hibernating or a xxi century fable

autumn in the woods and the animals are playing, as always, under the blue sky, revelling in the last days of warm sunshine. frolicking about, running around trees, racing in the endless fields of tall shrubs. an undetermined number of juvenile foxes and a small bear.
no one ever stopped to consider that the bear was different from everyone else. he was just part of the gang. always there and always present. like the trees that hold the swings where little people learn how to fly. simply part of the scenery. almost with a perennial feel to it.
the games continued until the sun showed its face less and less every day. and with it, the warmth in the air was replaced by the chilling wind that leaves faces numb and expressionless, and freezes hearts.
the bear was always there. until the day came for him to hide inside the cozy cave he had prepared earlier, much to the fashion of the presenters of cooking shows on TV. out of the blue, he just disappeared.
the foxes noticed no difference, earlier on. only later, they realized someone was missing, although they couldn't quite point out who was it. a search party was organized. they roamed all over the woods, looking in every corner and leaving no stone unturned.
finally, one of them found the bear in his cave. being rather inquisitive, and also knowledgeable - for a fox, that is -, the fox asked the bear if he had disappeared because he was hibernating. or rather about to, because he was still awake. "contrary to popular belief, us bears do not hibernate", replied the bear. "so, why do you do it?", insisted the fox.
the bear calmly sat down and explained: "you see, it's just in my nature to go away and hide. this way i can enjoy even more the time we spend together when i get back, because isolation makes me realize how much i loved playing with you guys in the first place..."