This is the second installment of the Lion in the Carpet. The Bear in the Carpet., Yogi.
Billy Alton is a ten year old boy in 1952 that has contracted polio and it has crippled him over two years to the point he has to use leg braces and crutches to walk. While in the bathroom sitting on the toilet one day he sees the image of a Lion head in the high pile carpet under his feet. Suddenly, a full grown lion appears whose name is Leo. Leo can talk to Billy with mental images rather than talk out of his mouth. Leo takes Billy through walls and they fly to the Bronx Zoo where Leo introduces Billy to some of his friends in cages.
Several months after Leo had appeared, Billy sees the image of a Bear in the carpet. The bear comes to life and takes Bill on a journey into his parents bedroom where his father and mother are arguing over Billy and his polio. Billy’s dad is worried about the climbing medical bills and Billy’s mom is interested in defending her son. Billy feels bad that his parents are having difficulty dealing with Billy’s polio and whether he will every get well. Billy is invisible along with Yogi the Bear. He learns that things in real life as not as rosy that he thought they would be. Billy’s polio is forcing his family into poverty from medical bills. Billy feels bad. Yogi shows Billy some children that are outcasts in India. These children have to sort through the city garbage pile in Calcutta.
One Indian outcast child is named Dak and he is a young boy of ten years of age, the same age as Billy. Dak is a thief and a garbage sorter. He finds food in the Calcutta garbage pile and lives on what he can steal from the city food markets. Elwa is a young outcast girl whose father died when she was young and her mother is disables and cannot work. Elwa searches the garbage pile everyday in hopes of find some morsel of food for her and her mother. Both Dak and Elwa have rags for clothing. They are the lowest of the low called untouchables or outcasts. Indians from the middle class or the rich will not go near untouchables for they are disease ridden and filthy. Their lives seem miserable yet Dak and Elwa have a positive point of view. They take nothing for granted. Their lives are focused on survival and little more. They do not hope to get rich. They are happy to be who they are untouchables. Billy is amazed how positive Dak and Elwa are in life. Yogi shows Billy where Dak and Elwa live. Dak lives under the extension of a roof and Elwa lives with her mother in a small shack that was abandoned because it was falling down. Billy realizes that his life is not so bad after all even though he has polio. The two indian outcasts Dak and Elwa have much less than Billy, yet manage to have a sense of humor and love life.
Billy awakes from falling asleep on the toilet.
