Two Years Too Many

 

                I don’t know how I got here.

                Yeah, story of my life. One minute, you’re just doing something, then-BOOM. You find yourself freezing your guts literally in the Arctic. You know, I didn’t expect myself to die like this. I wish I was back to my life, and everybody.

You got to move or else you’ll die.

I started to move, but a wrenched cry from behind me stopped me shortly. Slowly turning around, I found myself face-to-face with a mama polar bear, and a little cub. There was a gaping hole on the side the larger polar bear’s side. Unconsciously, I found myself reaching out to her, then froze. I don’t know how long I stood there, as the human girl with her eyes locked on the polar bear’s. The younger bear, a cub, launched himself at me.

Aw hel-

                The cub wanted to play, now that he’s in my arms, licking my face. The mother, still looking at me suspiciously, looked like she wanted to swipe her son out of my arms. The cub called out to her, and she came close to us. I was trembling, naturally, but was grateful for the warmth of the cub. Then I saw what made the hole on the mother’s side.

Bullet wound

                Blood was somewhat frozen in place, but she was slipping. The cub jumped out of my arms, and licked his mother. It was sad, this scene. I wanted to be able to save the mother, so her baby won’t die. I tried pushing against the wound, so it would stop bleeding. The mother didn’t even object. I tried to see the bullet, but the wound was bleeding too much.

                Several days, it was like that. Me, pushing against the wound, and help clean it up. The cub and the mother keeping me warm. It was almost peaceful. But at last the day has come, when the mama bear took in her last breathe, looking at me. As if to say, ‘take care of him.’

                Then she was gone.

 

                The cub was sad, and he mourned sadly. He looked at me, then at his mother. He pushed her to me. Then, taking extra care, he gutted her, and looked at me when he finished. I understood what he was implying. I nodded, and slipped inside his mother, taking her skin as my own.

                It smelled, but the cold had stolen my ability to smell accurately. It was kind of hard to walk around, but it was better than dying to death by the arctic weather. I detested thinking about what would happen when her brains started to rot and spill out, or when her eyes ooze.

                I used her mouth as a gateway to see outside. The cub had cut from the mother’s armpit enough so I could fit in. I was a tiny little human, and I was able to go in without a hitch. My head fit perfectly inside her mouth. That sort of scared me. A lot.

Little did I know of what the future had in store for me...

Two Years Later

                My brother, all grown up, looked at me. With a silent communication that we had built up over the years, he hinted that we should hunt. I nodded. Winter was coming-I could taste it. Unlike my brother, I was unable to hibernate during the winter. That’s when things grew harsh, and it’s quite difficult to hunt by yourself.

                With the skills a predator, I killed as I wielded the skin of the polar bear with the skills of a puppeteer, reanimating the dead polar bear. My hands fit into hers like odd shaped gloves, and I brandished her claws as my own. Her teeth were used to my benefits, and I knew how to use her skin.

                Without her skin, I would be dead. Her brain had already decomposed, oozing out of her nose. That was disgusting. Her eyes had already fallen out, but the skin was still in mint condition, as far as I could tell.        

                When I was just new to living the life inside a polar bear, it was difficult. The cub of the skin I was wearing had difficulty surviving. So, as an unlikely duo, we had killed seals and what not, eating raw meat. He also helped me make a little privacy area, where I do ‘business.’    I will not brood on that at all. I dubbed the cub Fluffy. That was the only name that came to me while watching him, in my fourteen year old brain.

                I looked to Fluffy. He’d grown more if he weren’t attending to me, that sweet little fluff ball. He was idly licking blood off is paw, and was staring at me. I sighed, and zeroed in for the kill. I didn’t like to kill the younger seals, but I had to survive. Their skin was rubbery-I kept them all to keep me warm in the winter.

Poke their eyes

Drive your claw into the chest.

As usual, Fluffy finished the seal off. Yay. More raw meat to eat… You have to get used to eating it. It’s disgusting at first, but you can ignore the taste as time goes on. I ate a lot, to maintain body heat. 10 bodies of seals were all I need to live in the winter.

A moan. An animal? No. Human. A human was nearby, moaning.

Human.

                I called out to my brother, telling him there’s a human nearby. He wanted to eat it, so badly. He told me of the stories his mother told him. Humans that came around these parts were good. I scoffed, cuffing him. I didn’t want him to drool over me when I sleep.

I signal him to say, let’s go home. But he was confused.  He didn’t understand why I wouldn’t go help the human, and thus be saved. He knew I wanted to go home.

I shrugged. I didn’t feel like abandoning Fluffy, who took care of me all these years. It was maddening that I couldn’t do anything for him, except help him hunt.

The moan was laced with harsh pain, and it sliced through the air. Fluffy looked at me with wise eyes, and I sighed. I trotted towards the sound of the moan, to find a boy.

Human.

I examined him, taking in every detail. Humans look so silly to me now, while I lived in the Arctic for these 2 years. He had nice silky black hair, adorned with icicles. I shifted, then sighed.

The boy, startled out of mid moan, looked up at me.

I knew how I must look. A girl’s face inside a polar bear’s mouth.

“Am I dreaming?” The boy muttered softly.

It was the first human sentence to land on my ears for so long, I nearly fell backwards. I just grunted, and hulled him over my shoulder.

“I’m going to die,” the boy laughed. “I’m going to die.”

I grunted, and ran to the cave that housed me for a long time. Mountains of ice raced passed as Fluffy and I ran, skidding to a halt inside the cave.

The boy groaned. “Just kill me already. I’m a delusional freak… I’m going to die a horrible death…”

I found that I couldn’t bring myself to talk. I have been talking through the special sign language Fluffy and I had build over the years, and words don’t come naturally anymore. I cuffed the boy in the ear, then threw him my seal-skin robe, one I made with a bone as my needle. I didn’t want to eat human flesh.

He looked over to me, startled. “Th-Th-Thank you,” he said, the cold creeping up in his bones. I had taken his backpack, examining the insides. The human looked at me suspiciously, but not interfering. There were chocolate bars, a tent, and some other things I couldn’t identify in his pack.

I picked up a chocolate bar, peeling the wrapper off carefully. I slowly took a bite out of the frozen chocolate

Complete bliss.

I think I moaned, and the human was looking at me oddly. I hid the chocolate for safekeeping. The human didn’t understand that it was a long time since I had chocolate. I’d trade it for raw seal meat any day.

“Uh, hi. Do you know where I can get back to the dome? I got lost and… Are you a hallucination?” The boy was cautious, and scared. I started to reply, and caught myself before I signaled him my answer.

The boy tried again. “My name’s…” His voice died in his throat, stomach rumbling. I threw some seal meat at him, and bit into my own share of the kill. Fluffy was watching us closely, just in case the human tries to hurt me. He’s an over-protective brother.

He tried a bite, and nearly gagged. I think I snickered, because he looked at me a little angrily.

“Who are you? What do you guys want? Are you going to kill me? I just want to go back to dome!” His outburst earned him a growl from Fluffy, and I silenced him with my raised hand.

“My name is Vane. What’s yours?” The boy asked, determination in his voice.

I tried to find my voice, and it took me a while to respond.  “…Iana. Iana Siren.” My voice was raspy, but the sound of my voice surprised me.

“So, Iana… Are you a hallucination?” Vane was cautious.

It was odd to hear my own name fall on my ears. I was used to Two-Legs, what Fluffy called me.

“…No… who… are…. You…?”

Vane looked relieved. “I’m one of the sons who work in the dome. I wandered off, and now.. I’m lost…”

I saw myself in this boy, but he has a chance of survival.

I can follow his sent back, Fluffy offered.

“Fluffy… Says… He’ll… Help you.. Find… Your way back…”

Vane looked exited. He looked at me. “Are you coming to?”

I shook my head. I didn’t feel like going back. I lost two years of my life here. It’s going to be tough to get it back, and I didn’t feel like it.

Vane sighed. “What if you change your mind? Just follow me, and then you’ll know where to go when you want chocolate.”

I perked up. I looked over to Fluffy, saying I will follow. I return to the cave, carrying my seal skins and the human on my back, racing after Fluffy to the ‘dome.’

 

 

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

I like the story a lot. You have a good mind. You create a sad situation and ran with the story. I like how she try to save the mother and stay with the brother. No weakness in this chapter. Your strong story held my attention to the last word. A excellent chapter.
Coyote