Bear Cub Lucas Wants to Play the Violin. Heli Künnapas

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      Heli Künnapas

       Bear Cub Lucas Wants to Play the Violin

      Translated from Estonian original by Katrin Haiba, 2019

      Copyright © 2019 by Heli Künnapas

      ISBN 978-9949-7403-2-1 (hardcover)

      ISBN 978-9949-7403-3-8 (e-book)

      Published by:

      Heli Kirjastus OÜ

      Jädivere küla, Märjamaa vald

      78013 ESTONIA

      www.helikirjastus.ee

      1. Hello there, a family of bears!

      Deep in the forest lives a family of bears – mama bear, papa bear and their three cubs. Their home is a cozy little cabin under tall spruce trees. The oldest of the cubs, Kelly, has been going to school for several years already. Her little brother Lucas is seven and starting school very soon. The baby of the family, Kitty, goes to the Woodland Village kindergarten. Many wonderful animals share the forest with the bears.

      Papa bear often roams far from home, hunting for food and other necessities. Mama bear is a teacher in the Woodland Village School. It’s been summer for sev-eral months, so mama bear is home with her cubs. But the new school year is al-most here. It’s a special one for the family of bears – Lucas is going to school for the first time.

      Bear cub Lucas has a big dream. It makes him very happy and a bit sad at the same time same. Lucas wants to learn to play the violin. Lately, this dream has filled his thoughts day and night. The bear cub is thrilled to have found such a beau-tiful dream. It all started on a warm August afternoon when he heard the cricket Rita chirp and play her violin. What a wonderful sound! He knew that very night that he wanted to become a violinist too.

      He told his parents right away.

      “You can become whoever you want to become,” said his mom, giving him a big bear hug.

      “We’ll see,” grunted papa bear with a bit less enthusiasm.

      After that, the bear cub went to the playground to play with the other young an-imals. He was so excited about his dream, so he shared it right away with all his friends. What a shock it was when they all burst out laughing!

      “A bear cub playing the violin?” sneered Henry the wolf cub.

      “But your paws are so chubby!” the fox cub Reilly let out a barking laugh.

      The bunnies Jasper and Julia rolled on their back, wiggling their paws in the air in a hysterical laughing fit, making sure everyone saw how ridiculous this idea seemed to them. Moose Paula simply turned her back and begun to chomp juicy leaves from a nearby tree. She didn’t bother to join the cackling chorus, but she had nothing to say to the bear cub about his a crazy idea all the same.

      By then, Lucas had lost all desire to play. He began to head back home.

      “C’mon, don’t take offence,” the bunny Jasper bounced next to him. “Can’t you see that if you tell us such a grand joke, we simply can’t stop laughing? Come along, let’s play!”

      “I… I promised mom I’ll be home early today,” the bear cub mumbled a quick lie. He couldn’t bear to hear his friends’ laughter any longer. At the same time, he began to wonder whether the whole thing really was a crazy idea after all. Lucas didn’t want his friends to see his sadness over the disappearing dream, so he ex-cused himself with a little lie. Bunny Jasper shrugged and bounded back to the rest of the friends who were still making fun of the bear cub’s dream.

      The bear cub walked away from the playground. The closer he got to his home, the slower and heavier his steps became. Didn’t mama say he could become who-ever he wanted to? But mothers love their kids and are sometimes afraid to tell them the cold hard truth. Had mama bear lied to Lucas? Was his dream truly im-possible to fulfill?