A Tail

Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, and Leo the Lion

In my childhood, I always enjoyed finding constellations in the

sky. More than that, I enjoyed hearing the stories even more from
my mother. I remember clearly asking her over and over to “tell
me about the bears and their tails” She never once told me no, and
always started speaking quietly, sitting outside in the dark on a
blanket…

“Once upon a time, all bears that roamed the Earth had tails. Every animal had a tail,
actually. Lions, Bears, even Birds. But, there were two bears that had the longest, most beautiful
tails on Earth. It was a momma bear and her cub! Leo the Lion was
close to having the longest tail, and was jealous of all animals that
had a tail nearly as long as his. So he decided instead of trying to
grow his own tail longer, he would just take off the tails of every
other animal. He took the tails of birds, fish, frogs, apes! When he
got to bears, he only had two left- Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, the
momma and baby bear. Not wanting to lose their tails, they fled!
Leo the Lion chased them all across Earth, and finally the bears
had no choice but to climb as high as they could into a tree. They
climbed so fast and high away from Leo the Lion that they jumped all the way into the sky! At
last they were safe, but Leo to this day still tries to get them. He repeatedly jumps into the sky

every year around Springtime. He hasn’t caught the bears yet, and he may never! ”

Kaitlynn Gudding 2019

 Images Retrieved From:

Pinterest. (n.d.). Ursa Major and Minor. Retrieved from

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1NDCM_enUS787US787&biw=1280&bih=529&tbm=is
ch&sa=1&ei=jabEXKeaA5DStAWiqKbwDQ&q=ursa major and minor constellation&oq=ursa
major and minor
constellation&gs_l=img.3..0.66932.70837..71159...0.0..0.112.2033.24j1......1....1..gws-wiz-
img.......0i67j0i10j0i7i30.iFItC_bQ3Jw#imgrc=f_RoIVjtc109ZM:

Wemystic. (n.d.). Leo Constellation. Retrieved from

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1NDCM_enUS787US787&biw=1280&bih=529&tbm=is
ch&sa=1&ei=1qbEXJHgD8T0tAWs7Y7YDQ&q=leo constellation&oq=leo
constellation&gs_l=img.3..35i39j0j0i67j0j0i67j0l5.248604.250136..250474...0.0..0.101.385.4j1..
....1....1..gws-wiz-img.......0i7i30j0i10.CF8ueuOINzw#imgrc=L7myuMjVtELglM:

Kaitlynn Gudding 2019