#63 Sheets

by Jessica Martinez

A beautiful smell, like a pear and a peach tree combined, reached the bear in the forest. He followed the smell and decided before finding its source that this was true love, that he would make this sweet-smelling creature his mate.

And he did.

Together they went running through the prairies, jumping in rivers, and eating fish. But one thing always bothered the bear.

His mate’s entire body and head was covered with a white sheet, so he never actually saw it. And even though the smell was enough to convince him that he was in love, he just had to know what was underneath. So one day, he pulled the sheet off his mate. And you know what he saw?

Another sheet, this one blue.

The bear admired his mate’s defiant answer and apologized for not respecting boundaries. But then, his curiosity took over again. “Who are you, really?” he asked and pulled off the next cover, only to find another, this one yellow. He removed cover after cover: pink, gray, silk, cotton, floral pattern, lace, screaming, “What are you hiding in there? What won’t you show me?” until there was nothing left but a pile of sweet-smelling, colorful sheets. And somewhere in the distance he heard the trees cry.