The Hugging Bears

Copyright Carol Butcher (2014)

Te right of Carol Butcher to be identifed as author of this work has been asserted by
her in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be
liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781784552442
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2014)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd.
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LB
AUST N MACAULEY
P U B L I S H E R S L T D .
The Hugging Bears
by Carol Butcher
Illustrated by Sue Turner
Dedicated to Suzannah and Nicola
Te profts from this book will go the charity,
Happy Child International, which supports the street children of Brazil.
It happened as the world slept. The mother bear gave
birth to two cubs, a boy and a girl. She called the boy
bear Ruggley and the girl bear Teddi.
Snow lay thick on the ground, but they were snug in the
cave. She licked them clean and they snuggled close to
her, burrowing their faces into her fur and sleeping
peacefully. In the dark months the cubs continued
to grow guzzling their mothers rich milk.
The drip drip of melting snow outside the cave heralded
the arrival of spring. The mother bear stretched and
poked her nose out of the den. She hadnt eaten while
hibernating in the cave and needed to rebuild her strength.
She padded outside and started to forage for food.
Ruggley and Teddi emerged from their warm home,
seeing the outside world for the first time. A drop of water
hit Ruggley on the nose, which surprised him. He licked it
and discovered it was cold and wet. The white wilderness
made him blink. Teddi scampered after mother bear,
sniffing the crisp air. She started nibbling the grass
emerging from the snow. 1
Ruggley and Teddi tumbled and rolled down the slope. They climbed up again, seeing who could reach the top first.
They hugged and romped together, falling over each other. What a fun game! They followed mother bear, keeping close to her
as she explored her territory. They walked in her footsteps until she found a stream and took a long drink.
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That night they sat at the entrance to the cave and looked up at the vast dome of the sky filled with twinkling stars. The
world was enveloped in silence. A great sense of peace filled their hearts after the first day of discovering the beautiful world
around them.
Mother bear loved Ruggley and Teddi and knew she had to pass on to them the bear lore that her mother had taught her.
She had to prepare them for the day when they left her to make their own way in the world.
Every day they left the cave and went a little further into the woods. They rested on a rock in a clearing and looked down
the mountain to the lake below. Spring flowers dotted the grassland beside it, and the gentle breeze stirred the leaves of the
cotton wood trees.
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