It was around eight thirty in the morning when we finally reached the local woods. Our excursion buses had driven off the minute all of us alighted with our belongings as the bus conductors apparently were in a rush; perhaps to the next pick up point for another school. Setting up tents was the first activity over at the forest besides the usual attendance roll call. Thankfully, we were given tents for two to sleep in and not the spacious family ones which I personally despised of. Undeniably, I was quite the introvert – and personal space and privacy were important requirements else I would not be comfortable. It was fun watching students experiencing their first attempt at pitching a tent; especially when their finished product somehow manages to not resemble a triangular prism but a weird oblong volume that appears to be on the verge of collapsing or exploding. Due to this, Mr. Green announced that the start of the camping activities would start after an hour long break. As for us, Darren and I managed ours within a professional record time of five minutes. Not to brag like a kid but I do have to say that my knowledge about camping obtained from wilderness documentaries were of great help when we were setting our tent up. Unfortunately, we were beaten by a girl pairing – and to add salt to our wounds, Stacey was one of them. According to the other classmates, they were already long done with theirs and had decided to do a bit of exploration around the campsite beyond the dense wall of trees.

I silently cursed under my breath. I had totally forgotten the fact that Stacey was not the kind of girl who you would expect to see hosting pretentious tea parties or gossiping hot fashion trends with other girls. She was the outgoing kind; always thirsty for adventure. Now I have discovered that she shared similar interests as I do. And I thought I was the special one eh? Not wanting to be left out of the game, I turned to Darren, who was admiring our tent in pride. "Hey, seems like Stacey and her partner went out to explore around, let's try to find them," I said softly, not wanting to catch our teacher's attention.

Darren frowned. "I would like to but question is, do we know exactly where they headed off to?" he asked, gesturing his arm at the thick layers of forest foliage. "We might be the ones lost in there and not them if we were to be unfortunate," he theorized.

"Relax! I had asked Stacey's classmates and they told me that she had ventured downhill to the nearby river in hopes of discovering wild life," I assured him. Darren looked at me, sceptical. "Seriously. You do not believe me?" I sighed inwardly.

Darren laughed as he pat my back firmly, making me trip a few steps forward. "Just kidding man, loosen up!" he exclaimed before retrieving his water bottle for a quick sip. Quenching his thirst, he grabbed my backpack inside our tent and casually tossed it at me. I caught hold of the cumbersome load; this time the force of the heavy weight making me stumble backwards. Darren chuckled. "That's the wrong way Richard!"

I smiled disapprovingly as I hefted my bag over my shoulders. "You better not do that if I am near the edge of a Cliffside," I joked. "Unless you desire to be known as the new murderer in the woods."

Darren shrugged. "Maybe I would, who knows?" He answered cunningly.

Waving the conversational jests aside, I proceeded to walk in the direction where Stacey had went. "Quickly, we only have an hour's worth of time before the camp rangers join with Mr. Green. Once they arrive, there would be no other opportunities like this anymore!" I noted at Darren strictly.

With that, we stealthily left the camping grounds right as Mr. Green attended to a struggling pair of students who were having difficulties with pitching their tent. We had made sure to zip our tent close in order to fake the impression that we were inside doing our own business. If he were to notice anyone missing from the campsite, it would be an upright emergency as the school was held responsible for the safety and well-being of the students. Darren and I quickened our pace the moment the campsite was out of view. I pulled out a rolled up print of the forest's map from my backpack's pocket as we traversed through the overgrown shrubbery that interlaced the dirt track which was gradually narrowing. I halted as we came across a set of footprints in the wet soil, suggestively belonging to Stacey's as we can see the same branding of her shoe on the muddy imprint. I studied the map. "Seems like they did take this route. Let's try to sneak up on them and give them a surprise shall we?" I mused. Darren smirked at the thought of it.

"Sounds fun, what sort of prank are you thinking of?" He exclaimed eagerly.

"Maybe we could splash water on them or something," I proposed.

"Damn, you sure are scheming!" Darren commended, nodding in agreement to the vicious plan that I had half-heartedly devised.

We continued down the narrowing road, to a point in time where we had to trek in a single file as nature was eating its way ferociously into the sides of the walkway. Scrawny branches of close hugging trees scraped against our clothes joined by strands of wild tallgrass whipping and lashing out at our legs. Up above, vines hung from tree to tree like venomous alien snakes waiting to hunt. Each and every concise step we took were accompanied by the soft sharp crunches and crackles of dead leaves and grinding rocks. It felt amazing pushing through the forest's overgrowth; giving me the sense that as if I was a proud wilderness expert actually filming a documentary for National Geographic. If there was such a thing as heaven, I was already in it. Darren followed behind me, admiring the works of nature as well. It did not take long before we heard the soothing sound of flowing water, contrasted by Stacey's voice echoing throughout the forest; which meant that we were close to the river. We exchanged mischievous glances at one another, both ready to take the prank into action.

"You ready?" Darren asked, crouching low as we hid behind a large boulder covered in moss.

"Hell yeah, born ready," I replied with a grin.

Who said that the smartest students in class are always the best in behaviour? Definitely not us two. But we do behave back in school, though. Besides, Stacey and her adventure buddy Grace had pranked us during the previous camping trip at a dairy farm by spraying our bunker – or rather, almost dousing it with loads of mosquito spray. We had a lot of difficulty sleeping due to the fact that our room stank like insecticide. Fresh air from the forest was always the best air and trust me, having to smell mosquito repellent for eight hours straight was not ideal. The four of us were always notoriously pranking each other ever since elementary school till now but we remained as good friends. I smirked as I recalled the fun memories of our childhood days. But that was not our main concern as of now. It was now the time to get our revenge. I felt no remorse at the idea of drenching them with river water; after all, they had deliberately set up this prank with the mind-set that we would eventually get back at them for it. As I was about to commence the water party, I heard Darren gasp.

"What is it? Did they notice us?" I asked disappointedly.

"No… oh god. Look over there, past that boulder," Darren whispered in concern. Instinctively, I stood up and peered over our hiding spot. My body froze as soon as my eyes made contact with the object across the river.

A bear. A grizzly bear.

It was just a couple dozen feet away from the girls. And to make things worse, it was approaching them - growling. Both of them were not moving from their positions, which was a good sign that they knew the preventive measures of being confronted by a wild predator out in the woods. Stacey was surprisingly calm. However, Grace appeared to be trembling in fear.

"Grace is attracting the bear," I spoke. Darren could only managed a slight nod. I turned to him. "We need to help them!"

"But h-how?" Darren asked.

"I-I do not know, but we got to help them, otherwise the bear might start attacking the moment it deems both of them as food," I muttered, shifting my gaze back at the hulking giant. I desperately processed the situation, but there was no time for conceptualizing a plan this time around. We had no tranquilizers like what the professionals have as a safety precaution, we had no raw meat to throw out as a decoy, and we had no firearms to scare the threatening beast away in time. Wait, maybe we do have something.

"Darren," I called to him. He glanced back at me. "I need you to rush back to the campsite and notify the rangers. I will try to distract the bear from a distance," I added.

"Wait what? No way dude! You will be killed!" Darren argued in horror.

"There is no point in worrying about me! It's either I risk it or we watch the two of them get mauled by it!" I noted. My makeshift plan was evidently dangerous but we needed all the time that we could buy. Darren was still appalled by my decision and was clearly against my will. I shook him violently on the shoulders. "Darren! We do not have the time for deciding! Now go!"

Darren snapped out of his panicking and began making a mad dash for the camp, almost tripping over a rock as he sprinted uphill. "Promise me that you will not be eaten! I will be back with help as soon as I can!" he shouted before disappearing into the dense foliage. I laughed sheepishly the minute I realized what I was putting myself into. Picking up the bulkiest rock that I could find, I rushed out from the hiding spot, placing myself a good distance away from the girls so that they would be able to make a break for it when I taunt the bear. Stacey's eyes widened the moment she saw me sprinting out of cover. She gasped in shock the second she noticed the rock that was in my hands and realized what I was about to do. Grace covered her mouth as tears streamed down her cheeks. I could see Stacey mouthing "No" repeatedly but I did not care. They were the best group of friends I have had and never was I going to lose them to an animal attack. I gave Stacey a cheeky smile as I took in a deep breath.

"Hey you! Yeah you! Over here, I have a gift for you!" I yelled out loudly.

The bear growled louder as it turned away from the girls and faced me. At that point of time, I could have sworn my body was paralyzed. Who knew the thrill of impending death took such a huge toll? Pushing the fear back down, I hurled the rock with all the strength I could muster. The rock collided with the bear's head hard but all it did was made the beast furious. Taking the opportunity that the bear was focused on me, I shouted at the girls. "Stacey, Grace! Run and hide! Do not come out of hiding until Darren arrives with the rangers!"

The girls immediately took off into the forest's cover. I fixed my stare back at the infuriated grizzly bear. It let out a blood-curdling roar and instantaneously started pouncing towards me on all fours in a speed that I knew I could not match, closing the distance fast. I gulped in terror. My mind was desperately shooting danger alarms throughout my nerves but my body refused to budge an inch. The next thing I knew was Grace and Stacey screaming out my name and blacking out a split second before the bear assaulted me.