Watch out for That Bear!!!

“Nothing you do for children is ever wasted” May18, 2006
By
Jo
When I was eight years old we lived up the road from my Great Aunt Edith and Uncle Henry. We didn’t have a television and they did. Sometimes on Saturday evenings they would let my cousins Chad, Jessie and me stay up late and watch it. My mom would let me go there til midnight, that’s when all stations sign off the air. My aunt would bake a cake that morning to make it a special evening. I would think about that cake all day long, my mouth watering with anticipation of that first bite. I could taste the caramel icing melting on my tongue. I’d get all my chores done and still the day was so long, finally it would be time to head on down the dusty dirt road and Mom would say "Be sure to head back home at midnight." Sometimes when I got there early, Uncle Henry would tell us stories about wild animals, ghost or “haints” he liked to call them. That night he told a story about a mean old bear that would get you and you would never be seen or heard from again. He told how the bear could hide behind a tree and pounce and grab you before you knew what was happening. Well that story didn’t scare me. We had our cake and watched our television shows, and then it was midnight, time for me to go home. Uncle Henry said watch out for that bear. Me and my cousins walked outside on the porch. Sometimes they would walk halfway with me up the road, but that night they was afraid to because of the bear story but wouldn’t admit it because they were boys, I started walking by myself I was doing fine until I got out of the light from the porch. Then I started hearing sounds from the woods surrounding me, something was in the woods. I started to walk a little faster, I was barefooted on a rocky dirt road and the rocks was digging into my feet. I knew there was a presence behind me I started to trot. I felt something breathing on the back of my neck. I heard a thumping sound behind me thump, thump. I started running faster and faster! I got to the house and I burst threw the door out of breath. It was then I realized the thumping sound was my heart beating; the breath on my neck was the wind from walking so fast. It felt good to be home and still alive.
The End