Lately, I have been thinking about a beary interesting question. I could not seem to find any answers on my own, so I went to Uncle Tibbs. He seems to know quite a bit. Maybe he would know the answer.
“Uncle Tibbs, I have a question,” I said.
“Sure, Ajdin,” he said. “You always have interesting questions. Come sit on my lap.”
I cleared my throat. This was a beary serious question.
“Uncle Tibbs, what does it mean to be… real?” I asked. “Am I real? If not, how do I become real?“
For the first time ever, Uncle Tibbs looked beary confused.
“Uh, what do you mean, Ajdin?”
“I mean, being real. Am I a real bear? Are you a real bear, Uncle Tibbs? Sometimes I am told that I am a stuffed bear, but I want to be a real bear.”
Uncle Tibbs scratched his head.
“Hmm!” he said. “Ajdin, this is a beary big question for a beary little bear, and I’m afraid that even I don’t know how to answer that. Umm, I guess we are real. I think we are real. Do you feel real, Ajdin?”
“I guess so,” I said. “But then again, I’ve always felt this way.”
“Ajdin, I do think that we are different from other bears, that’s for sure,” he said. “Not all bears in this world write blogs or go on adventures like you do. I also think that your blog friends Jerry and Ben, Little Fox, and Sandy, just to name a few, are also quite special.”
“So we are real because we have blogs?” I asked.
“I think it is more than that, Ajdin,” Uncle Tibbs said. He took a deep breath before answering. “Now Ajdin, I am just guessing here, and you have really stumped me with your question. But I think all stuffies have the potential to be real, but they need a human to make them real. See, humans are quite interesting creatures. They have this wonderful thing called an i-m-a-g-i-n-a-t-i-o-n. And when they use it, it can be like magic and make anything real. All stuffies can talk and think like us, but they need a human who can speak stuffie-talk. And not all humans can speak to stuffies. So I guess you need to find a special human. But that’s just my guess, Ajdin. I still don’t know for sure.”
“So I guess we’re lucky we found a human who can speak stuffie, is that right?” I asked. Uncle Tibbs shrugged.
Does anyone know what it means to be real? We are both still scratching our heads on this one. It’s a lot of thinking for a little bear. I think I need to take a break with some honey tea and toast right now.
Ajdin, a beary philosophical question, perhaps thinking about it over a big piece of salmon will do the trick.
Hmm I think that is a great idea Little Fox. Let me get back to you
this is a very deep existential discussion!