The Far Away Bear (mxm)

Chapter 8 - Time Out

A/N: Happy 2023! And holidays!  unedited!

Jaden POV:

Autumn had slipped into the forest before I had a chance to take notice. The leaves had begun to fall in heaps around the cabin, floating about in the breeze and settling up in piles by the walls, caught where they could not move by.

Everything was orange, brown, red and even purple.

It was beautiful here, and my favorite time of year.

There was something wonderful about the crunch of a leaf under your feet as you stomped through the wilderness, the smell of the damp earth, the promise of the frosty nights coming soon and the crackle of a smokey fireplace to keep you warm.

Mushrooms had sprouted up everywhere, and I guess I should've taken notice of that sooner, considering I'd been picking them so frequently. After the last encounter with the bear, however, I didn't stray too far from the cabin that much anymore.

Bears simply terrified me, I had a deep routed fear that I couldn't seem to shift. I thought it was a healthy fear at first, who would be able to swallow the image of a gigantic bear bellowing toward you with vicious sharp teeth and razor sharp claws?

But my fear of the bear I'd seen during the last days of summer, the same bear that had broken into my tent and chased me into a nearby tree, my fear of that bear was on a whole other level.

It had become so prevalent in my mind that i barely took a step away from the cabin now, something that  Arlow and Peat tried their best to change at every available opportunity.

 "There's some amazing Trout and Bass in the rivers around this time, it would be a good idea to stock up on them before winter hits." Arlow glanced at me from around Peat, his back to me as i sat at the small table in the kitchen area. It was obvious he was trying to entice me out again, and i shrunk my head lower into the book I'd borrowed from Arlow's workshop, not really taking in the subject matter anymore.

"Why are you telling me this? Arlow, we do this every year..." Peat, oblivious to sub-context as usual, i cracked a grin looking at my book, glancing up to look at them again only to jump and flush red, returning to my page having been caught peaking.

"because...because i wanted to start earlier this year, you know...because of the.." he trailed off into a whisper, this time i looked up to a serious expression on Arlow's face, his eyes on Peat like he was trying to portray something privately. I felt uneasy and shifted in my seat, flicking the page absentmindedly.