Writing Resources from Fifteen Minutes of Fiction

Blackie Bear and Johnny Crow

Blackie the big black bear lived in a cave near the top of a hill. The hill was called Bear Hill, and it had been called this for longer than anyone cared to remember, certainly longer than Blackie had been living there. Blackie was a solitary creature and his home showed this. It was rather bare and had only one cupboard where Blackie could store nuts and dried fruits and one large pile of leaves in the corner for a bed. Blackie very seldom had any visitors.

Just down the path in the forest Johnny the crow lived in a nest of sticks high up in an old dead tree. The tree had been struck by lightning once before and you could no longer tell what kind of tree it was and all its branches had been burned off. Johnny thought it was a very safe place to live since nothing on the ground could climb a tree with no branches to get him and anyway, lighting never struck the same place twice so he was safe from storms too.

Though they lived in the same forest and often saw each other daily Blackie and Johnny were very different people, and though acquainted they were not friends.

Blackie Bear was a very hard working and reliable bear. He always kept his cave swept clean and always made sure he had enough food stored by for the lean times. Though not a gardener in the human sense of the term Blackie had a favorite blueberry patch that he tended to every summer and it always provided him with plenty of delicious fruit to eat come fall.

Johnny Crow was a lazy bird. He liked nothing better than to mooch off other people. If he could steal food from someone else he would do it, even if there was free food not belonging to anybody already nearby. He was always getting into trouble with the wolves and the bears and the other birds. This summer was no exception.

One day Blackie took himself and his favorite wicker basket down to his special blueberry patch to pick some berries. It was a hot day and the walk to the berry patch seemed long in the sun. After picking enough berries to fill his basket Blackie stopped to rest a while on a nearby rock.

Johnny the crow had been sitting in a tree watching Blackie. Even though he hadn’t done a lick of work all day long Johnny was very hungry. He was also still very lazy and was having trouble deciding how to get his next meal without going too far or exerting himself too much. Seeing Blackie had filled up his basket with berries and that the bear was looking tired and weary Johnny had an idea. It would be very easy to trick the bear into giving up his basket of berries. After all, thought Johnny, bears were supposed to be very slow witted.

“Excuse me, Mr. Bear” Johnny said as he flew down to land beside Blackie, “I can see that you appear to be exhausted. That basket sure looks heavy and you have such a long ways to go yet. I would be happy to carry your basket for you. In fact I insist that you let me help you out, we being neighbors and it being the neighborly thing to do and all.”

“Why thank you Mr. Crow” said Blackie, “I would really appreciate that, but please be careful; I don’t want you to spill any.”

“Oh don’t worry,” said Johnny, “I’ll be careful, I promise”.

So Johnny picked up the basket and flew off to Blackie’s cave with the berries. Once Johnny got to the cave he put the basket down and began to eat the barriers. They were so yummy that Johnny ate every last one, leaving the basket bare. When Blackie got back to his cave a few minutes later he discovered the empty basket and wondered what had happened to his berries. Not one to jump to conclusions, Blackie decided that there was a logical explanation and that Johnny would surely explain things tomorrow. In the meantime Blackie would just have to pick more berries.

The next day after once again filling his basket with berries Blackie sat resting on his rock. He heard a familiar rustle and flap of wings and looked up to see Johnny Crow coming to roost nearby.

“Hello Mr. Bear,” Said Johnny, “Can I help you out again today and carry your basket home?”

“Well, I don’t know,” said Blackie, “Yesterday when I got home the basket was empty and the berries were all gone.”

“Oh,” said Johnny, “I’m very sorry, I must have had an accident yesterday. I’ll do better today; let me carry your basket, please?”

“Well, okay,” said Blackie, “But you must promise to be extra careful today.”

“Oh, I will” said Johnny as he picked up the basket and flew off.

When he got to Blackie’s cave Johnny said to himself “What a stupid old bear, falling for the same trick twice. I can probably get free blueberries all summer long.”

When Blackie got back to his cave he once more found the basket empty with not a blueberry in sight. “What is going on?” he thought to himself, “Something is up with that Johnny.”

The next day Blackie went out with his basket and once more filled it up with blueberries. Johnny Crow flew down once more and tricked Blackie into giving up his basket; at least he thought he did. Blackie, suspicious of the bird had taken a shortcut back to his cave and hidden in the corner. When Johnny got to the cave he began to eat the berries in great gulps and soon half of them were gone. Johnny was so engrossed in the berries that he never even saw Blackie until it was too late. Blackie leaped out of his hiding place in the corner and charged at the now very fat Johnny Crow. The surprised Johnny fluttered his wings in vain but only managed to get a few feet towards the door because he was so fat from eating all the berries. Blackie caught Johnny and ate him whole in one big gulp.

Blackie Bear lived quite happily for the rest of his life, and he never had to worry about missing blueberries again.

THE END

And the moral of the story is: Be careful when bearing bear berries, that a big bear has planned for his sup; If you steal them he’ll get very scary, you’ll grow fat and be eaten up.

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