Boogie Bear

A story for all the little Boogie Bears out there.  Especially mine. :) 

Once upon a time there lived a little bear named Boogie.  Boogie wasn't his real name, of course, but all of his friends called him that because he LOVED to pick his nose.

At night when Boogie was at home, his mama would say, "Eugene, get your paw out of your nose.  If you don't watch out, it will get stuck there.  Then you will be in a fine fix."

Boogie just laughed and laughed, but his dad said sternly, "Eugene, you better listen to your mother.  She is always right."

Boogie would race around the room, hide behind a chair, and stick his paw into his nose --- just to make sure he could get it out again.  Easey-peasy . . . his little paw always slid right out.

One day, Boogie Bear was playing in the woods by himself.  All of a sudden, he smelled the most wonderful smell.  It was coming from up in a tree.  Boogie climbed up, and what did he find?  A tree full of the most beautiful golden honey.

Well, the one thing Boogie liked more than picking his nose was honey. Boogie just loved honey.  He quickly stuck his paw into the tree and began to shovel the ooey gooey yummy ummy honey into his mouth.

Boogie ate and he ate and he ate some more.  He ate until all the honey was gone, and then he climbed back down the tree, sat at the bottom, and patted his great, big, full, happy belly.

Just then, he noticed that his nose began to itch.  Without thinking twice, he slid his little paw up to scratch. But when he tried to pull it back out again, it was stuck!  All that ooey gooey yummy ummy honey was all over his sticky paws, and - try as he might - he could not get his claw out of his nose.

Poor Boogie!  He had to walk all the way back through the forest with his finger stuck in his nose . . . past all the bunnies and the deer, the birds and the other little bears.  Everyone laughed and laughed at Boogie Bear limping along with his paw in his nose.

When he got home, his mother took one look at him and shook her head.  Without saying a word, she helped him take a bath and pry his claw out of his nose.  That night, she put a box of tissue next to his bed when she kissed him good night.  

"I love you, Eugene," she whispered.

"Love you too, mommy," he mumbled back.

And do you know what happened?  Well, I'll let you guess . . . but before long everyone was back to calling Boogie "Eugene," and he never got his paw stuck in his nose again.

THE END