You Young Wild Thing

Once I Had A Friend Named Bear

I met a bear once when I was little
I was only about six
She stood on her hind legs
And boy was she huge
She must have been the size of a skyscraper
If not bigger
And I was four foot nothing
If not smaller

At first I was scared
She clenched her jaw
And bore her teeth
Shiny and sharp
I cowered in the corner and hoped she'd leave
She didn't
But I did

She lived in a dark room I used to visit
I would peak my head in
Before I'd run and scream
Bear there's a bear chasing me
I would be met with laughter
There is no bear silly
Oh but there was

She lived in grandpas closet
She was always asleep when I saw her
I'd creep in on my tip-toes to keep quiet
She was huge as she lay
Sprung out like a star fish
It was kind of silly

I'd make them close the bedroom and closet door
Before I'd even walk up the stairs
At night I had nightmares
This bear wanted to eat my uncle
She'd chase him and eat him
And oh god she was huge

In the day time I snuck around her
I knew she'd never eat me
For in my dreams she always left me there
But my uncle, well he wasn't safe
She wanted to kill him
I hope she doesn't kill him

The bear won't hurt him silly
Grandpa killed it

I wondered more about this bear
Why wouldn't she hurt me?
I must know

Grandpa what was it like hunting the bear?
Well my dear it was a huge bear
The dogs alerted me to it
And I shot it
It was nothing interesting or even special
It wasn't until after that I saw the cubs
She had two babies
The bear was a girl?
She was indeed
A beautiful girl at that
Oh she was a beast

Poor bear
I got it all wrong
I suppose she's scared
In a dark and dusty closet
Filled with guns
She doesn't know where she is
Or even how she got here
She must be worried sick for her babies
She must be looking for them
Oh! She must need a friend
I'll be her friend

I snuck up to the closet
Creeped in on my tip-toes
Psssst! Bear, hey bear, I uh, I came to be your friend
I heard about what grandpa did to you
I'm sorry
It's awful
You must miss your babies and you know I'm only 6 so that makes me a kid
I can be you're cub now
You're not alone

Every chance I got I visited her
In the confines of those closet walls
A friendship bloomed
She thought of me as a daughter
And I looked to her as a guide
She had the best advice

Hey bear what's your name

Bear, it's just Bear

That's good to know

Hey I was wondering what's it like being a bear?

It's scary
For the most part we're top of the food chain
But there are monsters out there
They carry sticks and then when they see us the sticks make a loud noise
And suddenly everything goes warm
And before you know it your on your back and you aren't breathing anymore
You're dead
Being a bear isn't the greatest
Not when the monsters come around

Those people who kill you, they're called hunters
And those loud sticks, they're called guns
I don't like them either
We practice hiding from them at school
The monsters hunt us too

Hey Bear

What is it little one

I promise I won't be a monster
I won't ever hunt a bear
You're my best friend Bear
I hope you know that

Of course I do Darling

I love you

I love you too

Our conversations went much like that
They were mundane if ever rarely grandiose
Our words were seasoned with love
Bear carried with her—through the scars—wisdom
And I carried the light
I gave back her life
And she protected mine

But still those dreams persisted
Why did she want my uncle dead?
I must know

Bear, you wouldn't happen to know anything about that reoccurring nightmare I have only when I'm here-would you?

I would
But you are much too young to understand why I am there
Why I don't like your uncle
You are little and that's all you should be
You shouldn't be here
All you need to know for now is that I love you
And I will do anything to protect you
I'm helping you

That was all she was willing to say
But I trusted her
Perhaps she recognizes him as the son of the man who killed her
Who took her from her babies
And she refused to lose another one
I appreciated her help
But I wasn't sure I needed it
Not here, not with him
He was safe

Bear, what did you love most about roaming the woods?

The sound of the wind as it howled to the moon
The song the birds sang that filled the quiet with love
The warmth of my cubs
They were twins
One boy, one girl
They were about your age
When I lost them
Or rather when they lost me
I do hope they're doing ok out there
I do hope they're safe
Wherever they are
I just hope it's home

Whispered secrets grew wings
Fluttered from heart to heart
My knight in shining armor
My guardian Angel
A bear named Bear
Oh how I loved her dearly
She was my everything

I do recommend befriending a bear
They are rather quite loyal
And you'll never go cold with them around
I miss my Bear
I wish I could see her one last time
Say goodbye
And thank her for everything
She saved my life

Bear! Why do you keep chasing him in my dreams? Why do you growl and try and eat him? Why won't you leave him alone? You're being a bad bear. I don't like it when you do that. You scare me when you do that.

Oh little one I think it's time for a chat
I think it's time I explain things
Remember how you told me what a hunter was
Well, darling your uncle is one of them

But he's never killed an animal before

That is true little one, but still he is one
You know when he gets you alone
When he touches you
And it makes you queasy
You know when you squirm and beg him to stop
When you cry and tell him he's hurting you
But he does it anyway
You know that, well honey that's what hunters do
He's no good
And you're just a cub
You're not supposed to hurt cubs
The good ones never do

What are you saying
Bear, what is he doing to me
Bear please
Explain it to me.

Have you ever heard of rape before
It's a kind of hunting
Only worse than my kind
The difference between styles is one lives with the pain
And the other
Well the other gets to move on
Like me
But you, baby you have to live with it now
You see rape is a mauling that only evil can bestow upon the young
The venerable
It's where they eat you alive and spit you back out
Then expect you to put the puzzle back together
The one you never broke
Nothing is more evil than rape
And that my darling, that is what he's doing to you

Bear
What do I do?

This is where I can't help you
For this part you'll have to find an adult
You'll have to tell your Mommy
You'll have to go and stay far away from here

But that means I won't see you again

It does
But it'll be alright
When you're gone you won't need me anymore
And I won't be around even if you wanted
I was only meant to be here for a little while
I had a job
That was to protect you
And now that it's done
And you're safe now
I'll be on my way to whatever lies in the great beyond

You're leaving me
How could you?

Oh sweetie you didn't think I was going to stay forever did you
Well think about it this way
When you hear the birds sing
And the wind blow
It'll be a song from me to you
I'll always be here with you
Just not in the way you'd hoped
I'll be in your heart
I'll live in your memories

I met a bear once when I was little
I was only about six
And I was terrified as she stood on her hind legs
She was the size of a skyscraper
If not bigger
And me, I was four foot nothing
If not smaller
But once you got to know her she was a lot of fun
Her heart was warm and her brain was full of wisdom
She was my best friend
I chose bear before I chose man
I loved her

And oh wouldn't you love to meet her too?