Chapter 3

Musqux

It was a snowy day. Musqux loved snow. He was a spectacled bear cub who lived on the snow-top mountains. He loved to play in the snow and roll around, even though he wasn't a white bear. He was made fun of for being a snow-lover, but he loved how cold it was and that he could play in it all day. Musqux wanted to be a white bear so he wouldn't be mocked for doing what he loved. He didn't have many friends, though. He had a friend named Herba who was a she-bear cub. Herba's brother was named Conlis, who was also a friend of Musqux. Musqux and his mother had found Herba and Conlis when they were newborn cubs in their birthden while there was a terrible blizzard. Their mother had died right after they were born the sunrise before. Musqux's mother had took them in as her cubs.

Musqux's mother was a sweet bear named Specula, who was the only bear that approved of Musqux's love of snow.

Musqux and Conlis were trekking up the mountain and it started snowing. Musqux became very excited and started rolling around in the snow, which had only taken a few seconds to stick to the ground.

"Come play with me, Conlis!" Musqux exclaimed as he was goofing around in the freshly fallen snow. Conlis rolled his eyes and said, "Snow is for white bears, not spectacled bears!" Musqux ignored him and continued. Conlis got annoyed with his friend who wasn't acting like a proper spectacled bear like he was, and Conlis continued his trek up the mountain, without Musqux.

After Musqux got too cold from playing in the snow, he looked around for Conlis, but he was nowhere to be seen. He looked for his tracks in the snow, but the falling snow had covered them. Uh oh… I'm lost in the mountain! I don't know my way back up without Conlis, Herba, or Specula! The sun was setting. Musqux was getting more and more scared as heavy snow started falling. He tried to scent Conlis and picked up a faint scent. Why didn't I try scenting him earlier? Musqux began hiking up the mountain, following his friend's scent in the shivering cold. I should've been paying attention when Conlis left! He came to a stop. There were more scents that he recognized; Specula and Herba! They had been here! Musqux looked around the landscape but saw nothing he recognized in the icy blizzard.

He tried scenting his friends again but couldn't pick them up because the snow was freezing the inside of his nose. He tried looking for something familiar but the thick snow was covering everything in sight. He started to walk forward and then his paw hit a big rock.

Musqux couldn't feel the pain because his paws were so numb from the heavy snow. He looked down at the rock that stubbed his toe and it looked familiar. This is the small boulder that Herba and I used to try and move when we were just a few sunrises old! He knew that his den was somewhere to the left of the rock so he turned and kept walking.

"Mom? Herba? Conlis?" Musqux called out but he heard no response. He began to become worried because he thought his den was this way. But all of a sudden he heard a faint roar which sounded kind of like "Musqux!" He started running towards the roar and he saw a small hole in a mound. It was his den! He ran inside and his mother was there, with Herba and Conlis.

"Mother!" He exclaimed. Specula began licking his ears and face, "I was so worried, Musqux! Why were you wondering out alone in a blizzard?" She asked. Musqux looked at Conlis who had guilt in his eyes.

"Conlis left me when it started snowing! I was playing in the snow and then he said that I am a spectacled bear not a white bear so I shouldn't like snow and when I finished playing he was gone! Then the blizzard started. I couldn't see his tracks because the snow covered them and then I found his scent but lost it and then I found my way back." Musqux explained. Specula cuffed Conlis over the head and scolded him, "You shouldn't have left him out in the snow! He could have froze to death out there!"

Conlis apologized but then asked, "Well why do we live up here in the snow instead of at the bottom of the mountain where there's no snow?"

"You know why, Conlis. There are scary bears down there who will fight you for food," Specula explained. Conlis sighed and replied, "Yeah, I know. But we've never had berries before! Only snow hares and foxes."

"Yeah, I want berries!" Herba agreed. Specula sighed and said, "I'm sorry, cubs, but we've got to stay at the top of snow-top mountain. You can try berries when you are full grown bears."

"But I want berries NOW!" Herba roared. Specula shook her head and said, "I'm sorry, Herba but you can't. Now it's time to sleep. We can search for prey in the morning when the blizzard is gone." Herba huffed and lay down. Musqux was exhausted from being lost in the snow storm. He lay his head on his paws and felt his eyes droop as he fell asleep.