Bear with me…

Tilly stops along the section of trail she’s hiking, taking a moment to breathe in the fresh mountain air. She can hardly believe she was finally here, living in Canada and so close to the Rocky Mountains. Well, close in Canadian terms, that is. It still took her over an hour’s drive to reach the trailhead.

Having moved here from a small town near London, England, she was having a hard time wrapping her head around the vastness of this country and its provinces.

But gazing up at the towering mountain range all around her puts a smile on her face. “It was totally worth it,” she sighs.

Before starting off again, she readjusts the few safety gadgets she has tucked on her belt and the pack she’s wearing. Bear spray, air horn and bear whistle. She might be new to the country, but she’d done her research.

Still grinning, Tilly takes several steps forward on the trail, moving confidently as the path gently curves. The bright summer sunshine dappled the forest around her and lent it a fairytale feel.

That is, until the dark shape in front of her stops her in her tracks.

Tilly blinks several times as her mind tries to come to terms with what she’s seeing. “Bear, you’re a bear,” she mutters.

The freckles on her cheeks stand out starkly as the blood leaves her face.

The creature is roughly twenty feet from her and turns at the sound of her voice. “Oh, ah, god. Right, um, Shoo! Get out of here, go!” she shouts, her words a jumble as she tries to remember what to do.

“Shit! Oh god! Are you a black bear or a grizzly bear?” she asks it, knowing there are different methods needed for each of them. This one's coat is more of a cinnamon color than black, so it was hard to tell. “I’m going to say black bear, okay? No offence, but you don’t seem as big as I’ve heard grizzly bears are.” Tilly wasn’t a person to babble, but she was babbling now.

She squeaks as the bear takes another step towards her, grunting as it raises its nose to sniff the air. Apparently, it didn’t like being compared to its larger cousin.

“Noooo, no, no! Go the other way!” She yells, flailing her arms wide and waving them up and down, trying to look big and scary. It stares at her, seeming to wonder if she’s bluffing.

“Oh, you bet I am, Paddington. Just don’t call my bluff,” she hollers, adding some leg action to her arm flailing. Hopping from foot to foot, she makes her moves as exaggerated as possible, bringing her knees up as far as she can. “Woo, woo, baaahhhh! Bugger off, would ya?”

Most of her words make no sense, but it’s a bear, so it’s really the volume of those words that matter. And Tilly could be loud when it counted.

Finally, remembering the various bear deterrents she has, she grabs the closest one, the bear whistle. Slipping it between her lips, she blows several sharp bursts as she continues her manic antics.

It feels like forever, but finally the bear turns and saunters off.

Tilly continues her exotic dance for a few moments more, needing to be sure it was actually gone.

When it doesn’t make a reappearance, she hiccups a nervous laugh before hunching over and drawing in deep lungfuls of air.

A muted giggle behind her has her spinning in place.

Four hikers stand staring at her. A family, by the look of them. Mom, dad, little girl and a teenage boy. And they had expressions ranging from concern to amusement playing across their faces.

Tilly's skin flushes when she realizes they likely hadn’t seen the bear because of the curve in the path. From their vantage point, she was just some orange-haired woman dancing foolishly in the woods.

“Oh, um, hi! I was just… well, there was a bear, you see, and I was trying to scare it off,” she mutters, pointing down the path.

The woman gives her a gentle smile but pulls her daughter closer to her side. “Thanks for the warning,” she says, the smile still plastered on her face.

The man nods, trying to stifle his grin as he pulls out an air horn and leads his family around her. The young boy doesn’t even try to hide his mirth, and Tilly only just notices the cell phone in his hands, pointed at her.

“Oh, for the love of,” she groans. “Looks like I’m going to be TikTok famous.”

Watching the family continue along the trail, Tilly turns, hurrying back to her car. “I think I’ve had enough scenery for today. I’m pretty sure I passed a pub on my way here. A cold pint or two is definitely in order.”

**If you liked this story, please check out my other entry for this challenge. Thanks!