While the mud was washing down the drain Ted began to see what a beautiful creature the color bear really was. His soft fur was white next to the body, then merged into reddish brown at the tip. To make him even more colorful, his paws, legs, and head had a bluish tinge. “What a patriotic creature he would be on Earth,” Ted thought. He had all the colors of the American flag.
When the animal was clean, Ted got out a blotting towel that dried the bear in a matter of seconds. The little fellow looked happy after his bath and grinned at them. When he tried to lick their bare faces, they had to cover up. He seemed hurt by their gesture and pouted for a moment, with his lower lip quivering.
“See what I mean?” Randy said, grinning. “They’re almost human.”
“I wish we could keep him,” Ted said longingly. “He seems like lots of fun. I think I’ll ask Dad about it.”
As they were cleaning up the bathroom, Ted, who was leaning over the shower basin, felt Randy’s hand press sharply on his shoulder. Ted spun around. Standing in the doorway was his father, a stern look on his face.
“What in the world are you two doing?” Dr. Kenton asked.
Ted told him the whole story of the rescue, ending up with a request that they keep the Martian animal for a pet.
Ted’s father shook his head. “That’s impossible. There’s no place to keep him.” His face grew stern again. “You two did a very foolish thing going out alone near that bog. You might have fallen in. I want you to promise that you won’t go near that place again.”
They promised. Ted knew it was no use arguing about keeping the color bear. When his father made up his mind, he rarely changed it.
As the three walked along the hallway with the bear, Dr. Kenton said, “You kids woke me up with all that splashing in the bathroom, but, fortunately, Mom is still asleep. We must be quiet so that we won’t waken her and Jill.”
The bear was reluctant to be forced out of the house through the air lock. Ted knew the animal felt no worse than he did. He had become quite attached to the little fellow in even this short time.
When the bear was outside in the dark, he looked mournfully through the transparent doors at his former friends who had rejected him. Then he began wailing softly. Ted looked hopefully at his father, wishing that he would have a change of heart. But Dr. Kenton’s expression was set, and Ted knew there was no chance of the color bear coming back inside.