Once upon a time, a little boy was asked to be in his cousin’s wedding. He wasn’t too keen on the idea but his mom seemed so excited about it – plus she promised him a new comic book, so he decided to play along.

His mom explained that the whole day was going to be like a fairy tale, the boy’s little sister, who was also going to be in the wedding, shrieked with joy when she heard that. This made him nervous, anything his pesky sister would get this excited about, couldn’t be good news for him.

The little boy’s mother went on to explain that the bride needed a cute Flower Girl in a party dress to toss petals at her feet. The boy couldn’t figure out why the bride couldn’t find an actual cute girl to do this but hey, that was her problem. His role was to be the Ring Bear. Another tide of nervousness washed over him…would he have to wear some sort of bear costume? Could the Ring Bear at some point eat the Flower Girl? His mood started to lighten. Perhaps he was supposed to spend the day growling at and scratching uninvited guests at the wedding. This could turn out to be fun after all.

The boy spent the next few days working on his most ferocious snarls. He spent hours in front of the mirror swiping at imagined wedding interlopers with his giant bear paws. He was experimenting with a slashing karate chop combination when his annoying little sister came skipping into his room to inform him that she and his mother had just come back from the fancy dress shop. His outfit for the wedding was downstairs waiting for him to try on. Finally, he would be able to practice his moves while wearing his awesomely scary bear costume! He could not get down those stairs fast enough. He rounded the corner and was struck dumb by what he saw. Instead of a bear suit complete with sharp claws and fang inserts, his mom was holding up a tiny black jacket, pants and shiny shoes that were sure to pinch. Goodness gracious, what on earth was he supposed to do with that pink pillow? His mom brought it over to him and showed him the two toy rings that were tied onto it with a long ribbon. She explained that he had a very important job to do at the wedding. He had to make sure the wedding rings got down the aisle for the bride and groom. She then hugged him and proclaimed that he would make the cutest ring bearer that ever lived. The boy just sighed with a look of utmost confusion. This was not going to be the day he had in mind.