Bear and Trout: Week 2 Story

 THE BURROWED BEAR AND TROUT

One gloomy morning, the clouds that hover over the Swiss Alps formed a haze over the well known clear water river that is in the heart of Switzerland. Warm and bright in the summer, but cold and frigid in the winter. No matter the season, this place is a prime spot for brown bears to snack on whatever animal they may desire. 

The river alongside the Swiss Alps is accompanied by a burrowed bear cave, which is where Mr. Big and his family of four reside. Growing up, Mr. Big and his family always traveled back and forth between the clearwater river and the lake on the other side of the hill. Since this is a comfortable spot for him, he decided to raise a family of his own here. 

Dawn is Mr. Big's favorite time of day because he gets to show his two baby cubs, Shirley and Saxton how to prey on glorious fish that lie beneath the clear waters. On this specific morning, Mr. Big noticed a group of brown trout that remained near an icy patch of ice, which he figured would be an easy trap for Shirley and Saxton to perfect their catching technique. 

"Salü" said Mr. Big to the pack of brown trout, "I see that you guys are stuck in this ice hole, and my cubs would like to offer some assistance". "Yah! We've been swimming in the clear water lake across the way and saw so many brown trouts that were enjoying the fresh water and juicy bugs!", said Saxton. An old, wise brown trout with one fin, named Finny exclaimed, "why would you want to help us? You are our biggest enemy". Shirley giggled and said, "well Finny, it looks like you could use a hand. Plus, we don't eat trout anyway, we get our nutrients from whitefish and rabbits".

Finny shrugged and chatted with his group, then replied "well, I guess if we don't escape this hole, we will be left to freeze, but you must promise us one thing", "what's that?" Mr. Big replied. "You have to carry us on your back, so we know you aren't going to gobble us up". Mr. Big shouted, "you have yourself a deal, Finny!"

One by one, each brown trout hopped on Mr. Big's family's back as they crawled their way towards a new life in the freshwater lake. A dense canopy overlaid the lake and the branches stirred in the shivering wind, but it stopped just in time for Mr. Big to plop the first delivery down under a towering red oak tree. He said, "we have arrived! Go ahead and jump in", then smacked the fish to the ground and scraped Finny clean. Of course, Shirley, Saxton, and their mama joined right in.

What a wonderful day Mr. Big and his family were having! They made about ten more trips back and forth between the river and lake until they came across a bearded vulture, who swooped down from the red oak tree. Vinny the vulture said, "uhh are you going to include me? You're kind of intruding my home". Mr. Big screamed, "we share this land, sir, what makes you think you should be a part of this?" Vinny laughed under his breath, "who made you the king of the Alps? I notice that you are teaching your family how to take the easy way out". Mr. Big stood tall and said, "there is no easy way, we all have a different outlook on life, but we are all fighting for the same thing."

Vinny jumped on top of Mr. Big's head and began poking at his eyes and did the same to Shirley, Saxton, and mama bear. Vinny shouted, "how's the outlook of life look now, huh?", then began to prey on the family. 

Mr. Big was caught in his own deceit and Vinny continued to live as if life were a treat, up in the canopy of the red oak tree. 

Author's Note: This short story was written based off of the classic tale of "The Cunning Crane and The Crab". I was inspired by the winter season in the Swiss Alps because it is somewhere that I have always dreamed of visiting. I took the basic concept of the story and gave it a twist by changing the location and characters. I made sure to include a life lesson that all should face at some point during their life, which is that deception should not be taught, instead everyone should hard work to achieve satisfaction.

Bibliography: "The Cunning Crane and The Crab" from Jatakas by W.H.D. Rouse. Web Source. 

Image Information: Ruinaulta Dusk. Source Creative Commons