Page 31 of Glimmer in the Darkness

What if the bear ate her?

The whomphing got closer. She could hear its heavy steps on the stone floor, hear it sniffing around.

She peeked out from between her fingers and saw its huge back outline. She couldn’t see what it was doing, but she guessed it was eating her breakfast. The granola bars and Pop-Tarts and bread the man had left.

Minutes passed while she listened in silence, too scared to even breathe, while the bear gobbled it all up.

And then the box tumbled to the side. The bear scrunched the cardboard, sniffing again. It hit something metal. The bucket she used as a toilet. The smell of it released into the room, and she thought maybe the bear had knocked it over.

Maybe the stink would send the animal away.

Except it didn’t, and the bear got closer, and the scream she’d been holding down pressed against her mouth. But she held it in.

The bear came close enough that its terrible breath blew against her head and fingers. It smelled like rotten vegetables and dirt and probably dead animals and her strawberry Pop-Tarts.

It growled.

The scream got out. Just a little, like a squeak, but once it started, she couldn’t stop it.

She screamed and screamed and screamed.

The bear roared back, the sound echoing off the walls and mixing with her screaming and making a terrible sound.

She covered her ears and screamed again.

She was gonna be bear food.

But the bear scrambled out of the cave.

And Ella hid under her blankets and pulled them up over her head and cried.

Where was Daddy? Why didn’t he come to save her?

It felt like forever later when the man came back. He crept into the cave, flashlight bouncing on the walls and floor. It hit the box of gobbled food and paused there.

Then, the light flashed in her eyes.

She squinted and covered her face.

“Maryann! What happened?”

Her terror returned, and she screamed as if the bear had come back, letting out all the terror she’d been holding in for hours.

The man scooped her up and held her close. And even though she hated him, and even though she knew she wasn’t his sister and she wanted to go home to Daddy and away from this terrible place, she buried her face in his chest and cried. She hated him, but she was happy to see him. Happy the man hadn’t been eaten by a bear, and she hadn’t either.

“Can you tell me what happened?” he asked.

“It was a b-bear.”

“Oh, Maryann. How scary. I’m so sorry.” He sat on the floor and rocked her gently. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here to protect you. You know I always try to protect you. From bears and bad guys and Mommy. You know I’ll never let anything happen to you.”

“I wanna go home.”

“We will. Soon, I promise. We’ll go to a new home where there are no bears and no caves, only beaches and waves, and I’ll never leave you again. It’s going to be perfect.”

Chapter Twelve

Cassidy had worried for hours.