Garlic
“Well, look at here,” said Jed, a mountain man. “What is this? Looks like a bear cub.”
Jed walked over to where he saw the animal and took a closer look.
“Yep,” said Jed. “A bear cub it is.”
The bear cub, with a lonely expression on his face, sniffed Jed all over.
“What are you doing out here all by yourself?” asked Jed.
The bear cub looked up at Jed and then disappeared behind a huge boulder. Jed followed him.
“Well,” said Jed, seeing what had taken place. “No wonder you look so lonely. Looks like your mother has been killed by that tree that had fallen on her. That’s too bad, young one. I suppose that I will have to take you home with me.”
Jed started walking down the trail toward his cabin. The bear cub followed. Soon, they reached the little clearing.
“Now,” said Jed to the cub. “You stay right out here and I’ll go inside and rustle you up something to eat.”
Jed slipped inside his cabin and quickly closed the door behind him before the bear could follow him. However, he wasn’t quick enough. The bear cub was inside the cabin.
“Oh no!” exclaimed Jed. “This could be a disaster!”
The bear cub, however, behaved himself. He found a clear spot on the floor and he curled up and went to sleep. While he slept, Jed prepared some dinner for himself and the bear. Before he was done cooking, Jed noticed a strange odour filling his small cabin.
“Oh my!” exclaimed Jed. “That poor feller stinks! He smells a bit like garlic! Yuck!”
The bear cub woke up and while Jed set the bowl full of food under his nose, Jed could smell that awful smell, again.
“Garlic!” exclaimed Jed, finally. “That is what I am going to call you!”
Garlic and Jed became the very best of friends. Wherever Jed went, Garlic followed him. That spring and summer, Jed and Garlic spent many hours playing. Garlic’s favourite game was catch. Jed would throw a ball into the bush and Garlic would race around for hours chasing it.
One day, Jed noticed that the air outside was starting to get colder.
“Oh, oh!” exclaimed Jed. “I’ve got to start getting some wood in for the winter. If I don’t, we’ll freeze to death.”
Garlic spent most of that morning racing around the yard, while Jed was trying to stack the firewood into the cabin. Quite a few times, Garlic tried to press his nose into Jed’s side, trying to get his attention.
“I’m sorry, old buddy,” said Jed. “I can’t play with you today. I’ve got to get my work done today.”
However, Garlic didn’t understand about work. He just wanted to play. He went up to Jed once again and tried to press his nose into Jed’s side.
“Look, Garlic,” said Jed, a little annoyed. “I’ve got to get this work done. You go play.”
Garlic wandered off into the bush and in a few minutes, he was back pestering Jed again. Finally, Jed took a rubber ball out of his pocket and pretended to throw it into the bush. Garlic immediately chased after it. Then, Jed put the ball back in his pocket.
Jed was able to finish up all of his work that day, while Garlic was out in the bush, searching for the ball. When he was all finished, he took the ball out of his pocket and set it on the ground. About five minutes later, Garlic came out of the bush, picked up the ball and walked over to Jed.
“What a good boy you are!” exclaimed Jed, patting Garlic on the head.
Jed made Garlic an extra special meal that night. He was able to spend all his time and devotion on Garlic again, the next day and Garlic loved every second of it.
Moral of this Story:
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