NE fine day, Filament and his friends were sitting around discussing the various ways of finding and eating honey when someone, maybe it was Frowg, asked when and where Filament was bom. "And, how come you've got such a funny name like Filament?" he asked.

     "Well, it happened like this . . ." Filament answered, "the first thing I can remember is being in a huge box with other bears in a big store." Everyone got settled down comfortably, since they all knew this could be a long story!

     "People ... young and old ... would come and paw through the box, looking at first one and then another of the bears." Filament said as he rubbed his chin while thinking about his early days. "I guess we were all supposed to look alike, but there were some differences. Then, one sunny afternoon a lady came up to the box and began to look at almost every bear in the box! She even talked to us! The other bears were scared and kept quiet ... but when she picked me up, I said 'Hello' very softly. She must have heard me, because she held on to me with one hand while she handled the bears with her other hand."

     "Weren't you scared, Filament?" Flagyl asked.

     "Not at all . . . well . . . maybe a little." Filament admitted. "But, soon she was speaking only to me in a soft, soothing tone: 'How would you like to come home with me and play with all my other animals?' I was about to answer her when some girl grabbed me, said 'He's cute!' and stuffed me into a paper bag where I couldn't see anything!"

     "Oh, I can remember the paper bag thing" said Flagyl with a shiver "it was really scary until I was let out. How did you get home, Filament?"

     "I was scared too, and then the bag, with me in it, was stuffed into some tight place ... then a rumble-putt-putt noise started and I was moving and bouncing around. Later, I figured out that I was riding in the basket of a motor bike!" Filament said excitedly.

     "I know all about that motor bike" Flibbert said. "I used to get rides on it in my younger days before I took up flying."

     "I remember when Mom brought you home on the motor bike, Filament," Flagyl said "you sure looked frazzled when she opened up that bag and took you out!"

     "Yes," said Filament "I surely felt frazzled after my first motor bike trip ... and I have never liked bags, especially paper bags, ever since."

     "We all remember you coming home the first time, but tell us how you got your name?" Frowg teased.

     "It's not any funnier than 'Frowg' you silly frog!" said Filament as he returned the tease. "If you'll all remember, Mom showed me to Dad and all you guys. Everyone tried to think of a name ... and some pretty funny ones were suggested: 'Throckmorton' was one of them!"

     Flibbert laughed and said "I'm glad that didn't stick, I'd still be laughing at that one!"

     "Actually," Filament said, "Mumsy is the one who named me. She kidded Mom about getting a bear whose head was shaped like a light bulb ... a grey light bulb . . . a dim bulb! I was so embarrassed! But then she said, 'I think you should be called Filament because you look like a light bulb"'

     "Oh, Filament!" Flagyl laughed, "You're not a dim bulb at all ... in fact, you're really a bright bear!"

     So, that's how Filament came to live with us that day in August and got be be named something other than Throckmorton!