“The most fun of all for Bruce was rock tumbling. There were lots of rocks in Forevergreen Forest - great jumbles of them. With a swipe of a paw the bear sent them tumbling down the steep slopes three and four at a time. The tumbling rocks shattered logs and flattened the bushes and brush, leaving no place for the rabbits and quail to hide. So they took off in a panic to go leaping and dodging and flying pell-mell in every direction.”
“Whenever the tiny bear was feeling frisky and ready for fun he flipped pebbles around as if they were boulders just to scare the wits out of the grasshoppers, the beetles and caterpillars. From a bug’s-eye view Bruce was a great big hairy-scary horrible brute of a beast.”
“While the bear slept he gradually began to grow smaller. Inch by inch and little by little Bruce dwindled away. He kept shrinking and shriveling until he was down to the size of a possum. And still he kept shrinking, When the diminishing spell was finally finished the bear had dwindled all the way down to the size of a chipmunk.”
“Little bears have short memories and in a few days Bruce forgot all about ever being a giant of a bear. For all he knew Roxy’s flower garden was a beautiful leafy green forest with plenty of room to roam.”
“He was sure the crafty old witch planned to fix him for good. If she could shrink him down to a runt of a thing she could turn him into a tadpole, or into a flea, or make him disappear altogether.”
“In desperation Bruce scrunched himself up into a ball, hoping the witch would mistake him for part of the rock. But there was no chance of fooling old Roxy, and holding her lantern out over the creek she spotted the bear in a flash.”
“A chilly breeze rippled the dark water and the soggy wet bear shivered and shook from the cold and also from fright. Bruce knew that the night hunters were already out on the prowl, and now he was fair game.”
“Bruce was awakened by a sharp peck on the head, and with an angry growl that came out like a squeak he reared up all ready to fight.
But when he found himself nose to beak with a giant of a quail Bruce backed off to gape in amazement.”