Bleep the Purple Bear is a story of a young boy named Johnny who grows into a young man before the eyes of a purple bear, Bleep, and other tree house toys. It is imagination through the eyes of Bleep. Bleep and the other toys watch the tranformation of the boy into the man. The toys have some vivid imaginations as the watch from the tree house. The story goes full circle as the man Johnny brings his son Andy to the tree house to have the same adventures he had a a boy. The beauty of the book is the that the illustrations are the creation of the son of the author. The imagination of the son as his dad told the story are now reality in the book.

BLEEP The Purple Bear

By Bobby E. Hopper

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2009 Dr. Bobby E. Hopper
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4389-1908-9

Chapter One

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Johnny who had a purple bear named Bleep. They were best friends, and they spent hours playing together. They started playing together from the first time they met, and neither one could remember how long that was.

Johnny liked climbing trees, throwing rocks, and riding his bike. He had freckles and bushy blond hair. His favorite clothes were blue jeans, t-shirts, and tennis shoes.

Bleep was a Teddy Bear. Bleep had white spots on his arms and legs. He had a bib around his neck. "I belong to Johnny" were the words embroidered on the bib. Because Johnny and Bleep were so rough, Bleep's right ear folded down. His black nose had a scuff on it. Even though Johnny and Bleep played rough, they loved one another.

Johnny and Bleep would spend hours in a tree house that Johnny's father had built in a big oak tree in the backyard. The tree house had a trap door in the middle of the floor. A rope ladder hung from the bottom of the door. Every day Johnny would climb the rope ladder high into the tree house. Johnny could see all over the backyard. The backyard looked as if it went on forever.

In the tree house were other friends of Johnny and Bleep. Beside the door, there stood a tin soldier named Tin. Tin had one leg. Tin always stood at attention beside the door. His job was to guard the door and ask for the password. The password was a secret word, and those who did not know it could not enter. Only Johnny knew the password. When Johnny would bring over friends, they had to wait for Johnny to tell the password to Tin.

Tin wore a red uniform and always had a rifle with a bayonet in his right hand, resting on his left shoulder. Tin wore a black boot and a tall, red hat. He looked like one of the guards for the Queen of England. In fact, Tin spoke with a British accent.

Also in the tree house was Rocky the horse. Johnny's dad made Rocky from a wooden barrel, a mop, and a broom. His legs and rockers came from Johnny's grandmother's old rocking chair. The mop was Rocky's tail, and the broom was his head. Johnny's mom gave him an old blue rug to use as a saddle. Johnny and Bleep rode Rocky on many great adventures.

On one adventure, Johnny was the Lone Ranger and Bleep was his sidekick, Tonto. Rocky was his faithful steed, Silver. They chased the one-legged bandit named Red, who was really Tin.

On another adventure, Johnny and Bleep were a pirate captain and his first mate. Captain Johnny wore a black hat with one side pinned by a feather. He had a black patch over his right eye. Bleep, the first mate, wore a red bandana around his head and a gold earring in his left ear.

They ran from the great captain of the Queen's Navy, "Captain One-legged Red." Johnny heard that Captain Red lost his leg to the great white whale called Moby Rock. Moby Rock was a large rock behind the tree house. From that tree house, Captain Red chased Johnny and Bleep over the great seas of the world.

Bleep, Tin, and Rocky waited every day to see Johnny. Days seemed to last forever. One day Johnny did not come when they thought it was time.

Tin said to Bleep, "Can you see Johnny from the window?" Tin could not leave his duty guarding the door. Rocky could not see out the window, but Bleep always looked out the window when not playing with Johnny. Johnny always left Bleep in charge. He would stand Bleep where all the toys could see him and the other toys could see one another.

Bleep heard a noise. It sounded like the wind blowing with a popping sound. Bleep looked out the window and saw Johnny chasing a creature that was eating the tall grass in the yard.

Rocky asked, "What is that sound?"

Bleep said, "It is the sound of a creature Johnny is holding by its back legs; he is walking behind it as it is eating the grass."

Bleep watched Johnny walk back and forth, back and forth over the whole yard, holding the creature's back legs until the creature ate all the grass. Johnny put the creature in a shed and locked the door.

Day by day Bleep, Tin, and Rocky waited for Johnny to climb the ladder, give the password, and come inside to play. It seemed that Johnny would never come back. Finally one day, there was a vicious roar outside the tree house. Tin said, "Bleep, what is that noise?" Bleep looked out the window and he cried back to Tin, Rocky, and all the other toys in the tree house, "A monster has Johnny in his mouth!"

Everyone said, "What kind of a monster is it?" Bleep started describing it. It was blue with four eyes. Two eyes were white and two were yellow. It looked as though it had two wings. What frightened Bleep most was that Johnny was in the monster's mouth. Every time Johnny got out of its mouth, it stopped roaring. Each time Johnny went into its mouth, it roared and roared as blue smoke came from its rear end.

Johnny finally escaped from its mouth. Bleep noticed that the monster's mouth was closed and his wings were tucked. Bleep told the others, "The monster is going away in a hurry, and it is leaving two black tracks." Bleep and the others felt relief but they did not see Johnny.

One afternoon, Bleep, Tin, Rocky, and the other toys heard strange sounds. They were sounds of music that seemed to rock and roll. Bleep looked out the window.

Tin asked, "What is happening?"

Bleep said that Johnny was sitting on the porch swing with another person with long blonde hair and big red lips.

Rocky asked, "What are they doing, Bleep?"

Bleep said, "It looks like they are fighting."

As Bleep watched, the two hugged and then Bleep said, "They are face to face."

All the toys asked, "Face to face, what are they doing face to face?"

Bleep watched Johnny and the other person walk in the yard and he watched to see what happened. Suddenly they turned toward the tree house and Bleep got a good look at their faces.

"They must be really mad. Their faces are red, and Johnny has red spots all over his face," yelled Bleep.

After a while the noise stopped, and Bleep watched as the Johnny and the other person walked away and toward the porch.

Bleep said, "They must have settled their argument because now they are holding hands and are back on the porch swing again."

A long time passed before Johnny came back to the tree house. Dust and spider webs filled the tree house as Tin guarded the door, Rocky stood still, and Bleep took his place by the window.

The sun rose and set many times without Johnny coming to the tree house. After many days, a purple tear ran down Bleep's cheek. He said, "Little Johnny is gone forever."

Tin dropped his rifle to the floor, Rocky's head dropped against the wall, and Bleep lay on a bench beside the window. The tree house was silent for a long, long time.

One day Bleep and the others heard familiar sounds. It had been a while, but it sounded like Johnny would sound. Everyone in the tree house stood at attention as they heard the ladder move. All of a sudden there was a knock at the door.

Tin said, "Halt, who goes there and what is the password?"

Now, only Johnny knew the secret password. The voice he heard was much deeper than little Johnny's, but it gave the right password.

As the door opened, a little red-haired boy stuck his head into the room. The deep voice from below said, "It is okay, son; they will not hurt you." After the little boy climbed into the room, a young man followed him in. Bleep and the others did not know this handsome young man, but something about him seemed very familiar. The little boy looked a lot like Johnny.

The young man said, "Andy, this is Tin." He told the little boy that Tin was the guard of the tree house.

Suddenly Bleep and the others recognized the young man as Johnny.

Johnny explained to Andy about all the fun the toys and he had being pirates and bandits and other things. He introduced Andy to Rocky, his faithful steed, and told him how he could run like the wind.

Finally, Johnny picked up Bleep and said to Andy, "This is my best friend Bleep, the purple bear." He turned to Bleep and said, "Bleep, this is my son Andy. Would you do things with him just like you did me?"

Johnny did not see it, but Bleep and the others swelled with happiness, knowing they would do everything with Andy that they had with him.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon Andy, Bleep, Tin, Rocky, and all the others had a wonderful time. Just as the sun started to hide behind the trees, a knock came on the door. Andy said to Tin, "Who is it?"

Tin said, "What is the password?" Johnny gave the password and opened the door. He said, "Andy, it is time to go home."

Andy waved bye to all the toys; he saluted Tin, rubbed Rocky's back, and hugged Bleep. He said, "Dad, will we come back?"

Johnny said, "Son, we will come back every Saturday now that we have moved to my hometown."

Andy said, "Bleep, watch for me; I will be back next Saturday."

Johnny asked Andy, "Are you forgetting something?"

With a puzzled look on his face, Andy replied, "What, Dad?"

"You must know the secret password," said Johnny.

Johnny knelt beside Andy and whispered the password into Andy's ear, and they climbed down from the tree house.

That day Bleep, Tin, Rocky, and all the other toys stood a little taller and smiled a little bigger. As they watched Johnny and Andy walk into the house, Bleep said, "Well, gang, we got another little boy to love."

(Continues...)

Excerpted from BLEEP The Purple Bearby Bobby E. Hopper Copyright © 2009 by Dr. Bobby E. Hopper. Excerpted by permission.
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