Story Telling Sunday – The Bear and The Man

I’ve been asked a number of times “so what happens to the man and the bear?” but there weren’t any comments left so I will choose the direction of the story this time. If you are interested in the story leave a comment with your vote as to how it should continue. Now back to the man and the bear.

Reggie knew that playing dead was for fools and that if he was going to die it wouldn’t be by pretending to already be dead. He decided to make a run for it! The water wasn’t that far away and he figured if he could just make it to the lake the bear would lose interest and go back for the honey. Reggie bolted for the doc finding a path that he figured would be tough for the bear to follow, but to his surprise the bear was right behind him. Reggie could hear the pounding footsteps of the bear on the leaf covered ground. The heavy breathing and somewhat snarling sounds of the bear seemed to be right in Reggie’s ears. Reggie was waiting for the inevitable hit that would send him flying and rip open his back. But there it was…the dock! The sound of Reggie’s shoes hitting the pressure treated would was like the sound of hitting a homerun to Reggie. He took two steps and then dove head first into the water. Then silence. There was no more growling sounds, no more heavy breathing, but the fear had not left Reggie. He waited under the water to hear the deep giant plunge of the bear coming after him in the water, but there was nothing. Reggie swam a little farther out into the lake before coming to the surface. When he did come up for air he could see the bear had turned around and headed back to the cottage for some unguarded food just as Reggie had hoped for.

Reggie figured it wouldn’t be safe to go back to land, but he should be able to untie his canoe from the dock and get away from there for a while. He did just that and then realized that he had no food, no water, and not even a Swedish Firesteel flint stick to start a fire. The sun was going down already and Reggie was far from anywhere. He wondered if it was best to try and sneak back to his Jeep and find help in town or just camp out the night on the other side of the lake. He didn’t really feel safe being out in the open over night given that he knew bears were on the prowl for food, but how could he know if the bear was really gone when he comes back to the cottage tomorrow. Reggie sat in his canoe wondering what to do.

What should Reggie do?

1. Go back to the cottage for the Jeep
2. Stay out in the woods all night unprotected