To the bear’s great surprise, the mouse sat down next to him on the bench and lifted her feet onto the seat. “Whooo!” She cried, an utterance expressing relief but somehow laced with glee. Seated, she was even smaller than the bear had expected, and held out one paw to keep hold of her cane. #58

The mouse squinted her little eyes and smiled.“You do not have to be good,” she blurted out suddenly, with no warning, and to nobody in particular, causing the bear to look up in surprise. #59

“You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting,” she continued, turning to look at him, and the bear began to realize that her words were meant just for him. He thought of his own desert, and her words came to life in his mind’s eye. #60