A walk in the forest: A 50-word short story
Here's my #fiftywords story for this week's challenge prompt: forest. I have a few things to say about this story. See the commentary that follows.
A walk in the forest
(Image credit: Geran de Klerk, Unsplash)
Sierra walks the remote trail. The forest is alive with sound--the crying of scrub jays, the steady, monotonous hum of june bugs, and the purring of wind. She hears a crashing sound; a cute baby bear lopes onto the path. She hears a louder sound behind her: the mama bear.
Thank you for reading!
My true confession is that the scenario in this story is pretty much my most paralyzing fear. I have done many brave things in my life. I have traveled alone. I have moved to a city where I knew no one. I have driven by myself from one side of the continental US to the other. I even once jumped out of an airplane. But the idea of encountering a bear in the woods makes me tremble. And the possibility of finding myself in the vicinity of a baby bear and its mama (or worse, coming between them, like in this story) just about makes me soil my pants.
Sometimes, I think writing is partly about making sense of our fears, our emotions, and the things that cause us anguish. I believe writing out fear, anxiety and emotion can be very healing. Maybe the fact that I wrote this story will help me with my paralyzing fear of meeting up with a bear in the woods.
I love writing these little 50-word stories. I typically start by searching for an image that will go with the prompt, and then I see how that sparks my writing.
Here's my collection of 50-word stories:
The church mouse
The farmers' market
The tiny hunter
The map
Ghost fair
Departure from Castle Island
Conspirators and lies
Getting to know you
The man in hiding
Mermaid dreams
Time to say goodbye
"Sometimes, I think writing is partly about making sense of our fears, our emotions, and the things that cause us anguish. I believe writing out fear, anxiety and emotion can be very healing."
I agree. :)
There is a fantasy story I'm in the middle of writing at the moment. It was originally formed from my emotions and fears from when I was a child. Writing certain scenes caused great anguish... though, it helped me immensely. (Those scenes are no longer a part of the work, but I have them still, and they still bring a tear to my eye when I go through them and re-experience the emotions.)
Thank you for sharing both your story, and your commentary.
Thank you for sharing your experience, @kaelci! There are so many worse things to do with those emotions. :)
Having been born and (mostly) raised in Wisconsin, bears are a real thing. I've seen way too many images of people 'mauled by bears' to completely shrug it off mentally. Whenever I'm out in the woods/forest/nature I try to imagine how far it is to the nearest safe place (my truck or my camper or a tree I can climb). I doubt I'd make it...but at least it makes me feel prepared.
I agree that a lot of writing is about working through the things that you're afraid of, or worry about, or have caused you pain in the past. It's essentially the equivalent of a diary/journal, but hopefully with a proper character arc :)
You have a smart approach! That sounds like a good idea, to keep aware of your surroundings in case you need to get away quickly. (But yeah, bears are fast. And they climb trees. So it could be an exercise in futility.)
Painful, disturbing experiences and fears are excellent fodder for writing, even though sometimes it can be difficult to relive them or focus on them. I had never thought of that--a journal with a proper character arc! That's good. :-)
That is horrifying, but I don't know if that's fear #1 for me. I have ten thousand anxieties over my own personal harm, but the most awful fear is being alone. That's like, no.
So in other words, you wouldn't be caught dead on that path in the woods to begin with!
Poor Sierra. Not a good place to be:)
Thanks for reading and commenting, @prydefoltz! I have been traveling and am getting back into the swing. I miss interacting with you! I hope all is well.
I am good ... it is quiet around these parts ... you return is awaited but hurry back too fast on our account. Enjoy that Florida sun:0
this has happened to me before. Twice. Bears are terrifying.
Oh for goodness sakes. I need to hear about that. The fact that you survived it -- twice -- is amazing to me. What did you do?
Ok. Both times happened in north Georgia, on the same mountain. Part of the Appalachiant trail.
#1. I was camping in a tent with a friend. We woke to hear the bear outside. Two. Figured it was momma and baby. Long story short: we waited till they left. By the end, I'd gone through the stages of grief.
#2. Walking up trail. Think I see a monkey in the tree. "The f?" I realize its a baby bear as it falls to the ground. Then I hear the momma. I see the shape walking down the trail, my direction, from behind a hill. I sprinted to my car.
So I guess, both times, I got lucky. They were black bears, which are less aggressive than the other bear types native to the U.S.
How terrifying! Thanks for sharing your stories. It does really sound like you got lucky. There really aren’t that many bear attacks, I believe. Sometimes people make the mistake of keeping food too close by or in their tent. Mainly you don’t want to get between a mama bear and her cubs. I did trail work in the Tetons once and we walked along the trails banging tin pans to scare them off, and we never had any encounters.
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@jayna this is lovely 🖒
Thank you!