The Gathering of Words

The village of Haven has many different clubs and associations. There is The Rare, Overpriced, & Unpublished Book Discussion Ensemble (“T.R.O.U.B.L.E.” for short), The Fraternity of Singing Hikers (F.O.S.H.), Flying Legends Appreciation Party (F.L.A.P) …and on and on. There are groups for almost everything. Any excuse for food, friends, and a good cup of tea.

The Gathering of Words stands out among them all though for a couple of reasons: One, because they only meet once a year, and two, because the participants are almost always different. 

How would a bear join The Gathering of Words? 

1. Write your name on a piece of paper and put it in the mayor’s hat.
2. Wait and see if your name is drawn.
3. There isn’t a number three … that’s all there is to it!

If a bear’s name is drawn they will receive a special invitation to an exclusive gathering at the library. Only fifty bears are chosen to attend, along with Merridy, the village librarian. On the night of the gathering, there is a sumptuous banquet of word themed foods: Alphabet soup, of course … peas (P) … tea (T)… bee (B) honey, and plates and plates of Gittel’s ‘Letter Cookies’.

It’s after the meal that the real fun begins though. The Gathering of Words, you see, is expertly named. At least that’s what the ancient librarian Burrellfur said. (He was the one who thought it up.)

“It’s not just a get-together to celebrate language,” said he. “It’s also an actual Gathering of words!”

You see, bear language wasn’t always the way it is today. For instance, where today a bear might say “My favorite flight pack is filled with all my belongings.”, a thousand years ago he would have had to say “ All my belongings are scattered on the ground.”, because a thousand years ago they didn’t know about flying, and so they hadn’t invented flight packs…or even a word for them.

New words are continually being thought up, and The Gathering of Words is a time when all the new words of the year are decided upon. “Mmmmphwuffextrial?”…well…that one probably won’t pass the vote, though it is interesting. “Squirrickle?” That one was voted in recently. It means “a type of tickle that feels a lot like a squirrel running down your back.”

Hundreds of new words are submitted each year, all needing to be voted on to see if they will make it into a very thick book which is, appropriately enough, also called The Gathering of Words.

It is a great honor to create a word that makes it into the book, and most bears of a certain age give it a try. There is also a lot of competition to create the longest and shortest words. One young bear just wrote a squiggle and said it meant “The mulberry truffle cake smells like it’s almost ready.” Surprisingly, there was a lot of discussion on whether it should be allowed. (there were quite a few bakers … and bears who loved baked goods, in attendance that year.) Another bear submitted: Glimmerestiosparkleshimmerinfrostiumwhooshswooperuppiumshinyicicleishglissle. She said it means “the sparkle of the sun on an icicle.” There was quite a lot of debate on that one too, mainly because everyone was excited about the possibility of breaking the record for the longest word. It was finally decided that it would be “temporarily” permitted, and once it was being used in common conversation in the village, it would be allowed to be written in the book. Sadly, it hasn’t made it there yet.

And so, The Gathering of Words continues its work year after year. And the book, The Gathering of Words, grows thicker and thicker. “Snowballimetrical”, to be precise, as listed on page 247: “Something that rolls on it’s way, and gets bigger and bigger as it goes.”