Benny Bear and the Honey Moon

Benny was a small brown bear cub with a round tummy and a very big imagination. One autumn evening, he sat outside his den and stared up at the full moon. It was round. It was golden. It looked exactly like a giant jar of honey.

"The moon is made of honey!" Benny whispered to himself. "And I must have a taste." So he packed a spoon in his little backpack, kissed Mama Bear goodnight, and waddled up the tallest hill in the forest.

He climbed and climbed until his legs were wobbly. At the very top, he stood on his tiptoes, stretched his paw up as high as it would go, and...

As Benny climbed, a parade of fireflies joined him, lighting the path like tiny golden lanterns. "Thank you," Benny whispered, and the fireflies blinked back happily. The higher he climbed, the bigger and rounder the moon looked, until Benny was sure he could almost touch it with his spoon.

A Dip of Moonbeam

His paw did not reach the moon, of course. But as he stretched, a soft moonbeam landed right on his spoon, like a drip of silver honey.

Benny touched it to his tongue. It did not taste like honey at all. It tasted like cool water, and it made his whole body feel floaty and light. "Mmm," said Benny. "Moonbeam soup!"

He took another lick, and another. With every lick, his eyelids grew heavier. The stars above began to blur into soft twinkles. The wind hummed a lullaby through the pine trees.

The Sweetest Taste

Benny curled up right there on the warm grass of the hilltop. Mama Bear found him and wrapped him in her big warm arms to carry him home.

"Did you taste the moon, little one?" she asked.

"I tasted sleep," Benny murmured, already half dreaming. And Mama Bear smiled, because she knew that was the sweetest taste of all.

A curious raccoon peeked out from behind a rock and watched Benny licking moonbeams. Benny offered him the spoon for one tiny taste. The raccoon licked, sighed, and curled up beside Benny on the warm grass. Soon both of them were snoring softly under the honey-colored moon.

Moral of the Story

The best things in the night are not always what we expect, but they are always exactly what we need.