T - Bruno's Red Suit - For My Emma

Bruno's Red Suit

Bruno Flare was a blameable bear. Things went wrong for Bruno all the
time, but it was never his fault. Somehow though, he always got the
blame.

Early one Sunday morning, Bruno was sitting happily in the garden. He
felt very proud on this particular day because he was wearing his brand
new, bright red, Sunday best suit.

"Stay clean and tidy," his mummy had told him. "You know how Aunt Bella
gets if you have so much as a spot of dust on your shoes."

"No problemo," he had answered.

How hard could it be to stay clean for a few minutes? Then he could go
and visit Aunt Bella, smile his best and widest smile, tell her how
lovely she looked (because she always did!), and collect his usual
honey sandwich reward.

"Yes Bruno," he said to himself in a voice that was just a little too
grand, "you're the cleverest bear in the world, the best dressed bear
in the world, and soon you'll be stuffed with the tastiest honey
sandwiches in the world!"

As he sat there in the sunshine, he could hear a little voice from
outside the garden. It was singing a song, and it was getting louder.
He strained and strained his ears until finally he could make out the
words. It was 'Polly Put The Kettle On'.

'Oh no,' thought Bruno. 'It's Polly. I can't let her see me!'

Now you might think this kind of behaviour a little rude coming from
such a normally polite little bear, but Bruno was thinking of his
mummy's words... 'stay clean and tidy.' If Polly saw him, she would
want to give him a hug. Usually, Bruno loved to hug his friends, but
today he was wearing his brand new, bright red, Sunday best suit. You
see, his friend Polly was made entirely out of holly. Now you may be
surprised by this, but Bruno had known Polly all his life, so he never
really thought about it. He did, however, think about what would happen
to his new suit if Polly's prickly arms hugged him.

Polly was getting nearer. He could tell because her singing was getting
louder and louder. What could he do? He looked around the garden for
somewhere to hide. The pile of leaves in the corner? No, too messy.
What should he do? He looked again. Underneath the garden shed? No,
much too messy. What could he do? He looked again... and there by the
far fence was the answer. Jack Black's house.

He ran across to Jack's house, knelt down and lifted the brown flap at
the front. "Jack," Bruno called. "Please may I come in?"

Now this may seem an unusual way of trying to get into your friend's
house, so perhaps I should explain. You see, Bruno's friend Jack Black
lived in a sack. Some people might think that was a strange place to
live, but Bruno had known Jack all his life, so he never really thought
about it.

"Of course you can," said Jack from his sack. "Climb aboard!"
Bruno quickly clambered into the sack with Jack. It was strange, but
Bruno always felt that Jack's sack was bigger on the inside than on the
outside, but he never could tell because Jack didn't have any lights.
Jack seemed to manage quite well in the dark sack though, so Bruno
didn't think it much of a problem either.

"Now then," said Jack excitedly, "are you playing hide and seek? Can I
play too? I have a perfect hiding place in the cellar."

"You have a cellar?" Bruno sounded surprised, but then he remembered
why he was there. "No, sorry," said Bruno, "I'm hiding from Polly. It's
not a game as such, I just don't want her to see me."

"Oh," said Jack. He didn't sound very sure that he understood.

"It's just..." started Bruno. As he continued, he said, "...that aah,
aah, choo!" Bruno let out an almighty sneeze.

"Are you alright Bruno?" Asked Jack.

"Yes, thanks. It's... aah, aah, choo!"

"Here you are." Jack handed a hankie to Bruno. "I'm sorry about that.
I've just been baking, and I've got flour everywhere. That's probably
what's making you sneeze."

Bruno blew his nose with a big 'harumpphhh'. "Don't worry Jack, it's
not your fault... wait a minute, did you say FLOUR?"

Jack nodded. Bruno bellowed in his loudest bear growl, "NOT FLOUR!" He
started to clamber out of the sack.

As Bruno looked at himself in the sunlight, he gasped... his new,
bright red suit was now white! "I am in SO much trouble now," he
cried.

Just then he heard a voice behind him say a cheery 'halloo!'

"Halloo you two," said Polly. "I thought I heard you shout, Bruno."
Polly looked at his suit. "That's a nice white suit Bruno... wait a
minute, have you been baking?"

"No, Polly. Jack's been baking, but my brand new, bright red, Sunday
best suit is covered with flour." And it was!

"Don't worry," said Jack, peering out from his sack, "it doesn't look
too bad." Now, although this wasn't completely true, Jack thought that
sometimes it might be alright to fib if it made his friends feel
better.

"Really?" Said Bruno.

"Yes," said Jack. He was feeling a little uncomfortable now, because he
knew that he shouldn't really fib at all. "It's not too bad is it
Polly?"

"No, not too bad," said Polly. "I'm sure your mummy will understand
that it was an accident." Polly also thought that it was okay to fib
sometimes, but only when it stopped her friends from feeling sad.

Bruno started to feel a little better. 'Well, maybe it isn't too bad'
he thought.

"Here," said Polly. "Let me brush that flour from your suit."

"No, don't...." began Bruno. He knew what would happen if Polly brushed
him down, but it was too late.

"Tra-la-la," sang Polly. "Tra-la-la... oops!"

"Why oops?" Said Jack, who was finding it difficult to see above
Bruno's knees from his low house.

"Oh dear," said Polly. "Sorry about that Bruno."

Bruno looked down at his jacket. His worst fears were confirmed. Where
Polly had started to brush the flour away, her prickly arms had caught
the material and made little rips and tears.

"Oh, I am in SO much trouble now," sighed Bruno and he sat down on the
grass and sank his little bear head into his little bear paws.

'Time for another tiny fib,' thought Jack. "Don't worry Bruno, it's not
too bad. In fact, you can hardly see the rips, they're mostly still
covered by the flour." This didn't really make Bruno feel any
better.

"I agree Jack," said Polly. "They're barely noticeable. To my eyes,
your lovely suit looks as good as new." Polly was a much better fibber
than Jack, due to the fact that she was so much taller than her other
friends, and Bruno cheered up a little.

"Really?" Said Bruno.

"Yes, really!" Said Polly and Jack together.

"Good," said Bruno. "Aunt Bella really does get cross if you're
untidy." And Bruno started to feel a little better. Soon, his little
bear smile was back on his little bear face.

Just then, the friends heard whistling from the other side of the
garden fence. They recognised it at once. It was the whistle of Jonny
Dibbs, the little boy from the house next door. Jonny wasn't whistling
a tune, he was trying to whistle a tune. He was good at some things,
like painting and skipping with a rope, but he couldn't whistle at all.
His friends didn't mind though, because he was so good at so many other
things.

Jack and Polly looked at each other and quietly wondered if Jonny would
notice them. They hoped that he wouldn't. Now you might think that a
little rude coming from a boy who lives in a sack and a girl made out
of holly, so perhaps I should explain.

You see, Jonny Dibbs never told fibs. Never. Never ever. He hadn't told
a single fib in his entire life. You and I might find that hard to
believe, but Bruno and his friends had known Jonny all their lives, so
they didn't really think about it.

Polly and Jack had just told Bruno a little fib to make him feel
better, but here was Jonny Dibbs, and if he saw Bruno's suit... well,
you can imagine why they were so worried!

Too late. Jonny had seen them and he came into the garden.

"Hello, everyone. Have you seen Rick the hungry chick or Squirm the
worm? I promised Rick that I'd help him build a worm-catcher, and I
promised Squirm that I'd help him build a worm-catcher-escaper." Then
Jonny saw Bruno.

And he stopped talking...

And his mouth fell open...

And he started to smile...

"What are you all playing?" Asked Jonny. "I love messy games, can I
join in?"

"We're not playing messy games," answered Bruno, a little
confused.

"Then how did you get to be in such a messy state?" Asked Jonny.

"Do I look really messy?" Asked Bruno, the little bear smile
disappearing from his little bear face.

"Yes. You're all floury and dusty, and there are big rips and tears
everywhere. You're lucky you're wearing your old play clothes." Polly
and Jack were very quiet while Bruno and Jonny were having this
conversation.

Bruno turned round to Polly. "You told me it wasn't too bad."
Polly just shuffled her prickly feet. Then he turned to Jack. "And you
told me it wasn't too bad." Jack's sack moved as if he was shuffling
his feet too.

"You both fibbed to me," said Bruno. "You shouldn't tell fibs to your
friends," and he looked at his brand new, bright red, Sunday best suit.
Only now, it didn't seem so new - it looked quite old, and it wasn't
really bright red - it was more of a dusty white, and it certainly
didn't look like a Sunday best suit - more of a Sunday worst
suit.

"I'm in SO much trouble now," he said and then, a little bear tear
rolled down his little bear cheek. The friends just looked at each
other, feeling a little ashamed.

"Yoo-hoo, Bruno," came a shout from the kitchen door. It was Mrs Flare,
Bruno's mummy. She saw Polly and Jonny, and Jack's sack, but Bruno was
hidden from her view by the others.

"Hello, Mrs Flare," said the friends.

"Have you seen Bruno?" Asked Mrs Flare. "We have to go and visit his
Aunt Bella."

Jonny and Polly moved to one side and Mrs Flare saw Bruno.

"Oh.... my.... goodness!" Exclaimed Mrs Flare. "Bruno, what have you
done? I thought I asked you to stay tidy and clean!"

Bruno couldn't help himself, he started to cry. "But it... it... wasn't
my fau... fau... fault," he stammered.

"Never mind that, young bear. You go inside and get cleaned up. Put
your blue suit on... and be quick!"

Bruno sniffed a great big sniff and ran inside. "Bye, Bruno," said all
his friends quietly.

Mrs Flare looked at the friends sternly. "Right then, who's going to
tell me what happened here?"

Once Bruno had changed into his blue suit, he came downstairs. "Mummy,"
he called sheepishly.

"I'm in the kitchen," she replied. "Come in here please."

'Now I'm in for it,' he thought. Slowly, he made his way into the
kitchen, but, to his surprise, his mummy didn't look angry anymore, she
was smiling. He wasn't sure what was happening, but he started to smile
too. You see, his mummy's smiles could always make him smile, even when
he felt really bad.

Mrs Flare stepped away from the table and Bruno couldn't believe his
eyes. There on the table was a great, big pile of honey
sandwiches!

"Does this mean you're not cross with me?" Asked Bruno.

"I'm not at all cross, Bruno," said his mummy. "When you came inside,
Polly, Jack and Jonny told me what had happened. I know it was just an
accident, and I can't really blame you for an accident, can I? That
wouldn't be fair."

Bruno smiled his best and widest smile. He felt much, much happier
now.

"Come on," said Mrs Flare, "I've called Aunt Bella and told her that we
can't make it today because of a slight accident, which is a bit of a
fib, but in a very good cause."

"A good cause?" Asked Bruno, a little confused.

"Yes," said Mrs Flare, "I thought we could have a picnic on the lawn by
Jack's sack. I've invited all your friends, so come on, let's
go!"

And taking the plate of sandwiches in one hand, and Bruno's paw in the
other, she led her smiling little cub into the garden.

The End