Just Don't Move
“Whatever you do, don’t move. It’s vision is entirely based on movement,” Cory whispered next to me.
​​​
“That’s T-rexes! Plus, that was from a movie!” I hissed quietly, nervously keeping my eyes on the growling animal.
​​
Not too far in front of us, there was a giant brown bear glaring at us. Its teeth were bared and hair bristling so it didn’t take a genius to figure out that it was seriously pissed off at us. And the reason for that was the cub hiding a little ways behind it.
​
“Well, do you got a better idea?! Because I’m pretty sure fighting it isn’t going to work.”
​
“I never should have agreed to go on this stupid trip with you,” I muttered under my breath.
​
Me and my friend, Cory, had decided to take a trip to the mountains during the weekend. It was a sunny, fall Saturday and we had gone early in the morning for our hiking trip. We planned to stay for only two hours, so we packed a light lunch and a few emergency supplies in the rare case something bad happened. We hadn’t gone up the mountain alone, however.
​
“Uh, is that our guide?” Cory asked as he pointed to a guy sitting on a log. Our “guide” was a teenager who looked more like a tourist than an employee. He was wearing earphones and had his nose buried in his phone, most likely listening to music and texting.
​
“Unfortunately, yeah. Seems that way,” I sighed as we approached the kid. It took a while, but we finally got his attention. He didn’t talk at all during the hike and practically did nothing for the whole trip… until we met the bear cub.
We were eating sandwiches at a small circle of rocks underneath some pine trees when out of nowhere, this small bear cub appeared. For a few seconds, none of us knew what to do, but then our “guide” made a “brilliant” decision.
“Beat it, you little pest! Go on, scram!” the guide barked as he cruelly threw a stone at it. The stone hit a tree, startling the poor cub and sending it running.
“Hey, there was no reason to do that!” I yelled, already angry at his lack of work ethic. I would have continued to yell at him when we heard a menacing growl that made our hearts stop. Turning slowly to the noise, we looked into the cold, terrifying eyes of an angry mother bear.
“Every man for himself! You guys are on your own!” the guide cried as he sprang like a rabbit and ran, abandoning us to the claws of the bear.
“Hey, come back here you son of a-,” Cory yelled after him as he fled…
​
“... when I get back down, I’m gonna have a word with that kid’s boss,” I growled through gritted teeth. However, given the current situation, that might not be possible. I could feel cold sweat dripping down my back as I frantically racked my brain for a possible solution.
​
“Listen, Cory, I read this in a book once. If you’re confronted by a bear, then you’re supposed to play dead,” I whispered as I turned toward my friend.
​
“You sure?” Cory replied. I nodded, though deep down, I wasn’t completely sure. I could hope it was. We immediately flopped to the ground and went limp, trying to play off as corpses. With my eyes closed, I could only hear the bear’s paw steps getting closer and closer to us.