The Big Storm

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful! 

Know what? Last night there was a big storm all around our house. The wind blew down big 'ole trees everywhere. The rain came down so hard our neighbours' homes were full of water!

We woke up at midnight 'cuz of the lightning and the thunder. We were afraid. James made us cocoa to drink and we all sat on the balcony watching the storm. It was raining so hard we couldn't see the cars or the house next door. There was lots of thunder and lightning.

Chance doesn't like thunder. He puts his paws over his ears and makes little squawky noises. I don't like thunder very much. James held onto us real tight and then we weren't afraid any more. Every time we heard a thunder clap James would say, "There goes the 'tater wagon!" It was a bad, bad storm. We even had a tornado! I know what tornadoes are. They're winds that go around in circles. They go faster than Chance and me when we go 'round and 'round in James' big 'ole green swivel chair. Tornadoes are dangerous. They can hurt people and animals, too. Their behaviour is not nice. Tornadoes should have to sit on the Time Out Chair, you know.

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario!

We gotta go find James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Don't be afraid of thunder and lightening. You can sit on the balcony with us and drink cocoa when there's a tornado. James will hold us all real tight and we won't have to be afraid! Okay! Over and out!"