By Aditya Acharya | Cover Photo by Surya Mainali
“Father, father, how good is the chance of seeing humans today?” Teddy had asked to father early in the morning.
“There is a very high chance. I have a news from some very reliable source that a group of foresters are coming to our place today. I can almost promise you that you can see a variety of people. They come from different parts of the world”, Father had told Teddy.
I got excited too. Excited because, as father told, there will be a variety of people coming at a same time. Otherwise, I am not that fond of humans as Teddy is.
So Teddy was excited since the morning.
“But be patient. They will come only in the evening.” Father had said.
So we went to play into the woods for the whole afternoon after having lunch. Mother came looking for us late afternoon and reminded our plans for the evening. And we went back home.
***
The sun was still high above the horizon when father said, “Let’s go towards the spot where humans are more likely to visit. We are quite fast but we can just wander around and wait until they arrive.”
“But be careful”, mother reminded. “Do not behave bad. Be sincere as you watch them. Otherwise they will get scared and go away soon.
I nodded. “But ask Teddy to not start a fight with me. I am always sincere unless she starts to debate.” I told.
Then we set off.
***
First, mother went to the spot where we were going, to make sure that there is no danger around. We waited at the hilltop for a while. Mother informed that everything was okay but asked us to not get too excited. And we climbed down with our father. Reddy told that she would play for a while and join later; so only two of us went first, with our father.
“Please, keep silent. There are already humans out there. Do not get too excited. Just pretend that you have not seen them. Look at them from the side of your eyes, not directly. Otherwise they might get scared” mother instructed again. But Teddy was already somewhat excited. I told her not to provoke me.
There were a lot of humans inside a cage. Some were red, some blue, some black, some pink. But Teddy got excited anyway. I had to warn her again and again. I did not want to make a scene there fighting with my own sibling. She once climbed a tree to see those humans clearly.
“My god, they look so different from each other,” she exclaimed.
“But notice that they all are of same race, the human race (Homo sapiens)”, father informed. “The same way as some of us are brown, some black, some white and so on. We all are of the same race, the bear race (Ursus arctos).”
“But why do they look so different from each other?” I also got confused.
“I will describe in details during the bedtime. I will tell you the stories before going to bed, okay,” mother told.
“Also the stories of Yeti, the snowman okay? I had heard some news about them some days ago.” I asked my mother.
“Okay. But they live only in the Himalayas, not here in Carpathians. I will tell about them too. But before bed,” mother assured me.
I sat down on a log in my favorite position and ate a lot of breads and corns. I do not like breads much; corn items are my favorite.
Reddy came sometime later. My uncles and aunts also joined for dinner.
A sly fox always comes and takes some of our dinner when we cubs are alone. He was looking for a chance today too, but as our parents were with us he did not dare, and went his way smacking his lips. But some birds always come to take our food, even if our parents are with us. They are really courageous. But as they cannot take a lot, I don’t really care. They just take the amount like our leftovers!!
We were still eating and playing and enjoying watching those humans when they left.
“Why are they leaving already, mother?” Teddy asked. “Are they scared of us?”
“No, we haven’t done anything to them. So I don’t think they are scared. Maybe because they have something else to do, or their home is far away, they are leaving now.” mother told Teddy. As I already told that I am not that fond of them as Teddy is, I did not care at all. But Teddy was still looking at them. I was also happy to see her happy. At least, she will not look for any reasons to fight with me when she is happy.
Just some minutes after they left, two Roe Deer met us and told that they crossed their way. They also told that those humans were talking about Teddy and her cuteness, among other things.
Teddy got really emotional. She stared towards the way those humans went, for a long time before setting off for home.
A memory lane 