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tongue! It was huge! Ping knew that he had told his sister that he wasn’t scared of snow leopards, but that was not now . Not now when his life was in danger. He turned and ran, his heart thumping in his chest like a war drum. He didn’t look where he was going. Anywhere would do. The shadow was big and getting bigger. This was no ordinary snow leopard; this was a giant snow leopard that would gobble Ping up like a pistachio nut!
    â€œNOOOOOOOOOOOO!” he cried as the cold shadow clipped his heels and tripped him up. “LEAVE ME BE!”
    â€œWhy?” said a familiar voice behind him. “I thought I was your friend.”
    Ping was lying on the ground with his face in a puddle of slime. He lifted his head, turned around, and was surprised to see Little Bear standing over him.
    â€œYou again!” he exclaimed, wiping the green goo off his forehead.
    â€œThat’s the second time you’ve been scared of me,” giggled Little Bear. “I’m surprised, with all your combat training.”
    â€œDon’t be ridiculous!” scoffed Ping. “I knew it was you. I was just playing. Like when we were playing Bandits and Bodyguards. I was seeing if you could catch me, which you couldn’t.”
    â€œThen why were you screaming ‘NOO OOOOOOOOOO!’” asked Little Bear, mimicking Ping’s terrified scream.
    â€œYou didn’t give me a chance to finish my sentence,” said Ping. “I was planning to say ‘NOOOOOOOOOOOO! YOU CAN’T CATCH ME!’”
    Little Bear thought about this for a moment.
    â€œThen why did you shout ‘LEAVE ME BE!’ instead?” he asked.
    â€œBecause,” said Ping slowly, giving himself time to think up yet another excuse. “I was being bothered by a bee and I wanted it to leave me. I’d have thought that was obvious. Anyway, that’s quite enough about me,” he added, changing the subject to avoid further questions. “What are you doing back here? I thought I sent you home to bed.”
    â€œBut I don’t want to go home,” said Little Bear. “I’ve had a change of heart. I want to come with you! To the palace! To have an adventure! I never do anything fun here. And I’ve never had a friend before.”
    â€œNo! No! No! No! No!” Ping said sternly. “I’m happy to be your friend, Little Bear, but you must go home.”
    Ping suddenly noticed that Little Bear had covered his eyes and appeared to be crying. At least, his shoulders were shaking and his voice was trembling with emotion.
    â€œI can’t go home,” he whispered. “I lied about the bandits taking my daddy and selling him to the circus.”
    Ping looked surprised.
    â€œIt’s worse than that!” blubbed Little Bear. “They took my mommy too!”
    â€œThey took your daddy and your mommy?” gasped Ping. The shock of such awful news caused Ping to catch his breath. He felt terrible saying what he’d just said.
    â€œSo I don’t have a home,” continued Little Bear, sobbing for all he was worth. “I’m all on my own.”
    Ping felt tears welling up in his own eyes. It was the saddest story he’d ever heard.
    â€œAnd it’s so boring being a bear on your own,” said Little Bear, raising his sorrowful eyes to look straight at Ping. It was a look that melted Ping’s heart. As if hearing the terrible tale about Little Bear’s parents was not enough, Ping knew all there was to know about life being boring for bears. He felt Little Bear’s pain, and there and then made a pledge never to abandon his little friend again. There was still the matter of how he would deal with his lie about being the Emperor’s bodyguard, but Ping couldn’t think about that now. Having Little Bear back was all that mattered. And it suited Ping. He too was scared and lonely, and he was secretly delighted to have company