Short Stories of the Arctic

The Winter Bruin

A woman was trekking through a forest that was a path through the arctic to where gold would be. Each step she took left a footprint in the snow that was about a foot deep. She already gained frostbite here and there on the journey upwards so she knew about how things are in the cold. It was getting dark so she knew she needed to find a good place to rest for the remainder of the night. She found a small cave that would be perfect for her plan. She slowly entered the said cave just in case any bears were there. All was going quite well for her until, "Whoosh!"  She tripped and fell on a rock! The landing did not hurt for some bizarre reason. In fact, it was kind of fluffy. She knew immediately what was going on. She looked over to see an eye slowly opening up. The beast ploddingly rose. The woman had interrupted a bear's hibernation. Whilst this was occurring, it was pretty quiet. Until... "ROAR!" The mama bear yelled, her snout as far open as she could stretch it! The woman wasn't prepared for what to do in the instance that this occurred. She knew one thing though, and that was not to run. What other choice did she have, though? She sprinted out of the cave and back through the woods she had previously walked through. She sprinted and sprinted with all her might through the snowy woodlands. The bear was in no mood for pity. It barreled its way through the snow, gaining upon the woman second by second. The lady reached into her traveler case in search of anything to use against the bear, for it was certain running would not affect the outcome of her fate. She pulled out a small dagger. She turned around and ran into the bear with her dagger. She stabbed, and stabbed, and stabbed again! However, it served no use. Later that day, the slightly fatter bear walked back into her cave once more, ready to sleep for the rest of the long and painful winter.