Chapter 3
It was a normal day in Care-A-Lot. The birds sang their cute songs, the rivers ran blue and steady. What wasn’t normal, however, was the strange cub in the back of Grumpy’s car.
A few bears came forward, asking questions, but one pushed forward, shooing the others away from the small child.
“Grumpy, who is this?” Tenderheart asked.
“Heck if I know. I found him underneath the family’s stairs.” Grumpy replied.
“He doesn’t look so good. You take him to Take Care, I’ll call a meeting. Join us afterwards.” Tenderheart said. All the other bears began walking to the hall.
After a short distance, Grumpy finally bumped into Take Care as she was walking out. She quickly sat him on a bed, and began asking Grumpy some questions.
“Where did you find him exactly?”
“Underneath the family’s stairs, in the closet.”
“What did it look like?”
“Like they were abusing and neglecting that kid, that’s what.” He continued. “There were broken toys on the ground, and a cot with a blanket.”
Take Care looked concerned. “You don’t think he’s still hurt in that house, do you?”
“Don’t think so. I searched the place the best I could, but I may have missed something.”
Take Care nodded, writing it down. “Anything off about the house?”
“There weren’t any pictures of a second kid. Just one kid.”
“Strange. Has he woken up at any point?”
“Yeah. In the car. Then he passed out again.”
More writing.
“I’ll need to examine him a bit more. You can leave to join the others.”
Grumpy promptly left, leaving Take Care alone with the cub.
She carefully examined him, using some of the tools on the wall to do so, but when she began touching his chest, he groaned painfully, eyes finally flittering open.
She stepped back, preparing to calm him down, but to her surprise, he didn’t. His curious green eyes bore into her soul as they stared at each other.
“Hello?” She hesitantly greeted. He pulled back a bit as he sat up on the bed, clearly confused. He gave no reply.
“What’s your name?” She asked.
He didn’t answer for quite a while, before finally telling her, “I’m Harry.”
“Where are your parents?” She finally decided on her question after a few seconds.
“Gone. Died in a car crash.” He simply replied.
“Oh. I’m so sorry. What were their names?” She was hoping that she would recognize his parents names, even if his seemed strangely human.
“My aunt said they were named Lily and James.”
“So you live with your aunt, right?” He nodded.
“Are they human?” He nodded again.
She turned back to her equipment, puzzled, and reached for the flashlight. Before she could do anything, however, he spoke up again.
“I’m supposed to be.” His voice was quiet.
“Hmm?” She hummed.
He spoke a little louder. “I’m supposed to be human.”
Take Care was baffled, but didn’t let it show. “What do you mean? We’re your parents human?”
“I think so. They might’ve mentioned if they weren’t.” He was right, but it created more questions than if answered.
“Then how aren’t you human?”
“I was. Then I wasn’t.” He seemed awfully calm.
Take Care wasn’t one to think someone was lying or confused without evidence, but this cub did seem awfully confused. She grabbed a clipboard and quickly jotted something down.
“Are you sure you were human?“ he nodded. She decided it might be best to question him after the examination is done.