Under the Dome, Take 2: The Interloper

The Tabbycat strolled past his dome. And did a double-take!

"Wait, what's this!?" said the Tabbycat. "Hey, that's MY dome!"

For standing in the window of his dome was a small bright-blue bear!

The blue bear gulped. That was one very large Tabbycat!

For a few minutes, there was a standoff.

The bear stood his ground, surveyed the Tabbycat.

The Tabbycat likewise calmly surveyed the small blue bear.

The bear sat down, ready to make small talk.

Perhaps some arrangement could be made?

When - WHAP! - out flashed a white paw of doom!

And it sent the small blue bear tumbling back into the dome!

The little bear landed, unhurt, brushed himself off, and looked around.

Say, this dome just might make a lovely home for a small blue bear and his family!

A little work here and there, a bit of furniture, some tiny lights . . .

The place definitely had potential!

Outside, the Tabbycat prowled all around, sniffing along the edges.

The cat tried to stick his paw UNDER the dome, to no avail.

Then he reached his paw IN through the window!

Stretched his paw out as far as he could, even stretched out his pinkee toepads.

But he still couldn't reach the little bear!

The Tabbycat stuck his nose through the hole: "Get out from under my dome!"

The bear sat quietly, and eventually the huge Tabbycat went away.

The bear crawled out through a hole in the roof, looked all around: safe!

The Tabbycat was gone, for now.

The blue bear surveyed the space under the dome, thought again how cozy it was.

"Say, this looks like a fine place to raise a family," he said to himself.

"I think I'm going to like it here!"

Photographer's note: And now, I have this idea for a children's book about a family of tiny, colorful bears who live under this dome. I would need some tiny furniture and a few other niceties, but I am considering pursuing this. I am thinking about calling it "the Insiders." And so the song to accompany this photo is one of my favorite songs of all time, Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks, with Insider.