When my bear was a real bear

One night last November, while tucking Micah into bed, I had the idea to tell him the story about the bear that broke into the candy shop in Gatlinburg. Micah has a stuffed black bear he sleeps with every night and I thought he'd get a kick out of hearing it. Three months later, and the story has become a fixture of his bedtime routine. It has to be told in a very precise way and no parts can be left out, although a few details have been added as it's gone on.

After telling it nearly every night for the last three months, it seems impossible that I'd ever forget how the story goes, but I'm pretty sure it will be overwritten at some point. So I'm writing it here. There's no punch line - this is just something I really really want to remember.

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Mommy, I want to talk about when my bear was a real bear.

Once upon a time, before you were born-

When I was in your tummy like Aerin?

Yes, when you were still in my big tummy, kicking around, Mommy and Daddy went to Gatlinburg, Tennessee to visit some of Mommy's family. While we were there, your daddy found this bear. And even though you weren't born and we didn't know anything about you, he thought you'd like this bear. So Daddy bought it for you, and this was your first present from Daddy.

I love my bear, Mommy.

Well, in Gatlinburg, where this bear is from, there's a real bear that lives in a cave up on the mountain. And early one morning he woke up. So he-

Was the sun up?

No, it was still dark. He walked-

Were there cars on the road? And planes in the sky? And were people going on abentures?

It was really early. It was still dark, and there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky. Everyone was still asleep and no one was going on adventures.

Oh.

So he walked outside and he stretched and he realized he was HUNGRY. So he set off down the mountain. He walked down the hill and through the trees until he came to road that goes through Gatlinburg.

Were there cars on the road? Were people going to work?

No, it was too early. And as he walked down the road he sniffed. Then he smelled something VERY GOOD TO EAT. He looked in the window, and what did he see?

A CANDY STORE!

A candy store! So he raised up his big bear paw and he SMASHED the door in.

Smash!

The first thing he ate was some...

Taffy!

Then he ate some...

Candied apples!

And then he ate some...

Peanut brittle!

And then he ate some...

Rock candy!

And he ate and he ate and he munched and he munched. That bear ate so much, for so long, that the sun came up!

And were there cars on the street? And planes in the sky? And were people going on abentures?

YES! There were cars on the road and planes in the sky and people were going on adventures and they were going to work. And when the two little old ladies who were supposed to open the candy store to sell candy to people got there, they saw the door all smashed in. They looked inside and..."AAAAAAAH! THERE'S A BEAR IN THERE!" So they ran back outside and they called the police.

And while everyone was outside waiting on the police, that bear snuck out the back door and ran off, back down the road and back up the hill and back through the trees and into his cave. WHEW!

And they never caught him.

Mommy? When my bear was a nice bear…he shared some of his taffy.