Acat saw a brown figure sluggishly moving, it was bigger than her in size.

‘Isn’t that…’ the cat wondered and jumped up and rushed ahead. “Hey! Wait, baby bear!”

Baby bear looked at the cat and then looked at the other side.

“What’s the matter?” asked the cat.

Baby bear rubbed his eyes. “I’m hungry, and my dad and mum have been gone hunting for a long time. I need food,” he sighed.

A loud rumbling sound startled the cat.

Everything is difficult until you give it a try, and that’s what a baby bear finds out, and gets some help from a new friend

“That’s just my tummy,” baby bear said sadly.

The cat didn’t have any food, but she felt very sad for the baby bear. She wondered what she could do to help him.

“Don’t worry, baby. We will find you something to eat,” the cat assured him and began to think. Then she snapped her paws, “Aha! I know just the place where we can get you some food.”

“You do?” baby bear’s eyes widened in excitement.

Then the cat walked ahead and the baby bear followed her. They walked through the grass and the trees, and kept on walking for a long time. Soon the baby bear was tired. When cat didn’t hear footsteps behind her, she turned around and saw the baby bear sitting on a wooden stump at a distance.

“Come on, baby!” the cat said. “We are so close!”

The baby bear reluctantly stood up and started walking again. His mind drifted off, thinking about all the delicious food that he wanted to eat. His tummy was rumbling with hunger really badly now.

“Hey, look! There it is,” the cat said.

Baby bear looked around, hoping to see a large pile of his favourite fruits, instead all he saw was a huge body of water.

Certain that cat must have been mistaken, he asked, “What is this place? Where’s the food?”

“There’s plenty of fish in the sea!” the cat waved her paw and chuckled. The cat saw the confusion on baby bear’s face and tried again, “I mean, this is spring time and there are a lot of fish in here. All you have to do is catch one.”

“Me? Catch a fish? But I don’t know how…” the baby bear became teary-eyed with frustration. “Can’t you catch it?” the baby bear said innocently. “You’re a grown up and I’m just a kid.”

The cat thought for a moment.

“I sure am a grown up, but cat’s paws are not designed to catch fish and our arms are quite short. Bears, however, have long arms and a natural instinct for catching fish.”

The baby bear remained silent now.

“Look, baby, I understand why you are upset. You probably expected a scrumptious meal all waiting for you to devour, but that is not possible right now. Moreover, you will need to learn how to catch a fish one day, so why not start today? Come on, at least give it a try!” the cat nudged him.

The baby bear thought about it. His tummy started to rumble again.

“Okay,” he said, “I guess I will give it a try.”

The baby bear came close to the water and stretched his arm out until all of it was under water. He tried to stay very still. When a fish swam near his hand, he tried to grab it. But the fish wriggled its way out. This happened several times.

Exhaust and irritated, the baby bear shouted, “Oh, I will never be able to catch it. It’s too hard, I must wait but my tummy rumbles!” he said.

“You know, when your daddy bear was a kid like you, he couldn’t catch a fish either. But he kept trying and learnt how to do it. You can also do it. I know you can!” the cat smiled and patted the baby’s on his back.

The baby bear tried again, he put his hand in the water. A fish swam towards him. He grabbed it, but, like it happened before, it slipped away. Then another came. He caught it, but as he pulled it out of the water, it jumped right back in. The baby bear was determined. This time he grabbed a fish and pinned it to his body. Then he jerked his arm to throw it out of the water and got it out.

“I did it! I did it!” the baby bear jumped with excitement.

“Wow!” exclaimed the cat as she finally exhaled. “That was amazing. How did you do it?”

“I looked at my paw and realised they kept slipping away because I wasn’t holding onto them firmly enough. I wondered if my paws had more power, and I realised that they did. I grabbed this fish with much more strength and pinned it to myself so it wouldn’t get away.”

“That’s amazing! You learnt so fast, baby bear. Your parents will be proud of you,” the cat praised her new friend.

“I can’t wait to tell them all about it! I feel like a grown up already,” said the baby bear.

“Yes, this is such an exciting moment. Well, I will be heading back home now. Enjoy your fish and be sure to get home in time,” the cat said.

“Wait! Please don’t go. Have some fish with me,” the baby said. “You helped me learn how to catch fish and it will make me happy if you eat with me. Besides, I want to catch more fish and become good at it, I can’t eat all the fish alone.”

“Well, tell you a little secret? Fish is also my favourite food!” the cat said with a laugh and they both sat down to devour a hearty meal.

Published in Dawn, Young World, July 13th, 2024