Ghost of Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen

of at this school. I also know that some of you still hate me—I’m sorry for that. I don’t want this Circle to end today with just a bunch of talk. We need to do something big to show how serious we are about changing.”
    Cole licked at his dry lips and continued. “When I was on the island in Alaska, I almost died. But a bear called a Spirit Bear came to me like a dream and taught me who I was inside. The Spirit Bear was my inner strength. I learned that if a person’s spirit dies, life isn’t worth living.” Cole drew in a quick breath. “We are the Minneapolis Central Bulldogs—that is our mascot. But if our greatest strength comes from the spirit inside each of us, why do we use a snarling dog to show our strength?
    “I want to suggest that we change our mascot from a snarling bulldog to a Spirit Bear to show our commitment to changing ourselves.”
    Murmurs and whispering spread around the Circle.
    The Keeper took the bullhorn and said, “Students, all suggestions you offer here today will be noted down. Later,
you
will decide which changes you want for yourself or for your school. The mascot idea will be added to the list.”
    Half an hour later, the Keeper ended the Circle the same way she had begun nearly two hours earlier, by asking everybody to join hands. This time, few students hesitated. Some even hugged each other.
    “Thank you for showing your inner strength today,” the Keeper said. Then she added with a chuckle, “Thanks for connecting with your own Spirit Bears. I want to remind each of you as you leave this field that any words spoken today are simply wasted sounds unless you do something about them. Your real test will come after you return inside. Then we’ll see how committed you truly are to change. I’d wish you good luck but this has nothing to do with luck. This is all about choices, consequences, and commitment. I do wish each of you strength.”
    Cole breathed a huge sigh of relief as the students broke from the Circle and headed back toward the school for lunch. When he glanced around for Peter, Cole saw something else instead—the old homeless man standing outside the chain-link fence at the far end of the field. Even from a distance, the familiar hunched shoulders, white blanket, and shopping cart were unmistakable. Cole wondered how long the old bum had been watching.
    Back in class, most teachers skipped the day’s planned lessons and talked instead about making changes. It pleased Cole that nobody had laughed at his suggestion of changing the mascot to a Spirit Bear. Maybe students
could
imagine the possibility of changing their own destinies.
    After school, Peter asked Cole, “How come you didn’t tell me about your idea of changing the mascot earlier? Aren’t we friends?”
    Cole gave Peter a quick one-armed hug. “Of course we’re friends. I just wasn’t sure a Spirit Bear mascot was such a good idea. That’s why.”
    “Shoot, that’s all anybody talked about in my classes the rest of the day.”
    “Hey,” Cole asked, “did you see that old guy standing by the fence?”
    Peter nodded. “I was down at that end. He just showed up suddenly … then he stood and stared at me. It was kinda spooky.”
    Cole shrugged. “Probably curious why so many students had gathered around the football field.”
    “He was shivering.”
    “All he ever wears is that thin white rag of a blanket,” Cole said.
    “Maybe I should give him the at.óow. That’s warmer.”
    “You can’t give him the at.óow!” Cole said, thinking about the colorful blanket Garvey had given him. The at.óow had helped him to learn respect for his past before he’d given it to Peter. “Let’s go to the Salvation Army store and buy him a good warm blanket instead.”
    “Is that what you would want for yourself?” Peter asked. “A used b-b-blanket from the Salvation Army?”
    “Garvey gave me the at.óow as a special gift,” Cole argued. “That thing is like a family treasure.”
    Peter