Goldfish And Clowns

As I mentioned earlier today at Restrictor Plate This in the comments area of the open thread for today’s NASCAR race at Atlanta, I’ve given thirty days notice at SportsBlogs Nation that I’ll be leaving next month.  Indulge me as I explain why.

First off, my leaving SBN is in no way due to any dissatisfaction with the organization or the people involved.  I have nothing but praise and appreciation for Tyler, Trei, Jim, and Markos along with everyone else at SBN.  They have been unfailingly supportive and appreciative from the first time I heard from Tyler back in late March of last year when he graciously extended an offer to join the network.  Not once has there been so much as a whisper of complaint, criticism, or censorship in any fashion.  Not once.

SBN is assembling the absolute finest group of sports bloggers on the planet.  To a one they are the best of the best.  I was and am honored to be considered worthy to be one of them, and I will always be proud of my association with SBN.  I am especially proud to have had some part in bringing John Butchko, who writes the Jets blog at SBN, on board so his superb quality writing can enjoy the wider audience it deserves.

So why am I leaving?

In recent months it has become increasingly apparent to me that the need to communicate about Christ has become paramount in my blogging.  In the NASCAR blog I had from August of 2003 until I joined SBN in April of last year I often wandered off on tangents which although occasionally entering the realms of politics or pop culture mostly focused on spiritual matters.  The need to return to such a manner of writing has been weighing heavily on me, with the weight growing ever greater as time has gone by.

SBN is an inappropriate venue for such writing.  Again I stress that not once has anyone involved with SBN raised a single word of disapproval to anything I have written there.  However, it would be disrespectful to SBN to start writing in the manner I once wrote and in which I feel led to resume writing.  That is the sole reason why I am leaving.

I can say with confidence that SBN will become a major force in not only sports blogging, but sports writing period.  It is a network with both a clear vision as to where it wants to go and an intelligent, properly executed business plan designed to get it there.  I wish it and all its bloggers nothing but the best, for this is what they deserve.  I will be cheering them on every step of the way, and I will always be proud to be an alumnus of the best sports blogging network there is.  Also, I have no doubt whatsoever that those who will be taking over for me at my NASCAR blog Restrictor Plate This and my San Jose Sharks blog Fear The Fin will embody the quality for which SBN is deservedly known.

As to me, my plan is to dust off The Diecast Dude’s (Mostly) NASCAR Blah Blah Blog in time for the start of the 2009 NASCAR season.  A tremendous amount of work needs to be done porting over five plus years worth of entries, and I can only hope to be done in time for next year’s Daytona 500.  I still have much work to do here in bringing over all the posts from the old location, so if you find me huddled in a corner somewhere mumbling something about font formatting and re-setting the publish date I hope you’ll understand!

I will always be grateful to SBN for the opportunity it provided, and I will always cherish my time with it.  But I must move on by moving back, as it were.  In the meanwhile I will be here on a regular basis, so please stop by once in a while and say hi.  When the brand new old digs are ready I’ll let you know.  Hopefully I’ll see you there.

And maybe — just maybe — there’ll be a polar bear there waiting to say hello.

It was nighttime at the zoo, a medium strength wind rustling through the bare tree branches, tossing about an occasional snowflake.  Gord the polar bear was curled up in his small cave at the back of his home, mostly asleep but still glancing outside now and then in-between closing his eyes.

The day had been quiet, with very few visitors willing to brave the cold and wind in order to see the animals.  Gord of course loved the weather, being a polar bear and all.  Still, he did regret how it kept the visitors away, and how it made most of if not all the other animals burrow as far away from the elements as possible.  Not having anyone to talk to or listen to was something Gord didn’t much care for.  Some days, though, that was how it went.

He was almost all the way asleep when suddenly he stood straight up, almost hitting his head on the top of his cave in the process.  Gord stood very still for a moment, then dashed outside where he sat down in the middle of his home, looking up at the sky and the snowfall which was now growing heavier.  He sat there, not moving, as a smile grew across his face.

After a while, a sleepy voice broke the silence.  “Gord?  What are you doing, silly bear?”

Gord recognized the voice as belonging to his friend Cherie the thrasher, who lived nearby.  Without moving to look at her he replied, “Why, I’m listening.”

“Listening to what?” said Cherie in return.  “The only sound is that cold wind.”

“You mean you don’t hear it?”

Cherie shook her head.  She was used to Gord’s occasionally being a little strange, but even by his standards this was quite weird.  She sighed as she said, “No, silly bear.  I don’t hear anything.  So tell me what it is you hear.”

“Why, it’s the yesterday whispers.”

“The… yesterday whispers.”

Gord said in a quizzical voice, “You mean you’ve never heard of them?”

“I must have missed that lecture in bird college,” Cherie said in a tone indicating more than a little concern over her friend’s mental health.

“Why, I thought everyone knew about the yesterday whispers,” Gord replied in a way indicating he completely missed the way Cherie was talking.  “Back where I come from, everyone knows about them.  At night, when the pretty light curtains appear in the sky, if you listen carefully sometimes you can hear the voices from yesterday talking to you as if they were standing right next to you.”

“You mean the ones who aren’t here any more?”

“Yes.  The faded ones.  Only when the yesterday whispers come, they’re not faded any more.  Oh, you can’t see them, and they come and go as they please.  But you can hear them talking to you.  Sometimes they’ll even answer you when you ask them something.”

Cherie thought about it for a moment, and then decided it would be best to go along with Gord on this one.  “Must be a polar bear thing.  And what pretty light curtains are you talking about?  I don’t see anything.”

“We have them where I’m from.  How I miss them, and until now I thought you had to have them in order to hear the whispers.  But now, tonight, I heard them again.”

“Anyone you know?”

“Some, yes.  Some I was told about, who were before me.”

Cherie softly said, “And what did they have to say?”

“Why, they were telling me I can come home anytime.”

“As in leaving the zoo and going back up north?  I don’t know how you’re going to do that.”

Gord sighed.  “No, not home like that.  Although I’d like to.  They were saying I could go home in my heart.”

“By remembering where you came from?”

“Yes and no.  They said remembering was part of it.  But they also said if you come home in your heart, it’s not just remembering.  It’s alive right here and now.”

Cherie asked, “I don’t suppose they told you how to do this.”

“Not really,” Gord replied.  “They said I’d find the way.”

“Is that all they said?”

“Why, no.  They said one more thing.”

“What was that?” the thrasher said.

The polar bear stood up and turned to where Cherie lived.  In a quiet voice he replied, “That they would be there when I get there.”

The two looked at each other for a moment, a look of friendship.  Then Gord excused himself and went back into his cave.

Gord awoke to a most delightful sight that morning as he peered out from inside his little cave.  It was snowing, beautiful fluffy flakes gently making their way down from the sky.  A thin layer already covered the ground, and more was coming down.  Exactly the kind of thing a polar bear wanted to see.

He quickly arose and went out, looking up with a smile as the snow fell on his face.  Gord reached out with his front paw and playfully swatted at the flakes as they went by.  For a moment he was home again, his real home, playing in the snow by the lakeside as his mother stood nearby.  Then a voice interrupted his memory.

“I suppose you’re enjoying this.”

Gord looked down to see his friend Cherie the thrasher, shivering.

“Why, Cherie.  I am a polar bear, after all.  Snow is part of me.”

“Well it certainly isn’t part of me.  Give me summer anytime, even the sticky hot days.”

Gord smiled again.  “Why, we must get you out of this, then.”  With that, he bent down and with his nose plowed a path to his cave so Cherie could walk there without stepping in snow.

Once she was inside, Gord stuck his head in the entryway and said, “I know it’s not much warmer in here than outside.  But at least you won’t have snow falling on you.”

Cherie smiled.  “Thank you, silly bear.”

“Why, you’re quite welcome.  I’ll be back in a bit.”  With that Gord turned around to romp in the snow, watching it fly out from beneath his paws as he smiled and laughed.  He did so for a minute, and then looked across the walkway at the aviary, where he saw Penny the eagle and Scott the falcon giving him a look half amused and half… well, almost sad.

“Now, you two.  Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked.

Penny sighed as Scott answered, “You are a strange one, lad.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Why?” replied Scott.  “Look at you, man!  Cavorting about as if you were running around your home and you didn’t have a care in the world.”

“This is my home, Scott.”

“No, lad.  This isn’t your home.  It’s where you’ve been put.  Your home…. your real home… isn’t here.  It’s up by that lake you mention.”  Scott sighed as he added, “This zoo isn’t any of our homes, really.”

“Especially today,” Penny said in a sad voice.  “So far from where we used to be.  And those we used to be with.”

Gord paused and looked down, obviously in thought.  After a moment he looked back up and smiled, then quickly turned around and went into his tiny cave.  A few minutes later, Scott heard the cage door at the back of her part of the aviary open, with a startled looking Cherie being half-pushed through it.  The door closed, and then a minute later opened again, with a fully startled Penny being fully pushed through followed by the face of a smiling Gord.

Scott quickly flew down to join the other two birds, all three of whom looked quizzically at Gord.  Gord smiled again in reply, then softly said, “Why, you are right, Scott.  None of us are really home.  But as long as we’re here, this will be our home.  Together.  We will be each other’s family.”

The three birds stood there, not really knowing what to say.  Then with a smile Penny laughed, “As long as you’re not expecting to be tucked in at night, Gord!”  The four laughed together, their laughter for a moment making the day all right.  Then each returned to their place, and Gord resumed romping in the snow as the three birds chuckled at the antics of this silly bear.

Gord sighed, his breath forming a brief mist in the crisp autumn morning.  The zoo was closed.  No visitors that day.  He wondered what he would do, for on days like this there was precious little to do.  Not that Gord had to have others around all the time, but he didn’t always like to be alone.

His thoughts were interrupted when he glanced across the path in front of his home.  The aviary long under construction appeared to finally be complete.  Gord noticed that the homes for the larger birds were directly across from his.  “I hope that doesn’t scare my friend Cherie the thrasher,” he said softly to himself.  It didn’t appear anyone had yet moved in, though.  Too bad.

Gord started to turn around and walk toward his little cave at the back of his home for a nap when he suddenly stopped, as he thought he heard something inside the aviary.  As best he could look past the tree located just inside this section of the aviary’s front fence, put there with the thought being the birds would perch there so visitors could better see it, he tried to see what was happening.  He saw a small door open at the back of the aviary.  Then, a pair of hands holding something covered by a sack came into view.  One of the hands reached on top of the sack and quickly pulled it away.  Then both disappeared and the door clanged shut, leaving behind…

“Why, hello,” said Gord to the bald eagle who after a moment of shaking their head and looking over their surroundings had flown to the tree branch in the front of their space in the aviary.

“Hiya,” replied the eagle in an unmistakably female voice.  She continued, “You must be Gord.  Cherie told me about you.  I’m Penny.”

“I’m very glad to meet you, Miss Penny,” Gord smiled.  “It’s good to see someone finally move in over there.  And might I add, I could not have hoped for a prettier neighbor.”

Penny laughed.  “Cherie is right; you are a silly bear.  But thank you.  And this certainly a better home than what I had before.  Still, it is strange to be moving here today.”

“Why is that?”

“Don’t you know what day this is?”

“Why, no.  I was wondering why no one was here, though.”

“It’s Thanksgiving, Gord.”

Gord was puzzled.  “Thanksgiving?  Wasn’t that last month?”

Penny laughed again.  “Not here.  Today is the day when… well, when everyone gets together to have a meal and gives thanks for what they have.”

“I see.  Why, we should celebrate it, then.”

Penny gave Gord a funny look.  “You are more than silly.  You’ve over there and I’m in here.”

“Why, we’ll have to change that.”

Much to Penny’s surprise, Gord walked to the back of his home and disappeared into what Penny figured was a small cave.  To her even greater surprise, a few moments later she heard the door in her cage opening, followed by the sight of Gord’s head sticking out.  He smiled and said, “Why, hello again.”

“But how… how did you get over here?” stammered Penny as she flew down to where Gord was.

“Why, I walked, of course.”

“But how did you get out of your home?”

Gord smiled again.  “Follow me and I’ll show you.”  With that Gord pulled his head back and reached out with his paw to hold the door open as Penny carefully walked through.  Now behind the aviary, she followed Gord a few feet to what looked like a large rock.  He pushed it aside, revealing a tunnel.

“The zookeepers have many of these to get around,” said Gord as he walked into the tunnel, Penny following behind.  “Luckily, they’re big enough for me, and the zookeepers don’t know I know they’re here.”  He chuckled a little as he added, “They also don’t know the door to one at the back of my little cave only looks like I can’t open it.  And here we are.”  Gord pushed open a door, and after walking through his cave both Gord and Penny were in Gord’s home.

“Over here.”  Gord motioned to his untouched meal.  “Why, I’m not certain what these red berries are, but I hear they’re very tasty.  Please, try one.”

“But then what will you eat?”

Gord smiled.  “Why, I was going to skip today.  There’s a bit too much bear right now.  Please, try one.”

While cranberries were hardly Penny’s dietary mainstay, for the sake of being polite she did try one.  To her surprise, it was good.  She looked up at Gord and smiled.  “Thank you.”

“Why, you’re welcome.”

Penny dipped down to eat another cranberry.  When she came back up, to her surprise she noticed a worried look on Gord’s face.

“You’re not afraid I’m going to eat them all, are you?  I’m done now.”

“No, it’s not that.  Why, you may have them all if you wish.  It’s that… well… you’re not going to fly away, are you?  Nothing is preventing you.”

Penny smiled.  “Silly bear.  I’m not going anywhere.  I’d rather stay here.”

“Why, that’s wonderful… but wouldn’t you rather be outside?”

Penny’s smile faded as she replied, “No.  But let’s not talk about it now.  Some day, perhaps.”  Her smile returned as she added, “Besides, I have my buddy Cherie here.  And a silly bear, too.”

Gord smiled in relief.  “Why, that is so kind of you, Penny.”  With that the two headed back to Gord’s cave so Penny could return to her new home, from where she and Gord spent the day chatting and laughing across the path Penny now knew didn’t really separate her from her new friend.

Gord smiled as his friend Cherie the thrasher flew into his home.  His smile quickly disappeared as he noticed the distraught look on her face.

“Why, what’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she unconvincingly replied, her head down.

Gord knew better.  “Come now.  You can tell the silly old bear.”

Cherie smiled a little at Gord’s referring to himself with what she often called him.  “Well… oh, it’s really nothing.  Especially to you.”

“Why, nothing bothering a friend is nothing to me.  Please, what’s wrong?”

“It’s not something I can do anything about, but… well, winter’s almost here.  I imagine you’re glad for that, but it’s hardly my favorite time of the year.”

Gord smiled.  “Actually, I don’t like winter either.”

Cherie looked up at Gord with a start.  “But you’re a polar bear!”

“That I am,” replied Gord.  “But you see, winter reminds me of where I’m from, and even with my friends here there are times I’d much prefer to be back there.  Why, winter here is long and dreary, with everyone hiding or doing nothing the whole of the time.  It’s much better during the spring and summer and fall, when people are about and active.  Then we can all get together and share… well, whenever the zookeeper isn’t looking.”

Lowering his voice, Gord continued, “I must tell you, whenever I see him trying to shoo you away for being a common bird, it makes me quite upset.  I fear one day I will completely lose my temper and address him directly about this matter, even if it means ignoring what I was always taught about not letting the humans know I can talk.”

“It’s not just me, you know.  He’s rude to even the others that live here, even the birds.”

Gord nodded.  “I know.”

Cherie smiled.  “You know, except for those noisy bears next door, all the other animals think of you as something of a leader.”

Gord stared at Cherie, a stunned look on his face.  “Why, that’s preposterous!  I’m no leader.  I’m just a bear.”

“A bear who defends his friends and speaks his mind.”

Gord uncomfortably shuffled his front paws.  “Why… well… I don’t know.  I’m just me.  But if others take something worthwhile from that… why, I’m glad.”

“I’m glad too, silly old bear.”

Gord sat back on his haunches for a moment, lost in thought.  Then suddenly, he smiled.  “Why, I have an idea.  We’ll beat those winter blues.”

“How?”

“We’ll dance them away.”

With a puzzled look Cherie replied, “Dance?”

“Yes, dance.  You and me.  We’ll dance them away.”

“Silly old bear.  How are we supposed to do that?  I’m not exactly nimble on my feet, and even if I were you and I aren’t exactly built for ballrooms.”

“How?  Like this.”  With that Gord scooped up a startled Cherie in one of his front paws.  Cradling her gently, he gently swayed his paw back and forth, occasionally bobbing it up and down while softly singing as Cherie laughed.

“You’re not a silly old bear.  You’re the absolute silliest old bear ever.”

“Why, that I am,” Gord replied.  “Yes, that I am.”  With that he resumed dancing with his friend as he sang:

Your imagination’s having puppies
It could be a video for new recruits…

It was a grey afternoon; one mottled with showers spaced just far enough apart to offer hope of their ending before the next one came along.  Gord the polar bear sat in the back of his home, looking out.  He sighed, for days such as today kept the visitors away, and days without visitors were dreary indeed.

His face brightened as his friend Cherie the thrasher flew in and landed next to him.  “Why, hello,” he said.

“Hiya yourself, silly old bear.”

“You must have me mistaken for Winston a couple of doors over.”

Cherie laughed as Gord smiled at his modest joke.  “Make that very silly old bear.”

Gord feigned offense.  “I’m not that old.”

“To me you are.  Anyway, anything new?”

“I’m afraid not.  Those bears next door are still such an embarrassment.”

“At least the really noisy one left,” Cherie commented.

“That’s true,” replied Gord.  “Now they have a bunch more bears in his place.  A couple of them are all right, but there’s this one who’s in his own way is as bad as the noisy one.”

“I know which one you mean — the stuck-up one?”

“Exactly.  He’s always acting so high and mighty, talking down to everyone.  But when he thinks no one is looking, he gives these false apologies and acts all chummy.  A little too chummy, really — he says some very inappropriate things when he thinks everyone isn’t listening.”

“I know how that goes,” Cherie sighed.  “Some of the animals here can be very condescending because I’m just a common bird.  And a girl to boot.”

“Why, they don’t know what they’re talking about!  There’s nothing common about you.  You’re a wonderful, talented, attractive young bird.”

Cherie smiled and lowered her head.  “Now I know you’re silly.  But thank you.”

“I do hope the other animals don’t think we’re ignoring them or acting like those other bears when we talk together.”

Cherie laughed out loud.  “With you around?  Not a chance.  You’d invite the zookeeper to be a friend given half a chance, even as much as he either ignores you or is rude toward you.”

Gord blushed, or at least came as close as a polar bear can to blushing.  “I’m not that nice.  But once in a while, I at least try to be.”

“Yes, you can be very trying, silly old bear… okay, the other silly old bear.”

Gord smiled as together he and his friend watched the rain start up again.

Late at night, when the zookeeper was sound asleep, unbeknownst to him the animals would on occasion free themselves and each other from their homes and mingle.  Those that in nature were mortal enemies here were fast friends; the lion laughing with the zebra, the cobra and mongoose exchanging small talk.  Such was the way of things at the zoo, a zoo the humans thought they ran but in fact was entirely the realm of the animals playing a perpetual inside joke at the expense of those who fancied themselves keepers.
Gord the polar bear, along with Cherie the thrasher who although not one of the animals in the zoo lived there anyway, liked to visit their friend Alec the arctic fox during these nights.  Now, were this in the wild Gord and Alec would have nothing to do with each other.  Foxes on occasion carefully follow behind polar bears to pick up on whatever leftover scraps there might be from the unfortunate animal that cross the bear’s path, and for the bear’s part they have been known to munch on the occasional arctic fox or two.  However, even if this had been the wild Gord was much too gentle to ever contemplate such a thing, much preferring nuts and berries.  Besides, how could anyone ever dream of harming Alec?

Alec was old, older than most of the other animals at the zoo.  He was too weary and ill when he was found in the wild to last much longer there, let alone elude capture, and so here he was.  Alec’s movement was stiff, his back slightly twisted from one of the many hunts he had been on during his youthful days.  He bore the scars from these encounters with neither pride nor shame, but rather the nonchalant manner of one to whom such things were a fact of life deserving no great attention from any angle.  These things Gord noticed.  But above all else Gord noted Alec’s eyes, still penetrating and clear despite his advanced years.

What Gord enjoyed the most about Alec were the stories he told, stories that were all the better for being true.  His tales were rich treasures, tapestries woven with all the shapes and dazzling light of the aurora borealis Gord saw a few times in the days of his youth.  They were stories of and from the Canadian forest that for years had been Alec’s home and for a time was Gord’s home as well before they had both been brought to this place.

It was not home, of course.  It could never truly be home; this artificial place of concrete and ditches designed to keep the animals far away from the people and each other.  However, Gord tried to make the best of it he could, even with the nasty other bears around with their silliness and shouting along with the zookeeper who for reasons Gord could never quite figure out was usually unpleasant to him.

On this night, as Gord and Cherie made their way toward where Alec lived, he saw them first.  “Why, hello,” he said in a perfect imitation of Gord’s usual greeting as the three broke into laughter.

“Why, hello yourself,” Gord replied.

“I suppose you’ve come for a story,” Alec said with a smile.

“But of course,” replied Cherie.

“Very well.  A story you shall have.”  Alec paused for a moment, then closed his eyes as he began to speak in a soft, slow voice.

One day many years ago, one of Alec’s ancestors, who was named Osi, was out and about with his mate Violet, seeing what could be found to eat.  It was a clear warm day, very quiet and very still.  No one else seemed to be about.  No one at all.

“Well,” Osi said to Violet, “it looks like nothing but a few berries for us today.”

Violet was about to agree when something struck her attention.  She immediately looked up at the sky, Osi looking up with her.

“What could that be?” she said.

“I don’t know,” replied Osi.  “It must be a bird, but it certainly doesn’t look like any bird I’ve ever seen.”

“It’s certainly the noisiest bird I’ve ever seen,” Violet commented.  “What kind of bird would make such a racket?  It’ll never catch anything like that.”

“Perhaps it feeds by diving on to the lake.  It’s not like the fish can hear it.”

“Perhaps,” replied Violet.  “It appears to be diving now.”

“That’s strange,” added Osi. “The lake is many miles from here.  Well, it certainly is diving, and it appears to be quite large.  Best for us to move away, just in case it has fox on its menu for lunch!”

“Agreed.”  The two scampered away to a spot where they could keep a wary eye on the bird, now ever increasing in size as it drew closer, making a unfamiliar noise that grew louder along the way. Then, both Osi and Violet jumped from fright as the bird, rather than swooping down and then lifting itself back in the air as one would expect it to do, crashed with a horrific sound into the very spot where the two foxes had been standing just a few moments before.  The sound died away, and once again all was still.

For several minutes neither Osi nor Violet moved or made a sound.  Then Osi whispered to his mate, “I believe the bird has begun to fade.  It hasn’t moved once.  And no one could survive such a fall, not even a bird as mighty as this one.”

“What… what should we do?”

“We should take a look.”  With that Osi started walking slowly and cautiously toward the bird, with Violet following behind.

As the two drew closer, it became obvious that the bird was indeed beginning to fade.  Its head had a massive wound, its back was broken and bent, and its wings were twisted beyond all hope.  It also became obvious that this bird was most unlike any Osi and Violet had ever seen: featherless, unbelievably enormous in size, with its blood emitting a foul and unfamiliar odor.  Nevertheless, the two came close enough to sniff about in the odd chance there might be something to scavenge.  Then Violet stopped.

“Osi,” she said in a frightened near-whisper.  “Look.  This bird… it ate the upright ones.”

Osi went to Violet’s side and peered inside the bird’s torn-apart belly.  Indeed, inside and beginning to fade were two upright ones, the ones every fox was taught since they were pups to avoid at all costs, for they brought nothing but pain and sorrow to any fox they happened to encounter.  Only how they had obviously begun to fade when the bird had eaten them before beginning to fade itself prevented the two foxes from immediately fleeing.

“What… what should we do?” whispered Violet.

Osi thought for a moment, then softly said, “This is an evil place.  We should leave here and never return.”  And they did.  Or at least, Violet thought they did.

Over the years that followed, when he was out alone Osi would sometimes return to the place.  His initial opinion that the place was evil was confirmed by the birdnot completing its fade into the earth as did all other fallen animals, but instead by how the plants no longer grew where the bird had bled.  The upright ones inside the bird did fade, but slowly, strangely; their fur remaining intact while what was inside gradually withered and faded to bone.  This was truly an evil place.

Then one day when Osi was old and knew that he himself would soon begin to fade, he decided to make one final visit to the bird.  As he approached, suddenly he heard noises that he knew could mean only one thing…

The upright ones.

With what little stealth he still possessed, he scampered to a hiding place from where he could watch without being watched.  There were many of them, noisy and shouting as they usually were, all walking or climbing around the bird.  Osi saw some them go inside the bird’s belly.  One of them let out a great shout, and then they suddenly stopped making noise.  In total silence they carefully took what was left of the two upright ones inside the bird and placed them in separate things they were known to use for carrying things about.  Then they left.

“How strange,” Osi said to himself.  “How very strange that after all these years, the upright ones should come to take away their faded.”

And that was the end of the story.

Alec opened his eyes.  He looked at Gord and Cherie, then said, “Do you understand?”

They both nodded in agreement, for they knew.  No matter what they might do for the animals, ultimately the upright ones, the humans, would take care of themselves first.  With that, Gord headed back to his home, looking forward to the next time he could hear one of Alec’s stories.

Gord the polar bear yawned.  It was a warm afternoon, and for whatever reason there hadn’t been many visitors at the zoo that day.  On some days this would be okay, but on this day… well, it was already kind of a lazy day, and lazy days often became boring days.  Gord didn’t like boring days.  He much preferred having something to do, or better yet someone to talk to about whatever topic might come up.

Gord yawned again as he looked around.  He noticed that across the walkway, some workers were moving a few trees around inside what would eventually be the new aviary.  At least that’s what he heard the zookeeper say it would be.  Not that the zookeeper said this to him, of course.  He was talking to another zookeeper one day, and Gord happened to overhear the conversation.

The zookeeper never talked to Gord.  It would probably surprise him to learn that Gord could talk, let alone have things he’d like to talk about. If he knew I could talk, thought Gord, and perfectly understood everything that other people said, hopefully he would no longer be as unpleasant to me as he often is when he brings me my food. Instead, the zookeeper was usually quite rude to him.  “All you ever do is lay around, you lazy bear,” the zookeeper would often say.  “After all the trouble I went through moving the other bears near you, you ignore them.  What do you want, anyway?”

“Why, someone to talk to, like my friend Cherie,” Gord often thought about replying.  However, Gord knew better than to say anything to the zookeeper, or to any adult.  He had tried talking to adults a couple of times, and they had reacted in a very strange manner.  Some shrieked and ran away, while others kept looking around to see where the voice was coming from even though Gord was standing right there.  People can be a little odd at times, Gord thought.

The afternoon was still warm, and being a polar bear Gord was not very comfortable.  He walked over to a shady area of his home and lay down. Best not to let this lazy day turn into a boring day, he thought. I’ll just lay here for a bit and close my eyes for only a moment until it cools down…

“Hey bear!”

A startled Gord looked up.  Standing in the walkway in front of his home were three children of different ages and their mother.

“Hey bear!  You look funny,” said the smallest of the three children.

Gord looked away.  Once in a while someone would ray rude things like this to him.  Best to pay it no mind.  Besides, the boy’s mother was there.  Surely she would correct his poor behavior.

“Hey bear!  You smell funny too.”

The other children looked away.  Well, at least they’re not misbehaving like their brother, thought Gord.  That noted, Gord was rather disappointed when the mother started laughing as the smallest child continued, “You look funny and you smell funny.”

Just then Cherie the thrasher flew by and landed near Gord.  She observed the scene for a moment, then quietly said to him, “That is not a nice boy.”

“No, he isn’t,” Gord softly replied as the boy was now making strange faces while making obnoxious sounds at Gord.

“His mother certainly isn’t helping, letting him act like that.”

“Why, no she isn’t.  Very disappointing.”

After a few minutes of this, the other children started whining about being tired of this and wanting to get going.  The mother grabbed the smallest child and started walking away, with the others following behind.  As they did so, the smallest boy turned around and looked at Gord as he yelled out, “Stupid bear!  You’re just a stupid bear!”

Cherie let out a sharp sigh.  “Not a nice boy at all.  Well, I have something I need to do.  I’ll be back later.”  With that she flew away.

Gord also sighed.  No.  There’s nothing to be done about it, though, he thought.  With that he closed his eyes again…

“Sir?  Excuse me?”

A very startled Gord sat up on his haunches.  Standing not in the walkway in front of his home but directly in front of him was a young boy.  Now this is most unusual, thought Gord.  Other than the zookeeper, he was quite certain people weren’t supposed to come into his home.  However, it was a boy, and he was being polite; something Gord appreciated as he always tried to be as polite as possible.

“Why, hello there,” Gord replied.

He then noticed much to his embarrassment that there was an adult woman standing next to the boy he hadn’t seen at first.  The woman didn’t look like the boy’s mother, though.  Gord noticed she had a very sad look on her face, and she didn’t seem alarmed that Gord had spoken aloud.  Instead, she leaned down next to Gord and quietly whispered, “Please be gentle with him.  He’s very sick.”

“So that’s why he has such a shiny head with no hair and those bruises around his neck and arms?” whispered Gord to her.

“Yes.”

“I see.”  Gord turned away from the woman and turned back to the boy, who had a very serious look on his face.  “I’m quite glad to see you today,” he said, not quite certain what else to say.

The boy replied, “Are you a real polar bear?”

Gord smiled, “Why, yes I am.”

The boy’s reply surprised Gord.  He reached out and as best he could placed his hands around Gord’s front paws, which he was holding together in front of him.  In a voice as serious as the look on his face the boy said, “Do you think we’ll win?”

Gord was now very unsure what to say.  He didn’t know what was supposed to be won, or who was supposed to be doing the winning.  However, he also thought it would be impolite to ask.  What to do?, he thought.

Then, Gord knew what to do.  He smiled again and said, “Why, if we work together and never stop believing, of course we can win.”

The boy reached up and as best he could hugged Gord around his neck.  As gently as he could Gord hugged the boy back, being ever so careful not to hurt him.  Then, the boy and the woman vanished…

“Here you go, you lazy bear.”

Gord looked up and blinked, seeing the little door the zookeeper usually used to give him his food close and a plate of food in front of it.  He was very puzzled by all this.  Then he thought, Why, I must have fallen asleep and dreamt the whole thing. He sighed and got up to eat his food…

… and then stopped when he saw something on the ground in front of him.

He bent down to take a closer look.  It was a bracelet, like the ones he saw children wearing when they came from the hospital for visits.  On it was printed not a name, but rather one single word:

BELIEVE

“Why, I’ll do just that,” Gord said aloud.  He carefully scooped up the bracelet in his paw, the gently placed it in a secure place in his home where it wouldn’t blow away.  Only then did he walk over to where his dinner was waiting.  And as he slowly ate, he smiled.

One day, Gord was lying down facing away from the people looking at him when he heard a girl’s voice that sounded like it was right next to him.

“You know, you really need to do something and stop laying there.”

Now this was unusual, thought Gord.  He was used to voices coming from the people that walked by every day to see him, but to hear a voice behind him when there should be no one there… well, this was different.  He stood up and started turning around to see who was there.

“Careful now.  I don’t want to be stepped on.”

Gord looked down.  There, standing next to his front paw, was a small brown bird with a long, sharp beak.  They looked at each other for a moment until Gord remembered his manners.  “Why, hello there,” he said.

“Hello yourself,” the bird replied.  “Now, finish turning around so the people can see you.  They didn’t pay all that money to come to the zoo just so they could see your back, you know.”

Gord smiled.  Should he choose to do so, he could have easily swatted this bird away with one swipe of his paw.  Still, he was smiling, something he had not done for a very long time.  He thought this was something he ought to keep going for a while.  “Very well,” he said to the bird.

He turned around to face the people crowded around the front of the home.  A small child among them excitedly said, “Mom!  The polar bear’s looking right at me!”

Gord thought for a moment about replying, but as he had learned a while ago it was better not to say anything to the children when their parents were around.  Instead, he whispered to the bird, “Very well, I have turned around so the people can see me.  Now, come out from behind my paw so they can see you.”

“They can see me anytime,” the bird replied.  “No one comes to the zoo to see me.  They all come to see you.”

“Why, that’s silly,” said Gord.  “You’re just as worthy of being seen as I am.”

“No, I’m not.  I’m just a common brown thrasher.”

“There is nothing common about you,” Gord replied.  “Why, I see thrashers fly around and walk around all the time, but not one of them has cared to come in here and talk to me.  Now, come out so the people can see you.”

The thrasher said nothing.  Gord turned his head to look and see if she was still there behind his paw.  She was, looking down.

Gord decided that he needed to take action.  With one swoop of his paw he picked up the very surprised and not a little alarmed thrasher, then gently put her on top of his head as he turned back around to face the people.

“What are you doing?” said the thrasher.  She made a motion to fly away, but stopped when she felt more than heard Gord growl.

“Now, you stay there for a moment and listen to me.  You’re just as worthy of people noticing you as I am.  And now they will.”

The thrasher stood still.  Then she heard the same small boy who a moment before had said to his mother that Gord was looking right at him say in an even more excited voice, “Look, Mom!  That bird is sitting right on top of the bear!”  He then paused for a moment, and with a worried tone added, “The bear’s not going to eat the bird, is he?”

“Of course not, dear,” his mother replied in her best reassuring parental tone.  “See?  They’re friends.”

While she was saying this, those gathered around were taking all kinds of pictures, seeing as how it was very unusual to see a thrasher standing on top of a polar bear.

The thrasher said to Gord, “They’re only looking at me because of you… you know, I never did ask you your name.”

“Nor have I asked you yours.  I’m Gord.”

“I’m Cherie.”

“Well, Cherie,” said Gord, “I believe they’d look at you even if I wasn’t here.”

“I doubt it, but if it’s all right I’d like to stay here with you for a while.”

Gord replied, “Why, you can stay here for as long as you’d like.  It’s been a long time since I’ve had someone to talk to.”

Cherie smiled.  “Very well.  Then here I will stay.”

This is a story about a polar bear named Gord.  Gord lived in a zoo.  All the other animals liked Gord, because Gord was always nice to them.

One day, the zookeeper noticed Gord was acting in a very peculiar way.  Gord would go to one spot in his home and lay there for hours, staring at nothing.  This kept up, hour after hour, day after day.

The zookeeper got all of his zookeeper friends together and told them what Gord was doing.  He asked them, “What’s wrong with Gord?”

“He doesn’t like his food,” suggested one.

“He needs more exercise,” said another.

“Perhaps he needs a bigger place to live,” offered a third.

The zookeeper tried everything.  He changed Gord’ meals.  He brought in more things for Gord to exercise with.  He moved Gord into a bigger place to live.  Nothing worked.  Gord kept laying in one spot, hour after hour, day after day.

The zookeeper called all his fellow zookeepers.  “What should I do now,” he asked them.

“Try putting other bears around him,” they all said.

The zookeeper moved some brown and black bears next to where Gord lived.  “Well, that should make things better,” the zookeeper thought.  “Now Gord will have other bears around him.”

However, the other bears never talked to Gord.  They all talked to each other instead.  One of them would just repeat exactly what they heard other animals say, with all the other bears agreeing with everything that was being repeated.  This bothered the animals who lived nearby, as they grew tired of this bear copying everything they said and making it sound like it was something they had said on their own.  Whenever one of the other animals would ask this bear why that’s all they ever did, a different bear would shout, “Be quiet, you animals!  My friend the bear was asked to come over here and talk!”  So all the other animals stayed away from this bear.

Another one of the bears had a very loud voice.  He was always standing up on his hind legs and yelling, “Look at me!  I can do anything I want!  I am a great bear!”  Then this bear would keep on talking in a loud voice, saying very bad things about the other animals.  He said especially bad things about any animal who said nice things about the animals the bear was saying bad things about.  So all the other animals stayed very far away from this bear.

Gord stayed away from these bears too, and kept laying in the same spot, hour after hour, day after day.

Now the zookeeper was very worried.  He got all of his zookeeper friends back together, and sadly told them what was happening.  Some people suggested one thing and some suggested another, but no one could think of anything new to try for Gord.  Eventually the room became very quiet.

Then, a voice was heard on the speaker phone in the back of the room.  It said, “Why, I know what’s troubling Gord.”

Everyone turned to look at each other.

“Did you invite him to call in?” they said, one to another.

“No,” they all replied to each other.  “Did you invite him to call in?”

“No,” the response came.  “Do you know who he is?”

“No,” they all replied to each other.  “Do you know who he is?”

They all agreed that no one had invited the man to call in, and none of them knew who he was.  Then Gord’s zookeeper said to the man, “Who are you?”

“I’m a friend of Gord.  I’m here for him.”

The zookeeper was puzzled by this.  “But I’m Gord’s zookeeper.  I take care of him every day.  I’ve never seen you before.  How can you be his friend?”

The voice on the speaker phone said, “I am Gord’s friend.  I’m here for him.  I’m here to help him.”

The zookeeper replied, “Are you a zookeeper?”

“No.”

“Then how can you help him,” said the zookeeper.  “All of us in this room are zookeepers.  We’ve spent years and years taking care of the animals in our zoos, and we can’t think of a way to help Gord.  What makes you think you can?”

“Because I know what’s troubling Gord.”

The zookeeper was beginning to become annoyed.  “How can you know what’s wrong with Gord?  Everyone in this room has spent years and years taking care of the animals in our zoos.  Have you?”

“No.”

“Then how can you tell us what’s wrong with Gord?”

The voice on the speaker phone said, “Do you know what’s troubling Gord?”

“No,” came the sad reply.

“Then it won’t hurt anything if I say something about it, now will it.”

The zookeeper thought about it for a minute, then said, “No, I guess not.”

The voice on the speaker phone said, “What’s troubling Gord is that you’re not treating him with respect.”

This made the zookeeper very angry.  He shouted, “What do you mean?  Don’t I feed Gord good food every day?  I clean where he lives every day.  I keep him safe and protected by giving him a good home.  How can you say I don’t treat Gord with respect?”

“Because you don’t.”

The zookeeper replied, “And then I moved the other bears next to him so he’d have other bears around.”

“Those bears aren’t like Gord.”

“That’s not my problem,” the zookeeper snapped.  “They’re bears, and that should be good enough.  If Gord doesn’t like them, then that’s his problem.  Besides, you’d think he’d like having them next to him.  They’re all bears.”

The man smiled again.  “As I already said, those bears aren’t like Gord.  And have you ever asked Gord what he wants?”

The zookeeper snorted in disgust, “He’s a polar bear!  He can’t tell me what he wants!  Besides, he can’t possibly want anything other than what I give him.  He has food, a place to live, no enemies, and other bears nearby.  What else could he want?”

“Respect.”

“And just how am I supposed to give him this ‘respect’ you’re talking about?”

The voice on the speaker phone replied, “By talking to him, not down to him.  You give him respect by asking him what he wants.  It’s not that he doesn’t appreciate what you are doing for him.  But he also wants to know that you don’t think of him as just a polar bear.”

“He IS a polar bear!”

“And that’s the problem,” the voice on the speaker phone continued.  “Gord knows who and what he is.  But he also knows that he wants more than what he’s being given.  He wants to have someone to talk to; someone who will listen to what he has to say and who he can listen to.  Someone who respects him, and who he can respect.”

The zookeeper had heard enough.  “I don’t have time for such silliness.  I am a zookeeper.  He is a polar bear.  I don’t talk to polar bears, because polar bears have nothing to say to me.  He should be perfectly happy with everything I’ve given him.  If he wants to lay around and mope, that’s his problem.”  With that the zookeeper left, all the other zookeepers following him out of the room as they talked to each other about this strange man who obviously didn’t know anything.

“Well, I tried,” the voice on the speaker phone said to himself.  “Guess I might as well go back.”  With that, Gord hung up the phone in the zookeeper’s office he had been speaking into and left, closing the door behind him as he went back to his home in the zoo.