Worry in the Wood

Winnie-the-Pooh and Eeyore sat on a log outside Eeyore’s house. The Hundred Acre Wood was all a-twitter with the news that a new Leader would soon be taking over the Wood.

“Why so glum, chum?” asked Pooh.

“Ahhh… I’m worried that I’ll lose my health insurance and won’t be able to afford my antidepressants,” lamented Eeyore in his sad, singsong voice.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, friend,” counseled Pooh.

Presently, along came Piglet. He was squealing about the news. “Did you hear? The tariffs on imported products are going to make prices in the Wood skyrocket!”

“Yes, I did hear, Piglet,” answered Pooh sadly. “I just hope I’ll still be able to buy locally-sourced hunny.”

The next friend to amble down the trail was Christopher Robin.

“My parents voted for the new Leader, but now they’re not so sure. Now they say that Grandpa and Grandma’s retirement and medical care will be cut or even done away with. They are SO WORRIED.”

Suddenly a loud thumping sound came towards them. It was Tigger! He bounced into the clearing.

“Cheer up, everyone! We will be just fine! The Hundred Acre Wood is going to be better than ever!” he shouted as he bounced around the circle of friends.

“Don’t be so sure, Tigger,” said Eeyore. “Did you know that the Leader plans to dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency? Not having environmental protection means chopping down the trees, and no trees means no shade, which means being hotter, and not keeping the water clean means no clean water to drink. Tiggers like cool shade and fresh water, don’t they?”

“Yeah… I guess…” muttered Tigger.

Everyone looked as Kanga and Roo came down the path. Kanga looked sad. 

“At school today, a boy said to Roo, ‘YOUR body, MY choice!’ She was so scared!” The friends all sighed deeply. “On top of that, I heard that the Department of Education is going to close, and that means no more special education for Roo.”

They all sighed again. “What will we DO?”

Just then a flapping sound came down from the trees. Owl swooped into sight.

“Surely Owl will have some words of wisdom for us!” cried Pooh. “Maybe he will tell us that things will not be as bad as they seem!”

Owl alighted on a tree stump. 

“I am very sorry, everyone, but I can’t do that. Our new Leader and his friends have decided that he will be a Dictator, and no one can stop what he and his friends plan to do. Even though our Wood was created with freedom of speech and freedom of religion, they plan to stifle any opposition, and have one religion be taught in our schools to the exclusion of all others.”

An audible gasp arose into the trees.

“In addition, he will round up all the Friends who were not born in the Wood, and send them away. Since they have done so much to help us, doing jobs like picking our crops, we will not have enough workers, and this will make our food much more expensive. We tend to forget that all of us were immigrants to the Wood at one time. Also, many of us will no longer have equal rights under the law.”

“Why are they doing this?” squeaked Piglet. “Why did people vote for them?”

Owl sighed. “Many people thought that their ideas were best for the Wood. And some people just don’t like people who are different from them, so they want to make life more difficult for them. But they didn’t know that these policies will also hurt THEM.”

Kanga and Eeyore began sobbing.

Pooh spoke up. “Is there anything we can do?”

Owl looked around at the circle of friends, in Eeyore’s yard, by the crooked creek with the yellow daisies on the edge, and slowly, slowly, slowly intoned,

“Be kind to one another. Be patient. Be strong. Help one another. Speak your mind. Show the people that there is a better way to live. Encourage the good leaders who are still in government to stand their ground. There will be another Vote in two years. Be sure to get to know who is running and what they stand for, and then VOTE.”

The friends all came close into one huge group hug. 

“We won’t let them make the Wood a dicktatership,” said Pooh quietly. All the friends nodded and said “Mm-hmm.”
“We will stand up for Democracy and Freedom. That’s what the Founders of the Wood intended,” assented Christopher Robin. “I learned that in school.”

“And we will keep the Wood safe for Roo,” said Tigger, bouncing slightly on his tail. “Grrr!!!”