Friday, March 20, 2009

Animals

The mother bear saw the backpackers trudging up the mountain slope looking weary, stiff-cold and lost. She stood in her hiding-place for many moments observing them, contemplating, before she made a decision.

“Hello there!” She called out, revealing herself. Startled, the two backpackers stayed rooted at their spots, eyeing the bear as she lumbered towards them. They were bewildered a bear just greeted them.

“W-well h-hello t-there,” one of them stammered.

“I mean you no harm,” the bear said. She stood on her hind legs and was only slightly taller than the taller of them.

“N-neither do w-we.” There was a pause as they looked at each other, and the cold wind whistled around their ears. The terrain was a blanket of snow and there was nothing else in sight.

The mother bear mulled over them. Both were covered in thick winter clothing and had on cumbersome mountain boots. Their heads were covered in parkas but she could still tell they had been exposed to the cold for a long time by their frosted eyebrows and pale blue faces. The one who had been stammering shifted on his feet nervously while the other looked at the ground between them.

“I would like to invite you guys back to my place. It’s safe, warm and there’s more than enough food to go around.” The mountaineers glanced at each other. The mother bear sensed their hesitation and repeated, “It is safe, warm and there’s more than enough food to go around.”
“It is s-safe warm and there’s more than enough food to go a-around?”

“Yes it is safe, warm and there’s food.” They looked at each other again.

“Are you all alone there?” The other guy spoke up for the first time.

“Erm well, I’ve got two cubs there. But it’s safe, warm and there’s plenty of food to go around.”
“W-what if it is a t-trap?”

The mother bear laughed, that is, she went haw-haw-haw in a rasping way. “Bears don’t eat humans.”

“Bears don’t invite back humans back to their dens either.”

“Well it’s up to you to trust me. My place is safe, warm and there’s food.” She turned her back and lumbered away and the two humans, exhausted after days lost in the mountains, followed her back.

The den was a cave nestled on the snowy slope and as they approached two clubs clambered out to their mother. “Mama mama is back!” They hugged her hind legs and she patted them on their heads.

“W-why can we hear bears t-talk?”

“I’m not so sure. Half of me is thinking this is a figment of our imagination.”

“A-and the other h-half?”

“The other half is thinking of food and a place to rest.”

***

They settled down in the middle of the cave where it was dark where the light from the opening could not reach. The mother bear laid on the ground some berries and mountain trout. Her eyes glowed dimly in the partial darkness. Her cubs were poking about the humans’ backpacks. Her guests, whether they aware of it themselves, were staring intently at the food.

“The food and this cave is yours if you agree to one condition,” she said. They looked at her.

“Condition?”

“Yes, and the condition is that you must stay here till my cubs grow big.”

“But why?”

“Because I would like my cubs to have some playmates.” The words reverberated in the humans’ heads. They could not decide whether to laugh at the strangeness of it all or to feel despair at the gravity of the situation.

“And if we refuse?”

“Then you will have to leave this place immediately.” They flinched slightly. The exhaustion on their faces, the mother bear realised, was visible despite the darkness.

“We’ll need time to think this over.” The mother bear said, “Sure,” and packed the food away and brought her cubs outside.

“W-what n-now?”

“There’s no way I’m going to spend the next few years as a caveman.”

“W-what t-then?”

“Ok here’s what I think.” He lowered his voice. “They have the food and shelter that we need. We would probably not survive if we go outside again. But we don’t want to agree to her condition. So we kill her and take this place over by force.”

“B-but..”

“We have our machetes. We can do it.”

“Yes, but isn’t that kind of c-cruel?"

“It’s survival of the fittest my friend. Plus if we kill her we have extra food.”

“Haven’t the thought of a-agreeing crossed your mind? L-look at it this way. A year or so in the mountains away from civilization, food and accommodation provided f-free. A year isn’t a l-long time..”

“I’m not going to do that.”

“Or h-how about promising her, taking the food and regain our strength, then r-run away one day?”

“It’d be impossible to escape with her keen senses. And if she finds out we won’t have an easy time. Right now we have the element of surprise. Either you’re with me or against me.” The two humans stood in the cave contemplating for moments before they made a decision. They drew out their machetes and hid them behind their backs.

When the mother bear entered her den she sensed something was wrong but could not quite place it. As she approached the humans one of them lunged for her with a sharp object and she dodged reflexively.

Her instincts took over. She growled and lunged for the aggressor, swiping him with her strong paws. She delivered a glancing blow and there was a cry of pain but before she could do anything else she felt a sharp pain in her back. She let out a mighty roar before the one whom she had injured stabbed her in the front. She used her paws to fend off the front attacker but her mobility was restricted by the blade buried deep in her back.

At this point the cubs tried and protect their mother. They went for the legs of the humans but their thick trousers and mountain boots reduced any damage they might inflict. The humans kicked the cubs away and continued pressing on the mother bear. They got in another stab, and another, and when she was weak enough they pulled out the blade from her back and stabbed her repeatedly, front and back, as she went down.

The cubs watched terrified as their mother struggled feebly on the ground. They knew she was in pain but there was nothing they could do. Her cries grew softer, softer, until they were no more, and the cubs had no choice but to run out from the cave their hearts wailing and their eyes in tears. They were rendered motherless and homeless by two savages and they would now have to wander in the bitter cold mountains weary, stiff-cold and lost.