The First Chapter

PearBear loved to take naps in the warm afternoon sun. He tried to find sunny spots in the soft grass. The best place however, was under Favorite Pear Tree, where he could find a little shade to keep the sun out of his eyes, while his toes enjoyed the sunshine.

On this especially lovely summer day he was having a very nice nap. The buzz of bees and the smell of wildflowers had made him very drowsy, and he thought he would probably just nap until dinner time.

It was not very long into his nap when he felt a tickle on one of his toes. He wiggled his foot and the tickle stopped. Then he felt the tickle on his left knee. Very annoying! Then he felt the tickle on his nose. This was really very, very, very annoying!

PearBear opened his eyes and looked at the end of his nose. It was hard to do and his eyes crossed slightly. But there was something on his nose, all right. Quite a large something as a matter of fact, and brightly colored. A flower, he wondered?

The colored something jumped from his nose to his chest, and sat on his red and white neck napkin. "Are you awake yet?" it asked.

"Yes," sighed PearBear. "I am now. But I don't want to be. Is there something I can do for you?"

PearBear always tried to be very polite and kind, which was one reason he had so many friends in the forest and orchards. Sometimes being polite took a little more effort, like when his nap was spoiled.

The colorful whatever-it-was hadn't said exactly why he wanted PearBear to wake up, so PearBear sat up to take a better look at it. That caused the creature to fall to the ground.

"Why, you are a lizard," exclaimed PearBear. "But, the prettiest lizard I've ever seen!"

"No. I am not a lizard," said the creature, very firmly. "I am a dragon."

"Oh, puh-leese!" said the Bear. "Dragons are large. Awfully large as a matter of fact. And they tend to scorch things when they breathe fire, and they have scales, and ..."

"Did you ever meet a large dragon?" asked the little animal, or whatever it was.

"Well, no. But I've heard a lot about them," PearBear replied.

"There are very few left, if any at all."

"Could you be a baby dragon?" asked the bear, thinking that the little fellow was probably a lizard that wished to be a dragon.

"Nope," was the response. "I am fully grown. I am a miniature dragon."

"Let's see you breathe some fire," PearBear challenged.

"Miniature dragons do not breathe fire. Fire is dangerous. But we do other neat stuff. What are your favorite colors?" asked the whatever, who was blue and orange, with some pink stripes here and there.

"Why, let's see. I love green, the color of Anjou pears. And yellow, yes, like Bartlett pears. And I love pear blossom white."

The creature immediately turned to green and yellow, with white stripes.

"Oh! Now I understand! You are a chameleon. Those are just lizards that can turn color. But your colors are the prettiest I've ever seen on chameleons."

The creature was so angry that he jumped up and down, and turned so many colors that PearBear thought he was watching a fast rainbow.

"Oh, you have upset me so much! Why won't you believe that I am what I am? A real Dragon!"

"OK, then." PearBear was sorry he had hurt the feelings of his new acquaintance. "You are indeed a dragon. What do dragons like to eat?"

"Bears," snapped Dragon.

"Oh, come now, Dragon. Don't be silly. I'm way too big for you to eat!" laughed PearBear.

"Don't push me," puffed Dragon, whose colors had settled down to shades of pink and purple. "Did you say something about eating? What do you have available? I've only had three houseflies and a grasshopper all week and I'm starving!"

If there was anything PearBear worried about, it was having any of his friends hungry. And while Dragon had been a new friend for only about ten minutes, he could understand that he needed something to eat right away. Pears were the first thing PearBear always thought of when he thought of food, which was often.

"I will invite you to dinner at my house. We'll start with a nice salad made from Bosc pears on spinach leaves, and a peanut butter sandwich. Then a bowl of vegetable soup, and Pear Crisp for dessert." PearBear was getting hungry just thinking about it, and didn't miss his nap any longer.

"That sounds very nice. I haven't eaten a pear for about a hundred years. Will you carry me?" asked Dragon.

"Dragons are supposed to fly," replied the bear. But I see that you have no wings, so I suppose I can carry you."

"I have a wing," said Dragon, and unfolded one small wing from the middle of his back, which whirled like a helicopter. "I just don't know where we are going."

Dragon rose into the air gracefully and buzzed around PearBear's head several times, finally landed on top of it, between his ears.

"Sit still now," said PearBear, moving Dragon's tail from in front of his left eye.

They started off on the trail that led to PearBear's home in the forest. Around the bend, there was Fox, trotting along as if he didn't have much to do that day.

"Well, hello there, PearBear," Fox said, friendly as could be. Then he looked more closely at PearBear and said, "Say, do you know you have a lizard sitting on your head?"

"Shhh! Don't say that! This is a dragon, and he gets very upset when he is called a lizard."

Dragon wagged his tail, turned a lovely shade of mostly violet with some blue trim. His tail fell over PearBear's eye again.

Fox thought that the bear had gone bonkers, but he wasn't going to say so, because he was much smaller than Bear. So, he just smiled and said, "Interesting. Where are you two going this beautiful day?"

"Dragon is hungry, and I have invited him to dinner. Perhaps you would like to join us."

Bear was thinking that if he fed Fox too, perhaps Fox wouldn't be interested in hunting for his friends, the mice and rabbits.

Fox asked, "Are you serving mice?"

"Now see here, Fox," said PearBear. "You know how it angers me when you try to eat my friends. You are so sly that I haven't caught you, but..."

"Just kidding, PearBear. Just kidding. I think I'll just go on my walk, but thank you for asking. Nice meeting you, Liz....I mean Dragon."

Dragon wagged his tail in front of PearBear's eye and remained pretty much the same color.

"It's a shame," PearBear said to Dragon. "If Fox would learn to eat fresh fruits and vegetable, he'd be much healthier, and he'd have more friends, too. It's hard to be friendly with folks that might eat you for lunch."

When they arrived at PearBear's snug home in a large hollow fir tree, the bear made pear salad first for Dragon, while he made the rest of dinner. Dragon ate it all, and while PearBear wasn't watching, he ate his salad, too. PearBear noticed his plate was empty and thought it was rude of Dragon to be such a pig. But, if Dragon hadn't eaten much all week, he wouldn't say anything.

Dragon ate three peanut butter sandwiches while he waited for the soup to be finished. When his soup came, he ate it hungrily, and asked for another bowl. "What are the green things in the soup?" he asked. "They're delicious."

"Peas," PearBear told the Dragon.

"Give me lots of peas, please," said Dragon. "The orange things are nice, too."

"Carrots," said Bear. "You won't want any Pear Crisp for dessert, and it's my favorite."

"Oh yes I will," Dragon replied. "I hope there's lots. This is much nicer than houseflies." He was now green and orange like peas and carrots.



Story Continues in Part 2