All Thans to a Bear

She loves the crisp mountain air in West Virginia, the beautiful streams and the cool evening air that even in the summer time, gives her goose bumps. This time she has two weeks vacation to spend taking photographs and hiking. She didn't decided not to waste any of her precious vacation time, so she rented a cheap motel room just outside of town, so she didn't have to drive so far to go on her little adventures.

The first sunset hits since she made it to town, she watches it while sitting on the rear bumper of her jeep. Sunrises and sunsets have always captivated her, she never understood why exactly, but if she sees one, she will stop and let it take her in, have its way with her, and then release her when it is done. After she comes too again, snapping back into reality, she heads for the shower and off to bed.

The next morning, she is awaken by small sunbeams shining in through the window. She smiles at the thought of what she will find today, and grabs her clothes. Nothing fancy, just some tan shorts, not too long, not too short, a pink tank top and some hiking boots. Now a quick pony tail and she is raring to go.

She digs her map out, trying to decide where she will venture off to today. She wants to take a few pictures of the stream that runs through these mountains, so she plots a course up the stream and makes sure that she has packed her bathing suit and a good lunch.

The motel manager stopped her on her way out the first morning, and asked if she was really going out hiking alone. He advised her that this wasn't a very wise move, but she just shrugged her shoulders and replied that she has been out here many times before. For some reason though, she didn't mention that she was never alone before, but she wasn't about to let that stop her.

She catches herself mumbling under her breathe that it isn't her fault that he left her for someone with a perfect body and a rich daddy. Its not like she wanted to come here alone by choice, but now that she was here alone, she decided to make the best of it. She didn't need a man to help her, after all, she grew up here.

She starts through the tall pine trees, hiking for what seems to be twenty or thirty minutes before she hears the water running. Oh what a beautiful sound she thought. After hearing that, she forgets about the map, and lets her ears guide her where they will. She finally sees an opening, and there it is. Clean crisp running water, and smooth round rocks that seem to just be begging her to walk along them. She hops onto the first rock and sits for a minute, taking it all in. Then she moves on, camera in hand, taking pictures along the way. She thinks about the last time she went skipping and hopping on the rocks in this stream, she must have been 11 years old. Everything seemed just as it was back then, perfect in every way.

She has been walking along the rocks now for several hours, somehow time just ran away with her. She wouldn't have noticed even now, except for that she heard something ruffling the leaves around in the bushes by the waters edge. She stops after a minute or so, realizing that whatever is making this noise, is rather large. The bushes here aren't small, and this bush looks as if it is about to lean over!

Then it happens, the thing among the bushes emerges. A large black bear. It looks straight into her eyes, and she into its eyes. Just at that second, she remembers what her Father taught her about bears, and immediately broke eye contact. Oh what have I done?!? She thought. The bear starts walking towards her, and she tries to ignore it, suddenly, it is too close for comfort and her body can't handle it. Against her better judgment, she hurls herself into the woods, running as fast as she can. She thought for sure the bear would watch her run off like a maniac and think nothing more of her. She was wrong. She heard the bear, pounding the ground behind her , so she takes off again. Her heart is now pounding so loud that she can't hear the bear. She is running through brush and bushes, gaining cuts and bruises with each passing minute, but the adrenaline is pumping so hard that she can't feel them.

With each passing second, it became too much for her. Her mind and heart were racing, her legs running faster and jumping higher then when she ran track and field in school. Evidently that experience didn't help her though, she caught her foot on a log and fell abruptly, smacking her head on a large rock and leaving her unconscious.

She recalls a loud noise, something like that of a cannon or a shot gun. Blurry pictures of a large man looking down over her face, run through her mind, but mainly all she can think about is the pain that is pulsing through her head. Sleep begins to take over her tired and worn out body.

Early the next morning, she feels her face warming. It's the so familiar and welcome sunbeams that shine on her to start her new day. She smiles and enjoys the comfort. Then she has flashes of the stream and the bear in her mind. She opens her eyes, to see the inside of a beautiful log cabin. In panic she begins to scream, jumps up to run away but is pulled back down by something. It is a horrible pain in her right leg. She can't stand to put any pressure on it.

She feels a hand on her shoulder and a deep calming voice say "relax, its ok now". Frozen in fear she stops, she doesn't move or speak. He senses this and notices that she is holding her breathe. So he begins to explain what has happened. "I need you to breathe and listen to me for a minute", he says, "You are here because you were being chased by a bear when you fell and knocked yourself out. I heard you screaming just a few minutes before you fell, and was making my way to see what was going on, just as I saw you fall. The bear was not far behind you might I add. I fired my gun in the air and the bear ran away. I tried to wake you there on the ground, but you were out like a light, so I carried you here, nursed your wounds and let you sleep."

She began to process it all, and felt a great sense of gratitude to this man. She asked him what his name was and he replied by saying, "You can call me your knight in shining armor" then he chuckled, "just playing, you can call me Steve". There was a deep sincerity in his eyes. They were beautiful and captivating with their hazel color, almost seducing. She finally broke eye contact, lowering her head and said "thank you Steve, I am forever in your debt". He placed his thumb on her chin and his index finger under it, raising her face up to look into her eyes, and said "having your beauty grace my cabin is all of the repayment I could ask for".

The tension in the cabin had grown like Texas humidity in August. It filled the air and almost suffocated all who were in it. Seeing what had happened, he tried to change the subject. "What's your name and where are you from sweetheart? Will there be family looking for you? Would you like me to take you somewhere?" he asked. She thought about it for a minute and came to the conclusion that she didn't know. "I can't remember" she said. "Why can't I remember?" she asked and she burst into tears. Then the pain returned in her head, pounding away like a jack hammer. She grabbed her head and huddled it between her knees.

"What were you doing when the bear came after you?" he asked. "Where had you came from, camping, a picnic, can you remember anything? Your mothers name? Where you live?" he kept on and on. "Nothing!" she replied, "I'm sorry, nothing! I don't know, and please don't send me back out there until I do." she pleaded, crying to the point of almost hyperventilating. He put his arms around her and assured her that she wouldn't have to go anywhere, until she was good and ready. He rocked her softly and ran his fingers over her hair, until again, she had gone to sleep. "How lucky can a guy get?" he thought to himself. Even though he did want her to remember who she was and where she came from, he couldn't help but think of the possibilities. He had been alone out here for so long. It was only natural for those feelings to arise.

He laid her down softly on his bed, laid her a clean pair of flannel PJ's beside her on the bed, and wrote her a note. The note read:

Here are some clean clothes for you to wear, it will be chilly in a few hours. I went to chop some firewood but I am right behind the house if you need me. I am sorry for what has happened to you, but will do my best to help you make it through this hard time in your life.

As for now, when you wake up, go take a nice long bath. Try to relax, and I will make dinner when I return inside the house. Feel free to join me outside if you wish.

Steve.

When she woke up, she felt much better then earlier. The pain in her head was gone, and she finally felt rested. The bed that she was laying on was amazing too. "What kind of bed is this?" she thought. To the best of her knowledge, it had to have been a hand made, feather top bed. She felt like she melted into it. While stretching her arms out wide, she heard something rattle against her hand. It was a note, from Steve. She read the letter and smiled, what a kind man he is. She is truly glad that she had fell into the hands of him, and not some weirdo.

She grabbed the PJ's and headed to the bathroom. A nice hot bath sounded perfect right about now. She filled the tub to the top with steaming hot water, took off the dirty clothes that she had ruined in her fall, and slid into the water. The heat felt to good to her soar muscles that her eyes closed and she couldn't seem to open them for several minutes. Finally she figured that she better wash off and get out of the one bathroom in the cabin, incase he needed in. Then again, she though, a man who lives out here, would probably just go outside. She chuckled out loud at herself and began to wash off. After she was done, she rinsed off, dried, put the PJ's on and straightened the bathroom back to the way that it was.

She stepped out of the bathroom, and began to take in the cabin. It is all made of the most beautiful wood. Whoever built this cabin was wonderfully talented. The house had a very cozy warm look. Everything in it very manly, but so very soft at the same time. In a word, it was very, inviting. One of those places you feel at home right away in.

She heard something out the back window, which was open, curtain swaying with the wind. She walked over to it, to find Steve out by a shed, chopping firewood. She started to leave the window, seeing it as rude to stand there watching him, out of his site, but she couldn't peel her eyes from him. He had no shirt on, just jeans, boots and a cowboy hat. "Look at those arms" she though, "not to mention his chest, shoulders...for some reason, she had the urge to feel those arms holding her, comforting her, perhaps even carrying her to that soft bed..". She found herself actually moaning aloud, and said "Oh my!". He turned, hearing her voice, and a smirk ran across his face. He called for her to come outside, but she just hid, and leaned against the wall for a second. Her face bright red with embarrassment. She swallowed and got the courage up to walk outside.

He is standing there, leaning on the ax, grinning from ear to ear. "Did you enjoy the show? I mean shower?" he chuckled. Still bright red, she said 'yes, the bath was great. I really needed that". He sat his ax down, and put a friendly arm around her, guiding her to the house. "Ready to eat?" he asks, "I think I could eat a bear" she replied, giggling as she walked up the steps.

He fried deer meat, made corn on the cob, and bean with cornbread. The smell was heavenly, but all she could think about it how she should have been the one in there cooking. She kept asking him if she could help, but he refused, and told her to go enjoy the view on the porch swing. She went to the porch, which wrapped around the entire house, walking around it until she found a swing. She sat down and looked up to see the view that he was talking about, when her mouth dropped. It was breath taking. A beautiful valley, a clear running stream, and most amazing of all, a awesome sunset.

Steve's footsteps come her way, and with those footsteps comes the smell of delicious food. The smell almost intoxicates her. She is so hungry after all of this time, that she thanks him for the food and never says another word, until her plate is completely cleaned. He looked at his plate when she was done, and he went to take her plate, and go clean up the kitchen, but she refused. She said she would clean it up, and he said that was nonsense. She gave him a firm look and replied that she could use force if necessary. He laughed until his face turned red, and handed his plate over. He kept looking her up and down. She couldn't be over 5'4, and he was a little over 6' himself. She was small framed, the only places rounded where the places that held a mans attention. He on the other hand was build like an Ox. Arms of steel, thick shoulders and eyes that could stop her dead in her tracks. He knew she was no threat, but decided he liked the force in her attitude and let her have the dishes.

After she finished in the kitchen, walking into the living room and was allured to the other side of the porch by faint music. There was a small radio, playing mountain music that she already knew form somewhere, but couldn't remember. It was so enchanting. She found herself lost in the waves of music, admiring the way the fiddle played with her heart. Little did she know, this was the same music that she had watched her grandparents dance to as a child. Simple, passionate mountain music. She loved every sound that came out of the small box.

Steve asked her if she cared to dance, and fearing she did not know how, she hung her head and said she better not. He walked up behind her, put a hand around her waist, his stomach against her back and swayed with the music. It was only a matter of minutes before he had worked his way around to the front of her body, and she was smiling dancing with her head against his chest. They danced like this for hours. Every song turning their dance more intimate then the last. They came closer together with each song, their breathing became deeper, and their hold becoming tighter.

So many thoughts are going through her mind. She glances at the large field beside the house, and pictures children playing, Steve working in a garden, or better yet, chopping more firewood. She wonders if this is where she belongs. Maybe God sent her here for a reason. She feels so at home here, like everything is right in the world.

She stops moving her feet, and causes Steve to come to a halt. He gives her a confused look and asks her what is wrong. She says " I would like to tell you, but I am quite sure it would sound crazy." He grabs her hand, walks her off of the porch, down into the soft grass, picks her up and gently lays her on the ground. He lays down beside her, and begs "Please tell me what it is? It might not sound as crazy as you think, as a matter of fact, it may be the same things that I have been thinking". She turns her head away from him, and once again, he turns her head back, staring deep into her eyes. He has figured out that she cant take much of that. "I want to stay here with you" she cries, "I don't know where I came from, or what I left behind, but I don't care. I want to be with you. I will not feel safe again without you. I want to spend every day of the rest of my life with you, give you children, and watch them grow and play, right here by your side." She is still looking at him, tears pouring from her eyes, and suddenly he smiles.

He tried to think of what to say, but found nothing better then grabbing her face and kissing her. The passion was so thick they both lost their breathe. They stopped long enough to look into each others eyes, and he started unbuttoning the flannel PJ's. For every button he undid, he gave that spot of her chest that became exposed, a dozen kisses. With each kiss and touch, she became overflowed with a wild passion. It coursed through her veins with urgency. He began to delight himself in the sounds of her pleasure, and brought her to that pleasure many times that night, for he could not get enough of hearing her soft moans in his ear, and against his neck. They made love far into that night, with an intensity that changed the flow of the stream beneath them.

Nine months later, she got the dream that she had envisioned, and he was entranced by the site of his beautiful wife, sitting in the rocking chair on the porch, holding a newborn baby girl. They both knew that the rest of their life would be just as great as this day, and all of the days they had already seen in each other's arms.