One Sock

One Sock(Darcie Kronberg) It was your normal day. The sun was shining, the wind was blowing and everyone in the forest was happy. In this forest lived a bear named One Sock. He was a bit larger than your average bear, but he was a special bear. He was special because he could sing. But if you were to ask him, he would say ...

"I am not singing, I am rapping!"

Now on this very normal day, One Sock decided that he was going to do something that was not normal. He decided to take a walk, but not just any walk ... A walk down the John Wayne Trail. He had seen others go down the trail, but he had never seen any of them come back. This drove One Sock crazy!!!

He thought to himself, "Well maybe they don’t come back because it's so much fun on the other side." Then he had a horrible thought, "Maybe it's because they die at the end of the trail. Either way, it's driving me nuts!"

So he packed up his Walkman, his rap tapes, some bread, and all the peanut butter and jelly that he could fit in his back pack ... And that was that. He was about to go where no bear had ever gone and come back from.

As One Sock approached the trail, there was a sign that said, 'Welcome
to the JOHN WAYNE TRAIL'.

Under that sign was a smaller one that said, 'No eating, no electronic devices including Walkmans, and absolutely no turning back once you have started the trail'.

"Great," said One Sock, "This better be a really short trail or I am going to starve to death," and off he went. "Hmmm ... looks just like the rest of the forest," said One Sock. "Tree, tree, oh look, another tree! I don’t see what’s so cool about this trail." But he kept walking anyway. Pretty soon he came upon another sign. This one said ...

Use EXTREME CAUTION when crossing the bridge.

"Stupid," said One Sock. When he got to the bridge he couldn’t believe his eyes. "Caution my butt. Why didn’t they just say, you are about to cross the ATLANTIC ocean with 120 foot waves, infested with man eating sharks!"

One Sock was so scared that he wanted to turn back, but he knew he couldn’t. He also knew that he wasn’t going to make it over that bridge. And then One Sock did something he had never done before ... He prayed.

"Dear God, Hi, it's me, One Sock, the coolest bear in the forest. This has been a really long hard trail. I want to go back but I can't and I really don’t want to cross this bridge. Please help me make it to the other side."

Next he put one paw on the bridge and then very slowly he put the other paw. Then out of nowhere he heard a voice,

"That’s it One Sock, just take it one step at a time. You asked for my help and I won't let you fall."

One Sock couldn't believe his ears. And after a few minutes he reached the other side. When he stepped off the bridge he noticed how everything was the same, but different. Trees were taller and greener. There was water, but it was calm. There was wind, but it wasn’t blowing.

And then One Sock saw another sign, this one said, 'To the left'.

"What does that mean?" thought One Sock. And then he turned to the left. What he saw made his mouth drop and his heart pound. It was a house made out of ... 24 k gold. The porch was made of diamonds and the chimney was made from rubies.

One Sock walked up on to the porch. He noticed that the screen door was open just a little bit. "Weird," he thought. Next he knocked on the door. "Come in," said the voice from inside.

One Sock opened the door and there she was ... the most beautiful bunny rabbit he had ever seen. She had long white fur, perfect paws and a tail to die for. She looked at him and said, "Hello, my name is White Ear." And then with a trembling voice One Sock said, "Hi, it's nice to meet you. I was scared to death but kept walking and this is where the trail brought me."

Then White Ear walked over and grabbed his paw, she looked up and said, "I know, I have been right here, waiting for you."

The End