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A Burly and Grum Tale

BURLY AND GRUM AND THE SECRET CITY

by Kate Tenbeth

Copyright 2011 Kathryn E L Tenbeth

Smashwords Edition, Licence Notes

This ebook is licensed or your personal en!oyment only" This ebook may notbe re#sold or gi$en a%ay to other people" & you %ould like to share this book%ith another person' please purchase an additional copy or each recipient" &you(re reading this book and did not purchase it' or it %as not purchased or

your use only' then please return to )mash%ords"com and purchase your o%ncopy" Thank you or respecting the hard %ork o this author"

CHATER !

The ri$er glistened and sparkled in the sunlight as it hurried on its %ay to thesea" *ragonlies dipped and darted across the surace' their %ings bu++ing

noisily" ,illo% trees along the bank draped their long branches la+ily into the%ater %hile nearby ducks di$ed and bobbed and %aggled their tail eathers"

Burlington Bear -Burly to his riends. stood in the shallo%s o the ri$er underthe cool shade o a large oak tree" /e %as staring as i hypnotised at the ri$er'sure that at any moment a large' at ish %as going to s%im by"

ust a e% yards upstream %as Grum the groblin %ho %as up to his ears inmud" Literally" ud or a groblin %as apparently the best thing in the %orld"Burly kne% this because on the %ay to the ri$er Grum had talked endlesslyabout ho% %onderul mud %as and ho% the thicker' blacker and stickier it %asthe better" ersonally' Burly al%ays tried to a$oid mud because it stuck to his

ur and he %as $ery proud o his thick' glossy coat but he3d tried to lookinterested as Grum had chattered on" All Burly could see o Grum no% %ere hiseyes' the tips o his ears and the top o a red stra% that he used to breathethrough" /is lucky stra% he called it"

Burly liked peace and 4uiet" /e liked ish" /e kne% he %asn3t ha$ing anyluck catching ish because his human riend' a5' %ho %as a !ust a e% yardsupstream o Grum %as scaring them a%ay" As soon as they3d arri$ed at theri$er' a5 had run up and do%n along the ri$er bank like an e5cited puppy untilhe3d disco$ered a tree that had allen so that part o it hung o$er the ri$er like adi$e board" /e3d %hooped %ith delight at the disco$ery and immediately raced

along the tree trunk and di$e bombed into the %ater" /e3d spent almost an hourdoing this and each time emerged rom the %ater %ith a huge smile and a

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sparkling clean body" 6ne clean riend' one muddy riend thought Burly"

7o%' beore & go any urther & eel & should e5plain a couple o things" & kno%'o course' that you kno% %hat a bear is because the chances are you ha$e oneo your o%n at home -not a real li$e one o course. and' being human yoursel -&hope.' you %ill kno% %hat a human being is' but you may not kno% %hat agroblin is so &3d better e5plain"

Groblins are creatures that li$e in the %ild %here there are no humans so you%ould probably ne$er ha$e seen one" They are pea green in colour' %ith largered eyebro%s and red eyes" They3re $ery $ain and boast about the number o%arts they ha$e and the crookedness o their yello% teeth" They3re not $ery tall8 maybe about the si+e o a large child but they are $ery strong and they arguea lot amongst themsel$es" They speak their minds and this can make themseem rude but they don3t mean to be' they !ust see things dierently" Theirarms reach the ground and they s%ing them or%ard %hen they3re %alking 8they can mo$e $ery 4uickly like this" 6h' and their a$ourite ood is rotting meat

and insects" But unnily enough' despite all this' they can be $ery endearing"aybe it3s because their honesty is rereshing" ,ho can say9

Burly' Grum and a5 had been riends or !ust a e% %eeks" They(d met%hen Grum had been thro%n out o his home by his t%o brothers' Gripe andGrimly' %ho(d told him he couldn3t come back until he3d pro$ed himsel to be abra$e and %orthy groblin" Grum met Burly %ho took him under his pa%' andtogether they %ent to a human to%n so that Grum could ind a %ay to pro$e he%as bra$e" &t %as %hile they %ere there that they met a5 %ho3d sho%n themaround and taught them ho% to use a skateboard"

To other bears' humans and groblins it may ha$e seemed an unusual

riendship but none o them noticed"

E$en though the summer air %as sot and %arm' the ri$er %as icy cold and a5shi$ered as he clambered out o the %ater" /is goosebumps had goosebumpsbut still he couldn3t resist running along the tree trunk !ust one more time anddi$e bombing into the clear %ater" :/ey' Burly;< he shouted and %a$ed hisarms' :look at me 8 &3m going to see i & make a %a$e big enough to splashGrum"