#Chapter 399: The Answer Is No

Elva held tightly onto her teddy bear. She looked down at it with sad eyes. “I don’t understand, Mommy,” Elva said. “Why do we hate bears now…?” I lowered myself down to her level. Holding her shoulders, I explained, “We don’t hate bears, honey. But… they could be dangerous right now. They’re all pretty grumpy about some things that happened a few years ago. Until that gets sorted out, we need to be extra careful.” Elva nodded, soaking in my words. Then she held out her bear toward me. “Do we report Mr. Fuzz Bear?” My heart cracked down the middle. How could I possibly, properly explain this situation to Elva, a child? She couldn’t see the difference between wolves and bears. To her, they were all her tea-party guests. “No, Elva,” I said, gently pushing Mr. Fuzz Bear back toward Elva. “Mr. Fuzz Bear is a bear we can trust. It’s every other bear that we see that we must stay away from and report, okay?” She didn’t seem to understand, her face still scrunched up in confusion.