Canadian Freedom Or Hibernation Heartsick

Chapter 7 Left Out Or Drag In

Throughout the whole day where the bears and friends are heading from place to place, Charlie spends all day just lying on the ground, upset that he won't be able to go to Canada. He wouldn't mind that his bear friends aren't around, but with all of his friends coming along for an adventure he's been hearing about, it only made him feel more depressed.

"Who am I kidding? I can't overcome my fear." Charlie said to himself. "I'm only good at making animal friends, not the friends the bears make." He took a deep breath to get the fresh air from the outdoors. "His friends must be more valuable in person. Ranger Tabes isn't the only one."

He stood up from the ground, taking a hike in the forest, thinking about what he could do in the meantime. He may have the chance to meet the bears one more time before they leave, but it'll be a long time until they come back. Soon he heard travelers heading their way on the trail he's on. He reacted in an instant, he jumped behind the brushes, lowered his body as the travelers walked past.

As much as he's relieved he didn't get spotted, he's ashamed he has to live with it unlike his bear friends. "How will society treat me normally like Grizz, Panda, and Ice Bear? It's not too much to ask!"

Meanwhile, one of the snakes Charlie once took care of them, spotted him while hiding in the branches. It has the same colors Panda has that Charlie called him, Panda Jr. He wanted to meet him after being distant from him for months, but he heard another animal coming from the trees.

The animal walked up to Charlie, looking down which took his attention. "Is hide and seek the only thing you do here?" He crossed his arms.

"Ralph?" Charlie slowly got back up. "I wasn't playing hide and seek, I was hiding from travelers."

"Still the same thing you've done throughout your life. At least I get a kick of pranking people. That's more than avoiding them."

Charlie knew his former friend's still performing stunts against travelers anywhere he goes. Ever since the whole Ice Cave situation, he distanced himself from him, keeping distant from the incident that he almost caused when it came to him causing harm towards the travelers when he removed the bridge a while ago.

"Ralph, in case you don't know, my friends, are mainly the bears."

"They're your only friends, all I ever see when you're not with them is animals who can't open their mouths when they never talk."

"At least it's some people to hang around with." While feeling offended, Charlie stayed on topic. "Grizz, Panda, Ice Bear, and their friends...are going to Canada soon. And I'm gonna be the only one here without them. And their friends are humans."

Ralph would care less if the bears left or not, but when he heard the word, Canada, it made him interested. "You're not gonna be the only one here, again you have animals who barely talk and are you really serious?"

"Serious about what?"

"You're seriously gonna stay here while your friends are going to Canada?"

"It's not the land I'm afraid of, it's literally the humans there." Charlie said, putting his foot down. "Including all of the guests who'll come along."

"And you prove my point that you can't man up, unlike me." Ralph smirked. "If it was me, in your position, and I can overcome my problem with humans, I would make more friends than you can count."

Charlie knows Ralph is only bragging rather than proving. But at the same time, he isn't wrong about overcoming the problem. Panda Jr. couldn't believe the words he's hearing from Ralph to the point he might have a plan. "More and more bears have been making friends ever since society changed. If we were the ones changing society, we would be treated as heroes rather than attention seekers."