Story by Donnita Bowman | Image by Iris Wanders
Cautiously, I climbed into the smallest bed. Ahh… just right, as I had expected. So far, everything was happening exactly like the story said.
When Goldilocks had called in sick, Mother Goose had recruited me. I had an old woman scheduled to come by selling apples, but she had been easily deferred to tomorrow. Little Bo-Peep would have fit the persona better, but she was so irresponsible – in fact, her sheep had vanished. Again! I was, by default, the one given the job.
Pulling the covers up to my chin, I ran through my mental checklist. I would fall asleep, the bears would return, I would exit with haste. Easy-peasy!
But as I lay there, I just couldn’t sleep! Visions of porridge puddles and overturned armchairs persistently invaded my thoughts. Really, Goldilocks was almost as careless as my seven dwarf friends. Would it matter if I tidied up a bit before the bears returned? Clean up the porridge, at least?
I sighed. No, I needed to pull my act together. Children everywhere knew that Goldilocks didn’t clean up after herself. Now, sleep! (Where was Sleepy when I needed him? His enormous yawns could tug even the most vigilant into dreamland.) Maybe if I counted sheep…
“Baaa!” Startled, I opened my eyes. Had my overactive brain started adding sound effects? No, there it was distinctly: “Baaa!”
Resolutely, I crawled out of bed and peered out the window – and groaned. I had found Bo-Peep’s missing sheep, trampling all over the front garden! Well, that was that. In yet another bold departure from the script, I ran out into the garden, waving my arms and yelling.
The startled sheep surveyed me warily, huddling into a tight mass, and milling in circles. Desperately, I picked up a garden rake. Then I checked myself. Something was teasing the edge of my subconscious – what was I remembering about sheep?
Oh, of course! Mary’s little lamb. It followed her, everywhere! Well, it was something to try.
Skeptically, I dropped the rake and called softly, “Here, sheep! Here, sheepy!”
The change was remarkable! Abandoning their half-eaten geraniums, they obediently turned and started toward me. Gratefully, I led them a safe distance into the wood, where a nice clearing provided sheep-friendly grazing. Now hopefully Bo-Peep discovered them before the Big Bad Wolf.
But that was soon the least of my concerns, for, ambling down the path towards their mangled yard, came three happy, hungry, huge bears.
I hesitated for the briefest of moments. Sure, I knew my place, asleep in Baby Bear’s bed (and I could still get there through the back door). But who could tell what the bears would do to a maiden who, no matter how fair, had apparently not only eaten their breakfast, but had also messed up their garden? I wasn’t sure about Goldilocks, but I was certainly not planning to find out!
With a belated return to the script, I completed the story – I ran.