John Bear — Obscure Fairy Tales

There was once a lumberjack couple, a husband and wife, who worked together everyday. For lunch, the woman would go back to the house and bring back soup so the couple could eat together in the woods.

One day, as she was walking with the soup, she stumbled upon a tree trunk and fell down. A huge bear arrived, picked her up and took her to a cave, where he assaulted her and kept her captive. A few months later, the woman gave birth to a son, half human and half bear, named John Bear. As he grew up with his mom in the cave, the bear took good care of their needs, treating them like family.

However, the woman despised the bear for taking her away and assaulting her. Any thought of the bear filled her mind with raging fire. All she could think about was an escape.

Over time, she realized her son had bear-like strength. She thought he could one day rival the giant bear’s force and move the humongous stone blocking their way out of the cave. Thus, when the boy turned four, his mother asked him to try moving the stone for the first time. He couldn’t. Mother and son had to remain patient.

When the boy turned seven, his mother asked him to attempt moving the stone once again. With great effort, he managed to move it just enough for the two of them to fit in the opening. His mother them led him to her husband’s house, the lumberjack’s.

The man was overjoyed to see his wife and meet her son, for he had thought his wife dead all those years ago. He hugged them both in a tight embrace and took them in, adopting John Bear as his own. The woman went back to work in the forest with her husband and the boy was sent to school.

The boy did not integrate well into the school, as she was much stronger than other kids and they wouldn’t want to be his friends. One day, when he was fifteen, John Bear was getting picked on. He pushed one of his classmates so hard that he bumped into a group of at least ten other children and made them fall with him. No one was seriously hurt, but John Bear still got punished. As he was getting scolded, he threw the schoolmaster out the window onto the flowers outside and ran off. Unsurprisingly, he was kicked out of school.

His father was disappointed with him, but still wanted him to have a good life. He sent his son to a blacksmith for an apprenticeship. After one week, John Bear grew tired of the place, as he wasn’t taught anything. He went to work for another blacksmith, who taught him the basics of ironwork. After a few months, John Bear’s progress stalled, so he thanked his teacher and went to work for a more renowned blacksmith in the city. That last master turned John Bear into an expert.

After working at the forge for many years, John Bear asked his master if he could take a cane for himself. The master agreed and let him use the materials he needed to make a great iron cane. When it was done, it weighted over five hundred pounds! His cane in hand, John Bear said goodbye to his master and left on an adventure by himself.

On the way, he met a man named John Grinding Wheel, who was playing with the grinding wheels of a mill. Looking at the man, John Bear was impressed.

“You are stronger than me,” he said. “Come join me on my journey!”

Thus, John Bear and John Brinding Wheel went on their way.

Later on, they crossed paths with Mountain-Support, a young man holding up a mountain. They asked him what he was doing.

“I am holding up this mountain or it’ll collapse on itself.”

John Bear expressed his doubts about that statement, so Mountain-Support let go of the mountain and it collapsed.

“You are stronger than me,” said John Bear in response. ” Come join us on journey.”

Thus, John Bear, John Grinding Wheel and Mountain-Support went on their way.

Later on, they crossed paths with Oak Bend, a man bending oak trees into bundles.

“The way you twist those trees into shapes, you seem to be stronger than me,” said John Bear. “Come join us on our journey.”

Thus, John Bear, John Grinding Wheel, Mountain-Support and Oak Bend went on their way.

The group walked in the forest for two days and two nights. At the dawn of the third day, the four young men reached a stone castle in a meadow. They entered it and walked around. Eventually, they came upon a wide dining room with a sturdy table sat down to eat their provisions. The drinks were flowing and the food was exquisite. When the time to go to bed came, the young men each found a room to sleep in a dozed off.

The following day, the group decided to leave behind one of their own to prepare the food while they went hunting. The cook would have to call his peers with the bell when the food would be ready. The first friend to stay behind was John Grinding Wheel.

As he was doing the chores and caring for the food, John Grinding Wheel heard a loud rumbling. Outside the castle was a giant looking at him from above.

“What are you doing, silly?” said the giant to John Grinding Wheel.

The young man tried to escape the monster’s hand, but only ended up falling in a ditch an hurting himself. It took John Grinding Wheel a while to manage to get out of the ditch. By then, his friends had started to be hungry and were wondering why the bell never rang. As they turned back and reached the castle, they saw their bloodied friend come out of the ditch.

“What happened to you, John Grinding Wheel?” asked a worried John Bear.

“I was looking for some herbs outside and slipped into a ditch, nothing more. Come, the soup must be ready by now.”

The friends then enjoyed their dinner and went to bed. The next day, the same plan was put in place, but, this time, Mountain-Support would be the one staying at the castle.

As the cook of the day was busy preparing food and doing chores, he heard a loud rumbling sound. Mountain-Support exited the castle to investigate. The giant was, once again, waiting outside.

“What are you doing here, silly? asked the giant.

The young man tried to escape the giant’s step, Mountain-Support ended up running away to the pond and jumping in. The giant left.

Mountain-Support swam out of the pond and walked back to the castle in shame. On the way, he met his three friends who had gotten hungry and decided to come back before the bell rang. They inquired about his state but he gave the excuse he was simply fishing in the pond when he fell in. The four young men walked to the castle and enjoyed a lovely dinner before going to bed in their respective rooms once again.

The next day, Oak Bend was the one tasked to stay at the castle while his friends went hunting. The young man was picking up vegeteables in the garden when the giant appeared once more.

“What are you doing, silly?”

Oak Bend got scared and tried to run away, but the creature was too fast. Instead, the giant picked Oak Bend up and threw him on the wall. After getting up, Oak Bend tried to repair the stone wall as well as he could before returning to the kitchen.

When the hunters arrived after waiting endlessly for the bell, they questioned Oak Bend as to why he was in such a mess and dinner still wasn’t ready.

“Oh, I simply spilled some flour earlier and it took me a while to clean it up,” he lied.

The four young men shared a meal together and went to sleep in their respective rooms for the night.

The following day, John Bear stayed at the castle to cook and his three friends went hunting. As John Bear as preparing the food, he heard a loud rumbling noise outside. Curious, he stepped out of the castle to look at what was happening. A giant was coming his way!

“What are you doing, silly?” said the giant, leaning down towards John Bear.

The young man picked up his cane with both hands and ran towards the giant, swinging. His first swing missed the target, so he swang his five-hundred-pound cane towards the giant again and hit his knee. The humongous being screamed in agony, holding his leg to his chest. John Bear took the opportunity to hit his other knee. The giant stumbled and fell in the river. John Bear hit him on the head, splitting it in half and killing him.

Alerted by the big fall that resonated through the entire forest, John Grinding Wheel, Mountain-Support and Oak Bend ran to find the castle, only to find John Bear waiting for them beside the giant.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the giant that visited the castle!” shouted John Bear. “I should kill you all right now as punishment.”

The three accusesd looked at each other, embarrassed.

“We didn’t want to look weak,” said John Grinding Wheel.

“You could have cost me my life! I’ll forgive you only in honour of our friendship,” answered John Bear, awry.

The four men returned to the castle, glad the threat was finally dealt with. They shared a copious dinner and each went to their room to sleep. That is, everyone but John Bear. Instead, the latter was still energized from his fight with the giant, so he went for a walk around the castle, mindlessly hitting his cane on the wooden floors.

As he strolled in one of the halls he had never seen before, John Bear heard a hollow sound from under the floorboards. He quickly hit the ground again to confirm before splitting the wooden boards with his heel. Something was uner there! He woke his friends up and opened up the floor to reveal a giant hole in the ground.

Mountain-Support got a long rope and Oak Bend descended in the dark opening. After a few minutes, he screamed for his friends to bring him back up.

Thus, John Grinding Wheel tried exploring the dark void. After barely longer than Oak Bend, John Grinding Wheel screamed for his friends to bring him back to the surface.

Then, Mountain-Support mumbled to himself and said he would do it in their place. A few meters down the hole, and he was already crying he was scared and wanted to come back.

Sighing, John Bear thought to himself “Must I do everything myself!” while shaking his head. He grippped the rope and, his friends holding onto the other end, came down the dark abyss little by little.

His heart was beating fast, faced with the unknown. His hands were blistering from the lengthy process, and he was starting to shiver from the low temperature underground. After coming down for what felt like hours, John Bear finally felt hard ground under his feet. He dropped his body down, relieving his hands from the painful grip on the rope. He had finally reached the bottom!

John Bear had barely started catching his breath that a strange being appeared close to him with a puzzled look on their face. In the darkness, John Bear had trouble distinguishing who it was. The creature got closer.

“Aren’t you afraid of the giant?” she asked.

John Bear’s eyes were getting used to the obscurity and could now recognize the being as a fairy floating slightly above the ground.

“I killed the giant,” he responded.

“Then, you can proceed to the underground castle.”

John Bear thought the fairy was playing a trick on him, as there surely couldn’t be an underground castle under the marvelous one at the surface! Suddenly, candles lit up out of nowhere on what he could see were castle walls. There really was a castle!

“In this castle, you will find three special rooms. The first one will be filled with eleven tiny devils running around. Go through that room and the next will have twelve small devils in it. If you manage to make it through again, you’ll reach a room where three princesses, three sisters, are imprisoned.”

As soon as the fairy finished her instructions, she dropped an ointment bottle and disappeared. John Bear picked up the medicine to put it in his pocket before walking towards the castle. He looked back for a second, wondering if he should just go back to the surface, but the thought of the princesses being left to fend for themselves in their prison convinced him to keep going forward.

John Bear toured the castle, looking for the special rooms the fairy had mentioned. As he walked around, he could see the castle was built for people of a much bigger size. It was humongous! It must have been possessed by rich giants, as it was ornated in a much more exquisite way than the castle upstairs. John Bear was impressed by his surroundings.

Eventually, he ran into a weird-looking door. It was much darker than the ones he had previously come across and had sets of fangs all over it. John Bear hit the door three times with his five-hundred-pound cane and the pieces flew away in all directions.

Inside that room were eleven little devils running around mischieviously. When they saw John Bear in the doorframe, they started shouting obscenities and causing a rockus. John Bear used his cane to squish the tiny devils one after, killing them instantly. Once they were all dead, he went to the back of the room and opened the door leading to the next room.

As expected, the second room also contained little devils running around and causing trouble. John Bear took their lives in the same fashion as he had those of the devils in the preceeding room. Only, when he got to the twelveth devil, the small creature started pleading for its life. John Bear hesitated briefly, but hit the beast on the head just as hard as he had the others when he noticed the little devil trying to trick him with a blade.

Then, John Bear took a breather, wiped the sweat off his temples, and convinced himself to go to the third room despite his legs wanting to give out. As he opened the door, a strong floral scent replaced the smell of death in his nostrils. When he peeked inside, he saw a giant room lavishly furnished and tastefully decorated. Had he not gone through the previous two to get here, he would have thought this one was in a completely different castle.

As he staggered inside John Bear noticed three women staring at him in disbelief.

“Who… who are you?” asked the youngest of the three women.

“I am John Bear, and I am here to free you,” he said, trying to stand up straight.

The three women whispered amongst themselves, covering their mouths. John Bear leaned on a pink and gold pillar. The youngest lady asked if their father had sent him, but John denied the claim.

“Come with me, I will get you out of this prison,” said John Bear.

The three princesses held hands and followed a swaying John Bear to the rope hanging from the surface. The young man sent the princesses up one by one, starting with the eldest. Before climbing up, she put her hand on John Bear and gave him a small ball ornated with pearls, diamonds and emeralds. The second princess thanked him and placed a similar ball in his hand, this one made with lapiz-lazuli instead of emeralds, then climbed up the rope. Finally, the youngest sister approached John Bear and gave him her own precious ball, which had beautiful embedded rubies on it. The woman swiftly kissed John Bear on the cheek and climbed up the rope before noticing his face turning red.

As soon as the last princess had reached the top, John Bear pulled on the rope, indicating he was coming up. To his dismay, the rope fell down on him. It had been cut! Those rascals wanted to trap him underground.

John Bear sat down on a nearby rock to think. He took the fairy’s ointment out of his pocket and rubbed it on the claw marks the little devils had left on his arms. Surprisingly, the mixture healed his wounds instantly. He tried rubbing the ointment where the rope had damaged his palms during the descent into the cave and he also healed instantly.

“What a peculiar place…” said John Bear to himself.

The young man then heard someone breathing behind him. He turned around. The fairy was once again floating close to him, smiling with all her teeth.

“Thanks you for ridding our kingdom of not only the giant, but also the little devils. The princesses must be thankful as well,” said the fairy.

The magical creature proceeded to help John Bear up and dust him with a sparkling powder. Suddenly, John Bear felt a regain of energy. Before he could open his mouth to thank the fairy, she put her hand up to stop him.

“You must exit the cave now, for the princesses are in danger,” started the fairy. “Keep going forward in that direction until you reach a small brook. There, turn right and follow the path to the surface.”

The fairy clapped her hands and a bright light ball appeared between her hands.

“When you start walking, throw this light ball behind you; it will enlighten your path to the surface. However, make sure to never look behind you or you will never reach the surface again,” ended the fairy while handing John Bear the light ball.

The young man nodded. He didn’t understand everything that was going on, but he understood enough to know he should listen to the fairy. Thus, he bowed to her, and went on his way.

The path to the surface was strenuous and cold. The ground was covered with moss in some areas, making the walk slippery. After a few hours, John Bear started to see an opening in the distance. As he came closer, he realized it must be an exit cave leading to the forest at the surface. Eventually, he found himself outside a rock formation under the mooonlight. He looked behind him at the light ball. As soon as his gaze reached the ball, the rock formation closed the exit, trapping the light ball inside.

John Bear shivered at the thought of having looked at the light while in the tunnel. He mentally thanked the fairy for her warning.

The young man looked at the stars to orient himself and walked back to the original castle. On the way, he passed the river, where he saw the giant’s body still laid across it. He used the cadaver as a bridge to cross the body of water. Reaching the gates of the castle, he knocked three times with his cane before entering. He followed the noise to the dining room and found his so-called friends trying to force the three sisters to drink their wine.

When the three young men saw John Bear, they gave watery smiles with panic in their eyes. The princesses took the opportunity to exit their grip and run behind their saviour. John Bear tightened his eyes and clenched his jaw.

“In the name of our previous friendship, I’ll give you a chance to run away. If I ever see you again though…” said John Bear, intensely gazing at John Grinding Wheel, Mountain-Support ang Oak Bend.

The three dropped their cups in place and ran for their lives. John Bear turned towards the princesses and smiled.

“Ladies, would you like to share a meal with me?” said John Bear, locking eyes with the youngest princess.

The three ladies nodded and they all proceeded to eat together at the dining table. The next day, John Bear walked the princesses back to their father’s castle, which was only a day of walk away. He left them at the gates, knocked the doors with his cane and left abrup;tly, not wanting a reward for saving the king’s daughters.

In the following weeks, John Bear took a job at a forge, working his way up to blacksmith assistant in no time. He laboured at the forge for a few months before a strange request came from the king’s castle: the forge had to prepare three pearl and diamond-incrusted balls, one with emeralds, one with lapiz-lazuli and one with rubies. The forge accepting the order would receive a great reward upon completion of the task. However, if the team failed to complete the order before the allotted time, the whole team would be put to death.

As the master blacksmith was about to refuse the order, John Bear loudly stated he would accept the challenge.

“Are you sure?” asked he master.

“I am positive I can provide Your Masjety with such covetted balls,” responded John Bear.

Thus, the forge accepted the request. As days and weeks went by, John Bear hadn’t started crafting the special objects. His master was starting to worry. John Bear consoled him, stating he had a trick up his sleeve.

When the castle envoy came back to request the previous balls, John Bear tried to give him the objects. Instead, he was told to present them to the king himself. The young man accompanied the envoy to the palace and bowed in front of the king. Then, he took the three jewel balls out of his pocket.

“That’s him!” said a female voice John Bear recognized as the eldest princess. “He’s the man who freed us.”

The king nodded and turned towards the young man, sizing him up. The king asked John Bear to confirm the princess’ statement.

“Yes, that is true, but I only lent them a hand,” humbly responded John Bear, uneasy with being praised.

“Then, you will marry one of my daughters!” the king said.

John Bear locked eyes with the youngest princess and both young people blushed heavily.

“Your Majesty, may I ask for your youngest daughter’s name? asked John Bear, blood still rushing to his face and ears.

“Elene is her name.”

Elene and John Bear were thus married the following week and moved into the castle above the giant hole. John Bear’s former mates, because of their treason and disrespect towards the princess, were burned at the stake.

The serie Obscure Fairy Tales encompasses an array of tales, myths and legends from around the world. To read more, visit this page dedicated to fiction writing.