who is sitting down first."

They sat on the bench and puffed until they had caught their breath again. "Nathan Bear, please tell me a bear story. You seem to know lots of them," said Brock. Nathan Bear looked thoughtful and scratched his head, then he smiled. "Let me tell you the one about Scruffs. He was Great-Aunt Edwina's son and he was very mischievous. He was always up to something and landed in so many scrapes that his fur coat looked very untidy. I don't even remember his real name – everyone called him Scruffs."

"One day he saw a big sign saying 'Circus is in town - come and see all the tricks' and of course Scruffs wanted to go there. The problem was that he did not have a ticket but he managed to sneak in through the gate and found a space to crawl in under the tent flap. All of a sudden he heard a gruff voice shout, "Hey, Teddy Bear, what are you doing? Where is your ticket?" and when he looked up he saw a great big bear standing next to him. Scruffs got such a fright, he scrambled to the exit and ran out as fast as he could but that did not save him. When he looked back over his shoulder the big bear was running after him! "Oh, help, help," Scruffs shouted and tried to run faster. He wondered why everyone was laughing at him and then he was grabbed from behind. "Whaaa," he screamed, "please save me, somebody!" "Wait, Teddy Bear, why are you so frightened?" When Scruffs looked up at what caught him he saw it was not a real bear after all that had been chasing him. It was only a man dressed up in a bear costume! He looked at Scruffs very sternly and said, "That was very naughty of you to try and get in here without a ticket. I will let you go this time but if you do it again I will put you in jail." "Y-y-yes, Sir," Scruffs stammered.

"Scruffs left in a hurry and ran home where he felt safe again. When great-Aunt Edwina heard what he had done she was very cross with him. 'What a naughty fellow you are,' she scolded."

"Thank you, Nathan Bear, that was a lovely story," said Brock giving him a big hug, "let's go and have a cold drink now." And the two friends walked over to the kitchen.