Three Bears

Once upon a time there were three bears, a papa bear, a mama bear and wee little baby bear. One morning mama bear set out porridge and honey for breakfast. Papa bear tasted his bowl of porridge and said, "This porridge is too hot!" Mama bear tasted her porridge and said, "This porridge is too cold." Wee little baby bear tasted his porridge and said, "Mmmmm..." Mama bear said, "Never mind... Let's go for a walk in the woods to collect acorns and mushrooms." So off they went.

Meanwhile, a little girl named Goldilocks was roaming the woods collecting wild flowers. When she came across a cozy cottage, she knocked 3 times. No one answered so she just let herself right inside (did her mama not teach her any manners?) On the tidy kitchen table she found 3 bowls of porridge & honey. She tasted the first bowl and exclaimed, "Oh! This porridge is too hot!" She tasted the second bowl and announced to no one in particular, "This porridge is too cold." Then she tasted the third bowl and said, "Mmmmm..." Needless to say, she gobbled that third bowl of porridge right up.

She went into the sitting room and found three chairs. Sitting down in the first chair, she exclaimed, "Ouch! This chair is too hard." After sitting in the second chair, she announced to no one in particular, "This chair is too soft." There was, of course, a third chair, a wee little rocking chair, and when she tried that one, she found it was just right. She rocked and rocked. Just when she was thinking how grand this all was, the chair fell to pieces right beneath her.

Not one to respect the belongings of other people (or realize that she'd already caused quite enough damage for one day), she marched herself upstairs to see what she would see. What did she see? A lovely little bedroom with 3 fine beds. Up she hopped onto the first bed. Too hard. Up she hopped onto the second bed. Too soft. Up she hopped onto the third bed. Ahhh... Just right. And she promptly fell asleep.

A few minutes later, the three bears returned from their acorn & mushroom collecting expedition. Papa bear looked at his porridge bowl and grumbled, "Someone has been tasting my porridge!" Mama bear looked over at her porridge bowl and grumped, "Someone has been tasting my porridge!" When wee baby bear saw his empty bowl, he squealed, "Someone has been tasting my porridge and has eaten it all up!"

The three bears marched into the sitting room and papa bear grumbled, "Someone has been sitting in my chair!" Mama bear grouched, "Someone has been sitting in my chair!" Wee baby bear cried, "Someone has been sitting in my chair and broken it all to bits!"

They trooped upstairs and papa bear rumbled & grumbled, "Someone has been laying in my bed." Mama bear sighed with exasperation, "Someone has been laying in my bed." Wee baby bear looked over at his bed, and was so charmed by the sleeping girl that he gave Goldilocks a fuzzy little kiss. Goldilocks woke up in surprise and laughed with joy. Then baby bear frowned and asked why she had gobbled up all his porridge. Goldilocks answered that she had been hungry, of course. Mama bear, like the good mama she was, offered to make more porridge and then they all sat down to eat. When all the porridge was gone, the wee little baby bear and his new friend Goldilocks went out to the woods to pick berries for a pie.

The end.