Pisaries Creator

“How did this happen,” the bigger bear asked the littler bear.

“I don’t know. I might be older, but that doesn’t mean I know the answer,” the little bear said.

“You should have more experience than I do with how life works,” the big bear said. “Besides, I was not looking in the direction of the camp. I was out foraging for food before this. It’s not like I recognize what dead bear smells like.”

“Well, go find a rose and pin it on your nose.” The smaller bear waved his paw in a gesture of disgust. He had heard this nonsense before.

Just because he was older did not mean the younger ones around him should not have accountability for their inaction or actions taken that were way out of line. He had been around many dummy bears, stupid ones older and younger.

All bears mutter to themselves because they all felt they had walked enough miles to be entitled to talk to themselves out loud. The problem was every bear that did this annoyed their surrounding family members.

The little bear was no exception. His family told him he had been talking too much to himself. They would tell him to be quiet. When he resumed mumbling out loud shortly after thinking thoughts quietly to himself, they would shout at him to shut up. This annoyed him each time but he swallowed his anger and did what they said which was to shut his mouth.

Instead, he would grit his teeth the next few days while reading, thinking, and eating. Soon, he would resume mumbling to himself and the process would start all over again. This was what his life had become. This made him unhappy and unsatisfied and bored.

When these two bears came across a campground with a dead bear that neither of them recognized, the little bear almost was happy to see the carnage. Seeing the decomposing bear near a fire pit reminded him of how he had given the bigger bear the nickname Ed. It was not out of love or devotion but ridicule.

Only Ed did not know this. He thought of it as a kind gesture. If he only knew the origin of the name. When the smaller bear was younger, a bear the same size as him called him names. He grew up to hate this bear and what was worse, this bear he referred to as Ed was his brother. It was not as if his brother was smarter than him. He was not. He was also uglier with his oversized snout, tiny ears, stubby legs, and misshapen head. There were reasons to hate his brother he did not want to ever discuss with his parents.  

As much as he wanted to kill his brother, he could not. His mother encouraged him to defend himself against his brother but she would end up killing him if he committed fratricide. No matter how often his brother brought shame to his family, his parents were not advocates of killing their own kind. Any bear he hated, he referred to as Ed, after he left his family to start his own. But the reality he was still a bachelor only bothered himself. This fact about himself had to be put on the backburner.

There was a dead bear in front of him and Ed was acting incredibly stupid at the sight and smell of death.

“Do you think we should give him a proper burial?” Ed said.

“How do you know it’s a male? It could be a female. They die too of unnatural causes.”

“So, he or she died of unnatural causes? Do you see any bullet holes? Maybe he or she got hit by a car, hobbled to this campsite, laid down to breathe the last breath.”

“Don’t be so stupid, please, I beg you. I’m not saying this bear died of unnatural causes. It’s just a hypothetical. There are many ways to kill a bear. I’m not as curious as you probably are to go over there and meddle into how the bear died. He or she should rest in peace. I bet the bear’s ghost is screaming at us to shut up at how he or she died,” the little bear said.

“You do believe in ghosts. I knew you did. You lied to me earlier,” Ed said.

The little bear turned and whacked the bigger bear on his snout.

“Ouch, you didn’t need to do that,” Ed yelled.

“Yes, I did. Now help me give this bear a proper burial.”

“Don’t you think we should dig the hole first before moving the body?” Ed said.

“What is with all your questions!” The little bear rolled his eyes.

“Fine, I’ll shut up now.”

“Thank you.”

In silence besides the gasp from both the bears when they came upon a huge ant family and the breaking of twigs when they moved the dead bear and pushed him or her into the deep hole, Ed knew this would be viewed as a good deed when it was his turn to die. He cared much about how other bears thought of him This was the only thing left that was important besides his companionship with this little bear he had met only this year.

Ed had lost his father to a trap and his mother was hit by a semitruck. He had seen blood before and was glad he had not seen blood on this dead bear. Of all the ways to die, he hoped the bear died of natural causes. The face of the dead bear appeared older than his own even in decay. For this, he was glad.

He looked older than the little bear too but he would never mention this. He was supposed to stay silent, though he hoped not too much longer. The little bear told him to pray in silence. After they were finished, both walked away, heads down, lumbering back and forth with unease.

There was silence between them for a long time until the little bear offered up a nugget of information.

“My name’s Al in case you’re wondering.”

“How did you know?” the big bear said.

“Because I know you’re kind. You are stupid but trustworthy. This is why I keep you around. You might have a big rock for a brain but I admire a bear that’s youthful and courageous.”

“Wow, I thought you didn’t like me.”

“I don’t like you. That’s what I’m trying to say. At first I found you nauseating. I had to control my sickness around you. You made me want to vomit uncontrollably. For some odd reason, you grew on me like fish stink,” the little bear looked up at Ed. “Besides, it’s not a bad thing to keep a dumb jock looking bear close to me. It would be a pity if I got rid of you now. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us, now would it?”

“I guess so,” the big bear said.

“I know so.”

“Is Al short for something.”

“Yes.”

“Albert? Alan? Algier?”

Al ignored Ed with their next destination unknown. They both needed food, water, and if time was on their side, an attractive female bear. That might never happen to either of them. Besides, both bears had walked a different path from birth and now they walked a different path as adults.

One pawprint after another. They would leave their mark in the bear world. Just not this day or night.