"Aw! It's so adorable!"
He moves to slowly, calculating each step, unsure if the next is going to send him tumbling to the ground. Everything looks untrustworthy, glancing from the ground to his left, back to the ground, this time to the right.
"What's it looking for?"
She knew the answer, but she wanted her boyfriend to know it too. Sometimes, she wondered if he really is curious, or just liked to state the obvious, entertaining some imaginary audience that follows him wherever he goes. Maybe they were clapping now, laughing on cue, herding the sheep. Sometimes, she wishes his crowd would just boo him, just once.
The mother bear meanders on the scene.
"That a big one." He states, obviously.
The mother ensures her cub that yes, she's indeed here, watching him, and finally, he attempts to run. The first run turns into a stumble, and he rolls to his belly. The mother nudges him with her snout, and the cub tries again, this time, succeeding as he springs over to his brothers.
"See? I told you this was a good idea." Leon says.
He was right, taking days he didn't have, along with a credit card to bring them there.
For her.
She knew this, of course, and she did everything she could to convince him that this was irresponsible and they couldn't afford it. In the end, she was glad she failed. The arrogance of him though...tainted the trip a bit.
"We have to love the moment, Pippa. Otherwise, what's the point?"
"Calm down before the cliché police get here."
She focuses on the cubs, as Leon tries to calm himself down. Leon watches the mama bear oversee her kids. What that feeling is like, to be a mother- rather, a parent, seems so foreign- caring about something so much more than yourself. Pippa wiggles in his view, trying to get a closer look, and suddenly, it doesn't seem so weird.
This was the right choice- a good idea. It's all coming together.
Mama bear stands up, shifting its weight to her back legs, trying to get a better look of something. The cubs don't mind. They continue to wrestle. Pippa's focus couldn't' be broken by a meteorite, but Leon's curiosity has him following the mom's eyes. He looks into the tress and sees a hint of grey. It doesn't look like much, but Leon focuses on it anyway.
"Leon?"
Pippa says something to him, but he wants to see what's there. Leon and the mom continue to look for something, but it's Leon that sees additional grey. He recognizes the fur, and notices that the grey is moving- moving closer to the mama bear. Another hide creeps in, and now the adult, female black bear recognizes the threat. It falls on her front legs, and growls to intimidate the incoming predators. It doesn't, so she tries again. The fear is there, and the mama bear gives pause to verify if she had to act. Leon could feel the nerves about what needs to be done.
She charges to meet them.
"No!"
Pippa's voice grabs his attention. Leon looks over at the two cubs. They wrestle too close to the ledge, and some of the rocks give away. One of the cubs tumble over.
"Oh shit." It's all Leon could muster.
It was such a dramatic moment, but maybe it was the either the daily new cycle or multiple angles of death through TV and film that seem to lesser the tragedy of loss in real life. He was just simply numb. Life perishes, comes and goes, and death takes whomever it pleases. What makes this loss different from the ones that happen every other day?
