A Bear's World

*Chapter 1*

6 years ago

I sat in my living room with my parents. Breaking news had just alerted my dad after dinner. My mom's friends were all calling the house phone over and over. If that was happening all the women in the neighborhood knew something my mother didn't.

Which was not allowed.

My mother was the biggest know-it-all in our entire town. I really wanted to get my phone privileges for the night, my best friend and I needed to discuss a certain boy in our English class. Tall, brown hair, dark skin, brown eyes, AKA the most popular boy in school. And he talked to me today in the hallway!

Why couldn't my parents understand this was way more important than some breaking news?

When I entered the living room with my brownie as dessert, my mom was crying for some reason. My mom is a drama queen so I didn't think much of it and shifted my attention to the TV. I sat on the couch as my mom sat next to my Dad on their chairs. I just really wanted to watch the new Twilight movie that came out.

I crossed my eyes as the President finally showed up on the screen. This was going to be boring as hell.

Our president started a huge speech which ended in the words"....shifters are coming out of hiding. We cannot keep our own Americans in hiding any longer. They are good people just like you and I. Here is Gerald Brandt. He is a good friend of mine and a shifter himself. He will explain what shifters are and what kinds there are."

What kinds? Shifters? Like they are some kind of special human? Why the big news? Why can't I start my movie? I rolled my eyes as a man came on screen in place of our Lady President.

Gerald Brandt was an older gentleman to me. Looked over 30 to me, so that's old. He had dark brown hair that was cut short and piercing green eyes. He went on to explain there were 5 types of shifters. Dragons (which are apparently the rarest), Foxes, Lions, Werewolves, and Bears.

I was mesmerized as he spoke. I felt like I was either in one of my dreams or a fantasy book.

"SO COOL!" I whisper-yelled. I didn't realize how angry my Dad was until I spoke out loud.

"Young lady, this is not "cool", they could be dangerous and vicious animals." My dad growled out. I rolled my eyes yet again and turned my focus again to the TV which now had Gerald Brandt stepping out behind the podium and into a more spacious area.

Gerald Brandt is a dragon shifter.

The news channel actually showed us when he turned into a dragon. At first his skin turned into scales slowly and then a tail slowly elongated itself as his neck grew. His scales were a deep purple and his stomach was almost black. His neck stretched out and he grew to be about 8 feet tall. His scales shimmered from all the flashes of the cameras.

Some people screamed in the audience and some gasped. A few people ran in fear. I, however, was standing on my couch with my mouth wide open and about to squeal with excitement.

I was amazed. I couldn't believe this was real. This only happened in fairy tales and books!

Not real life.

Not in our world. I just assumed we were all humans and there were aliens roaming about in space somewhere waiting to abduct us all.

Trust me after this, life and our world were thrown major curve balls during that speech.

Everything was fine and dandy for about 6 months. That's when the fights broke out.

Unfortunately, my parents didn't agree with the new way of our world.