Once they were outside and on the way to the woods, Percy told
Hare-iette the whole story.
At first Percy sneaked out at night just because he liked to run
free in the fresh air. Then, one evening he was jogging through
the park, and he heard someone crying softly. He stopped and
looked around, and saw and old woman sitting on a bench crying
softly into a lace trimmed handkerchief, that was yellowed with
age. Percy hated to see anyone sad, so he climbed up on the bench
and touched the woman's arm. She looked down at the cute little
bear, and a smile broke across her face. She picked him up and
hugged him. Percy just loved being hugged. He and the lady sat
together for a long time.
Over the next few weeks, Percy learned all about the lady. Her
name was Anna. Her husband had died years ago, and the money he
had left her was gone. Her only son had moved far away to
Australia. She lived alone in a tiny apartment. After she paid
the rent, there was barely enough money left to buy food. Anna
didnt mind not having money. She said she didn't need much. What
made her sad was being lonely. She had lost track of her old
friends, and her son hadn't been able to visit in years.
Once the weather started to turn cold, they met at Anna's
apartment instead of in the park. They were together every
evening. Some times Percy brought treats for Anna, and Anna told
Percy wonderful stories of long ago. Sometimes they would play a
game. Sometimes they would just sit in front of the ancient TV set,
and Anna would hug Percy while they watched TV. Sometimes the TV
worked, and sometimes Anna had to slap it on the top to get it
going. They loved their evenings together... and.. they realized
they loved each other.
Anna said
that Percy was the most wonderful thing to happen to her, but she
didnt have the money to adopt Percy. Percy desperately wanted Anna to be his Mom, but he couldn't just run away
from the big red barn because Boyds had legal custody of him. It
would have been nice to really belong to Anna. That wasn't
possible, so this arrangement worked out quite well for both of
them.
So, that was Percy's story. Hare-iette had finally learned the
truth. She thought it was wonderful that Percy had someone to
love, and longed to have her own person to love. She certainly
hoped she'd get adopted soon. Now she understood why Percy didn't
want to get adopted. He loved Anna, and wanted to stay here with
her.
In the woods, Percy picked out a pretty little tree that
wasn't even as tall as Hare-iette. Hare-iette's strong hare teeth
made quick work of cutting down the tree. Soon, a big white hare
with flopping ears and a little tan bear with one arm dangling at
his side, were carrying the little tree towards town. Along the
way they gathered some pine cones, berries and feathers for
decorations. As they went through the town, they saw where a
family had put some old Christmas decorations out for the garbage
pick-up. Percy picked some out to take along.
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