A Message From 100-Aker Wood There once was this Tigger who loved to be out walking through the forest. He was a very bouncy Tigger and had done all sorts of things. He had played first flauterhorn in a band, and been involved in things all over the place. Editor of this, member of that, doer of the other. He had lots of friends, to, and had a grand old time bouncing from here to there. Sometimes when he was out in the woods or sitting watching a sunrise, he'd sing His Song: The wonderful thing about Tiggers Is Tiggers are wonderful things Their tops are made out of rubber The bottoms are made out of springs They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is I'm the only one ____ The wonderful thing about Tiggers Is Tiggers are wonderful chaps They're loaded with vim and vigor They love to leap in your laps They're jumpy, bumpy, clumpy, thumpy Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is I'm the only one ____ Tiggers are cuddly fellows Tiggers are awfully sweet Everyone else is jealous That's why I repeat The wonderful thing about Tiggers Is Tiggers are wonderful things Their tops are made out of rubber Their bottoms are made out of springs They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun ____ But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is I'm the only one IIIIIII'mmmmmm the only one! He would sing this loud and strong, especially if there was anyone who would listen or if he felt the least bit lonely (he might bounce in time with it, too). He would sing it twice as loud if he ever got to thinking about that last line "I'm the only one." If he were some place where he couldn't sing, he'd try to find something to do or something new to join. In this way, he picked up a lot more skills than just bouncing. Sometimes he would be out walking and would see some person pass by and would bounce on them. If he sometimes bounced them into the creek, well, things dry, don't they? He might feel a little bit of regret, but there were more things to see and do, and he'd go bouncing off. One time not too long ago he was talking to one of his friends (none of whom were Tiggers but otherwise were good friends overall) that he had decided to go off to another part of the woods -- a part called college. When he got there, he found that it was a lot like the woods he had left, just bigger and with more people to bounce. And a lot more things to get involved in. He was so overjoyed that he bounced from here to there and all around that part of the woods. Of the many things he got his paws into, he enjoyed playing the flauterhorn in the much bigger band, carving sculpture with his claws, and later started an "Intro to Bouncing for Non-Tiggers" class. He even joined a literary society who called themselves the LPS, whatever that meant. Tigger had a hard time keeping up with some of it, but he just decreased the time he had marked for 'free bouncing'. He found that he liked some things and didn't like others as much. He much preferred Strengthening Medicine to thistles or haycorns, but his favorite was still bouncing. He loved bouncing from this to that and from here to there and singing. Even so, every now and again that last line wouldn't come out quite like he wanted to and so he'd bounce twice as high till it did. One day, Tigger was out bouncing in the park when he caught the faintest sound; it sounded like someone singing. Somehow it seemed familiar. He crept over, not in his usual bouncy sense, and investigated. At first he thought he was looking in a mirror -- there was this thing which looked like him! He put his paw up, and the Other Thing did the same. He moved forward and Other Thing moved forward. He was sure that it was a mirror or illusion of some sort until he go so close that his paw touched the paw of the Other Thing. That's when he realized that the Other Thing was real and not a mirror at all! "Oh!" he cried, as the Other Thing went, "My!" Tigger and the Other Thing looked at each other closely. The Other Thing said in disbelief, "You're not a Tigger, are you?" Tigger perked up and said bounced around saying, "Yes that's me! Tigger's my name." The Other Thing looked perplexed. "How can you be a Tigger when I'm a Tigger? I'm the only one." Tigger stopped bouncing and looked at the Other Thing even more closely now. Hmmm. Hmmmmmmm. Hmmmm! He's couldn't believe that he was seeing another Tigger. "I must be asleep," he thought, and pinched himself. "Ow!" He looked around -- the Other Thing was still there and it still looked like a Tigger. He tried to growl at the Other Thing, but it just sat there looking back. As he was looking at it, the last line of His Song came to his mind. As he thought of it, he thought some more, and more. Where had he gotten to words to it? He couldn't remember. Where did he get the ideas for it? He didn't know. He closed his eyes because everything looked like it did after he bounced and bounced for days on end -- all topsey-turvey. When he opened his eyes, the Other Thing (which he almost called Other Tigger but caught himself) was still there, looking more and more and still and still like a real Tigger. He looked at its paw again and then looked at his own. Why was I singing that last line? He couldn't say. He noticed that the Other Thing had a mixed up thinking look on its face, too. Tigger smiled at recognizing that look and touched its paws with his own claws in, and as he did, he realized that the Other Thing *was* a Tigger and at the same time, the Other Thing realized that what he had been calling the Other Thing was also a Tigger. They started to bounce around with joy, catapulting each other higher and higher than they had ever bounced before. Higher than the trees and up into the sky. Bounce, bounce. They did True-Tigger-Things and not Thigns-to-Keep-Tigger-Occupied. They sat around talking about Real Things without speaking. They glowed. As Tigger looked around, he felt sad that he hadn't gone out looking for an other Tiggers before, though he realized that he hadn't even had the thought that there were any other tigers (unlike the Hefalumps which he hadn't seen but knew existed) and so he couldn't really blame himself. He also felt sad he had spent all his time bouncing about doiong Thigns-to-Keep-Tigger-Occupied, which he was now seeing as Thigns-to-Keep-Tigger-Thinking-He's-Happy and as Thigns-to-Keep-Tigger-from-Really-Seeing. The other Tigger took just that moment to bounce him, and when he stood up, he noticed that off a ways on the sidewalk was a piglet walking. Except that he saw more than just the piglet; he saw the Tigger-Nature of the piglet, and then he saw the Pooh-Nature, and then more and then all at the same time. He saw an owl and saw all the things in him, too. Even in the Other Tigger, everything was rolled up in him. Then he saw it in himself. Tigger started laughing, as did the Other Tigger, and they laughed and became their laughter and you couldn't tell where one's laughter stopped and the other one's started because they were bouncing all around the park. While they were bouncing they started singing, but with one small change: "The best thing about Tiggers, is I'm not the only one!" As they were getting ready to head off to their homes because it was well after dusk, the Other Tigger spoke up "Oh, I almost forgot -- today's my birthday!" Tigger laughed out, "You know, it's my birthday, too!" They both started laughing again, because they realized that it *was* their birthday, because until today they each thought they were the only Tigger. They laughed so hard and so joyfully that they realized that *every moment* was their birthday. And so, with laughter and joy in their hearts, they called out to all the world "Happy Birthday!" because they each had found what Tiggers like the best -- but didn't realize it till they had it. -Partic F. Suthers