Chapter 3
A Little Orphaned Cub
The next morning dawned clear and bright on Horse and Bear. A good night's sleep however, did little to quell the confusion raging in their minds. Yesterday had been rough on them both and neither were quite sure what came next.
"What do we do now?" Bear asked, finally voicing the question which, no doubt, dwelled on both minds.
"I don't rightly know Bear. For some reason, we have been given humanesque features. We are now bipedal, multicolored, have heart-shaped noses, and opposable thumbs. Did I leave anything out?"
"Nope."
Yes they were in a bit of a bind. They had these gifts, now what were they to do with them? They thought and they thought, but no answer came to mind.
"You know, the best thing for us to do would be to probably just rest here for a few days, collect our thoughts, give ourselves time to recover from this shock. Then we'll explore the forest and see what we can't find." Horse suggested at last.
Bear agreed. "But what should we do for food? I mean, at this point, I doubt I'll ever eat meat again."
Horse thought. "Well, we're in a forest. We should be able to scrounge up something edible."
"Then it's decided. We'll rest here for a day or three and then move on. That's a good plan."
Horse smiled at his new friend. "Yes, now speaking of food. Let's find some shall we."
So Horse and Bear exited the cave to begin a search for food. They quickly found some strawberries and Bear surprised herself, when they came to a river leaping with trout, by expressing a craving for fish.
"You know, I've never tried fish before." Horse said.
"Oh, you've got to, come on. This is a good a place as any, and we'll have fish to go with our berries."
Together Horse and Bear, went the river bank, stopping at where there was a more rapid part, where Bear knelt down. Invoking instinct know to a bear, she dipped her paw in and scooped up one of the fish with tremendous ease. The fish landed right in front of Horse.
"Hurry, catch it before it gets away!" Bear instructed as the fish tried with all it's might to flop back into the water.
Horse tried to catch the fish but his attempts came to nothing as it just kept flopping away. Finally Horse caught up with it, but just as he was about to pick it up, a small paw snatched it away. "Hey!" Horse exclaimed until he saw what had taken the fish. It was small bear cub and he was just as black as Bear had once been.
Bear came hustling over. "Careful friend Horse, if the baby's around then his mother's not far behind. Let me check." Bear sniffed around, but she got no scent of any other bear. "That's strange. Where's your mama little one?" Asked she as she picked up the cub. In response the cub made a pitiful cry and gestured further down the bank. There lay a large black lump of fur. "Oh my gosh!"
Bear and Horse ran to it. Upon reaching the animal, Bear dropped down and set the cub next to her. The mother was clearly dead from the gunshot wounds lingering in her gullet.
"The poor thing." Horse empathized. "What should we do Bear?"
Bear dropped her head. She had no idea what to do, until instinct, once again, played its hand. "We'll keep him, I mean what else is there for us to do?"
Horse nodded solemnly. "Yes, but do you think we can do it ourselves?"
"I think we can. Bears, like me, often take in orphaned cubs. This is just another one of those times." With that Bear picked up the cub once more. As she did however, the cub began to glow (think Pokemon evolution) and underwent a dramatic change. When the glow faded, in the black cub's place, was a red bear cub that closely resembled Bear.
"Okay, I have a feeling this is no coincidence." Horse stated matter-of-factly.
"Me neither, Horse, me neither. And I have a feeling this is only the beginning.
A Little Orphaned Cub
The next morning dawned clear and bright on Horse and Bear. A good night's sleep however, did little to quell the confusion raging in their minds. Yesterday had been rough on them both and neither were quite sure what came next.
"What do we do now?" Bear asked, finally voicing the question which, no doubt, dwelled on both minds.
"I don't rightly know Bear. For some reason, we have been given humanesque features. We are now bipedal, multicolored, have heart-shaped noses, and opposable thumbs. Did I leave anything out?"
"Nope."
Yes they were in a bit of a bind. They had these gifts, now what were they to do with them? They thought and they thought, but no answer came to mind.
"You know, the best thing for us to do would be to probably just rest here for a few days, collect our thoughts, give ourselves time to recover from this shock. Then we'll explore the forest and see what we can't find." Horse suggested at last.
Bear agreed. "But what should we do for food? I mean, at this point, I doubt I'll ever eat meat again."
Horse thought. "Well, we're in a forest. We should be able to scrounge up something edible."
"Then it's decided. We'll rest here for a day or three and then move on. That's a good plan."
Horse smiled at his new friend. "Yes, now speaking of food. Let's find some shall we."
So Horse and Bear exited the cave to begin a search for food. They quickly found some strawberries and Bear surprised herself, when they came to a river leaping with trout, by expressing a craving for fish.
"You know, I've never tried fish before." Horse said.
"Oh, you've got to, come on. This is a good a place as any, and we'll have fish to go with our berries."
Together Horse and Bear, went the river bank, stopping at where there was a more rapid part, where Bear knelt down. Invoking instinct know to a bear, she dipped her paw in and scooped up one of the fish with tremendous ease. The fish landed right in front of Horse.
"Hurry, catch it before it gets away!" Bear instructed as the fish tried with all it's might to flop back into the water.
Horse tried to catch the fish but his attempts came to nothing as it just kept flopping away. Finally Horse caught up with it, but just as he was about to pick it up, a small paw snatched it away. "Hey!" Horse exclaimed until he saw what had taken the fish. It was small bear cub and he was just as black as Bear had once been.
Bear came hustling over. "Careful friend Horse, if the baby's around then his mother's not far behind. Let me check." Bear sniffed around, but she got no scent of any other bear. "That's strange. Where's your mama little one?" Asked she as she picked up the cub. In response the cub made a pitiful cry and gestured further down the bank. There lay a large black lump of fur. "Oh my gosh!"
Bear and Horse ran to it. Upon reaching the animal, Bear dropped down and set the cub next to her. The mother was clearly dead from the gunshot wounds lingering in her gullet.
"The poor thing." Horse empathized. "What should we do Bear?"
Bear dropped her head. She had no idea what to do, until instinct, once again, played its hand. "We'll keep him, I mean what else is there for us to do?"
Horse nodded solemnly. "Yes, but do you think we can do it ourselves?"
"I think we can. Bears, like me, often take in orphaned cubs. This is just another one of those times." With that Bear picked up the cub once more. As she did however, the cub began to glow (think Pokemon evolution) and underwent a dramatic change. When the glow faded, in the black cub's place, was a red bear cub that closely resembled Bear.
"Okay, I have a feeling this is no coincidence." Horse stated matter-of-factly.
"Me neither, Horse, me neither. And I have a feeling this is only the beginning.