On a quiet fall day I found myself wandering through the thick woods of a state park near my grandparent’s house. It had rained earlier that morning, but the sun was out now. A few rogue rays of light splintered through the cool shade of the tall pines as I trudged on the soft wet ground in my rubber rain boots I loved so well. Suddenly from my left I heard footsteps; or hoofsteps, as it turned out. The horse was a gigantic creature, brown and majestic. His dark eyes were focused not on me, but past me and onto the place where a stealthier visitor had appeared from. The sight of the bear startled me to hell; especially because unlike the horse, he was looking directly at me. As my heart pounded, I realized that neither the horse nor I would be able to stop what was about to happen. I was sixteen and always right, but today I was wrong.
The regal looking horse raised its head towards the bear and surprised me more than the appearance of either animal had, by speaking to the bear in a very diplomatic manner. “You can’t eat him, you know. He’s a human…and the other humans would miss him. They would come after you, or your brothers.”
The bear growled deeply, and began to speak for himself. “Oh, for Nature’s Sake! Look at you all high and mighty.”
“It’s not about that,” replied the horse. “It’s about keeping everything in its right place, maintaining a balance.” “It’s a little later for that,” said the bear, “Thanks to you he knows we can talk!”
Just then the splinters of light began to darken throughout the forest and the cool air of the forest became downright chilly. Thunder rumbled somewhere far off in what sounded like mountains. “Uh oh,” growled the already perturbed bear. “Looks like a storm’s comin.” The bears cold and merciless eyes glared into me as he inched closer like a train bearing down on a squirrel with its tail stuck in the tracks. Thwack! The horse’s hoof hit up like a bitch slap. “Leave on,” said the horse, “He’s not for you.” “Well,” started the bear, “you can’t just let him go. He knows about this forest now. And besides,” the bear continued as he gnashed his teeth, “The two of you would be eaten faster than he could twiddle his damn opposable thumbs. That hoof of yours won’t do much against the pack of wolves that’s been around here lately.”
The horse grunted and replied. “Fine. You can join us from here on. But you’re only here for protection’s sake and the second we reach safety you will leave us, do you understand?” The bear formed something that resembled a smile and answered “Okay, but that will take much longer than you think.”
The moral of the story is sometimes you need both a big heart and big guns around you to truly be safe.
