The magic words

many years ago, in a far away land , lived in the forest a small family of wizard bears; the parent wizard bears were bringing up three young bears of different ages: their eldest was big brother bear, he was followed by sister bear, and finally, the young brother bear.

one day, mommy bear decided that it was high time for her progeny to learn the casting spell. "which maketh thy father's and mine's fortune and earns us the great esteem among the greater community of wizard bears" she said "so hark ye well, my lovelies, and learn the words that i shall tell!" so said she , and with an admonishing swat of her paw , proceeded to recite to her younglings the great lore of the wizard-bear family, out of the great book which was bound in the checkered vellum of the woodland ostrich. a great tome of magic was this book, which was unto-now forbidden for the youngling to read.

and so it went, that in confidence and a slow rythm, as the dripping and slathering of thick ketchup, she began to chant the spell to their ears, that late frosty night, after supper was concluded and the bears were washed, clothed in nighttime attire and most in attention to spells and chants, as maic bears are known to be.

it is not an easy thing to learn a magic spell; it is not merely a matter of hearing words as they are uttered as a splash; a talent is required to listen to these arcane words, whose meaning is lost to day in the smoking ruins of ancient circles and rites. truly, to

both listen to the words, and to retain them in exact detail until the chant is complete, and commited to mind beyond fault and to never forget, once the chant is uttered, is a feat of rare acheivment . for not a word of it must ever be neglected or miscarried among its sisters in the verse.

the big brother bear, who was 7 years of age, listened carefully. however by the time his mother was chanting through the fourth page, he was deep in slumber. it was not a fault of is own, nor his mother, but the strain of the task and the length of the day which preceeded it.

the middle cub , sister bear, fared better than her elder brother. though she was six years of age, she retained more than five and a half pages of magic. it was then, upon the verge of a new casting incantation, that her weary eyes fluttered and closed. it was as if the chant itself had brought her peace and dulled her awares until the dreams that come into the minds of only wizard bears came. she was asleep after that.

the youngest bear , who was shy of four that night, listened intently as his mother read the enchantment spell, until the eighth page was taught. the magic though was long and arduous and his eyes began to flutter , hovering in that peculiar moment between being open and shut. he struggled on, to keep his shiny eyes open but the chant his mother told was such that he finally succumbed to the words as they were told, until he, too, fell asleep.

and what of daddy bear? he too made an effort to contain in his mind the long magic spell, as mother bear spoke, but her soothing voice, and the toils of the day soon got the better of him and his eyes closed and he was soon snoring in surrender.

with the family of wizard-bears fast asleep, mother bear closed the ancient magic book quietly. she looked upon her family and grinned in satisfaction. the hour was not even eight. she put the volume of enchntment in its usual place, and dressed up in her sizzling leather jacket. she stepped out into the early evening air, hopped on the chopper and rode on down the highway.

and where did she go? that is a story for another night.