One hazy summer evening, Boring the Bear went for his evening walk in the Barnaby Rainforest. It was a six-mile path and he passed all his friends on the way.

The first friend he passed was Kooky the Koala. When Kooky first saw him he said, "How boring you look today, Boring. You don't look near as good as me with my big, black, beady eyes."

"That's O.K.," said Boring. He walked right on by without stopping.

The second friend he passed was Manny the Monkey. "Hello," said Manny. "Hello," said Boring. "Why Boring," said Manny, "You look..., well, boring. You don't look near as good as me with my long, swishy tail."

"That's O.K.," said Boring. He walked right on by without stopping.

His third friend was Jeff the Giraffe. When Jeff saw him, he said, "Why Boring, you look exceptionally boring today. You don't look half as good as me with my beautiful, black spots."

"That's O.K.," said Boring. He moved along rather quickly.

His fourth friend was Eli the Eagle. Eli lived on top of a rocky mountain cliff so it took a while for Boring to get up there. When Eli first saw him, he said, "Boring. You are to boring to be on my cliff. Get off. You don't look near as good as me with me beautiful feathers."

"That's O.K.," said Boring. He passed quickly.

His fifth friend was Paulie the Parrot. When Paulie caught a glimpse of Boring, she said, "Boring, stay away from me. You're too boring to be around my type. My colorful feathers are just too good for you." With that she flew off.

"That's O.K.," Boring yelled after her. He walked on down the trail.

Boring only had his sixth friend to pass now and that was Fancy the Fox. But since Fancy was the most vain animal in the whole Barnaby Rainforest, Boring decided to take a short cut home. It was the first time he had done it in five years.

The next morning, when Boring awoke, he went to his closet. He got out his pink sunglasses, a black leather jacket, a tye dye shirt, a pair of polka dot-ying-yang-smiley face-star decorated, some baggy socks, and black and white high tops with pink and blue shoelaces.

After he had gotten dressed, he decided to eat breakfast. He fixed himself one big bowl of honey. Just then the phone rang. It was Kooky.

"Do you want to come to the carnival with me today?" Kooky asked.

"Sure!" Boring replied.

"Meet me there at 10:00," Kooky said.

"O.K."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Boring hung up. He looked up at the clock. It was 9:30. It would take him a half hour to get to the carnival. So he hopped in his car and left without any breakfast.

Boring got to the carnival just in time. Kooky was waiting by his car for him. "Want to come on the roller coaster with me?" he asked, "By the way you look great!"

"Thanks and O.K.," said Boring.

So they went over to the roller coaster and bought tickets. They waited in line for a while and finally got on. Boring liked the ride. But when it got to it's first loop he changed his mind. "Heeelp!" screamed Boring.

Suddenly, his black leather jacket fell off and went all the way down to the ground. Someone picked it up and ran off with it.

Boring was very disappointed when he got off the roller coaster. So was Kooky. "You don't look good anymore without your jacket," Kooky said, "Bye-Bye."

So Boring left. On the way driving home he met Manny. "Let's go driving around the rain forest," suggested Manny. "By the way, nice pants!"

They went driving. Along the rocky mountains, bumpy roads, hilly grasslands, until they got to the muddy puddles. When they tried to go through the first puddle, all kinds of mud flew up. It got all over Boring's pants and they were ruined so he had to throw them out. He was very disappointed. So was Manny. "Drop me off right here and go home," said Manny.

Boring drove off. When he got home, he saw Jeff. "You look hungry," said Jeff.

"I am," said Boring, "I haven't eaten breakfast yet."

"Well, come on," said Jeff. "Let's go eat at this fancy restaurant I just heard about. And what a beautiful tie dye shirt."

So off they went. They made it to the restaurant in no time. It was called the Rainforest Canopy. As they were about to go in, Boring's shirt got caught in the pointy part of the gate. It ripped in half. He threw it in a nearby garbage pail. Boring was very disappointed. So was Jeff.

"Go home," said Jeff, "You don't look good any more. You're too boring."

Boring left and decided to go see what Eli was doing. He found him sitting on top of a high cliff. "Boring. Nice shoes. Want to go skiing with me?" asked Eli.

"What do you mean by "skiing"?" asked Boring.

"Well, my cousin who lives in the Rocky Mountains skis all the time," said Eli, "And he taught me how to. The only thing is that we'll need you're high tops for skis."

"That's O.K.," said Boring.

So off they went. They each had one foot in each shoe and they were flying. When they got towards the bottom, they hit the rocky ledges. The ledges tore holes in the bottom of each shoe. They both fell out and tumbled down to bottom. The shoes were ruined.

When they reached the bottom Boring was very disappointed. So was Eli. "Go home Boring. You're to boring to be around me," Eli said.

Boring happened to be on his six-mile path. So he followed it to Paulie's house.

Boring saw Paulie flying up to the tallest tree in the rain forest.

"Paulie!" Boring yelled, "What are you doing?"

"I don't know," replied Paulie, "By the way, nice clothes."

Paulie looked back at Boring. Just then, a coconut fell. It landed on Paulie's wing. Paulie fell from the sky like an airplane that was going to crash. Boring took off his baggy socks and threw them up at Paulie.

"Use these as parachutes," said Boring.

Paulie did use them and landed safely. But the socks weren't so lucky. They landed in quicksand. Boring was very disappointed. So was Paulie. "You're too boring without your socks, Boring," said Paulie, "Go away."

Boring did and continued his path. Soon, he made it to Fancy's. Fancy was just outside the door when Boring first saw her. As Boring was about to pass her, she said, "Shanzzy glasses, Boring, let me take those."

Fancy took his glasses and ran off with them. She was never seen again. (It's rumored that she went to Hollywood and made it big.)

Boring went home and looked in the mirror. All he saw was a boring old bear. Nobody liked him anymore. "Oh well," he thought. He was going to be himself from now on.