{"seoTitle":"Big Bear Little Bear — A Fable About Overcoming Prejudice","seoDescription":"Big bears and little bears live on opposite sides of a river until the cubs who once played together grow up and change everything. A modern fable about unity.","keywords":"overcoming prejudice, bear fable, unity story, modern fable, children's story about differences","content":{"p1":"The big bears lived on the northern side of the river. The little bears lived on the southern.","p2":"The big bears grew close to two meters crouched. The little bears didn't even reach a meter when they stood on their hind paws.","p3":"The big bears were good fishermen. The little bears would get washed away by the powerful tides.","p4":"The little bears were expert tree climbers. The big bears would crack limbs and fall if they climbed.","p5":"The big bears did not like the little bears. The little bears did not like the big bears.","p6":"\"Because that's how it always was, that's how it is, and that's how it always will be,\" said the elders on both sides.","p7":"There was a small island in the middle of the river. Recently, some of the cubs had figured out that they could float on logs and paddle to get there.","p8":"All of the cubs who paddled out to the island were small. No one could tell if they would grow or remain small forever.","p9":"The cubs would build forts, play hide and seek, and climb trees together. The cubs didn't ask each other what side of the river they lived on. They just played.","p10":"Over time, some cubs grew into big bears and others remained small forever.","p11":"The big bears and little bears no longer visited the island because it was something only cubs did.","p12":"But one by one, the elders died and something happened.","p13":"The big bears and little bears that had played together missed each other. They missed each other desperately.","p14":"One day, the big bears swam to the island. The little bears floated on logs and paddled there as they had when they were cubs.","p15":"The big bears brought fish, the little bears brought nuts, and they ate and they played and they laughed together.","p16":"\"Because that's how it always was, that's how it is, and that's how it always will be,\" said the new elders on both sides."}}