Chapter 4: Think, Think, Think
Pinkie Pie looked up at the very tall tree holding a very high-up hive. “Is that the thing we’re trying to get?” she asked.
Pooh walked up next to her, carefully considering the hive, and the honey within. “Yyyes. Where there’s a hive, there’s bees. And where there’s bees,” he added, with a giggle and a rub of his tummy, “there’s… *slurp* honey. The only problem is, we don’t really know how to get all the way up there.”
Tigger, who was busy prowling around the base of the tree, said, “Yeah… this tree’s all tall and skinny-like. Too tall for a Tigger to bounce,” he said, then caught himself. “Well, almost.”
Roo, who was also prowling around the tree, if only because Tigger was, agreed. “Yeaaaah. It would be way easier if the hive was lower, wouldn’t it?’
Pinkie Pie seemed to consider this idea. And when she wasn’t considering, she was pondering. “Well, what do we do?” she said finally, staring sideways at the hive.
Pooh also stared sideways at the hive, because sometimes you just need a different point of view. “Well...” he said slowly. “It seems to me that if the hive is so very up, then maybe we should bring it… down?”
Tigger sat up straight and looked at his friend. “Why, that’s a great idea, Pooh-boy! We’ll knock the hive right outta the tree! Won’t have ‘ta climb or nothin!”
Pinkie Pie also seemed to like this idea, as she bounced in place with a wide smile. “Yay! Now we just gotta find something to knock it down with! Like… a really big stick or something!”
“Yeah!” Roo agreed. “There’s all kindsa sticks in the woods, on accounta they’re made of wood!”
“Let’s go get us a big stick!” Tigger exclaimed, waving his paw for his friends to follow. He bounced ahead, leading the way. The group of friends marched along, some bouncing, others hopping, and all having a very good time indeed.
It wasn’t long before they found a rather big stick. In fact, they found a whole bunch of very big sticks, all standing upright. In fact, they seemed to be… walking. Pooh held out a cautious paw, and whispered. “We should be careful. Let me talk to them.” Roo and Pinkie nodded carefully, and crouched down to be very quiet.
Tigger looked aside to no one in particular, and said behind his paw, “This oughta be good, a-hoo-hoo-hoo.”
Pooh, having not heard him, carefully approached the bundle of walking sticks, and said carefully. “Um… excuse me, Mr. … um, stick. We were wondering if we could borrow you for some honey?”
The sticks stopped walking, and in a very small voice, said, “Oh! I’m sorry, Pooh, I don’t have any honey right now.”
“Hmmm,” Pooh said thoughtfully. Then he took a step back and whispered to his friends in a rather un-whispery voice, “This pile of sticks sounds a lot like Piglet.”
“Well, that’s because I am Piglet, Pooh,” said the sticks. Just then, a very small head attached to a very small animal peeked out from behind the pile of walking sticks.
“Oh,” Pooh said with a chuckle. “Hello, Piglet. What… um, what are you doing, with all of those sticks?”
“I’m taking these sticks home so I can make a ladder to reach the top of my house! It’s getting rather dirty,” Piglet explained.
“Hi there!” Pinkie exclaimed, jumping up next to Pooh. “I’m Pinkie Pie!”
“YIPES!” Piglet cried, dropping his sticks altogether. He quickly whooshed behind Pooh Bear, his very small knees shaking very loudly. “Um… Pooh? Wha-wha-wha-what is that?”
“Oh don’t worry, Piglet,” Pooh said encouragingly. He patted his friend on the back and gently pushed him forward. “This is Pinkie Pie. She’s a… well she’s a...”
“A pony!” Pinkie exclaimed. “We’re trying to get honey to make honeycakes with Miss Kanga so I can bring some home to the Cakes!”
“Oh!” said Piglet, brushing off his shirt. “Well hello there! I’m Piglet. I, um… why did you need one of my sticks, Pooh?”
Pooh paused for a moment as his very little brain remembered. “What? Oh, yes! We’re gathering honey! Unfortunately, the honey is very high up, so we need something to bring it… down.”
Tigger nodded wisely. “Yeah, yeah. And those sticks you gathered all look really good for hive-gettin-downin’!”
“Well, but… I need those for my ladder,” Piglet said in a small voice.
Pinkie Pie then had a great idea. “Well hey! Why don’t we make a ladder here? Then we can use it to climb up to the hive! Then when we’re done we can just take it to Piglet’s house!”
“That’s a great idea, Pinkie!” cheered Roo. “But… um...” he paused, mid-bounce, as he himself had a thought. “I don’t know how to build a ladder.”
“Aww, don’t worry, Roo-boy!” Tigger cheered, rubbing his friend’s head. “Buildin’ ladders, is what Tiggers do the best!”
“I thought that was bouncing?” Pinkie asked, confused.
Pooh patted her head. “You shouldn’t think about it too much. I never do,” he said happily.
“Ain’t that the truth,” Tigger groaned.