Bakery Bear: From Tongue Twisters at Americanfolklore.net

A Tongue Twister Tale
by
S. E. Schlosser

Brenda was busy baking a batch of blueberry muffins in the kitchen of Butler's Bakery when the bell rang.

"Be with you in a bit," Brenda called, brushing her blond braid over her shoulder.

Brenda put the blueberry muffins into the oven and bustled into the store. A big brown bear stood with his paws on the counter.

"Grumph," said the big brown bear.

"Aaaaa!" said Brenda Butler.

Brenda ran out through the back door to get Bill Boyle, the policeman.

"Bill, there is a big brown bear in the bakery!" Brenda cried.

"A bear?" Bill asked.

Bill followed Brenda into the bakery. The bear was busy eating blintz's and a bunch of bagels. It looked at Bill Boyle and grunted bad-temperedly.

"Here bear. Nice bear," Bill said nervously.

The bear gave Bill a baleful grin. Bill backed away. The bear ambled toward Bill. Bill ran.

"Oh boy," Brenda babbled and fled from the store.

"I'd better call Barney," Bill told Brenda.

Barney Blake was the local dogcatcher for the town of Bradley. Barney drove up in his big blue van and hopped out.

"Where's the bear?" Barney asked Brenda.

"It's in the bakery," Brenda said.

Barney took a big net and went into the bakery. Brenda heard a bang. Grabbing a broom from the closet, Brenda rushed into the store. Barney was standing on a bench, waving his arms and yelling "Shoo!" at the bear. The bear was biting Barney's black boots hungrily.

Brenda beat the bear with the broom. "Back off, you big bully," Brenda shouted.

When the bear bit the broom, Barney jumped off the bench and ran out of the bakery. Brenda followed.

"What happened to your net?" asked Brenda breathlessly.

"The bear broke it," said Barney.

A wave off smoke came billowing out the back door of the bakery.

"My blueberry muffins are burning!" cried Brenda. She raced into the kitchen.

As Brenda removed the burnt blueberry muffins from the oven, the bear came into the kitchen.

"Shoo you bumbling brute," Brenda said to it. "You are bad for business. You made me burn my muffins."

Brenda threw a blueberry muffin at the bear. The bear ate the muffin and went back into the store.

"Is it gone?" asked Bill, as he and Barney came cautiously into the kitchen.

"The bear is in the store," said Brenda. "I have a plan."

Brenda sent Bill to get some honeycomb and had Barney back his van behind the bakery. Meanwhile, Brenda beat up a batch of buttermilk biscuits. Then she mixed the honey from the honeycomb into the batter. Soon, the kitchen was bursting with the smell of honey buttermilk biscuits.

The loud banging noises the bear was making in the bakery store ceased abruptly as the bear smelled the honey. Brenda carried the big batch of biscuits out to the van. Bill opened the back door. The breeze blew the smell of the honey-buttermilk biscuits into the bakery. The bear nudged open the swinging door of the bakery and ambled into the kitchen. He knocked over the big brown bowl and grumbled when he found no honey.

Then the bear sniffed his way out the back door. Brenda had placed the basket of biscuits at the back of Barney's van. The bear bounded up the ramp and Barney banged the door shut. Brenda and Bill cheered.

"I will take the bear back to the forest and let him out," said Barney.

While Barney and the bear drove away in the blue van, Brenda and Bill bustled back into the bakery to clean up.