"Saturday" (pg 8)

After taking about a half dozen steps down the hill, I suddenly remembered why I normally didn't do that in the winter. I forgot about that particular point until after I had slipped, slid down the hill at a high rate of speed, and hit a small bump which propelled me into the late morning mountain air.

Zooming through the air, I told myself that the landing was gonna be harsh, as the parking lot came up fast and left no doubt in my mind what the end result was going to be.

Just when I was about to really eat pavement in all of its hideous forms, I got nailed with a gust of wind. It circled around my body, creating a small cushion that I rode all the way down.

Hitting the ground with both feet churning, I did several somersaults before landing flat on my back about twenty yards from where I'd first touched down.

Lying flat on my back afforded me the luxury to clean the pine tar from my hands and face, unstuck my glasses, and most importantly, rest my battered body for a few minutes.

I must have rested longer than I thought because I felt a wet tongue licking my face. Normally, I'm very cognizant of my surroundings, no matter what the state of mind I happen to be in, but this time, I wasn't. Opening my eyes, I was suddenly staring face to face with a pair of coal black eyes, a short nose and razor sharp teeth.

Casually rolling over, I took my time sitting up, partially not to have any violence inflicted on me and partially to get a better look on who was in front of me. Imagine my surprise when sitting in front of me was that same stupid bear from earlier.

"Why are you here? Haven't you done enough damage to me?"
The bear simply sat there, staring at me with those coal black eyes. After what seemed like an eternity, he got up, walked over to where I was and sat on my legs.

I screamed in pain each time that he readjusted his weight. After several minutes of this, I was about ready to pass out from the hurt he was inflicting on my knees and feet. Realizing that I was slipping into unconsciousness, he leaned over until our noses were touching. Clearing his throat, he answered my question in just three words.

"Now I have."

I looked him square in the eye, opened my mouth to say something...and passed out. Seeing me unconscious was his cue to leave. He got up, wiped some of the snow off his fur, and walked away.

However, he only got about two or three yards away, when either out of concern for me or not wanting to be blamed for something that went horribly wrong, he turned around and came back. Once he got to where I was, he slapped me a couple of times and sat me up. When he was satisfied that I wasn't going to pass out again, he took his leave, this time for good.
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