Pooh Climbs the Tallest Tree.
For Rhona - Thank You
Deep in
The Hundred Acre Woods, Pooh Bear tucked himself into bed with a tummy full of
hunny and a smile on his face. As any bear would, he recounted the day’s
adventures as he slowly drifted off to sleep and he was truly thankful for his
friends and the day of fun adventures they had had together. Pooh sighed
contentedly, yawned with a satisfying stretch and fell into a deep slumber full
of hunny-filled dreams.
The following day was a Monday and
he was off on a new adventure; an adventure to find his friends. He had been to
each of their houses in turn and nobody was home, which Pooh thought was very
peculiar indeed. Pooh, being a very clever bear had a plan to find them. “Oh,
bother”, Pooh exclaimed as he bumped his head on the branch of the tree. He was
climbing this particular tree because you could see the whole of The Hundred
Acre Woods from it. As he climbed higher, he hummed a little song to himself
for he was a very happy, if somewhat clumsy, bear.
“Hum
diddly hum do
What
shall I doooo?
Hum
diddle hum dee doo.”
Being a bear of very little brain,
who had no time for big words or difficult to climb trees, Pooh stopped
half-way on his climb and simply sat on the branch. “Oh, bother”, he sighed and
put his head in his hands. He thought about his friends and wondered why none
of them were home, then he thought about his empty tummy and wondered where all
the hunny was hiding. “Oh, bother”. How he longed for some hunny and some
company. Owl would know where to find some. Owl was very clever after all. But
Owl was not at home and this is why Pooh was climbing the tree.
It seemed to Pooh that to be very
high up, like the trees, in the woods was much better than being a small bear
on the ground when trying to find your friends, but it didn’t seem to be very
safe and Pooh was a little bit scared. “Oh, bother”, he said again as he
continued on his climb. Perhaps, Pooh thought, he would find some hunny on his
way up the tree and wouldn’t that be something. It is always better to start an
adventure to find your friends on a full tummy. Pooh hummed another tune to
rally himself along and in what seemed like several days of starving, he
reached the top of the tallest tree in The Hundred Acre Woods. Pooh might have
noticed the achievement, had he not been such a hungry bear. That’s often the
way.
He looked this way and that. He
looked the other way. He looked over here and he looked over there but it was no
use. He could simply not find his friends. “Oh, bother”, he cried, for it is
one thing to be hungry but it is quite another to have lost your friends. Pooh
was hit with an overwhelming sadness and began to cry, “Oh, bother. Oh,
bother”, over and over for he could not find it in him to hum a tune. Pooh was
stuck in the tree for what seemed like an eternity and he felt very alone and
very, very hungry. He was beginning to get very annoyed with his rumbling tummy
and himself for climbing a very tall tree and losing all of his friends.
Perhaps, he thought, they were all having a party somewhere without him? That
was a very sad thought and Pooh started to cry.
“Hullooooo?” came a voice from
somewhere underneath him. What a funny thing for the tree to be saying to him,
he thought. He heard again, “Hulloooo?”. Pooh scratched his head in confusion. “Pooh,
are you coming down from there?” He touched his hand to his head and thought so
hard that it tired him out so much he nearly fell out of the tree. Perhaps, thought
Pooh, the tree had some hunny for him after all?
“Hullooo”, he called back down, to
the tree, “Do you have any hunny down there? Perhaps just a little morsel?”
“I don’t
have any morsels, but please come down, Pooh.”
“Oh, bother”, Pooh thought again. He
decided he should go down and investigate but he was now a very hungry and
grumpy bear, with no friends and was talking to a tree. This was not a good day
for Pooh. He was a very lonely bear. Pooh did not feel very much like Pooh Bear
at all today and this was very troubling for him.
As he got nearer to the bottom of
the tree, he saw a gathering of people. The lower he got, the clearer the
picture became. Though he was still a very hungry bear, he felt much happier
because he could see Christopher Robin and Piglet with all of their friends;
even Rabbit.
“Oh,
bother. Christopher Robin, I thought I’d never find you and I’m so very
hungry.”
“Silly Old
Bear! We came to find you but you’d gone already, off on your own adventure.
Silly Old Bear, company is always better on adventures. Let’s go together. I have a pot of hunny here just for you!”
“Oh!” Pooh
was so overcome with joy that he began to hum another tune.
“Hum dee do dah
Hunny in my tummy
Friends by my side
Hum dee dah doo
An adventure begins today.”
With a few good friends, adventures
are much more exciting and filled with hunny. Pooh was so very glad to have his
friends around him on an adventure that he jumped in puddles and gave
Christopher Robin the biggest hug he could manage with his small arms. “Oh,
thank you, Christopher Robin. I don’t know what I would do without you! I was
so lonely and lost and hungry and there you came to save me!” Just saying thank
you did not seem to be enough to Pooh though the two words were bulging with such
feeling and so Pooh did the only thing he could to show his gratitude – he
shared his pot of hunny with Christopher Robin.
The
End.