Episode 2.
“The Big Dance”
Every two years the residents of Bictoria held a dance competition. It was held during the summer time when everybody was in a happy mood and Mother Nature was in full bloom. It was a time for joy and fun and the dance just made it more so. This year, Cher Bear was adamant that she was going to win the competition. She had tried before and 2 years ago had come close to winning it. Close, but no cigar. This year she was going to make sure she did. She would rehearse very hard and would leave nothing to chance. She had it all planned out. Everything was going to be kept a secret and she would reveal nothing to anybody who asked. Not even the name of who her dance partner would be. She did not want anybody stealing her routine at all.
She had even employed little Sammy little bear to stay watch while she and her secret dance partner rehearsed at the local monastery. This year was it she was convinced. Her routine was perfect; there was no stopping her this time. Nothing would. Nothing at all. Away at Chalmers Inn, the little house she lived in with Kir Bear and Ali Bear, things were busy as unusual. This year, Kir Bear and Ali Bear were going to the dance together and had been busy rehearsing and designing their costumes. Kir Bear had come up with the idea of doing the Tango after watching Moulin Bouge, a musical movie that had caught her interest. She rarely watched movies. Movies were for petulant little bears as far as she was concerned.
She and Ali Bear had rehearsed their routine and they just danced so beautifully together. At least, that’s what Miss Bunsen the local tailor said. She was designing their costumes and they had invited her to watch them rehearse. She loved to watch people dance but she especially loved to watch Kir Bear dance. Everybody loved to watch Kir Bear dance; she was simply the most amazing dancer in town. Cher Bear knew this and that’s why she paid little Porky little bear, the fattest little bear in Bictoria and possibly in the whole of Banada, to spy on Kir Bear and Ali Bear. He was to report to her with regards to anything of interest he saw.
And so the whole town got ready for the dance. Everybody was excited, after all it was summer, the flowers were in bloom and every bird that had a song to sing was out belting it in full force like a one bird orchestra. Kir Bear had also prepared some of her amazing Kiki soup that she would be serving at the dance. Her soup was simply amazing and there were those who attended the dance simply to taste it. They really did not care much for the dance. Kir Bear had noticed this and had given orders that her soup was only to be served after the dance.
So, every 2 years, on a summer night in the month of July, hundreds of little bears from all over Bictoria converged at the city hall. It was dance night and party night. For some, it was Kir Bear soup night. Everybody came with their spirits high and they were all sure they were going to have a good time. No, make that a great time. Indeed, the best of times.
Cher Bear was the first to arrive, about 3 hours before the first guests arrived. Everybody working at City hall wondered what she was doing there so early. She had however arrived early to ensure that everything was perfect. That the dance floor had been polished properly and the changing rooms were the right size and that everything was perfect according to how she defined perfect. 1 hour after her arrival, everybody was tired of her pestering behaviour and asked Mayor Biggles to kick her out. Her meddling was driving them mad. And kick her out he did. Cher Bear was so mad she even threatened to set City hall on fire if they did not let her back in. That was the straw that broke the Camels back and Mayor Biggles threatened to have her arrested. Nothing in this world scared Cher Bear more than the prospect of going to jail. What would everybody think she thought to herself. So she quickly left and went back home.
Back at home, Kir Bear was putting the final touches to her award winning Kiki soup while Ali Bear was in the living room doing pushups. After all Kir Bear was a big little bear and he needed all his strength to ensure she did not fall. The Tango was not a dance for sissies. Cher Bear burst into the house and went upstairs to their room cursing under her breathe. Ali Bear and Kir Bear were used to this and they continued as if nothing much had transpired although Kir Bear did eventually go up to check if she was okay. When she came down, she found Ali Bear doing squats with the weights he had borrowed from the local monastery. She wondered why he bothered using weights when his head was big enough and heavy enough to serve the purpose. She decided to leave him to his ways but hoped he would not tire himself out too much.
And so nightfall came. The whole city had actually been out watching the sun set. Never before had anybody been so eager to see the sun set and on this evening it sure seemed to be taking its time. So much so that everybody said a little prayer to God asking him to be done with the sun. And when night fell, they all went in to dress up and leave for City hall. They all seemed to show up at the same time, and in no time, the whole parking square was in a mess as everybody tried to enter at the same time. After some yelling and threats by Mayor Biggles to shut down the event if order was not restored, everything returned to normal.
Cher Bear had arrived all alone and she had no intention of revealing her dance partner until her time came. She had not even dressed up in her dance outfit. She wanted to awe everybody when her time came. Kir Bear had dressed up in a traditional Tango outfit. A full dress with a slit coming up to her little bear thighs. It was all black and propped up her bosom. Her hair was pulled back into a huge ribbon at the back. She simply looked stunning. Ali Bear was simply dressed in a tuxedo, one he had borrowed from the local monastery too.
And so, the stage was set and after a few words from Mayor Biggles thanking everybody for coming and a few shouts asking him to get his little bear arse off from the stage, the dance began.
The first couple up were the Stevenson’s. They too had decided to do the Tango and they began with great gusto. All was going well until Mr. Stevenson decided to catch Mrs. Stevenson from behind as she fell free during the dance routine. Mr. Stevenson was supposed to catch her and throw her back up but instead she fell on him and they both went down like a sack of potatoes. Mrs. Stevenson was furious and did not seem to care that Mr. Stevenson was on ground wailing like a little lost child. Ali Bear watched in both shock and amazement. He had rehearsed that very same move with Kir Bear and hoped this would not befall him too. He was happy about the pushups he had done, he felt pumped up.
The next person up was little Porky little bear. He was going to do a break-dance routine. He had been busy doing his rehearsals on his breaks while working for Cher Bear and had in fact wound up stealing some moves from her dance routine. Cher Bear was furious. She could kill him she thought. She wanted her routine to be original and now this silly little bear had to go and ruin it. Porky went on the stage and asked the DJ to play that petulant BAP music that was popular with little little bears today. The DJ put it on and everybody watched as Porky little bear combined dance routines from the Ballet to the Conga line. It was excruciating to watch and Porky was pleased with it. He seemed to get a high from making others wince. The DJ had to put a stop to everything when he attempted to dive off the stage, land on his head and then spin on it. Everybody had had enough of this death defying dance and Porky became the first person kicked off the stage that night.
Next up were the Tobblestones. Both Mr. and Mrs. Tobblestone were the tallest little bears in Bictoria. Nobody thought they could actually dance but dance they did and ended up amazing everybody. They did the salsa and they moved with such grace that everyone there was actually shocked. They had never seen salsa done so well by tall people. Their dance routine earned them a spot on the top three.
Finally, it was Cher Bears turn and she went to the changing room to change into her costume. This was it, this year she would win. She was perfect. None of the other contestants had put in the effort she had and she knew it was hers. Tonight she would awe them. Indeed she would. But as Cher Bear had come to learn many times before or we may say, had come not to learn, perfect planning was impossible. Something inevitably went wrong. It always did and this time was no exception.
Her secret partner had come in through the back door so that nobody would see him. He had come in covered in a black blanket so that nobody would see him enter the building. He had made his way through the kitchen and upstairs to the changing room. And there, he had met up with Cher Bear and they both dressed up for the dance together. However, she had discovered that her dance partners white shirt had some juice stain on it and Cher Bear had gone ballistic. She had asked for some water to wash it off and nobody had brought it up to her. This just made her much angrier. Everybody was waiting for her to get on the dance floor and many were starting to get impatient. As they waited, they could hear her screaming her lungs out in the dressing room. Something about water and respect. It was then that the DJ asked another couple to get on the stage while they waited for Cher Bear and her mystery guest dancer.
So, Mr. Stevenson asked Mrs. Gobblestone to get on the stage and dance with him while they waited. The DJ put on Moon River and they began to dance. After sometime, Mr. Gobblestone noticed that Mr. Stevenson’s hand was much lower than it should have been and accused him of trying to seduce his wife. Mr. Stevenson ignored him and continued dancing with Mrs. Gobblestones who seemed to be enjoying the attention. This exasperated Mr. Gobblestones even more and he jumped on stage and delivered a whacking punch to Mr Stevenson’s belly which made him go down on the stage floor again and start wailing like he had done before. Mrs. Stevenson could not believe it, embarrassed twice on the same night by a man who claimed he loved her more than the sun.
Finally, Cher Bear was ready to come on stage. The DJ put on her piece of music. Cher Bear had a long list of music to be played and the DJ hoped he could remember it all. The entry song was none other than the theme song to Beverly Hills Cop. And everybody waited for Cher Bear to get on stage. And finally they saw movement, but it was not Cher Bear, it was a 200 pound tiger straight from Siberia. Everybody gasped. The tiger made its way to the stage and stood at centre stage, raised one of its paws in an attempt to say hi to everybody. Then it seated itself in one of the stages corners and waited. Everybody waited with it. The DJ then changed the music to Bohemian Rhapsody by rock group Bueen. And in came Cher Bear first, dressed in a white flock covered in emerald stones with her left hand raised up while she waved it. Her right hand was equally raised up and was holding that of her dance partner who was none other than Milo Svinocevic, the great Bomanian ballet dancer. Everybody gasped. Milo Svinocevic!!! How did Cher Bear know him? It turns out that Cher Bears aunt in Bomania knew Milo’s mother and Cher Bear had asked if she could ask him to come over. Milo’s mum owed Cher Bears aunt a favour and this was how it was getting paid back. Cher Bear now owned her aunt a favour too. It appeared that Cher Bear owed everybody a favour since she rarely ever did anything for herself. Milo was dressed in a tuxedo, similar to Ali Bears, only that it was designed by none other than Jean-Baul Gautier. He too had both his hands raised, with one hand attached to Cher Bears hand and the other was raised up in a wave to the crowd. Everybody had one eye on them and their outstanding costumes and the other on the seated Tiger. Just in case the tiger decided to go tiger.
The whole hall went silent as they played the Bomanian national anthem and then the dance began. In a manner nobody could have imagined. Milo quickly grabbed Cher Bears lithe body and through her into the air like a waffle. Everybody gasped as they waited to see what next; after all, Cher Bear was in the air while Milo was spinning on the spot. Surely, someone was going to get hurt real bad they thought. But not so, just before that indomitable force known as gravity threatened to end her life, Milo stopped spinning and quickly caught her. It was then that the tiger roared and everybody clapped. Some because of the prefect routine, others because of the Tiger which they were sure was watching them earnestly. The dance continued, it was a Ballet routine which was done with outmost perfection. One moment they were both dancing in unison, the next, Milo or Cher Bear was flying through the air and everybody wondered where they would land. But land safely they did. The whole dance was done in a manner to awe the crowd, and awe them it did. With its sheer perfection and even more so by the heightened presence of the tiger. And when it came to an end, everybody jumped up and clapped. Some because of the awe inspiring dance and others because they were sure that the Tiger was looking into the crowds to see who was clapping and who was not. All it needed was a notepad and a pen to make the whole situation even more terrifying.
And when they were done and the Tiger was gone, everybody relaxed. Next up was Kir Bear and Ali Bear. Ali Bear was as nervous as a mouse at a cat party. They too were going to do the Tango. Everybody clapped when they both got on stage. More so for Kir Bear. They had never really gotten used to Ali Bear. He stayed silent a lot of the time and they wondered why his head was bigger than that of other little bears. But nobody dared ask him. The dance began well, with Kir Bear spinning on her shoes while Ali Bear did the cha cha cha near her and when she stopped spinning, she was supposed to fall free onto his arms. He waited eagerly and when she fell backwards, he caught her and pushed her back up. The pushups had paid off he said to himself. Everybody clapped with the exception of Mrs. Stevenson. She could not believe it, embarrassed three times in one night. Kir Bear kicked up her leg onto Ali Bears shoulder where he caught it before slipping it around his body. Kir Bear then bended backwards and twisted her upper body in a circular motion and back to the first position. She leaned close as if she was going to kiss him. Ali Bear, filled with passion, pushed her away and Kir Bear reacted by grabbing his hand. Ali Bear tried to walk away and Kir Bear held on tightly to his hand. Ali Bear then quickly turned and grabbed her waist and drew her close up as if he was readying for a kiss but Kir Bear quickly stuck her hand to her face and then pushed Aki Bear away. Ali Bear began spinning on his feet while Kir Bear did the Cha cha cha nearby. Suddenly without warning, Kir Bear turned her back to Ali Bear who was still spinning and fell backwards whereupon he got down on his right knee and quickly caught her whole body while her head rested on his knee. He then gave her a small kiss on the lips and the dance was over. Everybody clapped at how beautiful they had looked together. And how beautifully they had danced together. It had simply touched their hearts.
Kir Bear then got up and started clapping while saying “Yaaaay”. Then the whole crowd erupted in unison and started clapping. Cher Bear who had watched the routine was shocked since the clapping was much louder than what she had received.
Everybody continued clapping loudly after the dance. Some did so because of the whole beautiful dance while others, especially those at the back and near the dining hall, clapped even louder because they knew it was Kiki soup time.
The judges announced that the results would be announced after the dinner. And everyone went into the diner hall, ready to gulp down something. And when the Kiki soup was brought out, everybody clapped and for the next 30 minutes, not a word was uttered as everybody slurped down the soup. Porky Little Bear slurped the loudest, partly because he was enjoying the soup like everybody else and partly to annoy the others. And when they were done, they streamed back into the dance hall to listen to the judges announce the winner. Cher Bear who had been to nervous to eat anything had sat in the dance hall the whole time awaiting the judges result. And now it was coming. Everybody remained silent as the judges announced the results. You could hear a pin drop. In third place were the Tobblestones. Everybody clapped; they rightfully deserved to be there they thought. They went up on the stage and were awarded with a medal and certificate. The judges then announced the runner up. They took their time in order to heighten the whole experience. In second place was, Cher Bear and Milo. “WHAT!!!” screamed Cher Bear. Second place, she could not believe it. Milo on the other hand who had danced in many competitions knew how much sore losers were hated and he put on his happy face and nudged Cher Bear to get on the stage. Cher Bear was adamant not to move until the judges changed their tune. But they too did not budge and Milo had to practically drag Cher Bear onto the stage. Cher Bear was ballistic and she started to believe she was the victim of a conspiracy.
Poor Cher Bear did not get it. It was true that her dance with Milo was perfect and awe inspiring. But that was the problem. Perfection touched people’s minds and not their hearts. Ali Bears and Kir Bears dance had been beautiful and beauty was what touched peoples hearts. The residents of Bictoria preferred to have their hearts touched rather than their minds awed. If they wanted to have their minds awed, they would have called Gregoris Little Bear, Bictoria’s most famous magician to put on a show or they would have gone to the University of Bictoria and listened to Prof. Einstein Little Bear give a speech on his physical theories. They came to celebrate beauty tonight and not perfection. And what went down better with beauty than laughter and beer.
And as soon as Ali Bear and Kir Bear were announced the winners, then the partying began. Cher Bear went and sat in a corner while she shed tears. Milo tried to console her to no avail. In everybody’s mind, Cher Bear was being a spoilt little brat and her belief that she deserved to win told them that she believed she was better than them by trying to overrule the judge’s decision whom they had much faith in.
The partying went on for a long time while Cher Bear mourned away hoping that they would pity her. She could not stand that they were partying while she cried her poor little heart out. And party they did. They danced, cracked jokes, drank ale and cried now and then. Around midnight, someone announced that a fire had been started in the building and Mayor Biggles asked everybody to get out. The fire department was called in quickly and they put the fire out. Mayor Biggles was determined to shut down the dance, but everybody complained and threatened to set the whole city on fire if he did. And so he had no choice but to allow the partying to continue. And party they did again. They danced on the tables and seduced other people’s wives and husbands. Controversy was the middle name of that night and there would be a lot to discuss and analyze in the days to come.
Later on in the night, or should I say in the wee hours of the morning, Kir Bear and Ali Bear stumbled back home. Cher Bear had left unnoticed and so it was for the two of them to find their way home. They arrived home safely and stumbled to their bedroom upstairs where Cher Bear was soundly asleep. Ali Bear noticed a devilish smile on her face as she slept and wondered what that was all about. But he did not have the energy to ponder it and as soon as he had helped Kir Bear get into her bed, he fell onto his and was off to Little Bear dream land.
The End
