The discussion took place on a long-since-dead public dial-up BBS here in Sydney, Australia....
The original question that prompted my reply was:
"I know grues (mostly from the inside out), and have experienced their eating habits, but what in the name of infocom are drop-bears? I've never seen hide nor hair of a drop-bear. Do they lurk in trees, or just drop droppings on you head?"
"Ah. The curious observer of things infocomish sites strange happenings along the east bank of the north fork of the river in the forest of mirrors. Idealist situations where rise and fall are commonplace, and where drop-bears lurk to stir the fears of those intrepid enough to tread the paths."
The story of the drop bear goes back far and wide into folklore, way back to the time when great caverns of trees stood up against the sands of time. Way back to the era when grues really did appear on the outer surface of the planet.
It came to pass many centuries ago that certain animal species were destined to become extinct due to their lack of ability to adapt to changing times. The miniature ground bear was one such species.
Previously, they were able to survive in harmony will all other living creatures in the forest, but as time continued, this harmony was disturbed and shaken from the very foundations of its roots. Strange beings, largely unknown in these parts, began to interfere with the general order of things, breaking up natural cycles and patterns that had been successfully in place for eons.
These strange beings were much larger than a miniature ground bear, and as such, with the mystical ability to destroy everything in it's path, these unusual new creatures started to threaten the existence of the miniature ground bear.
Such was the level of disturbance, that the miniature ground bears had to find an alternative living pattern that could cope with moderate levels of interference from the strange, two legged creatures now invading their formerly peaceful domain and who had brought so much eco-destruction with them.
So, the miniature ground bears, for some largely unexplainable reason, took to the trees in an effort to evade the ominous path to extinction, which, as science has recorded, more or less succeeded in saving the species from extinction.
So transformed from their old ways were later generations of these creatures that they are referred to as miniature drop bears, or just drop bears for short.
This is most likely so because of their strange living environment.
Why the term drop-bear? Well, if you were able to venture along the north fork of the river to the east bank where the forest of mirrors is located, you would never see a drop-bear, until you turn around to face the other way.
You see, the miniature drop bear has not forgotten the human species for destroying its rich habitat with such a lack of respect for the natural ecosystem that was previously in place there.
Should you be foolish enough to turn around to face the other way, there will more than likely be an overly-angry drop bear waiting to surprise you, much the same as our foresters surprised them when they tried to destroy the forest of mirrors many generations ago.
The invasion of the strange, two-legged creatures in almost complete. The natural enironment is dying, starved from the lack of harmony that existed eons before. Trees are thinning, the humans are winning.
The former home of the miniature ground bear will one day be no more. Destroyed in the name of progress and advancement by unusual creatures with no respect for those there before their coming.
A barren, deserted wasteland will one day sit where the forest of mirrors once grandly stood.
Oh yes, you may now find that the eye in the back of your head is there for a reason!!
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