Background
We've watched Bea and the other two struggle to find what Doolie, the wise bear called a dumpster. Now they are in the thick of it.
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An expedition was scheduled for the next morning. Why there was such an urgency, we'll never know. Bea gets something in her mind and that is that. As we have noticed her impulsivity has never turned out good.
Scruffles certainly could tell us about that. He remembers as some of us, how when his yowling woke her, she reacted without doing her brain exercise. He found himself being plunked outside the cave.
They began in the all-too-familiar darkness. Soon all of the miss-firings toward the desired target would become a much needed misty blur in their past. Doolie the wise bear had told Bea of the treasure, which she was sure would hold something golden for a wee bear.
The reconnaissance had been successful. The stone markers she piled prevented any further mistakes. If one couldn't find a marker, the other could. Fortunately, they all had amazing night vision.
Doolie had told her that the store workers left packages of chicken outside what they called a dumpster so it was easy to capture. Scruffles and Sweet Puppy were drooling and stomachs were growling so loud they were afraid someone might hear them. Bea was dismayed when she found nothing set outside the deep dumpster.
Fortunately, there were little steps for her to fit her feet as she climbed up to the edge of the tall metal box. This climb was actually nothing in comparison to the climbing she had done to get the tender barked twigs for Timothy. As she did her brain exercise it occurred to her she had been doing her brain exercise in very unusual circumstances and unexpected places, of late.
Making it to the edge, looking down into the dark unknown she could see nothing. The determined wee bear carefully let herself drop down to the bottom. Squish. Doing her investigation exercise she saw that it was what we call a banana. She'd never seen anything like it. Attempting to step out of that, she stepped into a package of tomatoes.
She was extremely uncomfortable with mushy stuff oozing through her toes and claws. Enough was enough. She wanted out of this terrible situation. When she looked for the steps like the ones on the outside, there were none.
She wasn't even certain that Sweet Puppy was still out there. Bea had been too busy doing the glop, slop, bop. The only music that played very slowly and rhythmically in her head during that dance was shsslushhh, shsslushhh, shsslushhh.
She could only hope that Sweet Puppy had not become distracted by a chipmunk and raced off following the trail while it was still hot. The frustrated wee bear wished for her words to pass through the thick darkness and fly up and out to Sweet Puppy.
Getting Scruffles was her only chance. She was feeling those fifty bees buzzing around inside her. She always felt them when her fears were great. To make matters worse, new light was too quickly creeping over treetops.
Sweet Puppy had been there all along at her assigned post. She understood what Bea was saying and immediately headed off to fetch Scruffles. She was able to do her talk to the Maker of wee bears. Shortly after the talk, she heard the buzzing of bees around honey, which was always comforting and reassuring.
But wait, the buzzing was not just in her spirit. They were in the dumpster with her. She followed the happy sound. Doing her investigating exercise, she traced the darting yellow specks to a jar of honey with a fairly good-sized chip out of it.
Tipping at just the right angle produced a golden rivulet of her "be good to myself" treat. For a minute, she was in her pretend world, with no problems. But the length of the minute could only be measured by how full the jar stayed.
Not long enough. She looked for more. She didn't at this point of desperation, care what she had to drag her paws and claw through. She was sure there must be just one more jar buried in there. She never had time to complete her search.
Sweet Puppy had been able to find Scruffles who had already climbed to the top of the dumpster and was very bemused, looking down at Bea covered with a smorgasbord of fruits and vegetables. This mishmash was not the buffet they had planned for and fantasized about.
Bea realized that Scruffles had gone somewhere else in his head for the moment. She gave him a little time, then instructed him to jump down to the bottom. She did have to admit to herself, she was a little cautious and worried that both of them would end up stuck at the bottom of this gloomy darkness.
Scruffles was long and very tall when he stood. Lengthening her body the way she had to while reaching for a clay pot of her "be good to myself" treat , she could grasp the edge of the holes in the metal. She would pull herself up enough for Scruffles to be able to get under her. When he stood up, it slowly raised her to the next set of holes.
Bea was able to reach with one paw and her claws using the other paw to pull herself to the top rim of the dumpster. She then started worrying about leaving Scruffles at the bottom. But he was a Racoon Cat and was already balancing on the edge beside her to make sure she could get out.
Her shaking legs were remembering climbing back down that extremely tall hardwood tree she had unwittingly climbed to help Timothy the Beaver. She was so relieved to be touching the ground.
