Me and Bear

Chapter one

Austin

I am hiking through the woods, the straps of my backpack digging into my shoulders uncomfortably.

There is no real destination for this trip, I just decided to take a break from everything and as Mr. Darby closed the library earlier than usual for whatever personal reason, it's not like I have anything better to do.

Suddenly, there are branches snapping and some low growls coming from my right side.

I still, hoping for whoever or whatever is there to just keep on going without noticing me. I don't really plan on becoming food for someone. At least not today.

It sounds like a big animal is walking there.

Let's just hope it's a moose, yeah?

I turn my head a bit to the side because looking from the very corner of my eye is starting to give me a headache.

Yeah, okay it's not a moose is what I can tell you.

It's a bear.

A full grown goddamn bear.

And it is staring straight at me.

Well, fuck.

The bear is huge. I don't know if they are normally supposed to be this big but this one in front of me is massive. The shoulders of it are at my eye level. And I'm not a particularly small guy, no. My height of 5'9 allows me to feel average in crowds. Not really towering over anybody but I have certainly never felt so small as I do standing before this bear.

I slowly back myself against a tree while watching the bear.

"Okay...so which bear type doesn't eat dead people?" I whisper to myself.

I have never been good at remembering the important things. Like which bears don't eat dead animals and which prefer them. I'm not even sure if it would help me because I'm not sure whether I would be capable of making a difference between different bear types. I mean of course I can identify a polar bear and a panda but the others? Not a clue.

The bear chuffs and takes a few steps closer.

I gulp quite audibly.

Would climbing a tree help? Probably not.

I'm not sure if I could outrun that beast either. Well I probably am faster but then again the bear most probably has better endurance and would still catch up to me in the end.

Right now, I can't even remember which direction I came from so if I just take a mad dash somewhere I could very well end up in the middle of nowhere. Not that I haven't reached that point already.

I can't quite understand what the bear is doing.

It is approaching me slowly, making some weird grunting noises and sniffing the air.

I am frozen in my place and now the bear is a foot away from me. Just staring me down.

It lowers its head and I can see those sharp teeth in front of my face before the head is in front of my stomach.

The bear sniffs it and the only thought running through my head is 'it's going to eat my intestines'. And that means I'm probably going to be alive during the start.

I pull my stomach in, trying to... get away from the bear? I don't know, just do something.

The bear pushes its head closer again and I raise myself onto my tiptoes, trying to put as much distance between the bear's teeth and my stomach as the tree behind will let me..