Scary bedtime story #2

There was a bear, a big bear that knew how to scare. One day the bear attacked a man who was very scared but the bear didn’t kill him, only hurt him very badly. The man was scared for a long time afterwards and didn’t go back into the woods where the bear was still hiding. But when the man was better and braver he went back into the woods. This time there was no scary bear anywhere and he was glad but he knew next time the bear could be very near and he would have to leave very quickly so that he wouldn’t be hurt again or worse. It’s not a good idea to go where there are big scary bears that can hurt you or worse. You’ve got to be very careful in this world because bad things can happen anywhere, not just in the woods with a bear but in the city or the suburbs – anywhere – and mostly the scariest things are people who want to steal or kill you or hurt you, usually for no good reason. If it happens to you or to me I hope we get better and braver like the man who was attacked by a bear. He doesn’t really blame the bear because bears are wild and he was kind of in their territory and maybe he scared the bear and a scared bear will attack anything. But it’s much harder not to blame people because people aren’t supposed to be wild and people don’t really scare that easily most of the time and even if you scared them they don’t just attack – at least, I think they don’t. People don’t really have an excuse like the bear when they do bad things to other people or animals or forests or sea animals. I wish I were as strong as the bear then maybe bad people would think twice before trying to hurt me. Be as careful as you can be, and try not to be too afraid of bad people and big bears. I don’t know what else to do or tell you. So, good night, sleep tight, and don’t let the bear bugs bite!

[This story is dedicated to those who have been hurt by animals.]
 

This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.