Her Tortured Bear

Chapter 11

The forest is the orchestra of my mind, playing one enchanting symphony after another. Her leaves dance to an unheard beat, whispering their songs to the wind. In here, sheltered by the mighty trees, is every kind of life, from the humble beetle to enchanting birds of every colour. I hold my hands up to feel the cascading light, a brilliant white shaft illuminating the path that takes me onward and home. I wanted to change back to my human form but Cla was not ready to be caged back so soon. I could feel that his restlessness was still not gone but I was not going to allow him to run and chase rabbits like cubs now.

We were not children and cubs and we were not going to behave like one.

“But sometimes if you are back to your childhood and retain your innocence only then you will start enjoying what life offers you so readily,” said Cla and I had to accept that as well. He was a wise soul and about that I had no doubt at all.

The bear sauntered along the pathway, curious in his relaxed way. He brought the consciousness of the forest with him, the intelligence nature has. In the early light of the day her fur was the colour of seasoned acorns and her eyes were both black and bright. But suddenly there was a scream which pierced the air of the dawn and I could not help but feel that something was wrong. Something was very wrong indeed.

The woods accelerated the twilight, shrinking what would normally take an hour into just a few minutes. When Miranda entered on the rutted path, carefully avoiding the hoof-sized frozen pools, the light had faded so little she didn't even notice the difference. It wasn't a long trek, it was muddier for sure but it would get her home twenty minutes earlier. Her eyes adjusted slowly to the encroaching gloom and it wasn't for ten minutes that she realized the sun wasn't penetrating the leaves like it usually does and everything was a hue darker than it should be. She picked up her pace but in only five more minutes it was undeniably dark, she could no longer avoid the ruts and her ankle twisted painfully when she made a mis-step. The trees had become silhouettes, the air was colder and the gaiety of the woodland had been replaced with a sense of isolation. Her heart pounded in a way that had nothing to do with the exertion of walking. Soon the path and her own feet melted into blackness...

That night, as she scampered through the slender trees, stumbling over roots, cool spring ground underfoot, charcoal clouds chased her from above. She had felt that she would be able to get through the path before night and then reach the next town by the next morning but it did not seem like that was going to be possible anyway. She did not know where she would be going and the emergency torchlight would only attract creatures in her direction. Thankfully there were no wolves in these woods and she knew that. Miranda took out the wrap that she had taken from her closet and wrapped it around her torso so that she would not be catching the chill. The duffel bag worked very well as a pillow and the tree bark that she was sitting on was not soft but it was not too uncomfortable either. The leaves which had fallen on the forest floor made a safe place for her to sit. It was slightly warm as well.

And for the first time Miranda realized that even in darkness the nature’s arms were always welcome for those who knew how to return her embrace.

I wake like I'm hooked up the mains. No sleepiness, no slow warming up. Within seconds of realizing I was unconscious I am on my feet, eyes wide, dreams not just forgotten but erased. I am drinking in the feedback of all my senses. Aside from my own noisy breath there is nothing to be heard and the woods are simply too dark to see much at all. Black trunks against an almost black backdrop doesn't make for much too see and my imagination begins to supply horrors to fill the void. After a minute or two the sound of running water permeates the inky blanket. I am near a brook. A brook would hide my scent, cover my tracks. I want to run, but it is with faltering steps and raised hands I move on, like a sick game of "blind man's bluff." I want to silence my feet, but all I do is step on twigs and kick stones.

 The pain in her feet was making it even more difficult for her to move without doing this…and then suddenly Miranda heard the sound of a jeep in the forest. Who would come to the woods this early in the morning? And that too in a jeep? There was no safaris in these woods as far as she was aware and then suddenly her feet fell on a twig and it snapped and Miranda cursed herself and just moments after that she heard a shot very close to her. And a scream elicited her throat without even thinking.

There was someone hunting in the woods and it was not one single person. They were in a group and I was absolutely defenseless and the pain in my ankle was making me even more wobbly. How on earth was she supposed to take care of herself in this state?

She was an athlete and her feet were her only asset and now that they were gone she could feel the loss so painfully inside herself. If she did not move away quickly from here she knew that she was inevitably going to get shot again.

Because the people who were out for a hunt had a different mentality altogether. It really did not matter whom they were hunting, animals or humans. All they were in was the thrill of taking a life, killing someone…murdering in the woods and then disposing off the body was pretty easy enough and Miranda knew that very well. In this country every single day someone or the other went missing and was never found. Or sometimes when the body was found, it was always a closed casket.

The sound of the tires were coming closer and Miranda started looking here and there to find a safe hiding place. They did not have hunting dogs and that was a relief which meant that there was nothing to smell her out. The only problem now was how was she supposed to hide. And she was not going to be able to climb any of the trees as well with this condition of feet.

But she did not get the chance as well as the jeep came to a stand still near her.

“Owwwww….look who’s here….that is my fiancée boys,” said Jackson as he started laughing out so loud that the entire flock of birds flew away from tree top.

“What are you doing here Jackson?” asked Miranda in a strong voice. This stupid bastard was not going to scare her. No man was going to scare her anymore.

“Uh-huh…you are not the one asking the questions here…we are…what are youuu doing here Mindyyyyy?” he asked in a sing-song voice and the other boys started laughing at her raucously.

“I am in here for camping. And why on earth are you asking me? I am not the one hunting in the woods in the early crack of dawn,” said Miranda as she winced at the feeling of pain that was shooting from her ankle and stopped herself from crying out.

“Men hunt, silly chit,” spat one of the other boys as they laugh again.

“Yeah!! Right!!” laughed out Miranda at them and then said,” You consider yourself men, that is why you need to go running around in the woods for killing innocent creatures who have done you no harm and you cannot do anything in the real world, so either you hurt women of your house or you kill things for fun. If that is what you call manliness then I think you should check whether you have a d**k in your pants or not!!”

The boys were silent for a moment and then they growled at her.

“How dare you speak like that to us you f*****g b***h? Do you know what we can do to you?” asked Jackson as he screamed like a mad man.

“Yeah…I know…the maximum that you can do at this moment is come down here from your jeep, catch hold of me, rape me one by one…that is gang-rape me…beat me up and then leave me here for dead. Or worse you shoot me dead and then throw my body here somewhere. But trust me, if you do that you will be sealing your own lives not mine. I might be gone but the evidence that you will leave is going to remain, simple!!” said Miranda and the boys gawked at her to see if she was particularly insane or not.

But they did not have to wait for long. They heard a loud roar and the thuds of running of a heavy feet in their direction and started looking hither and thither. Before they could even catch hold of the rifle that they were carrying something came and struck their jeep so hard and fast that they all fell down like dry leaves off a tree. Then the jeep was upturned the next moment, trapping two of them underneath. Jackson was the first one to get on his feet and he looked at the huge looming figure standing over them and screamed.

Miranda was so shocked to see the bear that she could not even scream. Her throat was absolutely dry of the fear. The bear must have been nearby sleeping and these idiots disturbed its rest making it so angry. Now only Heavenly father could save them and in this phase she was also going to die along with these bastards. And her mother expected her to marry this freak!!

But the bear did not kill or harm anyone at all. He stood tall and then growled out loud at all the people who were standing there and almost quaking in fear. The boys started running as soon as it stood up again and the one boy who was trapped under the jeep kept on screaming and screaming until his voice was hoarse but there was no one who was coming for his help. Miranda thought that this might be the perfect definition of the fair weather friends and strangely enough here also there was bear attached. Not Miranda had nothing left to do at all except wait for the bear to come and maul her to death.

She thought if she was going to die then why die in pain, at least she would be able to sit down and take away the pressure from her feet. It was definite that she was going to die. There was no other end written for her today. So Miranda sat down silently, as if she waited for her fate to come and embrace her just like it was supposed to.

But the bear did not even attack her. And Miranda waited there not making any sudden movements at all.