Curiousity found the Polar bear

Hey =] So, first off, I know the title sucks. This story only came about because I was complaining to my friend that I had writers block and she wrote a short starter story for me to continue, which I have. I am useless at writing short stories so this time I gave myself a limit of 1000 words which I am pleased to say I stuck to, for once =] I haven't posted anything in a while, but feel free to review =] I'm not 100% happy with this story, but at least it beat my writers block =D Happy reading! xDudettex

I knew I shouldn’t have strayed away from the rest of the group, but once again, my curiosity had gotten the better of me. So here I was, fifteen minutes after abandoning the rest of the tourists, following what I believed to be paw prints. Polar bear paw prints. Only the falling snow was making it harder for me to follow the tracks, rendering them even more indistinguishable from the already white ground. I quickened my step, not wanting to lose the trail, but all the while feeling more lost. I’d wandered away from the path and was now on open ground. Starting to panic, I dug my gloved hands into my pockets and strived forwards, my eyes set on the half visible imprints in the snow.

I only stopped walking when I was sure I’d seen movement out of the corner of my eye. Turning to my left, I saw a lake lined with moss and ice covered rocks. The black water looked deathly cold and I wiggled my toes in my boots to try and get rid of the impending numbness. The snow had stopped falling now, replaced by an icy wind. I started forwards again, only to feel the sudden hunch that I was being watched. I looked to my right this time and immediately felt my eyes widen. My mouth went dry and my heart was going crazy in my chest. I was sure I’d seen a mass of yellowy-white moving against the clear blue sky. Berating myself for letting my imagination get the better of me, I shook my head and moved forwards tensely, only to stop mid-step.

A huge Polar bear was standing in front of me, barely thirty feet away. Its eyes looked pitch black against its yellowy fur. I could feel my chest tightening and my breaths were coming in short gasps. It took a couple of steps towards me and I could feel my mind reeling. I had to get away. Urging myself to think as fast as possible, I snapped my gaze to the lake. Not thinking clearly, I backed up towards the water, only to remember seconds later that Polar bears could swim. The tour guide had just been explaining about them when I’d left and I instantly wished I’d stayed and listened to him talk.

What was I doing? I had no chance swimming against a polar bear. So I gave up and stood still, the icy water lapping at my calves, stinging the skin through my jeans. My eyes watered from the bitter wind and I closed them with fear. I waited for a few moments in silence, the only sound being the gentle lapping of the waves against the snowy shoreline. I slowly opened my eyes and saw the gigantic bear no more than fifteen feet away from me. My heart beating out a frantic rhythm in my chest, I continued to stand as still as I could, ignoring the pain as my legs started to go numb. And I waited. And waited and waited until I could stand still no longer. Darkness was falling and my exhaustion was becoming too much to bear. I could feel my legs trembling, not being able to stand my weight for much longer. My whole body was shivering as I took a tense step sideways, trying to get out of the water. My toe stubbed a rock and I could feel it through my boot, but I bit my lip to stop myself crying out in pain. One noise and that would be it…

I took another tense step and then another, screwing my eyes up tight, until I was no longer in the deathly cold water. I made to lie down, catching myself as my knees buckled, and dropped onto the snow. I knew the polar bear was still watching me with its huge orbs, piercing the dusk. I felt uneasy as I lay my head down in the snow, still biting on my lip to keep my teeth from chattering. Gazing over at the bear, a sudden realisation took hold of me. It was beautiful. The way its wavy fur glistened in the last rays of today’s sun. The way it was outlined by the orange glow of the sky. I felt myself smiling and for a fleeting moment, I was no longer scared. And maybe I didn’t need to be frightened. After all, it had stopped moving towards me. But why? Was it because I hadn't run?

My eyelids felt heavy and the world around me began to blur as I felt myself drifting in and out of consciousness. The bitter cold was seeping through to my bones, my toes and fingers feeling as though they’d been anaesthetized.

The next thing I knew, the sun had risen and I could feel its warmth heating the tips of my toes. The waves sounded close and as I sat up, I realised that they were inches from my feet. Stretching out my aching muscles, I suddenly remembered where I was. I snapped my gaze to where the polar bear had been, but my eyes fell upon an empty expanse of snow. I searched around me, as far as the eye could see, but the beautiful bear I had seen last night was no where to be found. I suddenly began to doubt myself. Had it all been a dream? Shaking my head to try and remember what had happened, I noticed paw prints by my side. My stomach twisted and my heart skipped a beat. It hadn’t been a dream at all.

Thanks for reading!

I love the simplicity of this. That's probably down to the ease of which you write, or at least that's the impression I get

You're writing flows well and although the topic didn't much interest me, it was an easy read which is lovely. The fact it wasn't about vampires or a cheesy teen romance was also a plus point in my view

Hope the writers block doesn't return anytime soon

I actually indeed did like this piece. Dudette, your writi has gotten much better since I last read something of yours. I am not going to go into grammar and the such, but I am actually just going to point out a few things which I noticed.

Your story was excellent, but you need to make sure your facts are totally correct, shall we say. I do not know the location of where this scene happened, but what I do know is that it is mainly in the arctic where they can be found. There has been sighting in northern Ontario (Canada) and other places along the same line of latitude. But from your descriptions of the setting, I would expect it to be closer to the arctic and within the arctic circle. And then you get moments like these:

Urging myself to think as fast as possible, I snapped my gaze to the lake. Not thinking clearly, I backed up towards the water, only to remember seconds later that Polar bears could swim.

Yes, polar bears can swim but not well. They use the ice sheets over the oceans and the lakes to catch their meals. But my problem is with how willingly your character was to go into the water. In the arctic, or in relative places, the water is absolutely freezing. If you fall in through weak ice, you are pretty much close to death, even if it is in the summer seasons. It is like it automatically freezes you. It has been proven that it can drop your body temperature severely after only a few minutes, meaning severe hypothermia. Hence, swimming is not so good of an idea. But again it kind of depends where your story takes place because there is parks where there has been plenty of sightings of polar bears but there you are supposed to refrain from swimming in the lakes. There is warmer indoor pools.

That brings me to the fact that the character was out there in just jeans, another thing that bewilders me. The least she would have on would be longjohns underneath, but the cold would definetely find its way through.

But then again, this was just a small short story trying to get rid of your writing block. I wouldn't expect you to have done research to have found out about polar bears and the locations of where they are found.I think you had a pretty good basis and close guessing when you wrote this, I give you that much. I did like the story, and I would like to say good job.

I am glad your writers block is gone.
~Incognito