H O N E Y   S H O C K

Chapter 1 ~ BEAR VALLEY

Deep in the past, bears used to kill humans. No one really knew why, but at the start of every spring, these huge beasts would emerge from hibernation early and descend into the valley, scaverging for food and causing widespread havoc. If they saw a human, they would attack. Farmers, hikers, children, it didn't matter. But they especially hated hunters, tearing them to shreds with their merciless claws.

The Bear Valley Times reported dozens of people mauled to death every year.

The people tried to shoot the bears, or set traps, but that just made the bears angrier.

A legendary hunter, who couldn't bare the killings, gave a stirring speech before the people, "This carnage has to stop! We must build shelters for the bears, provide them with honey, so they can sleep peacefully and not wake up early from hibernation."

And so they did. The town folk built a string of wooden huts in the surrounding forest, and set up bee hives where hungry bears could replenish themselves after a long winter slumber.

The huts were such a success that no one ever got attacked again.

The bears loved their huts, and began making them bigger and more comfortable using tools left by the humans, eventually constructed magnificent bear mansions.

Koji loved hearing these stories from his grandpa, Jiji, who could talk for hours about the founding bears and their visions for a magnificent valley where bears and humans lived in harmony.

Chapter 2 ~ SUSHI

It was a lovely day for the spring hunt. Traditionally the family would hike up the mountain together to catch cherry salmon migrating upstream from the sea. However, these days most prefered to stay home and order Ubear Eats.

Jiji and Koji were the only ones this year to make the trip, navigating through thick forest and relying on their bear instincts to find their way along the overgrown tracks.

Koji struggled to keep up with Jiji, who was as old as the hills, yet quick as a fox. "How did he know the way?" Koji wondered, soaking up every detail.

From a distance he could hear a waterfall, music to his ears. The gruelling climb made Koji so hungry that he could almost taste the salmon sliding down his throat.

Jiji stopped suddenly, ears pricked, "Can you hear that?"

Koji could just hear his stomach rumbling.

"Wasps. Lots of them."

Then he shrugged, and they continued to wind their way up through thick woods.

"Woohoo!" Jiji cried out as the waterfall came into view, "Let's get ourselves some juicy salmon!"

They climbed onto a ledge just below the cascading water, and waited.

Koji savoured the fresh water splashing his face as he caught his breath.

Jiji looked sharp.

Then suddenly, a flash of pink jumped passed their noses. As quick as lightening, Jiji stuck out his paw and a flapping fish impailed on his sharp claw.

And before he could say "sushi," Jiji stuffed it into his mouth. "Sweeeeet!" he grinned, washing it down with a swig of fresh water. "OK, your turn."

Koji swished his claws every time a pink fish flashed passed, but nothing stuck. Jiji helped him position his paw just right, and finally he landed a big juicy mother! He was so hungry he didn't even notice how fast he stuffed it into his gob. Bear bliss!

Koji ate at least 5, and Jiji nailed at least double that.

"Baba loves these too. We've been coming here since we were young cubs," Jiji reminisced. "She's a bit too frail these days to do the hike so I'll grab her a few choice ones." It didn't take him long to nail three superb specimens as they sailed through the air trying to jump over the waterfall. He carried them to the river bank and carefully wrapped each one in leaves.

While Jiji took a nap in the sun, Koji skipped stones on the water, seeing if he could make them jump more than 5 times.

A sparkling purple rock caught his eye. He gave it a quick polish on his fur and stuffed it into his bag. "This is going to look great in my collection," he said happily to himself, "Mmm, I wonder what it is? I'll take it to the library and look it up."

Jiji stirred. He looked magnificent for an old fella as he jumped into the cool water to refresh himself before doing some bear-chi, which Koji copied.

"What's on the other side of the mountain?" Koji asked.

"Oh, you don't want to go there. My grandfather went and came back as fast as he could. Madness! Bears eat monkey brains for breakfast! And people hunt down bears and skin us alive, chop off our paws and leave us for dead."

Koji shivered.

"They built a railway once between the two valleys, but the mountains were so unstable that it was abandoned."

Chapter 3 ~ A BLOODY BATTLEFIELD

Slowly, Jiji and Koji packed their bags and wandered back into the forest to get some honey. They knew an old hive, secret knowledge that had been passed down through the family.

As they got close, Jiji slowed, the hairs on his back bristling.

"Everything OK, Jiji?"

"See that trail of dead bees?" he replied, deep concern in his voice.

As they followed the line of carnage, the bee hive came into view, completely in ruins.

"What the hell? The wasps must have gone mad! I've never seen such butchery!"

Dead bees lay on the ground in the thousands, a few wasps still writhing beside them, wings missing, bodies slashed, stingers broken off. A bloody battlefield.

The hive had been chewed up as if the wasps had deliberately made it impossible to rebuild, which didn't make any sense to Jiji.

"There's nothing for us here," Jiji said sadly. "Let's go."

He didn't say another word as they made their way down the mountain.

It was dark by the time they got home, and Jiji slipped through the gate to the hut out the back where he lived with Baba.

Looking over his shoulder he said tiredly, "Good job today, Koji," adding, "Could pick us up some honey from the shop tomorrow? You can use the cart."

"Sure, Jiji. I'm sorry about the hive. I'm sure the bees will return."

"I don't know. We'll see. At least our bellies are full of salmon, you'll sleep well. "G'night, Koji."

Chapter 4 ~ HONEY DEFICIT

Koji opened the front door, greeted with the familar sounds of his dad snoring on the sofa, sumo blaring on the TV, pots and pans clanging from the kitchen, and his mum and sister at each other's throats.

"Hi mum!"

"Hi Koji! How was the hunt?"

"Oh, it was great! We ate more than 5 salmon each!"

"Ewww!," Lina squeeled, screwing up her face.

"I'm sure your grandfather was happy about that," his mum said. "Did you bring back some honey?"

"No, sorry. The hive had been destroyed by wasps."

"Oh, those pesky creatures. Oh well, can you go into town tomorrow and pick up a few pots? We're almost out."

"Sure, mum."

"And get some honeyed accorns too," his sister Lina piped in.

"Sure, sis."

He crept past his dad on the sofa, who opened one eye."

"Koji! Just in time for the final sumo match. Come and sit down."

"I'm a bit tired. Think I'll just go to bed."

"Did you get some honey?"

"Not this time. Wasps had destroyed our hive."

"Mmmm. Make sure you get some extra from the shop tomorrow. And pick up a copy of the Bear Valley Times, I want to get the sumo results."

"Sure dad."

"Good boy."

Koji slowly climbed up the magnificent staircase to his room. His grandfather Jiji and his friends had built this house from scratch. He loved the smell of the wood and burning lamps, Jiji had insisted on using only top quality oil. Koji knew every creak, and did a zigzag to avoid making any noise in case his brother was asleep.

Koji crept into the bedroom he shared with Andy.

"About time!" his brother yelled out. He always talked too loud when wearing headphones. "Where's my honey?"

"There wasn't any this year."

Quick as a flash, Andy jumped off his bed and grabbed Koji by the legs and tipped him upside down, shaking him violently.

"I said I didn't have any!" Koji screamed.

"I'll find it." dropping Koji and emptying his bag. A few stones and leaves dropped out.

"Hey, they're my stones!"

Andy kicked them away in contempt.

"Well, go to the shop tomorrow and get some extra honey pots."

"OK."

"Wanna hear my new song? Me and Riley have been working on it all day."

"I'm a bit tired. Maybe tomorrow. Is it the same one, 'Paradise Lost'?"

"Yeah, Riley added a new verse, so friggin' cool."

Koji had a lot of respect for Riley, thought he was a genius. But he'd already heard 'Paradise Lost' more than 5 times.

"Maybe later. I've got to sleep so I can wake up early and go into town to get your honey."

Andy shrugged. "Anyway, you wouldn't know a good song if it hit you in the face," and started doing air guitar on his bed as music blared from his headphones.

Koji did his usual preparation before bed: marked off a day on the calendar, arranged his rock collection, curled up in his scout blanket, cuddled his teddy, and fell into a deep bear slumber. While most bears dreamed of honey, he dreamed of rocks.

Chapter 5 ~ HONEY RUN

Koji wheeled the wooden cart down the track to the edge of town, where he was greeted by humans along the way, asking him about his family, his rock collection, or the scouts. No one was scared of bears since they had comfortable shelters and free honey.

The shop was at the top of the main street, and so was the library, and decided to drop in there first.

"Hi, Ms. Honda!"

"Koji! Good to see you. Did you find a new rock?"

He pulled out his purple gem, "Wow, I've never seen one of those," the librarian gasped.

"I found it while hunting with grandpa."

"Shall I help you look it up?"

"I think I'll be OK," as he excitedly walked toward the section with rock books.

There was rarely anybody in the library, except for the girl in the corner doing her homework, and he waved shyly. She waved back.

It took Koji quite a while, but finally he found a match and was sure that was his rock. He couldn't quite read what it was, although he knew most of the letters:

"O as in Koji, A as in Andy, L as in Lina, but he didn't know the second letter.

He took the book over to Ms. Honda, "Could you help me read this letter, please?"

"Let's see, it's P as in Penny," as she looked over to the girl in the corner.

The kind librarian said to Koji, "It has a 'puh' sound. Can you read it now?"

"Opal?"

"Correct! It says here that opals are quite rare around these parts, usually found in countries such as Australia," spinning the globe around and pointed to it. "What a treasure!"

Koji grinned ear to ear! He took out his pad and pencil and carefully wrote down: "O P A L"

Koji packed up his desk, and scurried off, waving to Penny as he left.

Next stop was the shop. He wheeled his cart over the road.

A bell rang as he entered the shop. "Koji. How are you?"

"Good thanks, er, Mr. Shopkeeper." He could never remember his name, but it didn't seem to matter. There was another man in the shop he'd never met before.

"Um, I need honey for grandpa, grandma, extra for dad, mum, extra for Andy, Lina, some accorn drops, and an extra pot for me."

"Sure, Koji." The shopkeeper looked up at the honey shelf, a bit surprised that stocks were running so low, he better get more in quick before the bears noticed.

"Let's see, so you need 9 pots..."

"Oh, and one extra for our scouts camping trip this weekend," Koji added.

"Er, sure. And did you go hunting this year?"

"Yes, me and grandpa got lots of fish, but our bee hive had been destroyed by wasps, that's why I need so much honey today."

The shopkeeper looked at the other man, "Another one!"

The man wrote something down in a notebook, "Can you tell me where that was?"

"Oh sorry, it's a family secret."

"Koji, this is Bill from the 'Bear Valley Times'"

"Nice to meet you," Koji said, remembering he had to get the paper for dad. "Can I get a copy of your newspaper?"

Bill laughed, "Sure!" and handed him one from the pile.

"A lot of bee hives have been destroyed lately," Bill said, "which is very unusual. Let's hope the bees can rebuilt soon, we wouldn't want to run out of honey," that thought sending shivers through everyone in the shop. The two men helped Koji load his cart, and off he went home, winding his way up the hill and back into the forest. "I'd better tell Jiji," Koji muttered to himself.

Chapter 6 ~ OLD CROW

First stop was Jiji and Baba's house, the squeaky gate always giving Koji away.

"Morning!" The old couple we sitting on the balcony sipping green tea.

"Morning! I've brought your honey." Koji unloading two pots from the cart. "Guess what? The newspaper man said there have been a lot of bee hive attacks," holding up the Bear Valley Times.

Jiji turned to Baba, "This is more serious than I thought."

"Koji, how about we go visit Old Crow? He'll know what's going on."

"Sure! I can find some more rocks and pick up some leaves for Tomi while you guys drink tea," Koji said diplomatically, knowing those guys could spend hours and hours talking politics in the 'tea house,' an old hut that his great grandfather had built in the middle of the forest. "I'll give everyone their honey and come back."

After another strenuous hike, they approached the hallowed hut.

Old Crow was standing on the porch, obviously happy to see them.

"Jiji, you old bugger, you never seem to age, apart from those white eyebrows of course, hehe," Old Crow said playful, "And Koji, my my, how you've grown! Eating lots of salmon?"

"Yes, we caught lots at the waterfall."

Old Crow leaned in and lowered his voice, "And did you find any nice rocks?"

"Oh, yes! Koji pulled out the blue gem from his bag, "It's an opal."

The crow's eyes narrowed, "Mmm, looks like a lapis lazuli. Very rare."

"Actually..." Koji was about to tell him about his research before Old Crow asked excitedly, "How about some honey acorns?"

"Sure!" It was his usual offering. They were always a bit stale and chewed up, but it made the old miser happy to feel generous.

"Jiji, come in." Old Crow tossed Koji some acorns, while Jiji climbed into the hut his father had built, but somehow Old Crow had made his home?

After sipping tea and making small talk, Old Crow pulled out a bottle of Blackberry Juice, strong homemade liquor that Jiji liked very much.

"So, Old Crow. We've known each other a long time. Enough of the small talk. What's going on with the bees?"

There was a long silence, as they both took long sips of their juice, and Old Crow poured another round. "It's the monkeys," he said quietly, looking around warily. "They showed me a map of all our nests. Said they'd destroy them all unless we did what they asked."

"Which is?" Jiji asked, raising an eyebrow?

"Distribute these among the wasps," he said while holding up a map of bee hives throughout the valley.

"With instructions for the wasps to completely destroy the hives," Old Crow continued.

"But why?" They both sat there quietly, deep in their cups.

It's was almost dark by the time Jiji emerged, and he could hardly stand up.

"Come on, I'll help you home," Koji said, holding Jiji steady as he tried to walk.

Chapter 7 ~ BEAR SCOUTS

After a long hike through the mountains, the boys prepared their camp for the night, and said their bear scout oath.

They sat around the fire and got ready to do what bear scout love to do: eat honey and tell stories. They pulled out their honey pots from their bags, but two of the boys looked sheepish, "Um, I don't have any honey," one of them said.

"Me, neither," the other bear said.

"What! You know it's bear scout tradition!"

"I know, but we couldn't get any honey at the shop."

The other bears had never heard of such a thing. There was always free honey, otherwise the bears would go mad.

"I wonder if it's got anything to do with the wasps attacking the bee hives?" Koji said.

They shared out their honey, and Miji started telling a funny story about a prank he played on his older brother, dipping his hand in cold water and then hot water while he was asleep to make him pee his pajamas.

"Did it work?" one of them asked.

"Nah, but it makes me want to pee now!" And they all laughed.

Miji went over to the bushes, and came back excitedly, "Hey guys, there's a bunch of monkeys on the other side of those rocks!"

They all creeped up quietly to have a look.

"Let's scare the crap out of them!" Miji whispered.

Bears love to scare monkeys, but their parents always warn them to be careful, because those nasty creatures will come back and bite you one day.

"Ready, one, two, threeeee!!!"

The five bears all rushed out at once, growling and baring their teeth, "Grraaaawww!!!"

The monkeys leaped up, scared witless, running in all directions.

The biggest one dropped a map.

Chapter 8 ~ THE MAP

Back at the fire, the bear scouts examined the map and wondered what it was. Eventually Koji said he could recognize the waterfall where he went fishing with Jiji.

"How about we go there tomorrow, and find out what these X marks mean?"

"Woohoo! Could be treasure!" Miji exclaimed. That sounded like a lot of bear fun, so they slept well that night and woke up early for the mission.

Once they got to the waterfall they followed a narrow track to the first X.

"There's nothing here," said Miji looking confused, "Let's try the next X."

So off they trotted through the bushes, but again, they couldn't find anything.

After a few more Xs, they were about to give up, when Simon the youngest bear looked up and said, "there's a crow's nest, shall we get some eggs?"

"Wait a minute, crow's nests!"

Now they realized that each of the Xs marked out a crow's nest. Why would the monkey's have such a map?

"C'mon, guys. Let's head back," Koji said, "I'd better show Jiji."

Chapter 9 ~ THE BOOK

As Koji walked through the gate to Jiji's house, he could hear Baba saying, "Shall we give it to him now?"

Before Jiji could answer, he put his nose to the air, "Ahh, there he is now," yelling out, "Hi, Koji!"

No matter how quiet he was, somehow Jiji always knew he was coming. "Hi, Jiji and Baba! I want to show you something," Koji replied. he took the map out of his bag.

"Well, well, well," Jiji's eyes opened wide, "Old crow told me this existed. Where did you get it?"

"Um, on the ground, while camping."

"Oh, you've been scaring monkeys again!"

How did he know that?

Baba handed Koji an old book, "This has been passed down through our family for many generations. Your great-grandmother told me to keep it safe, saying it could be useful one day. Now I think is the time."

When Koji opened it up, he was surprised to see an old monkey on the first page, along with a strange language he'd never seen.

"You're a smart boy," Jiji smiles, "Do you best to work out what it's all about."

"Ok, I'll do my best."

Chapter 10 ~ PINKY PROMISE

The next day, Koji went to the library to find some clues on deciphering the book.

"Hi Koji! Did you find some new rocks?" Ms Honda, the librarian, asked.

"Oh no, just come to do some study." He wandered around looking for books on monkeys. Nothing looked like the book he had in his bag, but he grabbed a few and sat down at a desk looking for clues.

"Do you like monkeys?"

Koji looked up. It was Penny.

"Oh!! Hi, um, no nnot really," he stammered, a little embarrased.

"Then why do you have so many books on monkeys?"

Koji looked around, "Can you keep a secret?"

"Oh, yes! I'm very good at keeping secrets! We can do a pinky promise."

Koji looked a bit confused, "What's that?"

Penny held out her little finger, "Let's shake pinkies and it will be a secret for life!"

They shook. Her finger felt small. Penny sat down next to Koji and he took out the old book and told her the whole story of everything that had happened so far.

Chapter 11 ~ THE MONKEY PUZZLE

As Koji and Penny flicked through the pages of the old book, which was a mixture of pictures, maps and ancient scripts, a story emerged of a monkey who was abandoned as a baby and brought up by people. Eventually he went back to the forest and became leader. The other monkeys followed him over the mountains to a valley where there was a great battle. The monkeys lost, and retreated deep into the forest where they trained and studied hard, listening carefully to their leader.

"I wonder if this is a calendar?" Penny asked.

Koji nodded, "I have one on my wall. See these symbols here, they must be numbers."

"And see the moon here?" Penny said excitely, "It could be a solar eclipse." Koji looked down the page where the moon covered the sun.

Penny rushed off, and came back with a huge book on celestrial events. "Look! There's an eclipse coming soon. Our valley will go dark in the middle of the day."

Koji remembered Jiji talking about such an event happening during a jamboree when he was a bear scout. All the animals got scared thinking it was the end of the world.

When Koji turned to the next page, he turned white. There was a full page picture of all the animals in the valley, dead, except for the monkeys, singing and dancing.

"OMG, this isn't really going to happen, is it?"

Penny looked at him, her eyes soft, "No. It's just a myth."

Koji believed her. She was so smart!

Chapter 12 ~ THE MASTER PLAN

Koji ate stale accorns while Jiji and Old Crow drank blackberry juice, the hut in the forest pleasantly quiet as they collectively thought about a plan.

Jiji looked at his old friend, twinkle in his eye, "That blue stone Koji found near the waterfall, I know where it came from. There's more." Old Crow loved sparkly things, especially gemstones. His feathers fluff up. "Get your gang of crows together tomorrow, I'll show you the place. They'll need to do a little digging." Old Crow nodded eagerly.

"Koji," Jiji continue, "I want you to make a map, same as the one you found, except this time it will show the tunnel to the old railway. On the back will be instructions. We need to make multiple copies by tomorrow." Jiji explained the details which had everyone intrigued.

It was a big job, Koji was going to need help, and he knew exactly who to ask. "Sure, Jiji. I'll head back now and get started. Will you be OK getting home by yourself?"

"Hehe, don't worry, this will be my last cup of juice." He winked at Old Crow.

Koji sped down the track, he knew it well, but it was his first time to go alone. The sun was still high in the sky by the time he got home.

He bolted through the door, his dad snoring on the sofa, his mum and sister in the kitchen, "Is that you, Koji?"

"Yes, mum. But I have rush to the library."

His sister chimed in, "Can you get me some honey accorns from the shop? We need honey too."

"Er, OK if I have time."

"Go there before the library," his sister said, adding, "if you're smart, that is."

Andy was lying on his bed, music blaring from his headphones, "Oi, want to listen to our new song?"

"Um, maybe later." Koji grabbed the map and the old book from under the bed, took the calendar from the wall, and put them in his bag. Just as he was running out the door, Andy grabbed him by the shorts.

"What's the rush little bear?"

"Let me go!" But it was no use. Andy help him up high, his little legs flailing.

"Not unless you get me 5 jars of honey."

It was extortion. He knew he couldn't ask the shopkeeper for that many, but this was an emergency, "OK, just let me go!"

"All right. But if you don't have them by tomorrow, your rock collection is dust."

His legs touched the floor again and he hit the ground running, down the hill, straight to the library.

Chapter 13 ~ MAPPING THE FUTURE

Penny's eyes lit up when she saw Koji, "Hi Koji, you look hot!"

"Hi, Penny! Oh, I had to run here." The library was empty, as usual, except for the librarian. Koji pulled the stuff out of his bag. "Do you want to help me draw a map?"

Penny nodded eagerly, and the two of them spent the afternoon happily making the map with instructions on the back.

"Wow! You're so talented!" Koji said after they had finished. "It looks just like a page from the old book. Let's get it printed."

Koji went over to Ms. Honda at the front desk, "Could I print this page, please?"

"I'm sorry, Koji, the printer hasn't been working for some time now."

"Oh, no. This is urgent. Do you know where I can make copies?"

"Let's see. There could be a copy machine at the Bear Valley Times?"

Koji tried not to look too disappointed, "Ok, thanks."

Koji was brave, but not that brave, to walk up the main street by himself and into the newspaper office. He's been there once before, on a scout excursion, it was the busiest place he'd ever been.

He packed his bag, "Thanks Penny for your help, I have to hurry up and get this printed. The eclipse is in just two days!"

He crossed the street to the shop, but when he opened the door, the shopkeeper jumped up and hid behind the counter.

That's weird, thought Koji. "Hi, er, Mr. Shopkeeper."

"Can I help you?"

"Um," why did he look so scared? "I have a favor to ask."

"What is it?" the shopkeeper replied nervously.

"I need to make some copies of a map I made. Do you think I could ask your friend the reporter to help me? It's urgent."

The shopkeeper looked relieved, "OK, sure, let's go to the Bear Valley Times headquarters now. Meet me outside while I close up the shop." Hopefully Koji hadn't noticed the empty honey shelf?

As they walked up the main street toward Bear Valley Times HQ, Koji was surprised to see so many people run for cover. Mothers would pick up their children and run away, doors and windows would slam shut, young men would disappear down side streets. Koji tried to smile and wave at the people, but it made them even more scared. He felt lonely.

The building itself was impressive, one of the tallest in the town, besides the town hall itself. The shopkeeper and Koji made a grand entrance. The normally busy foyer became empty. The shopkeeper yelled out, "Could someone get Bill?"

Bill reluctantly appeared. "Bill, you remember Koji, don't you?"

"Of course, good to see you again," he tentatively held out his hand. Koji happily shook it.

"Koji needs to make some copies of a map he made." Koji took it out his bag.

"Interesting." Bill had seen a map like this before, during his investigations into the honey crisis. Maps were found scattered around some of the broken bee hives. But this one showed only one red X, and on the back was a calendar, and a series of pictures of a dark sky, monkeys running into a tunnel, dead animals and people, and monkeys celebrating. Quite gruesome.

"Sure, how many copies do you need?"

"More than 5," answered Koji.

"OK, I'll make 10, and drop them off at the shop tomorrow morning."

"Oh, could I have them earlier?"

Bill moved in closer and dropped his voice, "I have to wait until the boss goes home, he's the only one with a printer."

Koji did a quick calculation in his head, it should be enough time, that will give the crows a day to distribute them. "OK, thank you."

"Thanks Bill," said the shopkeeper, "see you tomorrow."

That evening, Bill snuck into the boss' office, opened the cupboard where the printer was, and was surprised to see dozens of honey jars, "What the hell are these doing here?" He scratched his head.

Chapter 14 ~ HONEY SQUEEZE

Koji's mother was waiting at the gate as he got home, "Just in time, I'm about to make dinner, but we need honey." She looked him up and down.

Koji froze. He'd forgotten to get honey. "Oh no, my rock collection!"

"Don't worry about that," his mother said angrily, "I gave the last of our honey to Miji's mum because she was desperate. "Well?"

"I'm sorry, mum. I had to run an important errand for Jiji, then the shop was closed."

"What could be more important than honey?" She stood there fuming.

I'm going back to the shop tomorrow morning. I promise I'll get honey."

"All we have is acorn soup for dinner. I don't think you'll be very popular."

The mood in the house that night was dark. Koji promised everyone that he'd get them honey tomorrow. Andy held his rock collection hostage, but luckily he still kept the blue opal in his bag.

Koji was the first to get up next morning. There was no honey for breakfast so he just had leftover acorn soup. He listened to the radio while he cleaned out his pet turtle's tank; Tomi seemed to like listening to music, rocking his head backwards and forwards.

When the radio started to beep, Koji put Tomi back in the tank and was about to switch it off, when he heard...

'We start of this bulletin with the sad news of a local farmer in hospital after another attack by a hungry bear. Hunters have been called up to look out for any marauding bears, with orders to shoot first, ask questions later.'

When Koji arrived at the shop, the door was locked. He knocked. The shopkeeper looked through the window.

"Quick, come in."

Bill was standing behind the counter, "Hi Koji, I've made your copies."

"Thank you, I really appreciate it," said Koji, picking up a copy on the counter, admiring the quality of the paper and Penny's cartographic skills.

"Before I forget," Koji said, turning to the shopkeeper, "I need some honey."

"Ah, haven't you heard? There's a shortage of honey all over the valley. I'm sorry, I don't have any," the shopkeeper gestured toward the empty shelf.

Koji stood there stunned. He shouldn't have been surprised after hearing all the news, but it was the first time in his life to be confronted with this catostrophic situation.

"But Andy will destroy my rock collection!" he said, half to himself. "What can I do?"

Bill walked over to the shopkeeper, whispered something in his ear, while Koji's mind went in circles.

"Koji. Bill said he can get some honey, on one condition."

"Yes, anything!"

"You take him to the X on the map."

"But... ," Koji collected his thoughts, "I need LOTS of honey."

"I can get you a whole cartload, tonight," Bill said.

"Well, OK, I'm going there today with my grandfather, I guess he won't mind, as long as you promise to keep it secret?"

"Koji, I'm a reporter. It's my job to find things out."

"Pinky promise?"

Bill was quiet for the longest time, then laughed, "OK, pinky promise," and held out his little finger.

They shook.

Chapter 15 ~ X MARKS THE SPOT

Bill struggled to keep up with Koji who said he'd promised to meet his grandfather at noon. Bill was sure people had never been along this track, not because of bears, but the monkeys. Those nasty creatures would steal anything. He'd heard that right after a few of the bears had been shot recently, the monkeys had taken over their houses. He suspected they were behind the honey shortage. When Koji showed him the map he wanted printed, it looked just like the map he'd found near one of the destroyed bee hives. Except Koji's map had only one X. Were the bears and the monkeys going to have a showdown, a final battle for the valley?

Jiji watched Koji and the man climb the final hill. "Hey Koji, did you bring a friend?"

"This is Bill. He helped me print the map."

Jiji bowed his head in appreciation.

"He is also going to give us some honey."

"Well, were going to need it," Jiji looked at Bill, who nodded.

There was a swarm of crows digging into the rock, Bill wasn't sure what they were doing.

"Old Crow," Jiji yelled out. "We have the maps."

"OK," he whistled to two big black crows, "Take those maps and drop them into the monkey hideouts. Hurry."

"All you others, keep digging. There's more of these," he held up a sparkling blue rock.

Old Crow turned to Jiji, "I'm afraid progress is slow, we're going to need help." Just above the birds was a massive bolder. "It's not loose yet."

Jiji thought for a moment, then said to Koji, "You said your friend Bill can get honey, lots of it? Can he bring it here by tonight?"

After a brief discussion, Koji replied, "Yes, we can go down to the town, and bring back a full cart load after dark."

"Then go and tell your dad and Andy to come here too, offer them as much honey as they want, and bucket-loads of blackberry juice. We'll camp here tonight."

Chapter 16 ~ LOST PARADISE

The blackberry juice flowed freely as they sat around the crackling fire telling stories. Bill couldn't understanding everything that was being said, so Koji would interpret for him. He'd learned human language at the bear scouts, from Mr. Bush, who Bill knew as he was a friend of his boss and often dropped into the office.

Jiji could still remember a few human words from when he was a bear scout. He told Bill that when he was Koji's age there was a huge jamboree where bears and humans camped together for a week and swapped badges which he sewed onto a blanket, the same one that Koji now had wrapped around him.

Jiji made some honey acorns for everyone by crushing them in his huge paws and rolling them in honey, although they weren't as good as the ones that Baba made and sold in the shop. Bill liked the honey cakes that Koji's mum and sister sold in the shop, but it was his first time to try honey acorns, and they went down particularly well with the strong blackberry juice.

Bill told Jiji that his grandfather was a hunter who didn't like killing bears, and so had the idea to set up houses for the bears and give them free honey, eventually bringing peace to the valley.

Old Crow could also understand human language and thought he could speak it too, but to Bill it just sounded like a lot of squawking, althougn some words he could understand, such as "Bill wants a honey cracker?" Old Crow told him about the first time monkeys came to the valley. Humans had set up a monkey park, but one night they had bribed the guard and escaped into the mountains. Gradually they controlled all the animals, except for the bears, by threatened to kill their babies. Now the monkeys were forcing the humans to shoot all the bears so they could take over their houses.

Koji's dad and brother Andy complained that their knees hurt from hiking so far into the mountains, but the blackberry juice certainly helped ease the pain. Dad could also understand some human language, and explained to Bill that he was one of the first bears to join the sumo club, and won every bout. Eventually humans gave up, and now it was purely bear sumo.

Andy had brought his bear-tooth speakers and played his new song 'Paradise Lost' over and over. Riley's guitar solo soared over the trees, and all the animals joined in the chorus, "Paradise lost, let's find it again..."