C hester Raccoon stood in front of his tree hollow looking gloomy. His younger brother Ronny and his best friend Cassy stood beside him.
âWe donât want to go to school,â Chester told his mother. âWe want to stay home with you. Please. May we stay home with you?â
âI thought you liked school,â said Mrs. Raccoon.
âWe do,â said Chester.
âThen why do you want to stay home with me?â
Chester lowered his head and shuffled his foot. â. . . erâs . . . a . . . ully . . . a . . . ool,â he explained in a quiet muffled voice.
Mrs. Raccoon reached out and tenderly lifted Chesterâs head with her hand. âWhat did you say?â
Chester gazed into his motherâs loving eyes and gulped. âThereâs a bully at school.â
âAnd heâs horrible!â cried Ronny. âHeâs big and mean.â
âAnd he has giant claws on his hands and feet!â wailed Cassy.
âAnd fangs!â screeched Chester. âAnd fire comes out of his nose! And if you get in his way, heâll step on your face and squash you like a bug!â
âLike a bug!â echoed Ronny.
âOh my! He sounds very scary,â said Mrs. Raccoon. âBullies can be very difficult! Iâll tell you what,â she told the frightened cubs. âIâll walk you to school and back. Then we can decide what to do about this bully.â
When the raccoons reached the school tree, Chester tugged on his motherâs arm. âThatâs him! Thatâs the bully.â He pointed a trembling finger at a badger standing by the pond. âIsnât he awful? Isnât he the most scary-looking bully youâve ever seen?â
âOh my, yes,â whispered Mrs. Raccoon. âBut Iâm sure we can work things out.â Before leaving, she gently fluffed Chesterâs mask and playfully tweaked Ronnyâs nose.
âBe brave,â she told the cubs and gave each of her sons a comforting kiss in their palms.
After school, Chester, Ronny, and Cassy told Mrs. Raccoon how the badger bullied his classmates at recess.
âFirst he snatched a ball away from the squirrel and popped it.
âThen he climbed atop the jungle gym and squashed the opossumâs fingers until the opossum fell to the ground.
âThen he spooked a doe, who bumped into the skunk, who got so scared that he sprayed and stunk. Even Owl Teacher couldnât get him to behave.â
âSometimes animals are bullies because they donât know any other way to be,â explained Mrs. Raccoon. âBut I think thereâs a way you can change things. Go get your friends and bring them to our tree. I want to share a story.â
A few minutes later, a crowd of eager young forest animals stood at the base of Chesterâs tree house, and Mrs. Raccoon began her tale.
âOnce, a long time ago, there was a secret forest sprinkled in yellow stones. The stones were round and polished, big and little, and smooth enough to hold. Every animal in the forest collected and treasured them.
âOne day, an animal found a blue stone! It was very exciting since no animal had ever seen a blue stone. But the blue stone was rough and dull, without any polish or shine. And it had sharp prickly points sticking out of it, making it very hard to hold.
âCareful not to hurt their paws, the animals carried the stone to the center of the forest and placed it atop a tree stump where everyone could see it.
ââPerhaps the stone is blue because it popped out of the ground too soon,â suggested a fox. So the animals waited and watched for many days and nights to see if the blue stone would turn yellow. But the stone remained blue, and its outer shell remained sharp and pointy.
ââI believe the stone is blue because that is the color it is meant to be,â said a very wise snake. âTherefore, we shall treasure the blue stone for the
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley