|
Egg - Part 1
In his wonderful dream Favorite Pear Tree was growing pears even in the winter time, when snow was over all the ground, and was heavy on the branches of the pear tree. The birds and other forest friends grew very hungry this time of year and looked for food all day long. But, in his dream, with all the pears on Favorite Pear Tree, everyone was enjoying food, and...
PearBear was disturbed from his dream, when he heard something outside. It was the middle of the night and he listened very carefully. He was wide awake now.
Yes, there was something, or someone, knocking at his door. This was strange. He couldn't remember that anyone had ever knocked on his door in the middle of the night. He had really been having a good sleep and a wonderful dream. What a bother, he thought.
The bear went to his door and said, "Who is there?"
"Just me," said a voice that he recognized right away. It was Dragon, who had been away somewhere for ever so long.
"Is that you, Dragon?" Asked PearBear. "It's the middle of the night. Can't you wait to visit until daylight? I'll make a nice pear omelet for us for breakfast."
PearBear was a very kind and generous bear, and hoped he really could help his friend. He opened the door and Dragon stepped inside, carrying something very carefully.
"Dragon, you have one of Robin's old nests there," said the bear. "But what in the world do you have in it?"
"It's a miniature dragon's egg," Dragon answered. "It's very old, 2000 years, give or take a century. It is my turn to care for it, and I am responsible for seeing that it is safe. But I need to make a trip to visit a sick dragon far away. I was wondering if you might take care of the egg while I am gone."
"Well, what would I have to do?" asked PearBear, not at all excited about caring for an egg that he knew absolutely nothing about. What if it should break, he wondered. "Will it hatch? Or... um... something?" PearBear knew that was what eggs usually did, sooner or later.
"Probably not," Dragon explained. "It is already a couple of millenniums old. You just have to keep it safe, and maybe dust it once in a while."
"When do you expect that it might hatch?"
PearBear was very alarmed. "What would I do with the... uh... whatever, if it should hatch while you are gone? You are coming back aren't you?"
"Not to worry, PearBear! It is safe and sound in one of Robin's well made, old nests, and it probably won't hatch for years yet. It just needs an egg sitter to keep something from stepping on it, like an elephant. That's why I thought of your nice safe den."
"Well, I really don't think... what's an elephant?" PearBear began to say.
"Thank you sooooo much, PearBear!" Dragon replied before PearBear had a chance to ask more about what an elephant was. He had never ever heard of one, which is understandable. Very few elephants wander about in pear orchards and forests.
By this time the sun was up, and time to eat a good nutritious breakfast, which is the best way to start any day, let alone one where he suddenly had become an egg sitter. Just for a tiny moment he wondered what kind of an omelet a dragon egg might make. Instead he had some oat meal and a ripe Bosc pear, and a glass of milk.
When he had finished his breakfast, it was time to go for a visit with his neighbors and friends at Favorite Pear Tree. But, what was he to do with Egg? He could leave it here in his den, or he could take it with him. He would worry about it if he left it. On the other hand it would take a lot of explaining to his forest friends if he took it with him, and he really didn't have any answers. How, he wondered, did things like this keep happening to him?
"Oh, all right!" he said to himself. He put on a fresh red and white checkered neck napkin, tucked the nest and egg under his arm, and walked carefully along the path to Favorite Pear Tree. He was very careful not to jostle the egg.
There was a large group of his neighbors to welcome him under Favorite Pear Tree. Cow, Fox, Frog, Rabbits, Spotted Owl, and more, were all there this morning.
"You are later than usual, PearBear," said Cow. "And whatever is that you are carrying?"
"Like a few hundred years?" Spotted Owl said, sarcastically.
"I certainly hope not," the bear replied. "Though he did say that it could hatch in ten years, or ten minutes."
Robin hopped down from a branch, where the robins were starting a new nest for the season. She looked at the nest and the egg, and said tartly, "Why, that's my old nest! Why is a dragon egg in my nest?"
"Well, Dragon thought that it was so well made and such a handsome nest that he couldn't have found a safer place for Egg."
At least PearBear was fairly sure that was what dragon probably did think, though he didn't exactly say so, in those same words.
"Of course he is absolutely right," said Robin, flattered that her workmanship was appreciated. She hopped up on the edge of her old nest to inspect the dragon egg.
"It's very large, and quite pretty, though not nearly as pretty as my blue eggs," she said. Then she pecked sharply twice at the egg.
"Oh my goodness sake!!" PearBear exclaimed with alarm. "Please be careful! I am responsible for Egg."
Robin ignored PearBear, pecked the lovely pink pearl egg once more, and said, "I have a certain amount of experience with eggs you know. Listen!"
From inside the egg there came several answering taps. Robin hopped up on the egg and sat down on it.
"If I'm not mistaken, PearBear, and I never am about these things, there is about to be a hatching!" Robin told him.
"Moo!" it said.
"It looks just like Dragon," said PearBear.
"Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit!" The baby dragon giggled, and pointed to frog.
"Very nice to meet you too," Frog answered.
The baby dragon looked up at PearBear, who was still holding the nest, and said, "Mama!" It smiled.
"I'm not your mama!" PearBear exclaimed. "I'm just an egg sitter until Dragon gets back!"
"I think you mean baby sitter," Spotted Owl snickered.
PearBear was beginning to see a small problem about to happen. Namely, he was indeed now a baby sitter. And he hadn't the slightest idea what you did about babies, especially baby dragons.
"What do you do with babies?" He asked his friends, who by now were admiring the baby.
"Why, you feed them," answered Cow.
"Cow is absolutely right," Robin agreed. "You just keep feeding them until they aren't hungry any longer, and then they go to sleep until they are hungry again, and then you start all over."
That didn't sound like much fun to PearBear, but he asked, "What do you feed them?"
"Milk" said Cow. "They need calcium and vitamin A."
"Protein is important."
"Or mice!" offered Fox. "Mice have protein."
Rabbit said, "Carrots are excellent for babies, children and grown ups too. They have Beta Carotene and vitamin C."
Spotted Owl had been listening to all this, and decided to offer a comment, as he usually did about most things.
"Does anyone actually know what baby dragons like?" Owl asked, "Seeing that, so far as I know, no one here has ever actually seen a baby dragon."
PearBear thought about that and said, "Well, if they are anything like a grown up miniature dragon, the one we know will eat absolutely anything."
The baby, meantime, had left the old robin nest and was now sitting on PearBear's head, pulling his ears. PearBear wasn't paying much attention because he was worrying about feeding the child dragon and at the same time wondering how soon Dragon would return to reclaim it. Sooner than ten years, he hoped. Ten years may be a very short time to a dragon, but it is a very long time to a bear.
The baby was chewing on PearBear's neck napkin now.
"Well," the bear said, "I would be very grateful if I could get some milk from Cow, some carrots from the rabbits, and I'll ripen some pears, which have vitamin C, and potassium, and lots of fiber. I'm sure that there won't be too much baby food necessary because Dragon will probably be returning any time now."
The little dragon was pulling on Cow's tail.
"Probably we should give it a name, but Dragon may have something in mind. I suppose we could continue to call it 'Egg', for now," PearBear suggested.
The dragon was swinging on Cow's tail.
"Ahem! If I could make an observation," announced Spotted Owl, which everyone knew he was going to do anyhow. "It is really not fair to expect PearBear to take complete responsibility for Egg. Dragon was very irresponsible to expect PearBear to be a baby sitter in case the egg hatched, and not to even let him know when he would return. I think that we should all take turns feeding and caring for this poor orphan child."
"That's a very good idea, Owl," said Cow. "I'll be happy to take the first turn and provide some milk, which is the first food that babies of any kind should be given. Then we can make a schedule, and share the baby sitting."
Egg had climbed up on Cow's back. "Mama!" It said.
That's very kind and generous of all of you," PearBear said with relief. I'll learn a lot about baby sitting from everyone."
And, he thought to himself, I hope I'll not have to use the information very much.
Egg was swinging from one of Cow's horns, singing "Moooo."
"Isn't that just the cutest thing?" Cow asked everyone.
|
PearBear was sound asleep in his snug and tidy home, deep in a hollow fir tree. He was dreaming an awesome dream. Favorite Pear Tree, the very large and old pear tree that was the meeting and gossip place for all his friends that lived in the forests and fields, grew alone at the top of a hill that looked over all the valleys, farms and orchards below. Acres and acres of pear and apple trees grew in those valleys but Favorite Pear Tree was the very best, biggest, and oldest.
"I really need a big favor from you, right now," answered Dragon. "It's kind of an emergency."
With that, Dragon opened his single wing, handed PearBear the nest and zipped off into the night. PearBear looked into the nest, which was completely filled with one very large egg. It was a beautiful egg, like a huge pink pearl. PearBear had never seen a pink egg, but for that matter he had never seen a dragon egg, either.
"Well it's an egg," PearBear answered. "A dragon egg that Dragon merely wants me to keep an eye on while he is gone for a very short time."
"You mean..." PearBear started to say, and before their very eyes, the pretty pink egg cracked in two and a very small baby dragon sat up and looked around. It was the same color as a Bartlett pear.
"Earthworms and caterpillars are good," advised Robin, and Sparrow agreed.