The Forever Friends

By Charlotte Royal and Gina Lynne

Manny, the little brown bear longs for a friend. But not just any friend. He longs for a Forever Friend. He wishes for a friend he can play with and laugh with, and dance and sing with. He wishes for a friend he can share all his happy thoughts and all his sad thoughts with. Find out what happens when Manny rescues a little white rabbit from a hunter's trap. Then follow them on their adventures as they happily explore their forest neighborhood.

"He looked at his new friend with wonder and said, And I dont even know exactly WHY I was laughing!

Oh, she said, I was just so happy to be free and so relieved you didnt want to eat me that I just started laughing.

Eat you?! Oh, no! Oh, yuck! Oh, gross! No way! said Manny Bear, in a very shocked voice.

Yuck? What do you mean.YUCK! the little white rabbit asked in a huffy tone. Dont you think I would taste good? Whats wrong with me? I am not gross or yuck!

Then realizing it might sound as if she were inviting him to have a taste she changed her mind. In a tiny voice, she said, Never mind. Im sure I must taste just awful anyway.

The little white rabbit sat up and offered her tiny paw to Manny Bear. He took it very gently in his much bigger paw.

She said, My name is Missy Rabbit and I am very pleased to meet you. Thank you for saving me.

Then they looked at each other and began to laugh all over again. By the time they finished laughing they were the best of friends. They were Forever Friends."

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Sep 25, 2014
• ISBN: 9781496941053

Charlotte Royal

Gina Lynne is a mother, and a Gigi. What is a Gigi? A Gigi is the most fortunate Grandmother in the world. She lives in Augusta, Ga. Gina Lynne is just a regular working stiff with an imagination, and has always been a tremendous reader and lover of books. She decided she wanted to leave a legacy for her progeny. Bursting with thoughts and visions of what our world could be like if we practiced the same friendship, love, and loyalty that are portrayed by the Forever Friends, Gina Lynne has endeavored to write a children’s book that contains some universal truths and plain good old sense.

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© 2014 Gina Lynne. All rights reserved.

Illustrated by Charlotte Royal.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 9/24/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4969-4106-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-4104-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-4105-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014916641

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and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Contents

1.   The Forever Friends Meet

2.   The Forever Friends Babysit

3.   The Forever Friends Go Fishing

4.   The Forever Friends Go For a Walk

5.   The Forever Friends Meet a Bully

Dedication

We’ll be FRIENDS FOREVER, won’t we, Pooh? asked Piglet.

Even LONGER, Pooh answered.

A.A.Milne (Winnie-The-Pooh)

~love, Gigi

The Forever Friends Meet

O ne time, not long ago, there was a little brown bear named Manny who lived in the deep, dark woods. He lived with his family in a nice, cozy den. His family loved him very much. There were three cubs in his family. Little Jelly Bear, Manny Bear’s little sister cub, loved her big brother very much. But, well, little sisters can be a bit of a bother at times. And Little Cubby, Manny Bear’s younger brother, hero-worshipped his big brother. Little Cubby wanted to be just like his big brother. Hero worship can be very tiring. Little Cubby was all fun and teasing and loved to pick on his brother and sister, too. Sometimes it seemed very crowded in their little den. Manny Bear’s Mom and Dad were very special parent bears. Buddy Boy, his Dad, was especially interesting. He certainly loved his little bears, but he was a very firm Papa and he certainly made them behave. Buddy Boy just wanted his cubs to be wise and safe. Mimi Bear was big and cuddly and worried that her cubs might wander too far, or that they might get hurt. She worked hard to keep them well fed and warm and happy.

The three cubs did have tons of fun together, and there were lots of other bear cousins to play with. When everyone was together it was very noisy and quite crazy, in a happy way. But there were times Manny Bear longed to have a special friend. He wished for a friend he could play with and laugh with, and dance and sing with. He wished for a friend he could share all his happy thoughts and all his sad thoughts with. He did hope he would find this friend some day.

One morning, very early, before the sun had even peeped over the horizon, Manny Bear slipped out of his cozy den in the deep, dark woods. Manny wanted to visit the pretty blue lake that was a short distance from his home. When he arrived, the early morning mists were just beginning to rise off the still, glasslike waters of the pretty blue lake. Manny could even see the fish as they occasionally jumped above the surface of the water. All was perfectly quiet except for that noise the fish made playing in the water, or that noise the frogs made, or yes, those were crickets and katydids he also heard. So maybe it wasn’t perfectly quiet, but it was much quieter than being in the same den with his little brother and his little sister cubs.

Manny Bear was a good little cub. He always tried to be a good bear cub and obey Mimi Bear’s rules. But he was also a very curious little bear and he loved to explore and search for adventure. He wanted to see everything, to touch everything, to experience everything in his world. He also wanted to meet every forest creature. He hoped to meet every single one, from the smallest inch-worm to the shyest deer, to the quickest fox.

So he began his morning journey around the edge of the little blue lake, excited about what he might see and do on this adventure. Manny
Bear had brought along some of the fresh, delicious blueberries that Grand-mama Bear had picked and brought to share with her grand cubs.

The forest never truly slept, but Manny Bear’s favorite time was in the early morning cool when the forest creatures began to stir and awaken and go happily about their business.

Manny Bear stopped and sat for a moment on a log eating a handful of his yummy blueberries. He watched all the forest creatures beginning a brand new day. He saw little field mice scurry out of their nest and head out to gather their daily meal. He saw squirrels chattering and jumping from tree limb to tree limb above his head in the forest branches. One particularly mischievous squirrel paused in his shenanigans long enough to drop an acorn on Manny Bear’s head. The squirrel thought this was a hilarious thing to do.

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Manny Bear saw two graceful does with their young fawns approach the edge of the lake and drink their