Chapter 6

 

By the shore of the ocean, amid debris that included a rather large pair of bloomers, a hideously patterned floral skirt and a pair of spectacles, the giant, taking care that his feet remained in the shallows of the water, dipped into his pocket and gently lifted his two companions to the ground. The baby immediately soared into the air, summersaulting and looping the loop with joy at his freedom from the confines of the giant’s sweet-filled pocket. The wizard stretched his arms up above his head and rolled his head from side to side to release the tightness of his cramped muscles. As he did so, he looked to the East, searching for the shimmering lights that still twinkled and danced above the treetops. The giant bent down to bid goodbye to the wizard. With a solemn look upon his face, and tears filling his huge, bright blue eyes, the giant held his massive hand out. The hero baby noted the giant’s obvious distress at having to say goodbye and asked,

 

“Why can’t your friend come with us on our journey? We may have need of an ally as big, gentle and brave as he is.”

 

The wizard shook his head,

 

“Giants cannot cross the water into this realm and come up onto the shore, for once they do, here they must stay, and although our friend is brave and noble, he has a good lady wife and many children to look after in his home land. So we must bid him farewell.”

 

With that, the wizard held out his hand also so that their fingers touched and the giant turned and began his long journey homeward, across the ocean. The baby yelled,

 

“Wait!”

 

He flew after his gigantic new friend and fluttered around his face before gently planting a tender kiss of goodbye upon the giant’s cheek.

“Goodbye dear friend and thank you.“ The giant bowed his head in acknowledgment, smiling so that his previously glum face lit up with joy, and off he strode through the choppy waters.

The superhero baby came in to land next to the wizard and, arm in arm, the friends sighed as they watched the giant’s bulky frame disappear into the sunset above the ocean. As they gazed out to sea, the two boys failed to notice that an intruder was gaining upon them until a loud, booming voice rang out.

“Leave this place! Leave this place!”

The wizard grabbed his wand from beneath his cloak and brandished it in the direction that the voice had come from, whilst the baby zoomed into the air and took cover behind a palm tree.

 

“Show yourself!”

 

A silence followed, during which several of the palm trees rustled. The boys failed to recognise whether the movement had arisen from the cool sea breeze or whether an enemy was lurking among the trees. The wizard’s natural instinct was one of protection, he adopted an defensive stance, one leg back, one forward to maintain his balance as he thrust his wand into the air and yelled,

 

“Ostende te!”

With a loud shriek and yelp, a bundle of fur, clad in peculiar clothing, plummeted from a nearby tree and landed in the water with an enormous crash. The superhero baby swept up into the air away from the large gush of water that accompanied the impact.

“What on earth was that?”

 

In the water, the creature thrashed around squealing in a broad American accent,

“Help! Help! I can’t swim! Help!”

 

The baby glided down to the shore and hovered over the scene.

 

“Wizard, it appears to be a very large bear dressed in a tie and strange hat! I have never seen the like before!”

 

“Do you think we should help it my friend? Or could this be a trick?”

 

The bear continued to squeal and shout, his face occasionally disappearing below the surface before bobbing back up, allowing him a moment to grab a breath and enable him to gasp,

 

“Help me! I can’t swim!”

 

The two friends watched deep in thought as the bear continued to struggle.

“Don’t think about it too much…I can’t last much longer…”

With that, the friends nodded at each other before the wizard launched his wand at

the bear with a loud,

 

“Adjuvabit!”

 

The ocean appeared to rise and swell around the bear, forming a circle of water that pulsed and throbbed. The bear began to rise from the central eye of the whirlpool, balancing atop the waves with his arms outstretched,

 

“Wooo, woaahhh, eeeehhh!”

 

After several minutes, the swirling waves reached a peak and ejected the bear with a thwack! He flew through the air, limbs moving like a windmill, before landing on the sandy shore with a resounding smack.

 

“Ow.”

 

The wizard and the boy approached the bear carefully, prepared to launch an offensive action should he attack, once close enough, however, the boys’ attitude changed from one of fear and suspicion to pity. The bear lay in a sopping wet, crumpled heap, sobs of shame shaking his shoulders as he mumbled,

 

“The shame, the shame, I have failed my first task, the pigs will be so disappointed…and angry…oh yes…angry…boo hoo hoo.”

 

To hear such a large, noble creature cry was more than the two good natured, well brought up boys could stomach. They knelt alongside the bear and the wizard spoke gently to him,

 

“We are sorry bear, but you did frighten us when you shouted at us from your hiding place, we thought that you meant to do us harm.”

 

The bear replied,

 

“My mission from the pigs was to stop you by any means I could, but I am not a violent bear, I spent my childhood in a huge national park, well fed, beautifully groomed and trained by the best in the business to tell jokes and make people laugh…I am even a vegetarian, ‘Friend not Food’ has always been my motto…”

 

The bear’s voice again slid into sobbing.

 

“My clothes, my clothes, my beautiful tie is wet, my hat too, it filled me with such pride to dress like my human friends…boo hoo hoo!”

 

The baby listened a while before spinning into the air and speeding around the site in a frenzy so fast that the bear and wizard could hardly see him. After a few seconds, he began to slow and the bear and wizard could see that his chubby arms were filled with an array of garments. He lowered himself gracefully to the floor and laid the clothes before the bear.

 

“These are not your usual manner of clothes bear, but I have salvaged these from the debris that swept those two dreadful old ladies away.”

 

The bear rummaged amongst the fabrics and held up a huge pair of frilly pink bloomers. The wizard and the baby waited, unsure of the bear’s reaction to the new attire.

 

“Beautiful! How beautiful? Never have I worn such silky, smooth fabric! What other treasures are to be found in this pile?”

 

The bear sorted through the clothing, cooing over the delicate material and fine stitching until he decided upon the bloomers and a gaudily patterned blouse, in reality he had little choice, these were Sponge’s old garments and the only ones that fitted his rather bulky frame.

 

“Excuse me for a moment!”

 

He exclaimed excitedly as he nipped behind neighbouring trees to change.

 

“Ta da!”

 

The giant bent down to bid goodbye to the wizard

Several of the palm trees rustled

A bundle of fur plummeted from a nearby tree

He leapt out, arms wide and twirled, his beautiful new clothes spinning around him in a circle of colour and pattern

He leapt out, arms wide and twirled, his beautiful new clothes spinning around him in a circle of colour and pattern.

 

The bear accepted the admiration and praises of his new friends before remembering his predicament. His face clouded over, the previous second’s sunshine obliterated by worry.

 

“What am I to do? I am no fighter! I will have displeased the pigs and they will punish me, of that I have no doubt.”

 

The trio had been so deep in conversation that when the deep, baritone voice growled behind them they were unprepared.

 

“Perhaps I can help you with that…”

 

Growled an enormous, menacing wolf.