Bear. Finish The Story Contest - Week #58
This is my entry for @bananafish's Finish The Story Contest - Week #58
Source
When The Tundra Calls
"СКБ Прогресс". Space Missile Center Progress.
The writing stood out on the roof of the latrine, indelible against the cobalt blue metal, sparkling under the dirty white sky of a first spring attempt.
Gennadiy waited impatiently, hopping from leg to leg in the mud and throwing stones at the door of the makeshift bathroom.
Not far away, Drogol pointed to a litter of kittens wagging his tail, the snorting nose pressed between the mesh of the net surrounding one of the last houses before the forest. From his sharp eyes and outstretched ears, a curiosity shone halfway between the festive and the ferocious.
"Stop it with these stones, Genna, or there's no deal."
The Siberian husky slipped off his nose from the net, the time to direct a dry bark in the direction of the voice filtered by the rotten wooden boards.
"Even Drogol is annoyed with your complaining, Anton. The sun sets quickly." Gennadiy said, throwing another stone with a theatrical gesture as if he were casting a dark curse. The dirty pebble ended up right in the crack above the door.
"You're a bastard, Genna. Forget me leaving this pisshole”.
Perhaps, it was better to leave him in peace, free to concentrate. It was not only the hours of daylight but also their fathers, who in a few hours would be home with the day's loot and would certainly have wanted to find them ready to help with the recovered material. The boy stared at the makeshift latrine with the mark of the nearby Pleseck's cosmodrome: a missile and a satellite with its orbit in evidence stood out against the blue background and the white silhouette of a planet.
That symbol often appeared in the most unthinkable places of Dolgoščelę, an insignificant village in the Russian region of Mezen, a stone throw away from the Arctic circle. It seemed as if over the years millions of spores from the nearby cosmodrome had taken root and proliferated among the simple urban elements of that group of houses between tundra and sea.
From the time of the cold war, when the launch program intensified, for the population of the region to recover the pieces of the rockets embedded in the snow became an essential second job. One that, eventually, could replace the traditional activities of hunting and fishing and grant those poor families better odds against the sublime yet sharp immensity of nature. Sifting through the snow of the tundra in winter was easier than in summer when even the streets flooded and boats built with rocket shells came back to use after the seasonal dormancy.
Recovered metals such as gold and titanium could be sold to Arcangelo's black market. The activity ended up involving all family members, each with a task in an efficient recycling chain.
The door of the latrine opened wide. Anton, the son of the country's pastor and Gennadiy's inseparable friend, now stood out against the shining metal like a war hero.
"Anton, if they discover us because of your endless shitting, I swear this time your bike is mine."
"Stop worrying and think, instead, of their faces in front of our loot," replied Anton with a seraphic expression.
"East, beyond the lake. Where the caribous' footprints stop," said Gennadiy absorbed, his mind already gliding on the untouched expanse of snow of that spot deep in the forest.
"Aha. Today we go hunting for the wrong pieces," Anton urged hinting a smile.
Both friends nodded solemnly before answering to the tundra's call.
And now, my final
They walked a couple of hours through the forest on virgin trails. Soon the wooded area turned into a plain of short vegetation. Covered with mosses and lichens. A cold breeze from the north caused Genna to adjust his wool jacket. Anton bit a twig between his teeth without paying attention to the continuous complaints beyond the exasperation that his companion emitted.
Anton stopped and Genna hit his back and fell on his ass.
"Damn it! Warn when you're gonna stop," protested Genna rubbing his nose.
"We've been walking for hours. We should go back," he added.
The forest had ceased to obstruct the view, and before them the plain allowed large formations of ice to be seen in the distance, lazily sailing along the shores of an arctic sea.
A small cloud of smoke came out after Anton's small laugh.
Genna, confused, was even more surprised when Anton rushed down the hill.
He stopped in front of something that looked like a rock.
"Get your ass down! Come help me"
Genna ran to where Anton was, the word SPUTNIK appeared on the surface of the metal Anton was digging up.
"The circuits on this satellite console are made of gold!"
"Gold!" Repeated Anton with greedy eyes, as he struggled through the metal door with a switchblade.
Soon thousands of yellow circuits glowed at the scant rays of light from a decadent sun.
Drogol's grunt before a loud roar made both scavengers' hair stand on end.
Slowly they both looked into each other's eyes and at the source of the grunt.
A big bear claimed his territory. Both stood in front of the beast.
"Don't move a muscle," whispered Anton.
"The bear will stand and at that moment each of us will have to run in different directions, the indecision of the bear will give us the opportunity to"
Without finishing the sentence, Genna had already run to the right.
"God damn it!" Shouted Anton.
The bear stood up and Drogol rammed at him.
Anton ran in the opposite direction and gave a loud whistle. Drogol stopped attacking the bear and ran after Anton.
Genna did not stop, deaf to Anton's screams. He ran until his lungs fainted. He hid behind a large rock, his chest going up and down trying to catch his breath. His heart kept hammering his ears. Finally, the oxygen reached his head again, came the memories of a confusing phrase that Anton said.
The silence enveloped Genna and the waiting became endless. The indecision to continue or go back kept Genna paralyzed.
Thousands of dismal thoughts haunted his head. Anton devoured by a bear, the explanation before his parents, his cowardice for having left his best friend. He began to hit his head with his fist, to get them out of his mind.
"Damn Anton's ambition," Genna spat.
Finally, he got up with jelly legs and decided to come back for Anton.
A cold nose and a long tongue bumped into Anton and made him lose his balance.
"Drogol! I'm glad to see you too."
"Holy shit! Where the hell have you been?"
A great relief slipped over Genna's shoulders. His wet eyes drew a smile of satisfaction.
"Anton!"
He embraced his friend as if he hadn't seen him in hundreds of years.
"Hey! Stop sentimentality and let's go home, tomorrow we'll come up with a plan to rescue the loot," he said, trying to take Genna's arms off.
As they returned, Anton hid a sigh of relief as he confirmed that his friend was also safe.
Keep spreading the Steemit love 
If you want to participate in this contest, go to:
This is a lovely and adventurous story of friendship. I'm left wondering about how could Anton save his ass from the bear. I find original the way you portrayed the different personalities of the two friends and I appreciated the light mood you communicated. Cheers!
Thanks for appreciating my story