Eritopia

A Decision Made

'What is Writing?'

'Ahhh...' Bear was still trying to shake the sleep from his head. 'It's like talking without making a sound,' he said.

'But we don't write anything on the Inside,' Not-Bear said. 'I've never seen it before.'

'You haven't, but the Elders do that sort of thing all the time. That's another reason why we name things, so we can describe them,' he said, as Not-Bear settled next to him. 'Whether in writing or not, we add them to our experience.'

'You've already told me that.'

'Have I? Right. So instead of saying, "furry little creature moving quickly over the grass from left to right", we say, "squirrel running across the path".'

'You could have said that anyway.'

'Not if I hadn't named "squirrel" first.'

'Or "running", or "path".'

'True, very true,' said Bear, trying to find some route to take his thoughts on. 'It really is too early for this sort of thing.' He sat back. 'I suppose we name things so we can tell others about them.'

'But,' Not-Bear interrupted, 'If I see a squirrel running across the path, do I name the squirrel as I see it? Or do I already have some idea of a squirrel in my head? Do I name "running", or do I just think "running" or "trees", or anything else for that matter? Do we need names to think? From what you say,' he concluded, 'names aren't needed to think, they're only needed to describe.'

Bear tried to feel how thinking felt. Was Not-Bear right? 'Didn't I say that yesterday?' he suggested. He was finding all this quite tiring. At that moment he couldn't think of anything using a name at all. The harder he tried, the more difficult it became. If Not-Bear was right, and he wasn't admitting he was, then naming might not be as important as he had thought.

Then he saw a way out. 'Ah, but to learn anything, we have to talk about it. That is why we need names.'

'Or, we can experience it ourselves,' Not-Bear said softly. 'Isn't that better than talking about it?' If it was a choice between experience and being told something, he knew which he preferred.

'You can't learn everything for yourself,' Bear told him. 'When you are young, someone has to teach you.'

'Like you teach me.'

'Exactly,' said Bear, but he wasn't sure what Not-Bear meant. He felt a tightness gather in his chest. Where were all these stupid questions leading?

A voice interrupted them. 'What are you talking about?' it demanded.

A small crowd of sleepy-eyed animals had gathered around them.

'We are discussing Naming,' Not-Bear snapped, as a grey-whiskered badger strode up to them.

'Nonsense,' said the badger. 'That's for the Elders to know and you to be ignorant of.' He prodded Not-Bear with a sharp-tipped claw. 'What are you?' he asked him. 'What are you doing here?'

'I haven't got a name,' replied Not-Bear. The jab had startled him.

'Nonsense,' said the badger again, 'everything has a name.' He glared at him, before turning to Bear. 'Are you his guardian?'.

'Well, yes,' Bear admitted. He got to his feet and motioned to Not-Bear to do the same.

'Then you should be ashamed of yourself, talking about Naming so openly. It's not the right time or place for such things, is it? Now, what is his name?'

'He hasn't got one,' Bear confirmed.

'Not got a name!' A murmur rose from the crowd gathered around them, more eager faces come to see what the fuss was about. At the front there was a younger badger, a boar and a fierce looking wildcat. they began to chatter, loud words echoing around their heads.