The Middle-Sized Bear

[mdlbear]

I've been doing minor maintenance on my LJ; somehow this came up.

The Medium-sized Teddybear stirs in the easy chair next to Liralen.
It hasn't exactly been asleep, but its mind has been walking strange
paths, and new things have become accessible to it.  In its squeaky
voice it says, "I mentioned a passage from Cordwainer Smith's story
"Mark Elf".  Here it is.  It's in the collection _The Instrumentality
of Mankind_ from Del Rey, 1979, original copyright on the story 1957."

  [The story so far: Carlotta vom Acht has awakened from 16,000 years
  of suspended animation, and has spent several days wandering around
  in the wilderness that Earth has become.  At the end of the story
  she encounters the Middle-Sized Bear.]

  Carlotta was angry, confused, frightened, and sick again.  She
  started to run.

  Something as solid as a blow hit her.

  She knew without being told that it was the bear's mind reaching out
  and encompassing hers.

  It hit--boom!--and that was all.

  She had never before stopped to think of how comfortable a bear's
  mind was.  It was like lying in a great big bed and having mother
  take care of one when one was a very little girl, glad to be petted
  and sure of getting well.  

  The anger poured out of her.  The fear left her.  The sickness began 
  to lighten.  The morning seemed beautiful.

  She herself felt beautiful as she turned--

"Good night, all."

(From this Usenet post; see the associated thread for context).

Comments

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

You know, I wish I'd been around The Place back then, when giants walked the earth. :-)

[mdlbear]

Or something like that. It was a lot less crowded, and it was actually possible to keep up with everything that was going on.