If You Go Into the Woods Today

Calvin looked at the remnants of the campfire and took one final bite of his cold s’more. The wind started to bite with cold and he leaned forward to douse the glowing embers from a bucket.

He began to hum a tune as he walked to his tent. “Hm Hm, hm hm hm hm, hmm hm hmm. Da daa da daa da da da.”

What was that tune? It seemed really familiar, but he just couldn’t place it. He was tired, he’d remember in the morning, and he continued to hum. It was time for bed and he’d be home in no time.

“Daddy, wake up,” said a soft voice to the side of Calvin’s conscience.

“Umm, huh?”

“Wake up daddy, come see what I found.”

“Ivy? What time is it?”

Calvin sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. His daughter was kneeling at the foot of his sleeping bag wearing her bright blue coat and clutching her favorite teddy bear.

“I woke up and I was bored. I want to show you what I found,” Ivy said.

“I thought I told you not to go far from camp,” Calvin said.

“It’s not far at all,” said Ivy and she stood and motioned for him to follow her.

“Well, hold on, let me get some pants on. We can’t waste too much time, we need to get camp cleaned up so we can get on the road.”

Calvin dressed quickly in blue jeans, yellow flannel shirt, and a beanie. When he stepped out of his tent he saw his daughter across the small field and closing in on a thick copse of trees.

“Ivy, hold up, don’t get so far ahead of me,” Calvin called out to her and started to jog to her position.

“Come on daddy, it’s in here,” Ivy yelled back.

Calvin started catching up, keeping pace, but his daughter was faster. He followed her as she darted through the trees, around boulders, and up a steep hill.

“Sweetheart, hold up, this is a little farther from camp than I think we should be,” said Calvin.

“Don’t stop daddy. We’re almost there,” Ivy said as she crested the edge of the hill.

Calvin stopped to catch his breath. He needed coffee.

Then he heard humming. It was the same song he had been humming before bed, it was so familiar to him. He just couldn't put his finger on it.

“Hm Hm, hm hm hm hm, hmm hm hmm. You better not go alone. Hm Hm, hm hm hm hm, hmm hm hmm. It’s safer to stay at home. What is that? I know that song?!”

Calvin hummed and walked up the rest of the hill and when he got near the top he would have called out to his daughter to ask what she was humming, except the humming stopped and a silence unsettled his nerves.

Calvin was surprised at what he saw.

Beyond the hill, enclosed in pine trees, was a wide flower meadow. It was lush and dewy in the morning sunshine and bumblebees bumbled around lazily. In the center of the meadow was a marble statue of an angel, aged and viny. The wings of the angel had broken off and fallen to each side. The angel stood hunched with her hands hiding her face as if in shame or sadness athe the revocation of her wings.

Scattered around the angel with chaotic purpose were several dozen picnic blankets, in various color and pattern, and each had its own picnic basket along with between two to four teddy bears per blanket.

“If you go into the woods today,” Calvin whispered as he took a few steps into the meadow, walking between to picnic blankets.

The meadow was quiet and still and with every step Calvin took into the meadow it only got quieter.

“Ivy,” Calvin called out tentativly in the silence. “Ivy, I don’t think we belong here.”

“Tink, tink,” came a small metallic noise. It was Ivy’s teddy bear; it had a music box in it.

“Ivy, this isn’t funny, sweetheart,” Calvin said. He stepped near another picnic blanket and an old worn teddy bear fell forward onto its face.

“Tink, tink, tink,” played the music box slowly, going up and down in tone with each note.

“Ivy, we need to get going,” Calvin moved further into the meadow. The bears weren’t moving, but he could have sworn all their little button eyes were staring at him.

“Tink, tink, tink, tink, tink,” the music box played.

A group of blackbirds circled the sky above as Calvin made his way slowly to the center of the meadow and to the broken statue. He felt one of the mushrooms that ringed the statue squash into the sole of his boot.

Just as the music box started to play again, Calvin sang along with the tune, “that's the way the teddy bears have their pic-nic!”

The tune stopped again; at the foot of the angel was Ivy’s teddy bear. Calvin picked it up and twisted the turnkey in the bear’s back. It began to play the tune with perfection, and he closed his eyes and smiled as it played.

“Wait a minute. What’s going on? I’m on a solo camping trip. I don’t have a daughter!”

Calvin turned his face up to meet the angel as the teddy bear finished its tune.

If you were to go into the woods today you may come across a picnic scene. It’s not for you, you should turn, you should leave. But just before you go take a glance and you might see a bear wearing blue jeans, yellow flannel, and a beanie. If you catch his eye just right, he’ll sing you a lullaby as you depart.

That's the way the teddy bears have their picnic.