9—Fire and Smokey

The sweet wide meadow and breezy flutter of birch-tree seeds disappeared into a crystal globe that hovered over Great Aunt Nature Walker’s big green book. The crystal globe was about the size of a beach ball and inside was a tiny forest with clear blue stream bubbling through it. Six ever so tiny people were roasting marshmallows and hot dogs over a campfire in a clearing between the forest and the stream. 

Suddenly, the scene began to fast forward with the happy campers packing up their car and driving away. All was quiet

into the night. The crystal globe went dark until a spark shone where the campfire had been, then another spark and another. One spark glowed bright then flared up into a flame. Other sparks did the same until fire lit up the globe, and the flames danced like demons dancing this way and that through the trees.

Soon the forest was burning. The crystal globe crackled and snapped. Lucy and Hannah felt the heat on their faces and could see the silhouettes of animals fleeing the flames—deer, fawns, a bear, rabbits. Then there were firefighters in

helmets and heavy yellow suits spraying the fire with water out of huge hoses while others cleared away dry brush and dug trenches to keep the flames from spreading to more trees. Shortly after dawn, a plane flew over the burning land and sprayed the flames with a powder of firefighting chemicals. Another night fell, and another day dawned before the fire was out. All that remained of the forest were burnt out stumps of trees.

Smoke still filled crystal globe like fog then settled into the dust around the blackened trees. When the air cleared, it was

winter and snow swirled in the crystal ball covering the burnt out forest like a great bandage. The snow melted into spring, and as sunlight dissolved the crystal globe, the forest of charred stumps filled the Magical Story Room. Wherever Lucy and Hannah walked, the blackened twigs snapped under their feet. The birds and animals were gone.

Lucy and Hannah were looking for a way out of this sad and lonely place when a hole in the air opened and there sat a pile of twigs that began to draw themselves into a . . . a bear. And then quite magically, the drawing filled itself out with fur and color and turned into a very large brown bear wearing blue jeans

and a big brown hat with a flat broad brim. The bear was part of a sign that said Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires.

All this was quite interesting until the bear turned real and lumbered down off the sign. “Hi, Lucy and Hannah,” the bear said in a very large deep bear voice. 

“Do you know who I am?” the bear asked.

Even though the bear was not a bit growly and seemed kind, Hannah had sidled in close to Lucy who was too stunned to believe her eyes.

“Smokey the Bear?” she said.

“How very right you are, Miss Lucy!” exclaimed Smokey.

Seeing that her big sister, knew the bear, Hannah was no longer afraid.

“I thought you were only a picture,” said Lucy. 

“Well, yes and no,” Smokey replied. “Would you like to hear my very true and long story of how I am real and not real?

Oh no, thought Lucy, not another confusing mystery, for they were still waiting to hear the story of how Great Aunt Nature Walker’s door grew out of seed and how Adora Birch ended up in that door. Still, it would be interesting to know how a bear could be both real and not real. “Okay,” she said, then looked at Hannah who nodded in agreement.

“Well,” Smokey the Bear began, “as you just saw, fire can turn a whole forest into a sad dark place. And nine out of ten forest fires are started by careless people. So back in 1944, the United States Forest Service decided to remind people to be careful with fire around trees. To do this, they drew a character called Smokey Bear to put on signs that said—Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires.

“Then six years later in 1950, there was a very bad fire in the mountains of New Mexico. While fighting the flames, firefighters saw a little bear cub and thought his mother would lead him to safety. But the

cub must have gotten separated from his mother and managed to save himself by climbing a tree.

“When the firefighters found themselves surrounded by the fire and had to escape. While escaping the flames, they saw the little bear trapped in the tree and rescued it also. The little bear had been badly burned so they flew the little fellow on a small plane to a nearby city for treatment. 

“They named the cub Smokey Bear, and when people all around the country heard about the little bear, he became so popular that in 1952 he was sent to live at the National Zoo in Washington D.C.

“During his years at the zoo, millions of people visited Smokey Bear. He also received as many as 13,000 letters a week so that in 1964 the United States Postal Service gave Smokey Bear his own zip code. While at the zoo, Smokey Bear loved to swim and enjoyed peanut butter

sandwiches in addition to his regular fish dinners.

“After Smokey Bear died on November 9, 1976, he was buried in the same New Mexico mountains where he was rescued—a place now known as Smokey Bear Historical Park.”

“And so you see,” Smokey the Bear concluded, “I come to you now out of a picture. But there once was a real Smokey Bear.”

Hannah clapped at the very good story. But Lucy was puzzled.

“But you’re Smokey the Bear. How did the word the get put into Smokey Bear?”

Smokey the Bear laughed a deep gently laugh. 

“Well,” he said, “After Smokey Bear went to the zoo, some people wrote a song about him. To give a better rhythm to the

song, they changed Smokey Bear’s name to Smokey the Bear. But the real Smokey Bear kept his name and grew up with many people loving and caring for him.”

Lucy was thinking that for a bear, Smokey did a very good job of storytelling. 

Hannah, however, had begun looking around at the sad charred remains of the forest and demanded, “Dora story now.”

“What story is that?” Smokey the Bear asked.

Lucy explained how she and Hannah had been waiting to hear The Very Long and True Story of Adora Birch. 

“Ah, yes,” Smokey the Bear exclaimed, “that is definitely one of my favorite stories—how does a door grow out of a seed? . . . and just how did that little Wood Spirit Adora Birch end up in that door?" Smokey paused then added. "You know, I couldn’t keep the forests going without the help of Wood Spirits. And Adora Birch was one of the finest.”

“Dora story now,” Hannah demanded again.

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Lucy told her, then explained to Smokey the Bear, “Adora Birch was telling us her story but then blew away in her seed.”

“Don’t be so sure,” said Smokey the Bear with a knowing smile. And with that, the big bear disappeared into a hole in the air. The curious Hannah stepped forward to investigate the mysterious hole in the air, but all she found was air. 

And as a dry twig snapped under her foot, they heard a tiny muffled voice cry 

“Owwiee.” Hannah jumped back and there where her foot had been was a tiny cluster of green leaves growing out of the

charred ground.

A warm spring breeze blew over the sad burned land, and Great Aunt Nature Walker turned the page.