Mr. Brown Bear’s Happy Morning Tea
One morning, Mr. Brown Bear brewed himself a pot of fruit tea. As the boiling water poured into the pot, he watched the bubbles rise, gradually turning the tea a rich orange-yellow color. He thought to himself, “This must be a fragrant and delicious tea.”
Brown Bear remembered that he had just bought a jar of honey yesterday. Mrs. Ostrich, the cashier at the supermarket, had told him it was a kind of honey that had the fragrance of Astragalus flowers and tasted wonderful. Eager to try it, Brown Bear quickly fetched the honey jar from his pantry. As he listened to the sports news on the radio, he opened the jar and scooped a big spoonful into his beautiful teacup. He poured a cup of fruit tea into the cup and began to taste it.
The morning sports news made him excited, as his good friend Speedy Rabbit had won first place in the sprint again. But the morning tea left him disappointed—despite adding so much honey, there was no sweetness in the tea at all. Brown Bear stirred the tea vigorously with a small spoon, took sip after sip, yet there was no hint of honey’s sweetness, only a strange taste. Confused, Brown Bear decided to ask his neighbors.
He first went to Mrs. Goose, who lived on his left. She told him that her Astragalus honey was extremely sweet. Then he went to his neighbor Mr. Hippo, who lived on his right. Mr. Hippo was drinking his morning tea when Brown Bear arrived. Raising his teacup, Mr. Hippo said, “Good morning, Mr. Brown Bear! I put some Astragalus honey in my fruit tea. It’s sweet and fragrant. Would you like a cup?”
“No, thank you,” replied Brown Bear as he left Mr. Hippo’s house. He headed to the corner supermarket, where he saw Mrs. Ostrich explaining the benefits of “Fresh Breath Toothpaste” to a hedgehog.
Mrs. Ostrich said, “This toothpaste is excellent! It has a pleasant scent and exceptional cleaning power.”
“Don’t believe her!” interrupted Brown Bear. “She said the same thing to me yesterday, but the Astragalus honey she sold me isn’t sweet at all.”
Hearing this, Mrs. Ostrich was furious. She waved the giant toothpaste in her hand like a club, nearly hitting Brown Bear on the head.
“I never lie! All the products in my store are top quality. How could your honey not be sweet? It must be your mouth and tongue that have a problem!”
“It’s really not sweet! If you don’t believe me, come and taste it yourself!”
“Fine, I’ll go see why your honey isn’t sweet,” said Mrs. Ostrich.
Brown Bear took Mrs. Ostrich back to his house, with the curious Hedgehog following behind to see the spectacle.
At Brown Bear’s house, he picked up his teacup and took a big gulp. “You… you… taste…” he stammered, feeling like he could barely speak.
He wanted to say, “Taste this tea and see if it’s sweet at all,” but he was so agitated that he couldn’t get the words out.
Mrs. Ostrich, however, didn’t rush to taste the tea. Instead, she took the honey jar from Brown Bear’s pantry. The jar hadn’t even been opened.
Mrs. Ostrich was furious. “What a joke! You haven’t even opened the honey jar, yet you’re complaining it’s not sweet!”
“Who… who… who says…” Brown Bear stammered. Just then, the Hedgehog noticed another jar next to the honey.
The Hedgehog picked up the jar from the pantry and read the label aloud—”Super-Strong Glue.”
“Oh no!” The Hedgehog’s quills stood straight up in alarm. “Mr. Brown Bear, don’t tell me you mistook glue for honey!” By now, Brown Bear’s mouth was sealed shut, and he couldn’t say a word.
“You’ve made two huge mistakes,” said Mrs. Ostrich as she lifted the glue jar, which was still half full. “First, why would you store glue in the pantry? Second, when you added ‘honey,’ how could you not check carefully? If you keep this up, you’ll end up using shoe polish as toothpaste one day!”
At this point, Brown Bear looked at Mrs. Ostrich, as if he had something important to say, but his mouth wouldn’t open. His face was turning red.
The Hedgehog suddenly realized, “Oh no, Brown Bear’s mouth is glued shut! We need to help him!”
Mrs. Ostrich quickly fetched a stainless steel spoon from the pantry drawer. She used all her strength to pry open Brown Bear’s mouth and had him bite down on the spoon to prevent it from sealing shut again.
The Hedgehog then noticed that Mrs. Ostrich still had the “Fresh Breath Toothpaste” in her other hand. Pointing at it, the Hedgehog said, “Mrs. Ostrich, why don’t we try your toothpaste’s cleaning power and have Mr. Brown Bear brush his teeth?”
“Good idea!” Without hesitation, Mrs. Ostrich dragged Brown Bear into the bathroom. She asked the Hedgehog to help, squeezing a large dollop of “Fresh Breath Toothpaste” onto the toothbrush for Brown Bear to start brushing.
Brush after brush, Brown Bear’s mouth filled with white foam. After brushing eight times, he finally opened his mouth to speak his first words: “Mrs. Ostrich, your toothpaste is amazing!”
Smacking his lips, he continued, “I did use shoe polish to brush my teeth once, and the awful taste stayed in my mouth. But now it’s all gone, thanks to this toothpaste!”
Hearing this, the Hedgehog laughed so hard that he nearly doubled over.
Feeling embarrassed, Brown Bear invited his two kind friends to sit down, and he brewed another pot of fruit tea. This time, he made sure to scoop a big spoonful of real honey into Mrs. Ostrich’s and Hedgehog’s teacups.
He also put a spoonful into his own.
With the hot fruit tea steaming in front of them, the three friends took a sip and said together:
“Delicious!”
“So sweet!”
“So tasty!”
Smacking his lips again, Brown Bear said, “Thank you both! If it weren’t for you, my mouth would still be glued shut. I wouldn’t even be able to speak, let alone drink tea!”
“You must be more careful next time,” said Mrs. Ostrich, taking another sip of tea. “Carelessness and thoughtlessness will always get you into trouble!”
“Thank you. I won’t put things in the wrong places anymore. I’ll never mistake glue for honey or use shoe polish as toothpaste again…”
Brown Bear took another sip of tea and told Mrs. Ostrich, “Your ‘Fresh Breath Toothpaste’ really is amazing! My mouth feels so fresh, and the tea tastes even better. I’m definitely going to buy a tube!”
“And I’m going to buy a jar of that Astragalus honey. This honey tea tastes wonderful!” said Hedgehog, taking another sip.
“Thank you both!” said Mrs. Ostrich, raising her cup. “This really was a happy morning tea.”
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
