Once upon a time deep in the forest it is the beginning of autumn and all 

the leaves are beginning to fall. In this forest is a well hidden cave in the 

mountain side. This cave is where the biggest creature of the entire forest 

lives and his name is Duke. He lives all by himself with the wish to have a 

best friend that is not afraid to be around him.

      He is a very large brown bear with black paws and a kind heart. Autumn is Duke’s favorite season because the color of the leaves make him think of fruit. Staring out his front door he thought to himself how the leaves are as red as apples, as yellow as lemons, as orange as oranges, and then some haven’t turned yet and are still as green as limes. Duke’s stomach started to growl. He ate some dinner, cleaned his dishes and headed to his room. 

      Every night before bed Duke wishes upon a star for a friend to call his own to spend his days with. With all that hope in his heart he eventually fell fast asleep.

      The next morning after a long quiet breakfast  Duke put on his favorite scarf and hat and went on his morning walk through the forest picking up trash that the humans leave behind after their picnics. 

      Duke believes since he is the biggest creature of the forest it is his responsibility to keep it clean for all the smaller creatures that can not. After all, a clean forest is a happy forest, Duke will say to himself while wishing he had a best friend to help him and keep him company.

      Duke completed his morning chores of 

making the forest a better place so he decided to go fishing 

and pick some berries. 

      Every once in a while the bee’s of Mulberry Hill Hive will let him have a chunk of honey, which is his favorite treat of course, for keeping the forest so clean. 

      As much as Duke appreciates their kind gesture for what he does it makes him sad that they leave it in a basket because they are afraid of his size even though he proves to be so nice.

      After a long day of doing the things he enjoys most Duke gathered his 

belongings he collected throughout the day and traveled back home to his 

lonely cave in the mountain side. 

      He put everything away in the kitchen and instead of making dinner he 

decided to go to bed. He brushed his teeth, put on his pajamas and as 

always before getting into bed he went to the window to wish on a star in 

hopes of a friend he can call his own. 

      "I’m wishing on you star so bright to grant me one wish and that is a 

friend I can love with all my might,” said Duke aloud. Then the most 

amazing thing happened that has never happened before, Duke’s star 

went shooting through the sky. 

      Duke woke up later than he normally does and made his fish and blueberry pancakes with maple syrup. He was starving since he skipped dinner the night before. After he ate he cleaned his dishes and put them away, made his bed and swept the floor. I am so tired today Duke thought to himself. He stayed up too late thinking about his shooting star.

    Duke thought about doing something fun for the day instead of doing his daily chores. After, much thought, he decided to take the day off of his regular routine and go relax next to the lake and watch he sunset. 

      He grabbed his favorite scarf and hat hanging on the hook, shut his door, and headed down the trail to the lake.

       Thirty minutes later Duke finally made it to the lake and sat down at the best boulder to watch the sunset next to a huge oak tree. 

      Duke heard some laughter and a whimper at a picnic table a few trees away. His curiosity got the best of him and he got up to wonder over to see what the commotion was about.

      He walked so lightly to not make a peep and hide behind the closest tree. He did not want whoever was there to hear him and be frightened because he would never want to frighten anyone. 

       As he peeked around to see what was going on he saw a small Labrador pup with dark floppy ears under a picnic table and soon learned where the whimper was coming from. 

      Duke thought he had seen that pup before with some campers that arrived about a week ago. He took another step around to get a better look and saw that there was two mountain lion cubs taunting the poor little pup that was so scared she was shaking. 

      Duke stooped back around the tree to come up with a plan. He figured if there were lion cubs then their mother must not be too far away. Duke knew he had to act fast before something terrible happened to that little pup. 

      Duke knows he is not a fierce bear even though his size makes him intimidating but he knows his roar can be very loud and with that thought and his built up courage he went running around the tree into the open and roared with all his might! The two lion cubs fur stood up and their claws were drawn but as soon as they realized who had roared they ran off like two scared little house cats.