1931 Winter: The Time of the Oasis/Interlude 2

Synopsis
Sometime in the 1920s, Claire Stanfield names the bear traveling with his circus troupe 'Cookie', and Cookie sinks his fangs into Claire's arm. However, the bear's fangs only penetrate the top layers of Claire's skin before releasing him, as Cookie retreats and begins to flail around helplessly on the ground.

Claire's fellow troupe members congratulate him, and ask him how he managed to make the bear bend to his will like that. He replies that he'd covered his arm in tabasco sauce, and reminds the ringmaster that, according to their promise, Cookie would now be a permanent member of the circus. The ringmaster then sends him off to get his still-severe wound cleaned, and several other troupe members compliment Claire's genius and natural strength, to which Claire replies that he's worked hard for what he has.

Meanwhile, that encounter had taught Cookie three important things: cheering is a good thing for his survival, humans are poisonous to eat, and the redhead who hadn't hurt him after he'd been bit is a friend. For the next several years, he went on to perform with the circus, becoming even more motivated by the cheers of the audience.

When the circus had broken up, the beast tamer took Cookie all over America. They had eventually gotten separated, leaving Cookie by himself in upstate New York.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Claire Stanfield
 * Charkie