The Dinner Guest

A few days ago my neighbor told me that a bear on base went into someones house and ate their dog. Crazy! The door wasn't closed all the way so the bear helped himself to the family pet. After hearing several versions of the story I found out it was actually the home of the RS Pres in my ward. The dog was not eaten, and if a bear entered he was kind enough to wipe his paws. Since this encounter I have banned Ila from playing in the back yard alone and our doors are never left open. We have a forest in our back yard so I don't think it's even possible to be too careful. I was cooking dinner one night and Ila wanted to go and pick dandelions outside but I wouldn't let her. I had to explain that there is a bear in the woods and he is hungry and might try to come and eat our dinner. I didn't want to scare her so I said that I wanted to make sure we didn't feed the bear. She thought about this for a minute and then exclaimed, "The bear will come in our house and eat our apple sauce and oranges and cheese? The bear will come and eat dinner with us? Lock the door momma, lock the door. No don’t do it, don’t do it, close the puter momma. Please mamma, please, may I go outside please mamma!" I had to write it down right away and the computer was right there. She had to wait to go outside until daddy came home to pick flowers, a true tragedy in a young girls life.