Surprise Visitors

Mack and Marshall were twins. They did nearly everything together. Mack, however, would be the first to admit that Marshall was the more daring of the two. He liked to take risks, and he would try nearly anything; whereas, Mack was more reserved and careful with his decisions.

Each afternoon, when weather would permit, the two brothers would go hiking. After being in school all day, being able to go outside and do something was especially great. Their parents had warned them though about the dangers of wild animals. They were vigilant as they hiked and tried to do all the right things to keep each other safe. Unfortunately, one day, that wasn’t enough as Mack and Marshall stumbled upon a black bear’s cub. Immediately, the boys knew they were in trouble. If the mother bear were near, she would assume anything or anyone near her cub was a threat. She would not hesitate to attack.

Before the boys could retreat from the area, they heard the sounds of the mother bear approaching fast. Both boys froze, knowing they shouldn’t run but desperately looking for somewhere to hide. At the last possible second, Mack pointed over the small cliff. It was risky, and he was afraid, but he knew he and Marshall couldn’t stay there. Both boys scrambled down the side of the cliff and stood precariously on a small ledge that jutted out about five feet below them. They could hear the mother bear as she entered the area. Her paws moved restlessly at the ground, and she let out sounds of distress. It seemed to take forever before they finally heard the sounds of her retreating from the area, along with her small cub.

The two boys crawled back up from the ledge and both sat down for a minute to catch their breath. Mack used his cell phone to call his parents and ask them to bring the car and meet them at the road at the base of the trail. He didn’t explain what had happened but simply said the two boys were too tired to hike the rest of the way home. With the way his heart was still racing, he knew that much was definitely true.

As the boys headed for the trail that would take them to the car, they made sure the bears’ prints were going in an entirely different direction.