By the time Little Pine finished sharing his day’s adventures with his mother over supper, his eyelids were drooping.  “You’ve had quite a day, Little Pine,” his mother said.  “In fact, your days have been full of amazing happenings since the Festival season began.  Your young mind must be working hard to understand all the things you have experienced.”

“That’s for sure,” yawned Little Pine.  “All those bears and their stories, the choir music, the hugs, and then meeting the real Santa Claus and having him name me ‘Prince Little Pine, Ambassador of Friendship.’”  Little Pine rubbed his eyes and yawned again.  “I mean, it’s been wonderful. But it’s something else, too.  I don’t know the word for it, but it sort of freezes up my brain.”

Mother Pine rubbed Little Pine’s back and said, “I think the word is ‘overwhelmed.’  But don’t worry.  You’ll get it all sorted out in time.  And you’ll have wonderful memories to enjoy.”  She picked up his empty soup bowl and said, “Why don’t you go to bed early tonight.  Sleep is often the best remedy when our brains are working to put things in place.”

Little Pine didn’t argue with her suggestion at all.  He washed up and settled in for a good night’s sleep with his mother’s kiss on his forehead and her wish for sweet dreams in his heart.

He fell asleep right away.  At first he dreamed a dream where all the week’s images danced like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.  But then he drifted away into a beautiful starlit silence, filled with nothing but a deep feeling of peace.  If you could have seen him then, you would have noticed a soft, sweet smile on his face.

He had been floating through the velvety peace for quite some time when a glow began to fill the space.  It grew brighter and soon, in his sleep, he was seeing the vision of a beautiful angel.  “Greetings, Little Pine,” she said.  “I am an angel of Peace and Joy, and I bring a message from the Yes to you.   This message is for your heart, which is pure and full of love.  Do not be concerned whether your mind remembers or understands it.  Your heart will know its meaning and be at ease.”

And with that introduction, the Angel of Peace and Joy spoke these words:

“This peace you feel is the breath of the Yes,
holding your sorrows and your joys
in balanced measure, enfolding them both
in Its love.  And the Light whose return
you celebrate on your Festival Day–
although, in truth, it has never left you–
is the breathing of the Sun behind the sun,
an emissary, of the Yes, fostering Life
in every form and place and season,
in the unspeakable  name of the Yes
and through Its infinite love.

And here, in these woods,
you, too, are an emissary of love,
bringing joy to everyone you meet.
And so, I bring you peace,
for you, too, are of the breathing
of the Yes, and deeply loved.
May peace and joy dwell in your heart forever.”

And then the angel faded into the night sky, and Little Pine slept in its velvety, star-sparkled peace.  And when he awoke in the morning, his heart was filled with contentment and joy.

After his meeting with Santa Claus, Little Pine wandered the back paths of the woods for a long, long time.  He needed time to try to understand what it meant to be named a Prince by the King of the Elves.  It sounded very important and he wasn’t quite sure what was expected of him.

As he walked along, deep in thought, the trees and woodland creatures greeted him with merry smiles.  “Oh, Little Pine!” they would say, “What a beautiful star you have!”  He stopped to chat for a few minutes with each of them, asking how they were enjoying Festival season so far.  Their stories cheered him, and by late afternoon, he decided he would focus on the second half of his new title, “Ambassador of Friendship.”  He liked that part a lot.  He didn’t have to tell anybody that he was a prince.  In his mind, everybody was a prince or princess.  Everybody was special in his or her own way.

Still, he admitted to himself, he really liked the shining star that Santa had fastened to his crown.  It would always be a reminder of this special day and of his mission—to be a friend.  He decided that he would keep it in a special place where he could see it every day, but he’d wear it only for Festival season.

After he figured everything out, he was his usual happy self again, and he turned toward home.  He certainly had quite a story to tell Mother over supper tonight.

He was right at the fork in the trail where he turned to get home when he spotted a family of bears resting beneath the branches of one of his cousins.  “Hello!” he greeted them cheerily.  “I’m Little Pine.  Welcome to our Festival!”

“Thank you, Little Pine.  We’re the Her family.  I’m Her-Man, and this is my wife, Her-She, and our twins, Her-O and Her-Oine.  We just got here and we’re supposed to find Grandmother Bear and check in.  Do you happen to know where we can find her?”

“You’re almost there right now,” Little Pine said, and he explained how the right branch of the fork in the trail would take them to the bears’ encampment.  “You’re going to have a wonderful time,” Little Pine told them.  “Grandmother will make you feel right at home and you’re going to get to meet more bears than you can imagine.  They’ve been coming every day, some from very far.

“Did you have to travel long to get here?”

“Oh, yes,” said Her-she.  “We’ve been walking many days.  In fact, we thought we were lost.  But then we heard some whistling and it seemed that we should follow the song.  To our surprise, when we reached the source of the music, it was coming from three happy elves!  They gave us a snack and told us we were already here.”

“You’ll be seeing more of them,” Little Pine said.  “They check out the whole woods every day to make sure everybody is happy and the decorations are in order.  You’ll see their handiwork everywhere.

“Listen, I have a little time before I have to be home for supper.  Let me take you to Grandmother Bear.”

“Thank you, Little Pine,” said Her-man.  “That would be wonderful.”

Little Pine was quite taken by the baby bears and the pretty cart they were riding in.  He suspected the family was ready for some rest after their long journey and he didn’t want them to feel alone or to be afraid again that they might be lost.  So he led them toward the encampment.

Her-She noticed the decorations on the tree-stumps and Little Pine explained that they were drums that the chipmunks and squirrels and woodpeckers would play for the Grand March on Festival Day.  “You’re in for a day that you’ll never forget,” he told her.

They were nearly there when the babies sniffed the air and started laughing.  Her-She sniffed the air, too, and said, “Oh! Honey!  There’s honey nearby!”

“That’s Grandmother Bear’s special holiday treat,” Little Pine said.  “She adds it to everything she makes for the bears.  And after you eat and are rested, you’ll get to join the choir,” Little Pine said.  He was thinking about Sugar Bear and hoping he might see her.  Secretly, he wanted her to see him wearing his bright, new shining star.

The Her family picked up the pace a little once they smelled the honey.  When they got to the camp, Little Pine was pointing out the main cave where Grandmother Bear would welcome them and feed them.

“But before you go,” he said, reaching in his pocket for four fun bubbles, “Here’s a little welcome gift for you.”   Each bubble burst into streamers of different colors and the sound of elves whistling danced around them in the merriest Festival songs.  They all laughed at the surprising show, and then they said their good-byes—just as Little Pine spotted Sugar Bear coming from the main cave.

She was, she said, on her way to another choir practice and couldn’t chat long.  “But I must tell you, Little Pine, that you looking stunning with that beautiful golden star!” and before he knew what was happening, she wrapped her soft white arms around him and gave a big bear hug.

“What tales I’ll have to tell tonight!” he said to himself, “a whole bear family!  And another, wonderful hug!”  And he skipped happily all the way home, thinking to himself that he must be one of the luckiest pines on the planet.

Little Pine’s breakfast was waiting for him on the table when he got up, and his mother seemed to be bubbling with excitement. “Good Morning, Mother,” he said, wondering what was going on.

“Good Morning, Little Pine. You need to eat your breakfast quickly. A blue jay stopped by with a message from the elves. They have a surprise for you, and they need you to meet them at the end of Holly Trail as quickly as you can.”

“The surprise!” Little Pine said, taking a big bite of his winterberry muffin. “I’d almost forgotten all about it! What do you think it could be?”

“Well, with your little elf friends, I suppose anything is possible,” Mother Pine said.

Little Pine quickly finished his muffin, took a big swig of spruce juice, kissed his mother on the cheek and ran out the door.

Holly Trail was a long trail, weaving up and down through the wooded hills. But Little Pine was so excited that he felt as if he was flying as he ran along. As he neared the end, he saw twinkling lights and bits of bright colors shining through the trees. “They must have decorated a special one,” Little Pine thought, racing over the last few bends in the trail.

“Oh!” he gasped when the tree came fully into view. It was the most spectacularly decorated tree that he had ever seen. Just then he heard the elves calling his name.

“Little Pine! Little Pine! Come see!” they called.

He ran toward their voices, and then all of a sudden he came to a screeching halt and his heart pounded with fear. Right there on a tree branch sat a small white-bearded human. “Oh, no!” Little Pine thought. “He must have seen me running!” He had broken the Number One Rule.

The elves burst into gales of laughter. “It’s okay!” the youngest elf called. “He’s not a human. He’s our Grand Old Elf, our Elf King. He just wears a human disguise because the humans love him. He’s famous among their kind. They know him all over the whole world!”

Little Pine stood stark still as the little elf’s words sunk in. “Are you sure?” he gulped.

“Hello, Little Pine,” the bearded figure said in a surprisingly warm, deep voice. “It’s true. I’m an elf. One of the oldest in the world. I’m known by many names, but in your part of the world, they call me Santa Claus, and so may you.”

Something in the old elf’s voice assured Little Pine that he was telling the truth. Little Pine stepped nearer and with a little bow said, “I’m so pleased to meet you, Santa Claus. It’s such an honor that you would come to our Festival! Welcome!”

“The honor is mine,” said Santa. “Your Festival has quite a reputation. I understand that it’s one of the most joyous and sincere Festivals anywhere. Besides, I had a couple tasks to do here.”

“Tasks?” said Little Pine. “Can I help you with them in any way?”

“Ho-ho-ho!” laughed the old elf. He turned to the oldest brother. “He’s just like you said he was!”

Little Pine wondered what his friend had told Santa. But it wouldn’t be polite to ask.

“Little Pine,” his friend said, “we first learned that Santa would be visiting when the bears started coming. See, every year on Festival Day, Santa flies around the world leaving gifts for everyone—for the humans and all the other creatures of the earth, to remind them that they are all dearly loved. He needed to check his list so he would know which bears had come here so he could deliver their presents to the right place. We were just going over it with him to be sure it was complete.”

“You mean this is the REAL Santa? The one who leaves gifts for us all? Wow! I never dreamed that I’d get to meet you in person!” he said to the Elf King.

Santa laughed his “Ho-ho-ho!” again and said, “My second reason for coming here does involve you, Little Pine. When your elf friends here learned that I was coming, they asked if you could meet me and if I would bring you something special. They told me you were the finest of friends, not only to them, but to every creature in the woods. You are always kind, willing to lend an ear and a helping hand. And not only that, but you bring happiness to everyone you meet. They said you are a Prince among trees.”

Little Pine didn’t know what to say. He never thought of himself as being any more special than anyone else. And all of his friends brought him as much happiness as he gave to them.

“So,” Santa Claus continued, “At the request of your elf friends, and because I can see that everything they have told me about you is true, I have a special gift for you.” He reached into a big bag that was balanced on a branch near where he was sitting and rummaged around in it a bit.

“Ah, here it is!” he said, pulling out a beautiful golden star with blazing streamers falling from each of its points. “Come stand in front of me, Little Pine, and bow down your head.”

Little Pine did as Santa instructed. “In the name of the Love that is Friendship,” Santa said, “by the powers vested in me as King of the Elves, I hereby grant you the title of Prince Little Pine, Ambassador of Friendship to all.” With those words, he fastened the star to Little Pine’s head, and the elves flung glittering confetti in the air and whistled their very best song. And Little Pine’s heart filled with joy.

Little Pine had only gone a few steps down the trail when he spotted two more little bears playing in the branches of one of his cousin pines. He introduced himself and welcomed them to the Festival.

“Hi, Little Pine! We’re the Wuzzy Bears. I’m Fuzzy and this is my little brother Buzz,” said the older bear. “We’re so happy to be here for your Festival. The trees in your woods are so, so, um, fluffy! Their needles are so long and soft! We love playing in them. Where we live, the pines all have short, bright needles, like yours. They’re easier to grip, I must admit. But these long ones tickle and make us laugh!”

Little Pine giggled. This was the most talkative bear he’d met yet. “Well, just be careful. Only a few minutes ago I met a little bear who took a tumble from one of these trees and bumped his head.”

“Oh, we’re adept climbers,” Fuzzy said. “Don’t you worry about us.”

“Say, I like your name, Fuzzy. It suits you,” Little Pine said.

Fuzzy giggled. “Thanks,” he said. “My fur came from a wish. When I was born, for some reason I didn’t have much fur, just a little bit of fuzz. So Mom and Dad called me Fuzzy, and they made a birthday wish that my fuzz would turn to fur. And as you can see, their wish came true, even though it took a full year, and by then, of course, it was too late to change my name.”

“That’s a great story,” said Little Pine. “I believe all wishes that are made from the heart come true in one way or another. Sometimes they take a while, and sometimes they don’t turn out quite the way you expected. But sooner or later, they’re granted. At least that’s what I believe.

“And how did Buzz get his name?”

“Well,” said Fuzzy. “His story is kind of funny. Just after he was born, he went for a little stroll and somehow he tumbled into a pool of honey. He thought that he’d been born into the sweetest world! He ate as much as his baby tummy would hold, and when he came back from his adventure, he was covered in sticky honey and a bunch of bees were buzzing around him. Then when he tried to say how fun it all was, his mouth was so sticky that all he could do was buzz.

“And you know what? To this day, when he’s really, really happy, he buzzes with joy.”

Buzz buzzed, and Little Pine laughed.

“Are you two in the choir?” Little Pine asked. “I heard some of the rehearsal last night.”

“Oh, yes!” said Fuzzy. “All the bears are taking part. It’s our special gift for Festival Day.”

“Well from what I heard last night, it’s going to be very special indeed,” said Little Pine.

“Sugar Bear is teaching different groups of us every night because bears keep arriving. And on Festival Day, we’ll put all our parts together. So until then, even we don’t know how it will sound, but we sure are excited,” Fuzzy said.

“Everyone is excited,” said Little Pine. “Festival Day is the best day of the year. The Light begins its return and it plants the kernels of new dreams in everyone. Then we rest and let the kernels grow, each of them taking its own special shape for each of us, all of them helping us reach for our own best possibilities for the coming year. It’s a gift from the Yes, and that’s why we celebrate with so much joy.”

“It happens that way where we live, too,” said Fuzzy. “The Light brings the Life of the Yes to us to show us what we can be.”

“Well whatever dreams it brings you,” said Little Pine, “I bet they’ll be wrapped in fun.”

“I hope they’ll be drenched in honey!” said Buzz, buzzing a little and smacking his lips.

Little Bear laughed and reached in his pocket. “I’m going to see if I can meet more bears,” he said. “You are one of the friendliest species I’ve ever met! Here’s a little present for you, just to thank you for coming.” And he gave them each fun bubbles that burst into the sounds of a laughing kazoo and spun strands of honey candy all around them.

After breakfast the next morning, Little Pine headed out to see if the elves needed any help. His mother told him that she had heard the singing during the night, too, and she was humming some of the Festival songs as he left. The whole woods felt happier somehow as he scampered down the trail.

The elves had already gone out to deliver more treats to the tree hollows when Little Pine got to their house. But Jeffrey Gingerman was out in the yard looking at an enormous pile of seeds. “Hi, Jeffrey!” Little Pine said. “Where did you get that all those seeds?”

“Hi, Little Pine. A flock of blackbirds brought them early this morning. They heard we needed more supplies to feed the bears,” Jeffy laughed, “and they scoured all the fields at the west end of the woods and scooped up every seed they could find. I think we’re set for the whole Festival season now!”

“I guess so!” Little Pine laughed. The seed pile was as high as the roof the elves’ house. There would be no hungry bears here! “You and Mother Elf certainly have your work cut out today. Is there anything that I can do to help you? Or do the elf boys need me?”

Jeffrey Gingerman smiled and said he and Mother Elf had a great system going, and were having a ball baking up all the treats. The little elves were happily at work, too, and said a little dancing horse named Penelope had come with a cart to carry more batches of goodies for them. But if Little Pine wanted to take a basket of lunch to them and tell them hello, Jeffrey could pack one in a jiffy.

Little Pine was glad he could do that, and soon he was skipping down the trail in pursuit of the elves and Penelope. He found them, whistling as usual, and they all greeted him with big smiles when they saw him. He was happy to see Penelope again, too. “How nice of you to help!” he told her.

“Thanks, Little Pine,” she said. “I never dreamed that I would get to play with elves! When I get back to the stables after the Festival, the other ponies won’t even believe all the stories I’ll have to tell!”

“And you haven’t even see the best of it yet,” one of the elves chimed in.

It was too early in the day to eat lunch yet, so Little Pine just left the basket with his friends and wished them a happy day. Then he headed down the back trail to the pond’s edge to meet some of the newly arrived bears. Maybe he’d even get to see Sugar Bear, he thought. He wanted to tell her that he had seen her directing the choir.

He was almost to the edge of the encampment when he spotted two little bears sitting in a tree. “Hello,” he said. “I’m Little Pine. Welcome to the Festival!”

The girl bear, who was the bigger of the two, said, “Thank you, Little Pine. I’m Milly Bear, and this is my little brother, Billy.”

Little Pine’s heart was touched by the sight of Billy Bear. He had a big bruise on his forehead and he looked very sad. “What happened to Billy?” he asked.

“Oh, we were playing and he fell out of the tree and bumped his head. He started howling and I was scared. But all of a sudden a bear named Tuffy showed up. She looked at his head and kissed it and gave him a big hug and said he would be perfectly fine in no time at all. Then she gave him an apple. She was sweet.

“He stopped howling after he ate the apple, but he saw his reflection in the pond and now he’s sad because he won’t look pretty for the Festival.”

“Hi, Billy,” Little Pine said gently. “I’m so glad that you could come to our Festival. I’m sorry you took a tumble and banged your head. But everybody has accidents, you know. Especially the most daring and playful among us.”

Little Pine told Billy and Milly how just yesterday two big brown bears had to rescue Atlanta Bear and Marvin Monkey after their sled got stuck in a tree. Billy laughed at the story, despite himself. “ I think your bruise is a sign that you are a bear who knows how to have fun,” Little Pine said. “And merriment is a big part of what our Festival is all about.”

Little Pine’s words cheered Billy so much that he turned a somersault right there in the tree. Then he leaped onto one of Little Pine’s branches and give him a tight, happy hug. It was the first bear hug that Little Pine ever received. And he left the pair hoping that one day he would get many more of them.

Little Pine was half asleep by the time he got home.   But he revived as he shared supper with his mother and told her about all the adventures his day had held.

Every day was an adventure, of course.  You never knew when you got up in the morning what the hours would hold.  But Festival season seemed to overflow with surprises.

Mother Pine laughed at her son’s stories.  He was having such a happy time meeting and greeting all the guests as they arrived.  She was proud of him, too, for taking time to help the elves before he went to meet the bears.  He had a good heart, she thought, a heart full of kindness.

By the time he finished telling her about Penelope the Pony, Little Pine was yawning.  His mother gave him a small maple leaf candy for dessert and then tucked him in for the night, kissing his forehead and wishing him sweet dreams.

He fell instantly asleep.

Then, long about midnight, he woke to a moonless sky glistening with stars.  As he lay there gazing at their beauty and thinking about how marvelous it was just to be alive, a faint sound of music floated across the pond.  It was quiet, but very rich, and like nothing he had ever heard before.

It went on for a while and then stopped.  His mind was still trying to figure out what it was and where it was coming from when it began again.  Drawn by its haunting beauty, he decided to follow it to its source.  He stood at the edge of the pond and listened.  It seemed to be coming from Grandfather Pine’s end of the pond, from the bears’ encampment.    As he headed in that direction, he almost felt as if he were floating on the enchanting sound.

Then it stopped again.  And he stood still, wondering if he was really awake or if this was a dream.  No, he was pretty sure he was awake.   He kept walking toward the camp and after a short while a new song started.  He was even more curious now about what it could be.

When he got to the camp, he saw a light gleaming from the big clearing behind the main cave.  Quietly, he tiptoed toward it, all the while lost in the wonder of the sound.   At the edge of the clearing, he stopped and parted the branches of a tree just as the music stopped again.  And what he saw astonished him.

Dozens of bears were seated in a big semi-circle, quiet, and gently smiling.  Sugar Bear stood before them with a wand of some kind in her paw.  “Very good,” she was saying to them.  “You’re getting better with every song.”  The bears’ smiles broadened and their eyes twinkled at her praise.

“For this next one, I’d like the younger girl bears to sing with just a bit more volume so their part sounds as if its dancing atop the rest.  Let’s imagine that their notes are snowflakes falling, and that the older girl bears are the treetops, and the boys are the woods, the earth and its waters.”  

She smiled at them, tapped her wand on a little log in front of her, then raised it in the air.  Every bear was watching her intently.  When she began to move the wand, the young girl bears began to sing a high, sparkling line of music.  Then softly, the others chimed in and the song grew in depth and richness.  It was a song about peace, and comfort, and joy—a perfect song for bears to sing, Little Pine thought.

He stood perfectly still, listening, and his heart filled with sweetness and love.

When the song finished, he turned to tiptoe away, casting one last glance in Sugar Bear’s direction.  He could hear her voice giving the choir more direction and he thought she sounded like the brook in springtime as it danced over the pebbles.

His eyes were filled with happy tears as he once again returned to sleep.  This was the best Festival season ever, he thought, and he fell asleep with a smile on his face and the sound of distant singing floating through his boughs.  

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.

Little Pine worked all morning tucking freshly baked treats in the hollows of trees. He was just finishing with his seventh basketful when he heard the whistling of the elves coming down the trail.

“Hey, Little Pine!” one of the shouted to him, waving. “It’s lunch time!” They skipped over to him and handed him a big mug of hot butternut stew.

“Thanks for your help, Little Pine. Mother said you have been out here for hours.”

“You’re welcome. I’ve had fun. I got to chat with some chipmunks and mice, and a couple squirrels and even an opossum. They were quite curious about what I was doing. So I explained about the bears and they said they wouldn’t eat the treats we hid in the hollows since they were meant for our special guests. I promised them that Mother Elf was making plenty for Festival Day, too—enough for them to take plenty of them home after the feast.”

“We finished decorating the stumps today,” the middle elf said. “So we’ll be able to hide the rest of the treats that are ready if you have other things that you’d like to do.”

“Thanks!” said Little Pine. “I would like to see if more bears have come. They’re wonderful creatures, you know, and I want them to know that they’re welcome.”

As they ate, he saw a look on the eldest elf’s face that he had noticed the other day. It was kind of smug and mischievous and he wondered what it meant. “What’s going on?” he asked the elf. “You’re wearing a most peculiar expression.”

“Oh, nothing,” the elf said, smiling. The other two elf-brothers giggled. “It’s a secret,” the youngest one said. “You’ll see. It’s a surprise.”

Little Pine knew better than to try to get them to tell him what it was. Elves were some of the best secret-keepers in the world, especially when they had surprises up their sleeves. So he told them about meeting Tuffy Bear and Sugar and how sweet they were, how full of affection. And the elves told him about the red-headed woodpeckers and how they were inviting all their aunts and uncles and cousins from the nearby woods to join in the drumming on Festival Day.

When they finished their lunch, Little Pine told them goodbye and headed over to the end of the pond where the bears were staying. He kept thinking about the elves’ secret and grew more curious with every step, trying to imagine what it could be.

He had just reached the edge of the pond when he heard a tinny, clanging sound up ahead. “What could that be?” he wondered out loud. He quickened his pace. The noise seemed to be coming from a tree down the trail and it was accompanied by the funniest chattering sound. Then he saw a flash of red and looking closer saw a bear and some other kind of little animal sitting on a sled way up on one of his cousin pine’s branches.

“Hello!” he hollered up to them. “I’m Little Pine. Welcome to our Festival. What are you doing up in that tree?”

“Hello, Little Pine,” said the bear. “I’m Atlanta, the sailor bear, and this is my friend Marvin Monkey. We went sledding yesterday when the snow was still here and we went flying over the top of a big hill and ended up in this tree. Now we’re stuck, I’m embarrassed to say. We’ve been here all night.”

“Oh no!” said Little Pine. “How can I help you?”

“Help is on its way,” Atlanta Bear said. “Sugar Bear heard Marvin’s cymbals this morning and she went to get some big brown bears who came in last night. They’re very tall and clever, and I’m quite sure they will be able to get us safely down.”

“I’m sorry you had to be stuck all night,” Little Pine said with a soft laugh, “But I have to tell you that you two look pretty funny up there on a sled in a tree!”

“I’m sure we’ll be the talk of bear town for days,” said Atlanta. “Marvin thinks it’s marvelous. He lives to amuse. And I must admit that I’m an adventurous sort of bear, and now I have another yarn to tell when I get home. So no one is the worse for it.”

Just then the two brown bears arrived and in no time at all, they rescued Marvin and Atlanta. “Grandmother Bear will be relieved to see you safe and sound,” one of the big bears said. “She was concerned. She had Tuffy on standby, and she’s made a special lunch to feed you when we get back.”

Little Pine introduced himself to the brown bears and thanked them for their help. Then he gave everyone fun bubbles as he accompanied them back to bear town. They walked along in the shower of dancing lights from the bubbles and laughed at the song that filled the air: “Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother’s house we go . . . “