in Baloo’s chest again and moaning.

 

Bagheera came up and gently gave him the final shot, this time, drawing blood for a blood sample. The blood-drawing needle hurts worst than the first two needles and Chris let out a gasp and cried loudly against Baloo’s chest.

 

Baloo sympathetically strokes the back of Chris’ head, trying to console him.

 

“Shh, Lil Buddy, shh….It’s all over now, no more shots.” Baloo said, rocking Chris back and forth. “You were a very good boy, being so brave and all, I’m so proud of you.”    

“That hurts, Daddy Bear!” Chris sobbed, tears leaking down his cheeks.

 

“Shh, I know, I know, shh….” Baloo said gently, tightening his embrace on the sensitive cub. “But it’s all over now—look, Baggie’s giving you a free lollypop.”    

 

Chris turned his face away from Baloo’s chest, sniffing tearfully, to look up at Bagheera, who was holding out a big blue lollypop. He smiled weakly and accepted the lollypop.

“Th-th-thank you, D-D-Dr. ‘Heera,” he said, tearing off the paper and started sucking happily on the lollypop, suddenly feeling much better.

 

“You’re welcome, little one.” Bagheera said, smiling warmly. He put a blue bunny band aid on Chris’ arm before turning his attention onto Baloo. “I’m going to look at this blood sample and then I’ll be back.” And he left the room, shutting the door behind him.  

 

Baloo kissed Chris on top of the head while rolling down the left sleeve of Chris’s sweater. Chris laid his head on Baloo’s chest, still sucking happily on his lollypop.

 

“I’ll buy ya an ice cream after this, for being so brave and taking yer shots.” Baloo said.

 

Chris’ face lit up and he took the lollypop out of his mouth for a moment.

“Really, Daddy Bear, really?” he asked eagerly. “Can I have the peanut butter cups kind?”

 

“Sure kid, any kind you like.” Baloo said smiling.

“Oh, thank you, Daddy Bear!” Chris cried happily, throwing his arms around Baloo’s neck. And then he returned the lollypop to his mouth and continued sucking on it.  

 

Bagheera came back into the room with a file that contains the result of Chris’ blood test.

 

“Chris, why don’t you go into the waiting room while Daddy and I have a talk,” Bagheera said gently.

“Okay,” Chris said brightly, and he hopped down from the bed and walked out. Bagheera watched him go.

 

“Such a nice kid.” Bagheera said, turning to Baloo. “Alright Baloo, I have the results of Chris’ blood test.” He said seriously. “Now, feeding him decent food alone is not going to be enough to improve his body build, I’d recommend Malaid, it’s a children’s malnutrition pill that helps the child eat more and it helps strengthen the child’s body build so that he doesn’t look too skinny.”

“That’s exactly what we need fer Chris.” Baloo said happily.

 

“Now, Baloo,” Bagheera said cautiously. “Malaid can be dangerous for him if misused. Make sure he only takes one a day, preferably at dinnertime. If he takes any more than one a day, he will very likely be sick at his stomach for a few days, so use it with caution. I think either Miss Cunningham or Melissa should supervise Chris’ pill intakes.”   
      

“Well, he’ll be eating dinner at Millie’s place from now on anyway.” Baloo said shrugging. “He’ll be going to her after school, she’s teaching him and Kit how ta be magicians. So I’d say let Millie manage his medicine.”

 

“Okay, I’ll call Melissa later and give her the prescriptions.” Bagheera said. “Oh, and Baloo, don’t let Chris eat catfish, he’s allergic,” he added, pointing at the file with the blood test results inside. “Oh, and Baloo, these shots would make Chris a little irritable later, so you can expect to deal with a cranky kid sometime this afternoon.” 

 

“Oh, thanks for the warning, Baggie,” said Baloo.

 

“Is there any point in asking you to stop calling me Baggie?” Bagheera sighed in defeat.

 

“Nope!” Baloo said, grinning, and he left the office.

 

Bagheera sighed deeply and then he went over to his desk and picked up the phone.

“Operator, get me the Freeport Orphanage…”

 

Later, at the Freeport Orphanage, the Orphanage Director, Simba Pride let out a lion roar and slammed his fist upon his desk so hard that he dented the surface. He was enraged by the information he had received, concerning Chris Cloudkicker. He had loved that boy from the time he was a little baby bear cub, but now he found out that Chris was malnourished, skinny and underweight, all because of the gruel he was eating all these years.  

 

He looked at the papers that were shattered all over his desk, they were the past reports of what the children had been eating, none of the reports had the word ‘gruel’ in them, they gave details of gourmand meals—the most recent report stated that they had lobsters, dip ‘n butter. And yet, the doctor of Chris Cloudkicker said otherwise, poor Chris had been living off gruel for almost his whole life.

 

A tear slid down Simba’s cheek as he wondered why haven’t he seen the signs before, why haven’t he check more thoroughly on the children? Perhaps this was why there haven’t been any adoptions for a while now. Adoptive parents wanted whole and healthy children, not skinny, unhealthy-looking children. And that’s another thing, why hasn’t he noticed that they were skinny?    

 

He berated himself for half an hour before he finally called the halt and pressed the call button on the intercom rather harder than he meant to in his anger.

 

“URSULA COLE!” He yelled in a thunderous roar. “I WANT YOU IN MY OFFICE IMMEDIATELY!”

 

Outside in the hall, stood a pig with blue skin and white flaming hair. She was wearing a black dress with black high-heels. She winced at the sound of Simba’s voice as he was calling her and she knew she was in trouble.

 

She noticed her co-workers had a look of triumph on their faces as she made her way slowly toward Simba’s office. She scowled at them as she passed them.

 

How dare they? They all look happy that I might be in trouble! She thought angrily. When I’m through with whatever Simba needs me for, I’ll make their lives miserable!

 

She reached Simba’s office and knocked on the door.

 

“ENTER!” roared the angry lion inside.

                     

Ursula trembled in fear and her legs shook so much that she was held on to the doorframe for support. She gulped as she wondered when was the last time she had heard Simba that mad before.

She wiped the sweats from her brows, took a few deep breaths, trying to master herself. And then, she turned the doorknob and stepped into the office.
 

The office was dark and the atmosphere inside was intense. Simba was sitting in his chair behind his desk, his face half hidden in shadows. He gave off the impression of a lion about to pounce upon his prey. Ursula moved cautiously toward Simba’s desk and sat down opposite him.

 

“I DID NOT INVITE YOU TO SIT DOWN!” Simba roared, so suddenly that Ursula jumped about a foot in the air. “YOU WILL REMAIN STANDING!”

“Sorry,” Ursula said hastily, she stood up and looked more closely at Simba’s face and saw that every inch of the lion’s face was contorted with rage. “My, how did I get under your skin today?” 

 

At these words, Simba looked as though he wanted nothing more than to murder her on the spot. He took a few calming breaths before speaking.

 

“I have recently received intelligence that you have been feeding the children nothing but gruel in all the years that you’ve worked here.” He spoke in a calm, controlled voice, but it shook slightly out of anger. “I’ve just got off the phone with a doctor of a child who used to live here; he admitted to have been living off gruel for years! HE IS MALNOURISHED, UNDERWEIGHT AND SKINNY! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?!” 

 

“You can’t prove that, the doctor could be lying.” Ursula said, grinning slyly. “And you know the children here are perfectly healthy.”

 

Simba glared at her before pressing the call button on the intercom.

 

“Miss Applebarn, please come to my office and bring Chris Cloudkicker’s old roommates.”

 

Ursula went pale. She knew what was coming. If Simba examines the children thoroughly and declare her a liar, she will be out of the job and out in the cold, where she will no longer be served her gourmand meals.

  

Then all too soon for Ursula, Miss Applebarn, a motherly-look fox, entered with three boys behind her, a bear cub, a lion cub and a puppy.

  

“Ah, Miss Applebarn, come in and have a seat.” Simba said politely. “I’ve just got off the phone with Chris Cloudkicker’s doctor.”

 

At the mention of Chris’ name, the three boys

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