behind me. I figured Kishan had circled around and was trying to get my attention. I turned and stopped in my tracks, gasping in horror. A large brown bear was galloping toward me in attack mode. Its round ears were laid back against its head. Its mouth hung open revealing sharp teeth, and it was coming at me fast. It ran faster than I could.
I screamed.
The bear came to a stop five feet away, stood on its hind legs, and bawled at me again, swiping the air with its paws. Its shaggy fur was wet with snow. Tiny black eyes watched me over a long snout as it assessed my ability to fight back. The skin around the mouth pulled back as its jaw quivered, baring an impressive display of teeth that could rip me to shreds.
I quickly dropped to the ground remembering a story about mountain men surviving in the wilderness. I’d heard that the best thing to do during a bear attack is to lie on the ground, fold yourself into the fetal position, and pretend you’re dead.
I rolled into a ball and covered my head with my hands. The bear dropped down on all fours and bounced up and down a bit, its paws crunching in the snow as it tried to incite me to move so it could attack. It swiped at my back, and I heard the fabric rip as it hit the backpack, tearing the outer compartment.
Being this close to the bear, I could smell its fur, which carried odors of wet grass, dirt, and lake water. Its warm breath smelled slightly fishy. I whimpered and rolled a little. The bear bit the backpack and pressed its foreleg on the back of my thigh to hold me still. The pressure was intense. I was sure my thigh bone was going to break.
It probably would have if I was on bare ground. Lucky for me, the weight of the bear’s leg just pushed me deeper into the snow. I didn’t know if it was defending its territory or if it wanted to eat me for lunch. Either way, I’d be dead soon.
Just then, I heard Kishan’s roar. The bear looked up and hollered back, defending its dinner. It turned to face the tiger and raked its claws down the back of my thigh on one leg and across the calf of my other. I gasped in pain as Freddy Krueger claws with about six hundred pounds behind them sliced open the back of my thigh and calf. But, the good news was that the bear hadn’t really intended to claw me. This was a love tap. Just a—hey, I’ll be right back, honey. I’ve just got take care of the intruder first before I eat you, but I’ll be back before you know it—kind of injury.
My legs burned with fiery pain, and tears rolled down my cheeks, but I stayed as quiet as I could. Kishan circled the animal for a moment then rushed in to attack. The tiger bit the bear’s foreleg while the bear clawed at his back. The fighting beasts moved off enough that I chanced a peek at my legs. I couldn’t really twist my head enough to see the wounds, but great drops of carmine blood reddened the snowdrift creating a macabre snow cone.
The bear stood on its hind legs and bellowed. Then it dropped to all fours, ran a couple of steps closer, and reared on its hind legs again. Kishan paced in a semicircle out of the bear’s reach. The bear thrust its front paws out toward Kishan two or three times as if trying to scare him off.
Kishan moved closer, and the bear charged. Kishan met the bear standing on his hind legs. As they collided, the bear wrapped its arms around Kishan’s body, tearing at his back, giving me a new perspective on the term “bear hug.” They slashed at each other in a fury of teeth and claws. The bear bit Kishan’s ear viciously and almost tore it off. Kishan twisted his head away, causing them to both lose balance. The animals fell and rolled a few times, a jumble of black on brown fur.
I recovered my senses enough to realize that I had a weapon of my own. What an idiot I was. Some kind of fighter I turned out to be. Kishan was circling around the animal now trying to confuse it and tire it out. I took advantage of the distance between