Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was a baby bear who was playing outside his den, in the bright day light. He would play all sorts of fun games, that he would make up on his own. One of his very favorite games was a game called "Find Baby Bear", a game that he played with his momma all of the time, even if she didn't know that they were playing the game sometimes.
One day, after he had had a big lunch of fish, and tasty green apples, he decided to play Find Baby Bear, and as usual, he did not tell him momma. He wandered a little ways away from the den that he shared with his momma, and poppa, looking for the perfect hiding spot. A spot that his momma would never suspect him to be in.
He looked behind a large gray boulder, only to find out that he had grown since the last time he had hidden behind it, and could no longer hide his entire body behind the boulder. He checked a few trees that he had hidden behind in the past, but had the same problem. He had just grown so much. He knew that if he were to find the perfect hiding place, he would have to go further than he had ever gone before.
"No Baby Bear, you must not wander too far from the den," he heard his momma say inside his head. But Baby decided to ignore this voice, and he set off down the road.
The things around him soon became very unfamiliar. There were trees he had never seen. Big trees. Bigger than he could have ever imagined, in his whole entire life. He went to hide behind one of the trees, but saw an even better hiding spot just down the road, the biggest boulder that he had ever seen in his life. He went to hide behind the boulder, and was surprised to see that a porcupine was already hiding there.
"Hey," said the porcupine, "you can't take my hiding spot. I found it first".
"But it's such a big hiding spot. I'm sure there will be plenty room for us both back there."
The porcupine seemed to consider this for a moment, before saying, "I'm playing Find Baby Porcupine" with my momma, and I'm afraid that if you hide back here too, she'll be able to find me."
Baby Bear thought about this for a few moments, and came up with a plan. "What if we find an even bigger boulder. One that both of us could hide behind."
"Yeah. I like that idea," said Baby Porcupine.
So together they walked further down the road, in search of the perfect boulder to hide from their moms. "My mom will be so surprised when she sees how well I play this game," Baby Bear said to his new friend.
"Mine too," said Baby Porcupine. "I have never hidden so far away before. She will have so much fun playing this game."
They both started laughing together, and knew that they had found lifelong friends in each other. Before long they came to a fork in the road. "Which way should we go," said Baby Bear.
"I don't know," said Baby Porcupine, "where do you think we can find the best hiding spot."
Baby Bear seem to think about this for a moment, before pointing left. "That way looks darker, so it will be harder for a mommas to find us."
"You are right," said Baby Porcupine. "You are such a smart friend. I sure am glad that I found you." This made Baby Bear so very happy. He had never really had any friends before, and he just thought it was so nice to finally have a friend.
So together, they started off down the path on the left. As they continued to walk, it got darker and darker down the path. Baby Porcupine noticed first that it was also getting very cold. "I'm cold, Baby Bear. Maybe we should go back?" he asked.
"Don't be silly, Baby Porcupine. I'm sure we will find a great place to hide very soon." But Baby Bear wasn't sure. He was starting to feel cold himself. But he didn't want his new friend to think that he was a fraidy-bear, so he kept walking.
After a while they reached the end of the path. In front of them was only a grand canyon. It was so wide, and so deep, that they both knew they could never get across the canyon.
"Can we turn back now?" asked Baby Porcupine.
Baby Bear thought about this for a moment, but wasn't sure. He did not want Baby Porcupine to think he was afraid. He was always told that it was bad for a baby bear to show any weakness. "No, we need to find a good place to hide. Let's go that way," Baby Bear said, pointing his paw to the right.
"Okay," said Baby Porcupine. But he really didn't want to go. He was cold, hungry, tired, and very scared. Still, he didn't want to lose his new friend, so he followed Baby Bear.
Soon, they came to the biggest boulder that either of them had ever seen. To Baby Porcupine it looked to be the biggest thing in the whole wide world. To Baby Bear it looked like the best hiding spot in the whole wide world.
Quickly, they ran behind the boulder, and sat down. Their walk had been long, and they were both very tired. "We'll just sit here, and hide, until our mommas find us," said Baby Bear.
"Okay," said Baby Porcupine, who was now very excited to have found such a great place to hide from his momma. He was sure to win this game, and she would be so very proud of him. Plus, he made a friend, and he had always wanted a friend to talk to, and to play with.
The two sat behind the boulder, talking barely above a whisper, waiting for the mommas to come and find them. It was Baby Bear who yawned first. But yawns have a way of spreading, and soon Baby Porcupine was yawning as well.
"Maybe it will take them a while to find us," said Baby Bear. "Maybe we can shut our eyes for a little while."
Finally, Baby Porcupine agreed with Baby Bear's plan. He was awfully tired, and wouldn't mind a quick nap. "Okay, Baby Bear, but only for a few minutes. I want to be awake when my momma finds me. I want to see how proud of me she is."
"That is a great idea, Baby Porcupine!"
So the two of them closed their eyes, and settled down in their spots for a nice, short nap. But as we all know, a short nap can quickly become a long nap. As they lie there against their boulder, the minutes ticked by, and it soon got dark out.
"Baby Porcupine, wake up! It's dark out!"
Baby Porcupine woke with a start, "What? Where are we?".
"We're at the boulder still," Baby Bear said, in a panic. "We slept too long, and it's dark out now.
Baby Porcupine looked around and realized that it was indeed very dark out. He could hear scary noises all around him, and hovering yellow eyes were everywhere.
"Oh no, what do we do?" Baby Porcupine asked.
"I don't know, I've never been outside after dark. My momma says it's too dangerous."
"My momma says the same thing," Baby Porcupine said. He was now very scared, and regretted trying to hide from his momma. He would rather be at home, in his own bed, safe and warm, than win some silly game.
"Maybe we should just stay here, and our mommas will come and find us?" Baby Bear half asked, half suggested.
"No," Baby Porcupine said, finally letting Baby Bear know that something was a bad idea. "We need to make our way back home. We came very far, and they are going to be very worried about us."
"You're right, Baby Porcupine. I'm so sorry that I got us into this mess. We should have never walked so far from home."
"It's okay, Baby Bear. Let's just get home."
Baby Porcupine no longer felt so scared. He knew that they needed to get home. He knew that his mom would be so scared at this point. So they both stood up, brushed away the dirt, and started to walk back the same way that they had come.
They walked in silence, hoping to hear the sounds of their mommas yelling for them. Hoping against hope that they wouldn't be too mad at them for staying out all night. Neither knew how much time had passed before they both began to hear calls for them. But it wasn't just their mommas voices. It sounded like a lot of voices.
The pair quickly ran to the source of the yells, and were shocked to find that so many people were looking for them. It seemed like everyone they had ever known were out in the dark looking for them.
"Momma," Baby Porcupine called out, when he saw his mom. She looked so relieved to see him, and he was relieved to see her. Baby Porcupine ran to his momma, and gave her a big hug.
"Are you okay, Baby Porcupine?" his momma asked him. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine momma, I'm fine," he answered, as she checked him to make sure he wasn't hurt.
"Baby Bear!" Baby Bear looked towards the cries, and saw his momma running to him. She too looked relieved to see him. "Where were you? We were so scared!"
"We were hiding from you, to play a game. But I guess that's not a very good game. We were so scared. We didn't know what to do. But Baby Porcupine said that we should come back the way that we came. He was right. I'm so sorry momma. I'm so sorry." Baby Bear was crying now.
"Shh. There there, Baby Bear. For now, the only thing that matters is that you are both safe." She put her arms around Baby Bear, and gave him a big bear hug.
For the next few days, Baby Bear, and Baby Porcupine were both grounded to their dens. They weren't allowed out to see each other, or play in the stream, or even to help gather food. But they were okay with that. They knew that what they did was wrong, and they deserved to be punished. But once they got un-grounded, they both looked very forward to play with their new friend, once again. Just not any hiding games. They were done with hiding games. Forever.
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