Raz, was a very unhappy little bear. Raz was different. You see, Raz had no nose. And bears with no nose, knows no nose.

"I have no time for such matters," Ariel, Emaleigh's cat, said. "Whoever heard of a bear with no nose?" She licked the milk from her whiskers, then plopped down.

*

One afternoon while Raz slept, Emaleigh visited Nana and Papa. She hoped they would find a solution to Raz’s plight.

Much to her surprise, Raz had followed her. There he was. Hanging upside down in their Magnolia tree.

Emaleigh tilted her head, leaned down, and looked up at Raz. "What are you doing up there?"

Raz pulled aside the heavy limbs and peeked through the leaves. "Looking for my nose."

Emaleigh giggled. "Silly old, Raz. Noses aren’t in trees. Come down. Come down before you fall."

"Sniff, sniff," went the sound of Emaleigh’s nose. Nana was baking her favorite treat in the whole wide world. Chocolate Chip Cookies.

"Bye, Raz. See ya later."

"But . . . what will I do?" he growled. "My nose isn’t in this tree either."

"I'm sorry, Raz. Noses are supposed to be on your face. I wouldn’t know where to look."

"Won't you help me?"

"Don’t be sad." She patted his soft warm head. "We’ll think of something."

*

While Emaleigh ate her cookies, she thought about Raz's predicament. Without a nose, Raz would never smell his favorite treat, honey. What if she couldn't smell her Chocolate Chip Cookies?

Poor Raz. She just had to help him find his nose.

Ariel waited patiently for Emaleigh to finish her snack so they could play with her ball of string.

"Ariel. I have no time to play now. Raz is in trouble."

Ariel’s hair stood on its ends as she pranced to the other side of the room.

"Oh, Ariel. Would you like to help me find Raz’s nose? Then we’ll play. What do you say? I could use your help."

Ariel licked at her paw. "Well . . . if you really think I can help, okay."

Content to be included in the hunt for the missing nose, Ariel sailed across the room, purred and nuzzled Emaleigh’s leg.

Emaleigh and Nana cleaned up the kitchen, then along with Ariel, searched the whole afternoon for Raz’s nose.

"I’ll find it Nana," shouted Emaleigh. "I just have to find Raz’s nose."

They looked everywhere. Under the bed. Under the sofa. Outside in the garage. In the tomato plants. They even checked the mailbox.

But, Raz’s nose was surely lost forever.

There was only one thing left to do. Tomorrow she’d get Mommy, Daddy, Nana, Papa and Baka together. They were very smart. They’d come up with a plan.

*

That night Emaleigh wrapped Raz in Papa’s favorite blanket and read him a story. She hugged him extra tight and kissed him goodnight.

"Go to sleep, Raz. Have sweet thoughts and sweet dreams. Tomorrow we’ll find your nose. Remember, I’ll always love you, no matter what."

Emaleigh yawned and snuggled under the soft blanket. Almost asleep, she remembered her prayers. She got up and kneeled beside her bed.

"Jesus, it makes Raz unhappy that he doesn't look like everyone else. Most of all I’m sad that he can’t smell his honey and has no friends. Please help us find Raz’s nose. And, Jesus please help everyone else want to play with him. Amen."

Ariel had a hard time sleeping that night. She felt bad because she and the other animals had laughed at Raz.

But they’d never seen a bear with no nose. No one had ever helped them understand what to do when someone was different.

Ariel decided since Emaleigh loved Raz so much, she’d do all she could to help locate the missing nose. That night she talked to the butterflies and bees.

*

The next morning, Daddy, Papa and Baka led the neighborhood men on a search to find Raz’s nose. Mommy and Nana were busy calling everyone they knew, but no one had seen a nose anywhere.

No one could help. Poor Raz. He was destined to live without a nose.

But, how would he find honey?

Emaleigh loved to paint and remembered Nana had always told her she could paint anything she wanted to.

Suddenly she realized what she must do.

She'd paint Raz a nose. Green was her favorite color so she painted Raz a green nose.

Raz was so happy he ran outside to show everyone. "Look. Look. Check out my nose."

But the green nose was so bright, everyone laughed more than ever. They laughed so hard, Raz hid in the garden and wouldn’t come out.

"We’ll fix it Raz," Emaleigh said.

Raz bristled and stood tall. "It doesn’t matter anymore. I’d rather have friends than a nose."

All the animals hung their heads in shame. "We’re sorry, Raz. Please forgive us," they said together.

Raz's heart was broken. He quietly turned and walked back toward the house.

*

Emaleigh rummaged around Nana’s paint box until she found black and brown oil paint. When the color was just right, she tickled the area where Raz’s nose should be with her brush.

She stood back and admired her work.

"Nana. Papa," she shouted. "Come look. Come look at Raz."

Nana laughed and hugged Emaleigh."You’ve found Raz’s nose."

At last Raz had a nose. A little squashed, but a real nose.

The butterflies danced and spread their wings. The bees buzzed happily around Raz’s head. They’d spent the entire day making honey for their new friend.

Happy to finally have his nose back, the first thing he did was to sniff the honey. He tasted the wonderful smelling honey.

And if bears can smile, Raz did. Raz was a happy little bear.

And you know what? That made Emaleigh happy too.

Best of all, Raz had made true friends. They no longer cared that he was different. They only wanted Raz to be happy.