Welcome to Storyline Online, brought to you by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation. I'm Seth Meyers and I'm going to read to you from my book, "I'm Not Scared, You're Scared! " with illustrations by Rob Sayegh Jr.
There once was a bear who was easily scared. Each night before going to sleep, he would tie a bell to his door that would make a noise if anyone tried to sneak in (because even a bear who is easily scared is a very heavy sleeper). He was even afraid of his own reflection.
And because he couldn't see himself, he never brushed well and always had food stuck in his teeth. When you're a scared bear with food in your teeth, you don't have many friends. Bear had one, Rabbit.
Rabbit was never scared. She read scary stories. She slept with her door wide open.
And she brushed her teeth while hanging from a tree branch by her ears. This gave her very strong ears. One day, Rabbit made an announcement.
"Bear, we are going on an adventure! " Bear suggested that, instead of going on an adventure, they could read a book about adventures. "That way, if anything goes wrong, we can just close the book.
" Rabbit looked at her friend and asked, "Bear, are you scared? " And Bear replied "I'm not scared, you're scared! " And with that, Bear walked past Rabbit and out the front door.
Bear stopped to make sure they had everything they needed. "Do I need a bike helmet? " Bear asked.
"No," said Rabbit. "Do I need oven mitts? " "NO!
" said Rabbit. "Do I need bear repellant spray? " "You're a bear.
" said Rabbit. After walking a while, they came to a small stream. "It looks deep," said Bear.
"It's NOT deep," said Rabbit. "It looks cold," said Bear. "It's NOT cold," said Rabbit.
"It looks like it's filled with fish who have very sharp teeth, the kind of fish who would like nothing more than to nibble at the ankles of a delicious bear. " Rabbit looked at her friend and asked again, "Bear, are you scared? " And Bear replied, once again, "I'm not scared, you're scared!
" And with that, Bear walked along the stream until it narrowed enough that he could step over it. There he found Rabbit who had fallen asleep waiting for him. After a bit longer, they came to the edge of the woods.
"It looks dark," said Bear. "It's NOT dark," said Rabbit. "It looks spooky," said Bear.
"It's NOT spooky," said Rabbit. "It looks like it's full of trees that are going to fall down and bonk us on the head," said Bear. Rabbit looked at her friend and said, "Bear, are you scared?
" And Bear replied, "I'm not scared, you're scared! " And with that, Bear, realizing he would do anything to avoid the dark and spooky woods, walked to the road, where he waited for the bus. The bus picked him up and drove him all the way around the forest.
When he got to the other side, he woke up Rabbit, who once again, had fallen asleep waiting for him. They walked some more until they came to a mountain. "It looks high," said Bear.
"It's NOT high," said Rabbit. "It looks slippery," said Bear. "It's NOT slippery," said Rabbit.
"It looks like on of the rocks will fall and roll and land on my paw. " said Bear. Rabbit looked at her friend and just had to ask, "Bear, are you scared?
" And Bear replied, "I'm not scared, you're scared! " And with that, Bear, realizing he would do anything to avoid the high and slippery mountain, walked to the nearest train station. The train took him halfway around the mountain to an airfield.
At the airfield, Bear bought a ticket on a helicopter that flew him to the top of the mountain. . .
and dropped him off next to Rabbit, who, no surprise here, had fallen asleep. "Rabbit," said Bear, waking her up. "Should we go home?
" "I am not going home," said Rabbit, and she bounced off with Bear following behind her. After a bit more walking, they found themselves at one side of a long rope bridge. Bear stopped.
"It looks rickety," said Bear. "It might be a little rickety," said Rabbit. "It looks old," said Bear.
"It might be pretty old," said Rabbit. "It looks like the board might break if you were heavy enough," said Bear. "Mmhm," agreed Rabbit.
Rabbit looked at her friend and said "Bear, are you scared? " And Bear took a deep breath and said. .
. "Yes! Yes, Rabbit, I am scared!
I was scared of the river, and I was scared of the forest, and I was scared of the mountain, but I am the most scared about this long, old, rickety bridge! " And with that, Bear turned around and headed home. He marched back to the helicopter that flew him back to the airfield, then took the train to the forest.
. . where he got on a bus that took him to the river.
. . so he could cross where it was narrow.
. . and then trudge all the way back to his house, where he crawled into bed.
Rabbit went to the middle of the bridge and thought, See, this bridge isn't dangerous. It's a good bridge. And to prove it, she started to jump up and down.
And then she jumped harder. And then she jumped harder than she had ever jumped in her life. And then.
. . the board she was jumping on cracked in half!
And Rabbit fell right through the hole in the bridge. Lucky for Rabbit, she had very strong ears. But she knew she wouldn't be able to hold on forever.
And because of this, Rabbit, for the first time in her life, was scared. Now, Bear and Rabbit hadn't noticed but throughout their journey, they had been followed by a small bird. Bird realized she had to get help, so she flew as fast as she could all the way to Bear's house.
Bird flew in Bear's window and started chirping as loud as she could, but Bear didn't wake up, because even bears who are easily scared are very heavy sleepers. Bird was about to give up when she saw the bell on the doorknob. Bird put her head inside it and shook it as hard as she could.
Bear jumped out of bed to hear Bird yell, "Rabbit has fallen through the bridge and needs your help! " And in that moment, Bear felt something he had never felt before - courage. He was so worried about his friend that instead of staying home where it was safe, he ran out the door faster than any bear had ever run before.
When Bear reached the stream, he ran right through it! (It only came up to his ankles. ) When he came to the forest, he ran right through it!
(It was only three trees. ) And when he came to the mountain, he didn't even think about taking a train and a helicopter, he just climbed right up it! (It wasn't very high.
) Meanwhile, Rabbit was now hanging on with only one ear. She could feel it slipping, too, and just as she lost her grip. .
. Bear grabbed her by the ear and lifted her to safety. "Bear, were you scared?
" asked Rabbit. And Bear said, with pride and honesty, "Rabbit, I was scared. " "I was scared, too," said Rabbit.
And Bear smiled and said, "Sometimes it's OK to be scared. " That night when Bear brushed his teeth, he didn't hide from his reflection. He looked right at it.
And do you know what he saw? A very brave bear. (With no food in his teeth!
) I wrote this book because I love bears, I love rabbits, and even as a grown-up I sometimes feel scared, and I think that's okay. So I wanted to write a book about it and I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you for watching Storyline Online.
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