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“Do you smell that too?” she asked. He was about to say something when they heard the tiny wheezing.
“What was that?” Olivia asked with a panicked look on her face. The wheezing sound was followed by snapping branches—it sounded close.
Olivia saw a dark brown shadow move between the trees. She jumped next to Christian, a cold shiver running down her spine. Her hand slid around his arm and she squeezed tight. “I think I see a bear,” she said, pointing. Christian’s narrowed eyes froze on the same spot.
“Oh no,” he muttered as his shoulders dropped. A few more sounds of moving branches and rustling leaves, and to their utter shock, a little bear cub rolled out of the brushes and onto the path. It spotted them, turning its head hesitantly as it blinked its small round eyes and twitched its nose. It took a few steps closer to them and purred, its tiny claws digging into fallen leaves and playing with something shiny—a can! Then a louder click was heard from the woods. Christian gently pushed Olivia backward, signaled her to slowly move away from the cub.
Olivia trembled and squeezed Christian’s arm as they took slow steps backwards. “Maybe we can outrun it, it’s just a cub,” she whispered, her eyes moving into the woods where the last noise had come from. The cub purred and playfully hit the can as if it were a toy.
Christian touched her hand, carefully releasing it from his arm. He kept his eyes on the bear cub. “I want you to back up . . . slowly . . . until the cub is out of sight.”
Olivia nodded, her heart racing.
Of course, Olivia you fool, its mother must be right around the corner!
***
Christian swallowed hard, steadying his nerves while the wheels in his head turned.This is bad. Very, very bad!If a bear cub was here now, then its mother wasn’t far behind. As if that was all just games and play, which it probably was to the cub, it curiously followed their every step, hopping and kicking up leaves.
“Shoo! Get back!” Christian said in a hushed voice and shook his hands at the bear, but the harder they tried, the more interested it became. The bear cub let out its tiny growl, cutting the gap between them with each second.
Christian and Olivia started to back up faster and faster without running. Maybe the cub would turn around if it got too far away from its mother. Just as he was thinking it, a louder, angrier growl, ripped through the silent woods and shook the air around them. A moment later, a huge, dark brown bear emerged from the line of trees, snapping branches with its momentum and great bulk. Olivia shrieked as the huge bear leaped forward in front of the cub, only inches away from Olivia. It rose onto its two hind legs to swat at the air with its front paws. Throwing its head sideways, the bear opened its jaws, exposing its teeth in a terrifying growl. Without a second to waste, Christian leaped forward, placing himself between the bear and Olivia.
“Run!” he shouted, and the bear growled louder. Letting out a scared gasp, Olivia split to the side and ran.
I have to do something. I have to protect her!
***
The locket around her neck tapped against her chest as she ran, panting and praying. Olivia could hear Christian’s voice echoing from behind her:
“Back! Ha! Shoo! Shoo!” Followed by the bear’s angry growls.
How the hell could he possibly win a fight against a bear? Alone!
Olivia halted, her feet sliding against the dead leaves underfoot. He was sacrificing himself for her! She turned around and saw Christian on the ground, the massive bear towering over him.
“No!” she screamed and ran toward him. The bear raised its paw and was about to hit Christian, but it stopped the moment it heard Olivia’s intense shouts.
“Hey, over here! Here! Look here!” she frantically called out to the bear. The animal’s two massive paws hit the ground as its eyes focused on Olivia. It started toward her.
“What are you doing?!” Christian yelled and rolled across the ground onto his side.
“Making noise!” Olivia shouted back, watching helplessly as the bear started trotting toward her. Suddenly, she had an idea.
“That’s it!” she said. “Making noise!”
With shaking hands, she fumbled for her phone. Smashing her fingers onto the screen, she searched for the air horn app she still had from an office Super Bowl party. A few hard taps onto the yellow trumpet icon, and the most annoying sound she had ever heard in her life thundered through the woods. Olivia hit the button again and again as low-quality trumpets and cheers blasted from her phone.
Amazingly, it worked. The bear stopped in its tracks as soon as the sounds blared, ears folded back as far as they could go, looking left and right in confusion over what was going on. Olivia stepped toward it and held out her phone as it played the long blasts over and over again.
The cub was the first to squeal in fear and flee into the woods. Its mother let out a last low growl, this time sounding more insecure than angry, then turned around to run after her cub. Olivia kept hitting that air horn app, staring at the trees both bears had just disappeared behind, before she let her hand drop. She let out a long sigh of relief and dropped onto her knees, a smile on her face.
Christian ran up to her and grabbed her hand to pull her up.
“Are you okay?” he asked, all panicky, still glancing around in case Mama Bear came back for another go.
“I’m fine. I think.” Her voice was shaky as she made it to her feet. She took in a deep breath and let it out, chuckling, her hand still held tight to his.
