OK, you found the clue to Step 6 of the "Rectangle Island" Mystery Quilt. But give yourself a treat... read the story below...

Once upon a time, long long ago, there were two intelligent species on earth. This was before even the thought of recorded history, in a time before even the oldest records or artifacts that have been found.

The species that developed first was a type of small bear, very furry, very soft, and very sociable. These bears liked to live in communities along the shores of lakes and oceans, where there was lots of wind. They visited back and forth between their communities, traveling on large kites that rode the wind. The bears loved to fly, having no fear of heights. In fact, many of the bears, especially the young ones, loved to jump from the kites, gliding down on huge sails they wove from thistle fibers. Being a kite pilot was considered an exciting career, and many a young bear dreamed of someday flying the huge kites along the coastal thermals.

The second species to develop were humans. Humans were quite different from the bears. They were much larger, their numbers increased much faster, and they were powerfully motivated to expand their territory. The bears on the other hand, were content to live in their very compact little villages, and were basically happy if they could eat honey, fly, jump, and be friends with everyone.

Inevitably, the two species met. The first bear to meet humans was named Theodore, or Ted for short. Humans didn't really understand the bears' names, and took to calling all bears "Ted", or "Teddy". The bears, on the other hand, could not speak the human tongue, and the closest they could come in their names for the other species was "Humes".

In their contacts, each species remained true to their natures. The bears tried to be friends, while the humans tried profit from the relationship. At first, the humans simply used the bears to carry messages on the big kites. The humans would have liked to fly on the kites, but they were too heavy.

After awhile, the humans became aware that the bear villages were located at many of the loveliest and most desirable beach locations. The humans began trying to get the bears to "sell" them the land. Bears had no concept of buying and selling, and didn't know what to make of this. They said there was plenty of land, and the humes were welcome to stay, why did they need to "own" the land?

Things went along this way for awhile, but there were more and more humes, and the bears began having a hard time living their lives, because the humes made "rules". Bears didn't understand rules, because none of them had ever wanted to do anything that any other bear would object to.

One day, a bear came back and reported the strangest thing that any bear had ever heard. He had observed two groups of humes contesting for a piece of land. Each group wore distinctive uniforms, and they attacked each other fiercely, using tools they called "weapons" against each other. The bears had never had a concept for weapon, and it took much explaining for them to grasp what had been seen. When the observer tried to explain that through the use of these "weapons", some of the humes were damaged, and even died, the other bears couldn't believe it. The observer said the humes called this new activity "war".

At about this time, three great bear heroes emerged. Socrates Bear, who was very wise, observed that as there were more and more humes, it would become more difficult, perhaps even impossible, for the bear communities to survive. Sir Newton Bear, who was probably the most clever bear who had ever lived, and also perhaps the oldest, had been knighted because of the usefulness of many of his inventions. He was currently working on a new material that reacted to the sun's rays by resisting. The process used plant skins and was somewhat like photosynthesis.

Sir Newton was trying to cover kite frames with the specially treated plant skins and convert the resistance into movement, reasoning that if surfaces of thistle fiber could cause kites to move by resisting the wind, why couldn't a surface of the specially treated plant skin cause the kite to move by resisting sunlight.

Sir Newton had built a prototype sun kite, but he was very old, and needed someone to test fly it. There was an especially daring young bear named Lindbeargh, who was always the bear who had to fly the highest and jump the furthest. Many older bears had been heard to wonder, "What will become of that young fool? One day he'll kill himself, mark my words!" Lindbeargh heard about the sun kite, and told Sir Newton that he would fly it. Sir Newton cautioned that since it didn't depend on the wind, there was no telling how high it could go, but Lindbeargh wanted to try it.

One day, everything was ready and conditions were right, and Lindbeargh pulled the control lever that opened the specially treated wings. The sun kite took off and Lindbeargh rose higher and higher, until he passed completely from sight. Some of the humans who were watching said he would go so high he would die, because there was no air to breath up there. But after awhile, the kite came back into sight, and Lindbeargh landed right where he had taken off. Everyone asked how high he had gone, and all he would say was, "Very high."

As soon as the crowd broke up, Lindbeargh told Sir Newton to get Socrates Bear and meet him in a private place. When they were together, Lindbeargh said, "The sun kite is a greater success than you could have imagined. It reacts not just to light, but to the sun's basic energy. Once you are up high enough, you can just keep going as long as there is energy from any sun, and solar energy is much more powerful than any wind! I flew halfway to the moon!"

"What about air?", asked Sir Newton.

"I guess no bear has ever gone where we didn't have air," said Lindbeargh, "so we never realized we don't breath it! We can sail the kites anywhere! Socrates, you've been worried about the humes. We can all leave earth and go somewhere else!"

Socrates, Sir Newton, and Lindbeargh talked long into the night. Socrates was sure that there was no way that bears and humes could continue to exist side by side. Their natures were too different. The humes would fight for what they wanted, and the teddies wouldn't fight at all. All three agreed that the sun kites offered the solution.

Over the next months, Socrates Bear traveled about convincing everyone that they had to go seek a new place. Each bear community quietly went about building a fleet of huge sun kites, under the direction of Lindbeargh. Sir Newton wanted to go to all of the building sites, as well, but he was not up to it. He was feeling his age, and was very tired.

When everyone was ready, the bears held a huge festival on their longest beach. Everyone ate honey and talked and flew in the coastal thermals on the wind kites for one last time. The young bears jumped and jumped and jumped, using their floating sails. Everyone wanted to take good memories of earth away with them.

As the sun rose on the last day of the festival, the bears received the sad news that Sir Newton had passed away in the night. He was so very old, and had worked so hard on the development of the sun kite material, that he had worn himself out. His final words, to young Lindbeargh, were that everyone must go as planned, with great joy. "I will always be with you in spirit," he said.

At noon, the great new sun kites were brought out and assembled, and all of the bears took their positions in the passenger straps. The humes, who were watching, wondered what kind of great flying feat the bears were up to. With Lindbeargh in the lead, crying, "Bears in the air! For Sir Newton!", they took off.

The humes watched as the greatest fleet of kites they had ever seen took to the air. The kites circled and circled, forming formations that had been agreed upon in advance. When every kite was aloft and in position, they rose as one into the sun, rising and rising and rising, ever higher, until the humes could see them no more... and they never did again.

For many years, the humes would sit and talk about the sweet, friendly little bears, and wonder where they had gone, and what had happened to them. Everyone agreed that they had been splendid little creatures and friends, and were missed, but no-one ever understood why they had gone. Teddies and humans were just too different.

The children especially missed the little bears, and parents would invent stories to tell about them. These stories were so firmly planted in the minds of the every child that to this day, even though no record of the real bears exists, every human being has a basic reaction to the idea of lovable, small bears. Eventually, someone made a small bear replica, and the racial memory of the bears was so strong, they automatically called them "teddy bears".

To this day, there are a few humes whose primitive memories are so strong, they will sometimes gather at beaches or fields to fly kites, and give the small teddy bears rides, and even let them jump from the kites on floating sails called parachutes. The humes don't really know why they do this. They only know it makes them feel good.

As for Lindbeargh and the other bears, it has been rumored that somewhere in the universe, they found a lovely planet with big seas and flat plains, where the winds always blow strong for the wind kites, and where the young bears still jump and play. Perhaps someday, humans will travel space and find them. But if they do, the bears already have a fleet of sun kites, stored safely away...

The End

Note:

This material is taken from my book, "The Rainbear Skydive Corps Training Manual - Mark I". This book is a complete compilation of material necessary to participate in the sport of teddy bear skydiving. Chapters, in addition to detailing technical material on kites, parachutes, and dropping mechanisms, deal with the "zen" of teddy bear dropping, and also the "PC" of teddies. Given my pre-history of teddies, it is, of course, not politically correct, to dress or depict teddies in military uniform, or carrying any kind of weapon. This negates the very nature of teddies. Those teddies with a sense of "macho" generally work it out by joining the Rainbear Skydive Corps and participate in dangerous search and rescue operations and forest fire fighting.

Note 2: One of the highlights of my performing career was performing this story outdoors for an audience of over 25,000 people.

Captain Dick