Slow Down, Oscar!

9-11 min read
21 pages
8+

Oscar is a little gray bunny, the fastest runner in the forest. His silver pocket watch shows him just how fast he goes. One spring morning the watch goes missing, and Oscar races around until he is all worn out. Then a kind old bear named Gerald helps him stop and see how lovely the forest is all around him. It's a gentle bedtime story about slowing down and noticing.

In a big, big forest, the trees grew so tall they touched the clouds. Little streams went bubbling along. And there lived a little gray bunny named Oscar.

Oscar was the fastest animal in the whole forest. Zip! He raced down the twisty path, past old oaks and fluffy pine trees. The other animals stopped to stare. All they saw was a gray, fuzzy ball and a little puff of wind. “Wow!” they said. And Oscar? Oscar loved to run.

Oscar had a favorite thing: a shiny silver pocket watch. He kept it in his pocket. Each time he ran, he peeked at it to see how fast he was. He loved that watch more than anything.

One spring morning, the sun peeked through the leaves and turned the forest gold. Oscar hopped out of his cozy burrow. He wiggled his nose. He twitched his ears. He couldn’t wait to run!

He stretched up high. He hopped three times. Then he reached into his pocket for his watch… Oscar froze. His pocket was empty! “My watch!” he cried. “Where’s my watch? Where did it go?”

Oscar patted his pocket again. Still empty. He sniffed the grass. He peeked under every leaf. No watch. “I must have lost it yesterday,” he thought, “when I was running.” So off he went, down yesterday’s path, with his eyes on the ground.

He looked under the blackberry bushes. He looked behind the trees. He even dove into the cold stream. Brrr! But there was no watch anywhere.

Oscar got more and more worried. He ran faster and faster, this way and that. The forest whooshed by in a blur of green and gold. Birds sang. Flowers bloomed. Leaves fluttered. But Oscar didn’t hear the birds, and he didn’t see the flowers.

At last, Oscar flopped down under an old oak tree. He was so tired. His legs were shaking. His heart went thump, thump, thump. Without his watch, he felt small and lost, like a baby bird that had tumbled out of its nest.

Then Oscar heard footsteps. Thud… thud… thud… Slow, heavy steps came closer and closer. It was Gerald, the big old brown bear. Everyone in the forest knew and loved Gerald. He walked slowly, and he had kind, gentle eyes. Right away, Oscar felt a little better.

Gerald bent down low. “What’s the matter, Oscar?” he asked in his deep, slow voice. Oscar looked up with sad eyes. “Oh, Gerald, my watch is gone!” he said. “I looked everywhere! Now I’ll never know how fast I can run. It’s awful!”

“Hmm,” said Gerald gently. “Do you always need to know how fast you ran?” He waved his big paw at the trees. “Look around, Oscar. What do you see?” So Oscar looked. For the first time since morning, he really looked. And he went very still.

Sunbeams danced between the leaves. Butterflies twirled over the flowers. A soft breeze swished through the grass. And the birds! They sang so sweetly that Oscar just wanted to sit and listen. Gerald listened, too.

“Butterflies… sunshine… birds…” Oscar whispered. His whole face lit up. He felt warm and happy inside. “It’s so pretty,” he said softly. “Why didn’t I ever see it before?” Gerald nodded and smiled. “When you’re always zooming by, you miss what’s all around you,” he said. “Sometimes you just have to stop and look.”

Oscar sat very still and looked and looked. Gerald sat beside him. Gerald was right. Oscar had been so busy running that he had never noticed how pretty the forest was.

“I think I’ll be okay without my watch,” Oscar said quietly. Gerald put his big, warm paw on Oscar’s back. “Remember, Oscar,” he said, “sitting and looking around is just as good as running.”

Oscar smiled. Gerald’s words made him feel warm all over. After such a worried morning, he finally felt calm and happy. He still loved to run. Oh, how he loved to run! But now he knew something new. Sometimes it was nice to slow down.

“Thank you, Gerald,” said Oscar. Then he set off for his favorite little meadow, where the sweetest clover grew. He didn’t race. He walked, nice and slow. The soft grass tickled his paws. The flowers smelled lovely. The birds sang along the way.

Suddenly, something sparkled in the grass. Oscar held his breath. He leaned in close. There in the clover, shiny with dewdrops, lay… his silver watch! Oscar could hardly believe his eyes.

Oscar picked up his watch and smiled. He looked at its face. Tick, tick, tick. Then he tucked it into his pocket. Before, he would have zoomed off right away. But not this time. Oscar sat down in the soft grass. “Now I don’t have to hurry,” he said to himself.

After that, Oscar was still the fastest runner in the whole forest. Zip! Zoom! Down the path he went. But every now and then, he stopped. He sat very still. He watched the butterflies and listened to the birds. And he smiled.

Slow Down, Oscar!

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