The first true autumn wind swept through the forest. It blew through the treetops, sending a shower of colourful leaves to the ground, where they rustled like mysterious messages. Ricky the Squirrel was just counting his supply of nuts. "Ninety-eight, ninety-nine... and one hundred! Perfect," he murmured contentedly, hiding the last nut in the hollow of an old oak tree.
Not far from him, Eliza the Fox was curiously sniffing the cold ground. "I can feel the first frost," she said to herself with a shiver. "Winter is coming."
Only Philip the Rabbit, full of energy as always, was hopping merrily from one pile of leaves to another. "Yippee! It will snow soon! We'll have snowball fights and slide on the frozen stream!"
All three of them suddenly stopped. They saw their big friend, Bruno the Bear, slowly and wearily dragging a full armful of soft moss to his den under a rock.
"Bruno, what are you doing?" asked Philip curiously. "Are you getting ready for a party and making soft seats for the guests?"
Bruno took a deep breath and put the moss on the ground. "Not at all, Philip. I'm preparing my bed for the winter."
"For the winter? But winter is the best!" exclaimed the rabbit. "Everything is white, everything glitters, and we can have races to see who can leave the most beautiful tracks in the snow!"
"That may be true," Bruno smiled tiredly, "but I won't get to enjoy the winter fun. I sleep through the whole winter."
Eliza, Ricky, and Philip stared at him with their mouths open. "You sleep? Through the whole winter?" asked Eliza, not understanding. "But what about us? Who will help us if too much snow falls? And who will tell us your funny stories?"
"That's strange," added Ricky, who liked things to make sense. "Sleep is important, I know that. But to sleep for three months? That's such a terrible shame! You'll miss all the fun."
Bruno sat down on a stump and beckoned them to come closer. He looked very wise and content. "Come, let me explain something to you. It's not because I'm lazy or because I don't want to play with you. It's much more thought out. Let's look at it together. Ricky, what will you eat when everything is covered in snow?"
Ricky puffed out his chest proudly. "I have my stores, of course! I've been collecting nuts, acorns, and seeds all autumn. I have enough for the whole winter."
"Excellent," Bruno praised him. "And you, Eliza? What will you find to nibble on?"
The fox twitched her whiskers cunningly. "I am a hunter. I can smell mice and voles even under the snow. And if I'm lucky, I'll also find some forgotten fruit that hasn't fallen from the trees."
"Exactly," Bruno nodded. "And you, little Philip? Do you make stores too?"
Philip shook his head. "No, I can always find some dry grass or take a bite of bark from young trees. It's not the best food, but it fills my tummy."
Bruno smiled at them. "You see? Each of you has a way to survive the winter. But now think... What do I eat?"
The little animals fell silent and thought.
"Well," Eliza began cautiously, "in the summer, we often see you by the bushes with wild raspberries and blackberries."
"And you also love sweet honey from tree hollows!" added Philip.
"And sometimes you catch fish in the stream," Ricky added.
"Exactly," said Bruno. "And now tell me, which of those can I find in winter? Are there raspberries on the bushes in December?"
"No, there aren't," Philip shook his head.
"Do bees fly around and make honey when it's freezing?" Bruno continued.
"Certainly not, they're hidden in their hive," replied Eliza.
"And do fish swim near the surface when the stream is frozen?"
"Probably not. They must be somewhere deep where it doesn't freeze," Ricky pondered.
Bruno nodded with satisfaction. "You see? In winter, there is almost no food for me. I am big and I need a lot of food to have strength and warmth. If I ran around the forest in winter like you do, I would get very weak and cold very quickly."
The little animals listened quietly. It was starting to make sense to them.
"My body is like a big machine," Bruno continued, using a comparison they could understand. "And food is the fuel for that machine. When I don't have fuel, the machine can't work. So what do I do? I simply turn it off for a while. Or rather... I slow it way, way down."
"Slow down?" wondered Philip. "You mean, you'll walk like a snail?"
Bruno laughed. "Even slower. I will barely move at all. My breathing will be very slow, my little heart will only beat a few times a minute, and my body temperature will drop. I'll be in a kind of power-saving mode. This way, I save the energy I've stored in my body from all the eating I did in the summer and autumn. You know the fat I have under my skin? That's my fuel supply for the whole winter."
"Aha!" exclaimed Ricky. "So you're basically a walking energy reserve! That's brilliant!"
"Exactly," said Bruno. "And this long winter sleep, during which I save energy, is technically called hibernation."
"Hiber... what?" Philip stammered.
"Hi-ber-na-tion," Bruno repeated slowly and clearly. "It's a trick that nature came up with for animals like me."
Eliza was still thoughtful. "But won't you be sad? All that time alone in the dark?"
Bruno gave her a kind look. "Mostly, I will be sleeping so deeply that I'll have beautiful dreams about a summer full of honey and raspberries. And when I wake up in the spring, I will look forward to seeing you even more. I'll be rested and full of strength for new adventures."
The little animals finally understood. It wasn't about being lazy or that Bruno didn't like them. It was his wise way of surviving a difficult time.
"So, should we actually help you then?" asked Ricky.
"That would be very kind of you," Bruno said, pleased. "You can help me bring some more dry leaves and moss, so I can have a really soft and warm bed."
And so, all three of them got to work. Ricky carried clumps of dry moss in his little paws, Eliza raked up the driest leaves, and Philip, even though he was small, diligently rolled balls of grass in front of him. Together, they lined Bruno's den so comfortably that it looked like the most luxurious bed in the entire forest.
When they were finished, Bruno yawned so widely that the nearby branches shook. "Thank you, my friends. Now I am ready. I'll see you in the spring, when the first flowers bloom."
He hugged each of them and then slowly crawled into his cosy den. The little animals stood silently for a moment, looking at the entrance. They weren't sad anymore. They were proud of their wise friend and his amazing plan.
"Good night then, Bruno," whispered Eliza.
"And sweet honey dreams!" added Philip.
"See you in the spring!" Ricky finished.
Then they all went their separate ways to their homes. They knew that winter would be different without their big friend, but at the same time, they looked forward to the spring, when Bruno would wake up, rested and ready to tell them about his winter dreams and to listen to their stories about sledding. And maybe they would even try to count together how many times they breathed in one minute, and how many times a sleeping bear might breathe. After all, discovering new things is the best kind of fun in any season.