There once was a little bear whose name was Hinckly. He lived with his Mama, Daddy and his big brother Georgie. Hincky was such a sweet, cuddly little bear and everyone loved him. Most of the time, little Hinckly was a good bear and did not get into trouble. But, sometimes he could be so incredibly ornery that even his Mama had to scold him.

There was nothing that Hinckly loved more than listening to stories. He knew that as soon as Mama was finished cleaning the house and cooking, it was time to climb on her lap and listen to stories. Sometimes he even helped Mama clean so the work would be done faster. Mama was a wonderful storyteller and even Daddy sometimes sat beside her to listen to the stories.

Hinckly learned a lot from Mama’s stories and his most favorite game in the whole world was ‘Pretend it is me’. In this game Hinckly would imagine that He was one of the characters in the story, and he would act out the character in his mind as Mama read the story.

One time, Hinckly pretended that he was David the shepherd boy. It was so much Fun to watch the sheep while sitting under a big shade tree. He would watch the little lambs jumping about and kicking up their heels. Some of the lambs like to come up and eat little cookies out of Hinckly’s hand, and that always made the little bear giggle with delight. Hinckly pretended that if he got tired he could take a nap while his dog Old Barney watched over the sheep. Old Barney, the sheep dog, would lay down beside Hinckly and watch out for wild animals while his master slept. But one day while Hinckly was taking a nap, Old Barney was so tired from chasing the sheep, that he laid down beside Hinckly and went to sleep.

Some of the little lambs were eating the soft grass while others romped about playing tag. And most of the mama sheep were lying down for their afternoon nap too. Most of the daddy sheep were down by the creek drinking water and watching the fish swim about in the creek. So none of the sheep had noticed that their protectors were fast asleep.

Old Barney and Hinckly slept for a long time. But suddenly they were both awakened by an awful noise. The sheep were all running about and making a terrible fuss. Old Barney immediately spotted the trouble. It was the sly old fox who lived down the lane. He was chasing the lambs trying to catch one for his lunch. Hinckly ran with all of his might trying to hit the sly fox with his slingshot, but it was no use. Hinckly just could not hit the fox because he would not stand still long enough for the little bear to take aim.

Finally Old Barney caught up with the sly old fox and cornered him in a thicket bush. He chomped down on the fox’s tail and kept a real good hold on it. When the fox was finally able to get loose, he ran yelping through the woods and never once looked back. It took a while for Old Barney and Hinckly to get all the sheep rounded up because they had run in all directions when the sly old fox appeared. But finally just before dusk, they had all the sheep found. None of the sheep had been killed but a few of them had injured their legs from running too fast to get away from the fox. Hinckly was so sad that the lambs had been hurt, but very thankful that none of them had been killed by the old sly fox. Hinckly bandaged the little lambs hurt legs then he and Old Barney took them safety back to the barn.

“Barney, I am never ever gong to fall asleep again while I am supposed to be tending the sheep. That was really dangerous! That old sly fox could have stolen a sheep right under our sleeping noses! From now on, Barney, we will have to be very careful because no doubt that sly old fox will try it again.

“Hinckly, are you listening to the story?” Mama bear asked him. “I’m sorry, Mama. I was playing the‘Pretend’ it’s me’ game again.” Mama smiled down at her little cub and patted his lovingly patted his head. “And who were you pretending to be this time, honey?” Mama asked. Hinckly told Mama Bear the details of his and Old Barney’s adventures, Just like it had really happened. Mama listened to him with interest as He related all the details, which made Hinckly very happy.

When Hinckly was finished with his story, Mama Bear said, “That old Fox reminds me of the devil. He sneaks about and watches us a lot you know. He just waits for the right time on pounce on us, like the old sly fox did with the little lambs. We cannot see him like the sheep saw the fox, but the devil hates God and anyone who loves God. That sneaky old devil tries his best to make us hate God too, and he knows if he can make us do bad things then it makes God cry. God loved us so much that He sent Jesus His Son to die on the cross for all the times we were bad and disobedient. It really hurts God’s feelings when we are bad and do things we know that we should not do. So, Hinckly, we should always try to do things that make God happy, so He can smile and not cry. Just always be real careful my little bear, do watch out for the devil, our enemy.”

“Mama, I am going to do my best to behave and not do bad things to make Jesus cry. And I will be on the look out for that sly old fox, the devil! I will not be caught sleeping on the job again, Mama, you get bet on that!”

“That is wonderful Hinckly. Now, would you like to hear the story of how David slew the Giant?”

Hinckly nodded his head, and then snuggled down against his Mama. Just How long before Hinckly pretended to be David the Giant killer, his Mama Was not sure. But one thing she was sure of, was that Hinckly had enough imagination to be anyone.

Tara Hart (copyright 1986) all rights reserved