A WOOFER STORY*

by Randy Stiver

(When my daughter Amanda was just two years old I began to create nightly “Woofer Stories” about a grizzly bear who was the pet of a little girl and her younger brother in the world tomorrow when Jesus Christ has returned and rules the earth. Over the years she heard hundreds of adventurous Woofer stories filled with Millennial lessons.)

It was a chilly, spring morning a few days before Passover when Amanda’s father rode his fine horse Prince up the forest trail to check the mountain pastures where he would bring the family’s cattle and sheep to graze in summer. As they rounded a large boulder at the edge of the forest the magnificent, mountain meadows came into view!

“Whoa, Prince, is that good pasture or what?!” But the great horse just stared at something across the meadow at the bottom of a steep slope. “That’s a rock slide, Prince. And there’s a small creature moving near it. Let’s have a look, giddyup, boy!”

As they galloped across the meadow Amanda’s father soon saw a large brown animal lying at the bottom of the slide. He felt a twinge of sadness as he realized it was the old grizzly bear sow he had often seen in the meadow eating huckleberries. When they pulled up beside the old bear, he could see that she had died in the rockslide two, maybe three days earlier.

Suddenly, a smaller, furry creature popped its head up from behind its dead mother. Surprised and frightened, it puffed its cheeks with air and gave a woofing sound. “Look, Prince, that little cub is all thin and weak. He probably hasn’t had anything to eat for three days. Let’s see if we can catch him and give him some food.”

As Papa reached for the tiny grizzly it backed away, “woofing” as it went. “Easy, little fellow, you need some nourishment. Come on, let me pick you up. You’ll have to go home with us.”

“Woof, woof, woof,” was the only response as the tiny cub backed away under a large bush. “It’s okay, little bear, we’re not going to hurt you. Come here, little fella.” Amanda’s father crawled under the bush reaching for the tiny grizzly which kept backing further under the bush—woof, woof, woofing all the way.

As horses go, Prince was very smart. Trained to herd cattle, by instinct he could herd almost any sort of livestock. Backing out from under bush, the tiny bear backed right between Prince’s pasterns—that’s what a horse’s ankles are called.

Papa collected the cub in his arms from between Prince’s front feet and held him like a tiny baby. The little fellow, still frightened, gave out small woofs, but he was very weak with hunger. Swinging up into the saddle, Amanda’s father turned Prince toward their ranch in the valley while thinking what he could feed the wee bear. Remembering that his lunch included a jar of fresh yogurt, he poured a little into his red bandana and gave it a squeeze. The delicious, milk-like substance dripped through the cloth and the tiny bear began to lick and lick and lick. Before long with the gentle swaying of the horse ride plus plenty of squeezed yogurt in his tummy the little cub fell asleep in Papa’s arms.

Late that afternoon Papa, Prince and the nameless little bear came into view of the ranch house. Papa whistled a long, signal whistle and his wife and children excitedly came out to greet him. “I’ve got a surprise for you!” he announced as he dismounted with the furry bundle in his arms. He set the little bear cub on the ground in front of the children. Amanda and her younger brother Justin rushed to pet him, but the tiny grizzly backed up against Papa’s boots as he woofed and woofed.

Always a creative, young girl, Amanda exclaimed “Let’s call him Woofer!”

And that’s how Woofer got his name. Little did Amanda know that the tiny, grizzly bear she could hold in her arms would grow into a 1200 pound, perfectly tame, Woofer bear that would join her and her brother Justin on many happy “world tomorrow” adventures!

END

*This is a part of an ongoing series of “Woofer Stories,” if you wish to reprint this story or learn more about how to do so, please contact me in the comments below. I reserve my rights to this content, it is not in the public domain for use or reprint without my permission.