It was late afternoon when Little Pine and his new friends got to the end of the pond where the bears were gathering. A happy noise that sounded like a mixture of bear-talk and singing grew louder and louder as they neared the cave-like shelters that the elves had built for the guests.
“Lunchtime!” one of the big brown bears said, sniffing the air.
“Yum! Yum!” said the other, and the two of them quickened their steps.
Atlanta, the Sailor Bear, stayed by Little Pine’s side, but the little monkey leaped into the trees and began swinging toward the main cave, a large construction that could hold dozens of bears. Atlanta pointed to the ground and said, “Look at all the tracks! A lot more bears must have come.”
Then she wiggled her nose and breathed in the air. “Honey!” she said. “My favorite thing! And am I ever hungry after spending the night stuck on that sled in the tree!”
“Who’s cooking for everyone?” Little Pine asked. He couldn’t even imagine making treats for dozens of bears.
“Oh, all your little woodland creatures have been bringing baskets of nuts and dried berries and things. And someone named Josie is doing the cooking.”
“That would be Josie Gingerman,” Little Pine said. He told Atlanta how the Gingermans were food experts and loved to help feed people. It gave them, he told her, great joy.
They were nearing the encampment now and Little Pine saw a long line of bears of every color, shape and size outside the main cave. But walking toward him was a pretty white bear, smiling, and calling his name. He felt his heart do a little dance at the sight of her.
“Hi, Little Pine,” she said.
“Hi, Sugar! I’m so happy to see you! Let me introduce you to Atlanta Bear. She’s had quite an adventure and I’m sure she’d love to tell you about it.”
They had reached the end of the food line now, and after Sugar and Atlanta chatted for a moment, Sugar said she had to be off. She was teaching the bears to sing a couple Festival songs in the clearing behind the main cave. As each group of them finished eating, they would come to the circle and join in learning the songs. It was almost time for the next round of lessons.
Sugar said goodbye and hurried down the trail. And Little Pine said goodbye to Atlanta, too. The sun was already sinking in the sky and he was getting hungry himself. Besides, he wanted to stop and see Holly Tree and hear how she was enjoying the Festival activities. She lived across the pond from him, right next to one of his cousins, and was a longtime friend. Often, hers was the very first song he heard when he woke on Festival Day morning. He had time before dinner. And anyway, friendship was even more important to him than eating.
As he neared the place where Holly lived, he heard her musical voice. She seemed to be chatting with someone. When he got to their curve in the pond, he saw that his cousin was all decorated for Festival. The elves picked out different pine trees to decorate every year and it was a special honor to get to wear the berries and bows. Little Pine was happy for his cousin.
“Hi, Little Pine!” Holly called when she spotted him. “Happy Festival! Come and meet one of our new guests!”
Little Pine scampered over to her side and there, nestled in his cousin’s branches, he saw a darling little horse. At least he guessed it was a horse. He’d seen humans riding them on the trails sometimes. “This is Penelope Pony, Little Pine. She came to represent the family of horses this year.”
“Welcome, Penelope,” said Little Pine. “Yours is a magnificent family. I’m glad you could join us.”
“Thank you, Little Pine. I’m delighted to be here. Everyone is so friendly! I especially like the chipmunks that I met this morning. They let me give them rides and they clicked and chirped with glee as I danced them around the trees. I love to dance.”
“And I would love to see you dance sometime,” said Little Pine. “I have always been impressed with how gracefully your kind moves. The horses that come to the woods with their humans are much, much larger than you and yet they move as if they are dancing to some beautiful music that only they hear. Maybe you could dance for everyone on Festival Day! Would you like to do that? I would be happy to have you added to the program.”
Penelope was thrilled with Little Pine’s offer and nickered a happy acceptance. “Consider it done, then,” Little Pine said.
He visited with Penelope and Holly and his cousin for a while, telling them the story of Atlanta Bear and Marvin Monkey, and then, as the sun sunk behind the trees, he wished them a good evening and said he had to be heading home.
But of course before he left, he gave each of them a fun bubble. “Gifts for you,” he said laughing, “from the Spirits of Fun.” He tossed the first one to Penelope and it burst into lights that looked like carrots and apples. It gave off a happy tune that set her to dancing in delight. Holly’s bubble sang Festival tunes and sent ribbons of gold light swirling around her adorned with holly berry wreaths. And the one he gave his cousin played sound of trumpets and sent a rush of white doves circling him in ribbons of light.
“Happy Festival!” sand Little Pine as he scampered away. “See you later!”
“Goodbye, Little Pine,” they called. And he heard the music and their laughter all the way home.