The Storytellers

“Listen to me!”

The counselor stood in the front of the bus, addressing the Bears. At first his voice only reached the first few rows because the group was very noisy. Some shouted. Some giggled. Some sang songs. Everybody was excited about meeting the children soon.

“Listen to me!” he said again. A little louder this time. With a little more force.

“Before you become a friend I want you to look at a video I’ve brought along. It will teach you what a friend is supposed to do.”

A groan rumbled through the seats and ended up as a laugh in the aisle, close to the front row. But most Bears, being the gentle things they are, didn’t want to upset the young counselor who seemed so sure of his task, and one of them, standing way in back of the bus, put his hand on top of the shoulder of the Bear in front of him and whispered something. Whatever the whisper was, it moved forward the same way the groan had spread and soon the bus was as quiet as a bus on a bumpy dirt road could be.

The counselor told the driver to pull over into the shade of a few trees. He appointed Bears number fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine, and sixty to be his helpers. They carried the equipment out of the bus and set it up on the ground. The rest of the Bears sat on the ground to watch.

And then the lecture began.