Team Work Gone Bad


"Thank you so much for seeing me this morning, Dr. Larry."
"Of course, Benny.  I understand you have had some interesting dreams over the last few nights."
"Yeah, there are two dreams I want to talk to you about today."

"The first dream took place in my den where I grew up.  In the dream I was just a little cub hanging out with my two brothers, Timmy and Lenny.  The weird thing about this dream is that I could see everything perfectly, but there was no noise.  We were all arguing about something, but I have no idea why.  I just remember seeing me and by brothers pushing each other.  I also remember seeing a jigsaw puzzle, half-way finished, lying on the floor next to us.  Shortly after we started fighting, Mother Bear ran into the room and pushed us off each other.  What happened next seemed very strange.  Out of nowhere, she pulled out three sticks tied together.  She then handed the bundle of sticks to us and motioned for us to break them.  Each of us tried but couldn't break the sticks.  She then separated each stick and handed them to each of us.  We were able to break each stick easily."

"Then all of a sudden, we were not in the den anymore, we were outdoors, and my mother wasn't there, but I was with my two brothers, Timmy and Lenny.  We were being chased by a large swarm of bees.  We ran in a single file line.  Timmy led the way, while Lenny and I followed.  We were easily outrunning the bees, until we began to argue over who should lead the way.
'Why is Timmy leading the way?' Lenny asked.  'We all know that Timmy has a terrible sense of direction.  He will get us lost for sure.  Let me lead the way.'
'No way! You're the slowest runner out of all of us!' I blurted out.  'If you lead, then you will slow us down.  I should take the lead.'
'Why should you lead?  You're the youngest,' said Timmy.
It was at this point that we each began to push each other in order to get to the front of the line.  However, the more we fought the slower we were able to run.  The bees finally caught up and stung us all the way back home."
Running bear

"Hmmm.."  Dr. Larry the Lion paused and began to stroke his beard.  "I think these two dreams are trying to teach you something about the power of working together."

"What do you mean?" asked Benny.  "It seems in each of these dreams my brothers and I just fought when we tried to do something together."

"Exactly.  In your first dream, I imagine you and your brothers were trying to finish a jigsaw puzzle together.  However, you were unable to finish it because you were unable to work as a team.  When your mother asked you to break the sticks, she was illustrating that each individual is powerless on his own.  However, a team that works together cannot be broken.  In the second part of your dream when you and your brothers working together as a group, you were easily outrunning the bees.  But it was when you began to fight each other that your team was broken and the bees were able to catch you."

"Aha, I see.  That actually makes sense."

"Well, I think that is all the time we we will have today.  But I will plan on seeing you again next week.  Make sure to keep note of any dreams you have from now until then," Dr. Larry said as he led Benny to the door.

"Oh I will! Thank you, Dr. Larry!"

The Author's Note: The first part of the dream that Benny tells is based off The Farmer's Sons.  Since the original story was very short, I ended up adding a few details.  In the original story, there was a farmer whose sons were quarreling, so the father taught them about unity by using the lesson of the sticks. In my version, I replaced the farmer's sons with Benny and his brothers, and I used the bear's mother in place of the farmer.  I also implied in my story that the cubs are arguing over a jigsaw puzzle.  Since dreams are not always clear and understandable, I decided to make the first part of the dream without any noise.  By doing so, Benny is not totally sure what is going on in his dream.  The mother is also not able to explain the purpose of the "sticks."  The second part of Benny's dream is a retelling of The Four Bulls and the Lion.  This dream is much clearer and Benny actually remembers what was said during the dream.  In the original story, the four bulls were being chased by a lion.  They were able to run faster than the lion when they worked together.  However, when the lion came up with a way to get the bulls to quarrel, the lion was able to catch them.  In my version, the bees represent the lion, and the three cubs represent the bulls.  However, in my story the bees (unlike the lion) do not cause the cubs to argue.  The cubs start to quarrel on their own about who should lead the way.  As you can see, the main lesson of these dreams is team work.  A group of individuals can hurt the group when they work against each other.  But a group that works as a team is much more powerful.  

Cover Page

Bibliography
The Farmer's Sons in The Book of Fables and Folk Stories by Horace E. Scudder 1906.
The Four Bulls and the Lion in The Book of Fables and Folk Stories by Horace E. Scudder 1906.

Image Information
Image of bear running.  Web source: Active.