Week 11 Story - Grizzly Bear's Reign on the World

 The world had always been like it is today. A day was light half of the time, and dark the other half. Winter lasted half of the year, and the other half was summer. Most of the animals liked the long summer days. They could play with their friends and enjoy the beauty of their home. However, others were not so keen on the long and hot summer days. 

Grizzly Bear was an older fellow who lived on the top of a mountain. Many knew him as being fat and grumpy. Bear didn't ever deny their opinions. In fact, they were all true. A good day for Bear would be one where he can sleep all day, snuggled in his soft bedding to keep warm. 

One day bear woke up from a ray of sun shining into his cave. It was an especially hot and bright that day.

"I hate this so much," Bear muttered to himself, "I wish I could make it cold and dark all the time so I can just sleep in peace."

Bear suddenly had an idea. His mom used to tell him and his brother about ancient bears that were able to control the light and weather with singing. He was determined to learn this ancient art and finally get the rest he wants. 

A year passed and Bear finally had the rituals down to a tee. He made his way to the top of the mountain and looked over the valley below him. Many animals he used to call friends lived down there but ever since he got older, Bear just drifted apart from them. He let out a sign and began to sing. His voice carried down the valley and high into the sky. Soon, the light began to fade, and the temperature started to fall. 

Bear let out a sigh of relief, "Finally, now I can sleep." It was almost pitch black outside now, but Bear was able to make his way into his den and fall asleep in his warm bedding. For the first time in years there was a smile on Bear's face. 

Little did Bear know that there was another animal who knew about these ancient rituals, and he was not happy at all. 

Grizzly Bear - Source 

Author's Note: The original story focused mostly on the conflict between Grizzly Bear and Coyote. The story never really told the reader why Bear wanted it to be cold and dark so I gave a reason. I focused solely on Bear and foreshadowed the conflict that is to come at the end. It seems like Bear used to have a relationship with all the other animals, but age and living in an isolated area broke those relationships. In my take of the original, Bear is not the evil individual he seems to be. 

Original story source 

Comments

  1. Hi Christian!

    I really liked that you took a prequel approach to this story. It is so much more fun to read something as original as this compared to a simple retelling. The fact that you looked at the story and wondered what the reason was and decided to use your retelling to create that reason is a great approach! Also, that ending is really suspenseful, and makes me want to read the original story! Overall, great job!!

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  2. I definitely like the idea of getting the bear's perspective. It's interesting to see how people's opinions can change based on what context they have. When telling a creation story like this, I think it's definitely a lot more fun the more backstory you have. You did a great job of building Bear's character in a short tale so that the reader can easily relate to him.

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