Brappy’s Surprise
Brappy Bear couldn’t sleep anymore. He was too excited. It was still too early to get out of bed. Even though the sun was waking up earlier and earlier each day, it was still asleep right now. Brappy was so excited. It was hard to lay still, his mind racing with the plans for the day ahead. What would the Sea Life Center in Seward by like? What kinds of critters would he see? Would he get to touch any of them? His thoughts were going so fast, he felt like he was on a merry-go-round.
Brappy had been waiting for this day for two weeks, ever since his mom and dad had decided to go. Brappy had been trying extra hard to be a good little bear, so his parents would not change their minds. He had been thanking God everyday too, because he really couldn’t believe his parents had agreed to his suggestion. It was nothing short of a miracle.
After what seemed like forever, the sun began to rise. Brappy looked at his clock. 5:30 am. Not his usual getting up time on a Saturday, but late enough in the morning he would not get in trouble for being up and about. Brappy sprang out of bed. He was so happy it was April. He loved winter in Alaska, but when the snow finally melted it meant the temperature went up and Brappy could run and play without any snow gear on. It also meant he wasn’t shivering when he got out of bed and the floor wasn’t freezing when his feet hit it.
Brappy put on his clothes, making sure to pick jeans without any holes in them. He wanted to make his mom happy this morning. He combed his fur and washed his face, without being asked (which was huge). He even made his bed and picked up his dirty clothes. When he was satisfied both he and his room looked presentable, he went quietly down to the kitchen.
To his surprise, his mom and dad were both sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee. Today was Saturday, and his parents usually slept in till at least 8:00am. Brappy wondered to himself why he didn’t smell breakfast, but he dared not say anything. Especially not today. He didn’t want to seem selfish. It was Saturday, the day Momma didn’t have to do any chores except cook. Then, as if reading his mind, Brappy’s mom got up and made him a mug of hot chocolate and gave him his vitamin. She insisted he chew the nasty vitamins every morning. Living in Alaska meant not eating enough fresh vegetables, which is why his mom said the vitamins were important. Brappy didn’t understand all that. But he obeyed his mom, and he always ate them, even though he thought they tasted like sour chalk, or what he imagined sour chalk would taste like.
A few minutes later Brappy’s brother walked into the kitchen. Well, more like he crawled in. It was quiet apparent Revver was not quite awake yet. His fur was going in every direction possible and his t-shirt was on backwards. Mom must have made him get up. Wow, and here Brappy thought he was going to be the only one awake so early. Today must really be a bigger deal than he thought. Mom made Revver a mug of hot cocoa also. Maybe the chocolate would wake Revver up. Something had to.
Getting curious as to why everyone was awake so early, Brappy asked what time they were leaving. Instead of answering, Brappy’s parents just looked at each other and smiled, showing all of their big white teeth. Even more curious now, Brappy resisted the urge to ask again. He didn’t want to irritate them. Nothing was going to ruin today, especially his own behavior. He might only be 6 years old, but some things in life he had figured out already.
Brappy said a silent prayer, “Dear God, please help me say only nice things today, no matter what. And please help me not argue with Revver.” Then he thanked God again for this special treat, which was a huge answer to his prayers. He had wanted to go to the Sea Life Center ever since Revver’s class had gone there on a field trip. It was all Revver had talked about for days. Brappy had tried not to covet going to the Sea Life Center. His Sunday school teacher had explained how wanting what other people have is a sin, if we get angry about not having it too. So Brappy had begun to pray and ask God to help him with this. He really did want to go, but he never said anything. He just prayed. Then, one day his mom and dad asked him if there was anything special he would like to do, before their summer fish camp work began. Brappy had jumped at the chance and told them how much he wanted to go to the Sea Life Center in Seward. And now they were going.
The phone ringing brought Brappy’s attention back to the kitchen. Momma answered it, and by the smile in her voice he could tell it was a good call. Weird though, a phone call so early on a Saturday. Maybe it was Grandma. She was on vacation in the lower 48, and their time of day is ahead of Alaska’s time. Brappy didn’t quite understand that either, he just knew that to talk to Grandma he had to call her before 6:00 pm, because it was 8:00 pm there. Oh, how grownups can make things in life so confusing. How could time be different one place than another? Well, he would have to worry about that later. Mom and Dad were talking in low voices now, and Brappy was beginning to get excited. They kept looking at him and giggling. Such unusual behavior for his parents. They were acting like kids. Totally not normal.
Just then he heard a knock at the door. Now this was getting really weird. No bear he knew was out knocking on doors this early on a Saturday. Before any of them could move toward the door, it swung open, and in raced his best friend in the whole world, Axle. Whoa, this was so cool. Brappy jumped up, almost spilling his mug. Running over to Axle he stopped midway and turned to his mom. As if reading his mind (which seemed to be happening a lot today) she told him they had invited Axle to join them. They had wanted to keep it a surprise, just for fun. By this time Axle was beside Brappy and the two boys were jumping up and down in excitement. Brappy couldn’t believe how much God had blessed him. He ran over and gave his mom and dad a huge bear hug. His mom told the lil bears they could ride bikes until they were ready to leave, and that is exactly what they did.
