It was a day like any other in the forest—until Venza the bear woke up feeling… off. His usually boundless energy was nowhere to be found, and his stomach, which could normally handle *anything*, was rumbling in a way that didn’t feel right. After a particularly unfortunate incident involving a suspicious-looking mushroom and a very upset beehive, Venza’s friends decided it was time for an intervention.
“You’re going to the doctor,” declared Luna the Panther, her golden eyes narrowing in concern. Venza groaned, clutching his belly. “But I’m fine! It’s probably just… uh… a food coma!” Luna wasn’t convinced. With the help of the monkeys, she managed to coax (read: drag) Venza to the forest’s resident doctor—a wise old owl named Dr. Hootington.
The clinic was a cozy hollow in an ancient oak tree, filled with jars of herbs, dried berries, and what looked like a very suspicious bottle labeled “Bear Tonic.” Dr. Hootington perched on a branch, peering down at Venza through his tiny spectacles. “Well, well, what do we have here?” he hooted.
Venza shuffled his paws nervously. “Uh, hi, Doc. I think I might’ve eaten something… weird.”
“Define ‘weird,’” said Dr. Hootington, raising an eyebrow.
Venza hesitated. “Well, there was the shiny mushroom, and then the berries that made my tongue turn blue, and then I found this weird log that smelled like cheese—”
“Cheese?!” Luna interrupted, her tail flicking in disbelief. “Venza, logs don’t smell like cheese!”
“This one did!” Venza insisted. “And it tasted like cheese too… until it didn’t.”
Dr. Hootington sighed, fluttering down to examine Venza. He listened to his heartbeat, checked his temperature, and even inspected his teeth (which, surprisingly, were still intact despite Venza’s habit of chewing on rocks). Finally, the owl stepped back, shaking his head.
“Venza,” he said sternly, “you have a classic case of… *Overindulgence Syndrome.*”
“Over-what-now?” Venza asked, tilting his head.
“You ate too much of the wrong things,” Dr. Hootington explained. “Your stomach is rebelling. You need to rest, drink plenty of water, and—most importantly—stop eating everything you see!”
Venza’s eyes widened in horror. “Stop eating everything? But what if I miss out on something delicious?!”
Luna rolled her eyes. “Venza, if you don’t listen to the doctor, you’ll be stuck in this clinic forever. Do you really want to miss out on the next berry season?”
That got his attention. Venza reluctantly agreed to follow Dr. Hootington’s advice, though he did try to sneak a jar of honey on the way out. (Luna caught him, of course.)
For the next few days, Venza was on a strict diet of plain roots and water. It was torture for the bear, but slowly, he began to feel better. By the end of the week, he was back to his old self—though he did give shiny mushrooms a wide berth from then on.
And so, Venza learned a valuable lesson: not everything that looks (or smells) like food is meant to be eaten. But knowing Venza, it’s only a matter of time before he finds another “cheese log” and the cycle begins again. 🙈🐻
The end… for now! 🐾✨
