Toasted Marshmallows (A Sweetly Novella)

9 | Sleeping Bag

9 | Sleeping Bag

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The bear paused in its approach, but by then there was a mere eight feet left between us. It stood on its hind legs and sniffed the air curiously. I would have thought the bear was cute if I wasn't at risk of being mauled by it.

It didn't appear to be threatened by me yet, so I started to breathe again with a slow exhale. Though it did nothing to calm my rapid heart rate and I had to ignore my instinct to turn and run from the danger.

"Hi there." Talking was probably a bad idea, but I proceeded to ramble quietly anyway. "I just made out with a guy I've liked for ages and he said it was a mistake, so I'm having a really bad night. I would appreciate it if you don't kill me. I suppose if you do, he'll have to live with my death for the rest of his life. It would be fun to haunt him—"

"Ferra!"

My eyes widened at the loud call of my name, but I didn't look away from the bear because it dropped back down to all fours.

Ian the Idiot appeared by my side, out of breath and angry. "What the hell were you thinking running into the middle of the woods?! It's not safe!"

"Shut the hell up, idiot," I said, keeping my tone soft and sweet.

He blinked at me, then turned his head to look at what I was staring at, "Oh, crap."

"Yeah, not the best idea to yell in front of a bear, you freaking idiot."

"What do we do?" he whispered, moving closer to me and angling his body to face the bear completely.

"You're asking me? I thought you were the expert out here."

"I don't remember what your dad taught me about bears," he responded, adopting his own non-threatening tone. "You do different things for different ones, I think."

"So helpful," I clenched my teeth.

The bear growled, no longer pacified by our voices. I blamed Ian entirely.

"Okay," my voice shook. I tried to recall the same knowledge my dad instilled in me. I thought it was mostly useless information, like what are the odds of running into a bear. Then again, I never expected to be in the current situation.

"We can't run, I know that for sure."

Then Ian supplied, "Can't turn our backs either."

"Sideways." My heart leaped as I remembered one option to get away, and we could only hope it was the right one. "We move slowly and carefully sideways until we're out of sight."

Ian grasped my elbow and guided me to his other side. "You go first."

"No, we have to do it together. Come on." Taking his hand, I ordered softly, "Follow my lead."

While the bear stayed where it was, I side-stepped once and Ian did the same after me.

"There's a tree root sticking up here," I warned, using my feet to feel around since I had to keep my eyes on the bear. "Be careful."

Ian squeezed my hand, fumbling with his foot to find the root and step over it. When he did, I commended him and took another step. It was like trying to teach him how to dance, but with a hungry bear as our audience. The guy had two left feet and it was made worse by the fact that he couldn't look down.

"I've got us," I assured him with a wave of confidence as we put more distance between us and the bear.

Then the bear had to ruin it by growling again.