It was springtime in the forest and happiness was in the air. The sun was bright and the sky was a lovely blue. Playing out in a forest clearing were three bear cubs named Toby, Frankie, and Daisy. These three cubs were best friends and they were filled with joy it was spring so they could play!

Unfortunately, another bear who lived in the forest wasn't in such a good mood. Bully the bear always found it fun to ruin the games of other bears. Bully was a teenage bear and much bigger than any of the younger cubs. His favorite activity was to jump out of the bushes with a scowl on his face to scare bear cubs. Today he came upon the clearing where Toby, Frankie, and Daisy were playing a game of tag. Bully hid behind a tree and waited. When the three ran close to him, Bully jumped out, growling loudly, to scare the three cubs. Poor Daisy jumped back and fell down out of shock.

"Grrr....run away little babies" Bully growled at the three friends. He showed them his big bear teeth to intimidate them.

Frankie and Daisy were scared and cowered together behind Toby. Toby wasn't afraid of Bully and stood tall and proud.

"You don't scare me Bully. It isn't nice to scare little cubs. You owe us an apology" said Toby.

Bully was surprised. No cub ever talked back to him before! He stared at Toby silently examining him. The cub was much smaller than him but showed no fear.

"You are welcome to come play with us" Toby said. "We are playing tag but we have other games we can share with you."

Bully didn't know what to say. No one had ever invited him to play with them before. He was born a big boy. All the other kids were afraid he was big and mean so they refused to let him join their games. After a while Bully decided to start ruining other bear's games since they refused to play with him. If he couldn't have fun then he would make his own fun ruining their games.

Bully looked at Toby and did something he hadn't done in a long time...He smiled! He was really happy to be invited to play with the three cubs and a big grin filled his face.

Bully apologized to the three cubs and accepted the invitation to play. That day Bully had fun with his new friends as they played games and enjoyed the spring weather. After a while all the bears grew tired. It was late afternoon and they were ready for a rest. The cubs curled up with the bigger bear for a nap.

"Thanks for having fun with us Bully," said Daisy.

"Yes, and thank you for not scaring us anymore," said Frankie.

Bully looked at the cubs and said "You're welcome. I promise to never scare you cubs again under one condition."

"What's that," said Toby.

"Can you call me Oscar? That's my real name. People only call me Bully because I ruin their games."

Toby, Daisy, and Frankie laughed and promised their friend Oscar they would use his right name and that he'd always be welcome to play with them anytime.

Moral to the story: Bully the bear was only a bully because others were mean to him by refusing to include him in their games. Brave Toby stood up to him and by talking to the bullying bear he was able to help him understand why he was behaving badly towards others. Sometimes bullies need a friend and someone to show them compassion. By showing a bullying bear friendship, Toby, Frankie, and Daisy were able to help their new friend to be a better person and to stop treating them badly. Oscar the bear ended up being a wonderful friend to the cubs which is all he really wanted.

THE END

To enjoy other Marx the Rabbit ( @marxrab ) stories visit below:

The Rabbit Who Wanted To Play The Piano

Photo credit: all images are my own created specifically for this story.

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