Nothing really big or important happened today and I can't really recall anything else from my past, right off the top of my head, so I thought I'd do something a little different for an entry today. Before I start, however, I must join Uncle Bob in his praise of the season finale of "Oz" last night. Excellent show, only now, I'm going to be going nuts until next season starts. The season finale of "The Sopranos" was good as well, although rather fucked up. Talk about weird dreams. I'm never eating at an Indian restaurant. Shit. Anyway, on with the entry.

I've decided to share with you a really short story that I came up with one night, since I can't think of anything of real interest, but first a little backstory.

The wife and I bought our house (the one we're losing) in December of 1997. Before that, we lived in a room in this dumb ladies house that we rented out for about $500 month. The 3 of us lived there. Me, the wife and Marcus, who was only a little over a year old. We used the washer and dryer in the house, but we had to share it with the lady, her braindead boyfriend, and whoever rented the other room she rented out. Well, we hated it so one night, we decided to go to my in-laws to do laundry (because we really needed to). One problem. The alternator had gone out on our car so we had to walk. I lugged this big fuckin' basket of laundry for about ¼ mile if not more. You don't know how heavy clothes can get when they're all crammed into a basket. Anyway, while we were walking, my mind started wondering and I thought, "If I was going to write a children's story, what would it be? It would have to be about Polar Bears somehow." And the following is what I came up with. I never wrote down what I thought of that night so this is, again, just kind of off the top of my head. Hope you like it.

When the world began, all of the animals lived in harmony with each other. Including the humans. Deer played with Tigers, and the Bears, which were all black, played with the humans. Eventually, however, the humans started becoming arrogant, placing themselves above the other animals, and also began to fear them. In their fear, they began to cage or drive off the ones they feared. Lions, Tigers, Wolves, almost all the predators were caged. The smaller of the Bears were captured as well and caged away, to put an end to the humans fear. The larger Bears, however, would not be caught, but instead of fighting and adding to the humans fear, they ran. They ran a great distance to the north to hide away from humans and live in solitude. Their names became exiled by the humans and they were referred to as "The Bears of the Pole". And life went on.

The humans became complacent in their position over the animals and the animals became complacent with their position as well. Neither really living the way the Great Mother had intended. And then one day, the fires came. Great, burning, white-hot masses of fire began falling from the sky, destroying everything they touched. Humans and animals alike were dying and a fear like none had felt before began to grip them. "What should we do?" The humans asked. But they got no response. The animals had become so used to living by the humans rules that they no longer thought for themselves, instead relying on the humans to tell them what to do and how to live. And then, as all hope seemed to be lost and life, as they knew it, was going to end. A sound was heard. A sound like a great roar split the air, and human and animal turned to see what caused it.

Over the hill came the Bears that had been exiled. Their sure, strong steps carrying them into the path of the falling inferno. And as the final and largest ball of white-hot fire fell from the sky, they took position under it. Summoning all of their strength and asking the Great Mother for her guidance, the Bears of the Pole caught the falling, burning mass, preventing it from crashing into the earth. They had saved the lives of all of the Great Mother's children, but it came at a cost. As they stood their ground, supporting the great, burning mass, the white-hot fire began to snap and dance around them. With a last great effort, they hurled the burning mass back into the heavens. As the other animals and humans watched the retreating fire they stood shocked at the appearance of the Bears. For now, their deep black fur, had been burned a pure, bright white. And then the Great Mother appeared.

Walking slowly past the throng of animals and humans and approaching the now white Bears, the Great Mother put her hand on the head of the lead Bear and spoke in a soft, yet powerful voice. "My exiled children. My Bears of the Pole. You have come back in our time of need and sacrificed much to save your bretheren. Bretheren who had exiled you from their homes and hearts. From this day forth, let all of your children, and your children's children bear the pure, white fur that you now wear. Let the purity of your coats stand as a symbol and rememberance to all of your selfless act and the purity of your hearts. And from now unto the end of time, you shall be known as the Polar Bears, and shall be set apart from your animal kin." With her final sentence, the Great Mother turned to look at the other animals, standing in awed silence, smiled, and then walked off into the distance. As she disappeared from view, the newly named Polar Bears turned and headed back to their home and a voice could be heard carried on the wind, "We will come whenever you need us."

Well, that's it. I have written a longer more detailed story that was based on this 'short' one. If anyone ever wants to read it, just let me know and I'll e-mail them a copy. Feel free to send me feedback as to how much you liked/hated the story or what have you. Like I said, since I never wrote anything down that first night I came up with it, it's very fluid. Maybe, one day, I'll actually put something down on paper. Who knows? Well, I'm going to finish up here and let you (all 3 of you) get on with your lives. Thanks for taking the time to read my story, and my diary, and I'll see you next entry.

"Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket?"

Icebear

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