Snow staggered toward the shore near where she had left her slippers, pulling the long limp body behind her and sending ripples across the unnaturally still lake. She heaved the top half of the maiden up onto the shore. She now looked pale and sickly in the moonlight, her hair stringy, and proportions awkward. Her dull green eyes stared up at the leafy canopy, and her long tail now looked awkward and limiting. The smallest stream of purplish blood dripped down her neck.
Snow staggered away down the bank. She was wet and strangely tired, but her thirst had faded. She sat heavily beside her slippers on the shore. The sky was beginning to lighten in the east before she rose to her feet, donned her slippers and continued downstream.
Three days later, the forest began to recede. The trees began to lessen, the darkness grew less stifling, and the undergrowth grew less impassable. It was no wonder she was less vigilant than she should have been.
The river widened and shallowed, and the bank sloped down toward it. Snow was well clear of the tree cover before she realized she was not alone. A bear stood in the water, though it was facing the other way. Snow stopped, surprised. Only then did she realize that she could not smell it. The wind was blowing the wrong way. Which meant the bear knew she was there.
She backed away. The bear stood still. She watched it carefully, and noticed several things. Even for a bear, it was large. It was far off, but she felt certain it would be taller than the trees if it stood. Also, she had thought that brown bears looked nearly copper in the sun, but though this one was standing in the sun, it still looked nearly black.
She tripped. Nearly. She caught herself at the last second, but when she looked again the bear was watching her. And it had red eyes. She suddenly became aware of a low growl that she could feel in her bones but only just barely hear in her ears. She slowly took a step back. The bear charged.
Snow ran. I am sure you have been told that you should never run from a bear. They are far faster than you or I, and there are better ways to avoid getting mauled. Snow did not know this, but even if she had, that good advice only applies to the normal variety, and this bear was far from normal. So, Snow ran. The bear ran too. Snow did not look behind her but could hear it crashing through the woods after her. And getting closer. Much closer.