Waving Bear Turns An Unsuspecting Family’s World Upside Down

Noah had always been a happy kid, and that had a lot to do with how he was raised. Being an only child, his single father had made it his life’s objective to give his son the life he could never have.

The loving duo lived in a cottage-like house in Maine, surrounded by dense forests that seemed to be taken straight out of a Disney movie. 

A Loving Childhood ©Luna Lovegood/Pexels.com

His mother had died during childbirth, so Noah had no other relationship in the world except his father, Jack. And the same went for Jack: Noah was the center of his existence, and he made sure he gave his son all the happiness in the world. 

The forest surrounding Noah’s house played an integral role in his development. His father was a carpenter by profession and often spent his work hours working from home in the vast expanse of space around his house. 

The forest didn’t look like anything scary, at least to Noah. He had taken his first steps out in the wilderness and spent every day after school probing and exploring the exquisite flora and fauna around him. 

The Forest ©zhang kaiyv/Pexels.com

That is what made “The Jungle Book” his favorite childhood story. He loved Mowgli and often imagined himself in his place, jumping around on tree barks and befriending animals from the forest. 

The forest gave him everything he could have ever wanted. The damp tree leaves bathed in the morning dew soothed his mind, so he never went to school without tapping his gloves over the drops first. 

The earthy fragrance of the dense forests took over his nostrils and the deep recesses of his mind, giving him a jolt of energy that he could never explain the origins of. 

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The chirping of the birds made his heart happy, and so did playing in the dirt after school. 

Everything about the forest surrounding his house spoke to Noah like a friend. Even his wildest imagination failed to find something around him that could harm him. 

The forest was his home, almost like a mother to him. And what kind of a mother harmed her own kid? Certainly not the kind Noah had built in his head. 

A Close Companion ©Allika Srinivasrao/Shutterstock.com

So when kids in his school teased him about how he wrote a paragraph on the forest when he was actually supposed to write one on his best friend, Noah paid no heed to their snickering and continued with his life unbothered. 

What most of his friends didn’t know was that Noah loved a character from The Jungle Book more than Mowgli: But there was a character from The Jungle Book Noah loved more than anything, Mowgli: the bear who instructed and taught him the ways of life. 

For reasons unknown to him, Noah developed a strange adoration for these feisty creatures. He knew they could easily gobble him up for breakfast if he ever came across one, but that wasn’t enough to dissuade him. 

A Strange Adoration©Kevin Bidwell / pexels.com

Although it was rare to see a black bear in Maine, Noah longed to see one every day. He went on long walks after school, collecting wildflowers to turn into a bouquet for his father and frantically looking around in search of a fuzzy black bear.

But the days went by, and Noah never spotted a black bear. Stricken with grief and frustration, he finally decided to share his feelings with his father. Maybe he could help him in his quest?

On a Wednesday morning in mid-October, Noah mustered up the courage to talk to his father at the breakfast table. As usual, Jack was immersed in the morning newspaper, munching on his sugar-free cornflakes.

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“Dad will help me,” he thought. “There is nothing I have wanted that Dad has ever said no to.” Noah’s monologue was enough to satisfy him, but never in his wildest imagination had he thought what was about to hit him. 

“Dad?” Noah croaked. Jack glanced at his son from above his reading glasses. “Yes, son?” answered Jack. “Did you ever come across a bear here in the forest?” Jack leaned forward in curiosity, resting his elbows on the breakfast table. 

No sooner had the words left his mouth that Jack sprang to his feet in alarm. “Why do you ask that? Did you come across one in the forest?” Jack’s eyes were frantic, and his words were rushed. 

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Noah was confused. He had never seen his father lose his calm, and that too over something so trivial. Why was his father so worked up? Nothing could have prepared him for the answer. 

“Dad? Are you alright?” Noah panicked. “Did you or did you not see a bear around here?” Perspiration had now pooled on Jack’s left eyebrow. Noah knew that meant he had struck a bad nerve in his father’s past. 

“No, Dad! I didn’t see one! Please calm down!” He held his father firmly by the shoulders and made him sit on the table. “I didn’t see one,” Noah repeated. “I just wanted to ask you if you had ever seen one.” 

Alarm Bells ©Deepu B Iyer/ pexels.com

Jack looked away. 

“What’s going on?” Noah thought to himself. He was baffled. He had never seen his Dad lose his composure like this, that too at something so trivial. 

Jack was still staring into space, so Noah shook his arm. “Dad?” His eyes were inquisitive. 

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Jack looked at his son with an emotion he had long buried in his chest. Was it time to open the window to the past, the one he had so carefully guarded all these years? Should he reveal the true nature of these woods to his son, who loved them like his second home? 

Memories pooled into Jack’s eyes, threatening to spill as tears on his cheeks. Noah was alarmed to see this drastic change in his father’s demeanor. He could not understand what he had done and what had triggered his father so much. 

“Dad?” He shook him again. “What’s going on? Are you alright? I am sorry if I hurt you with something I said”.

A Snippet From The Past©Kindel Media / pexels.com

Noah was now desperate. He had never meant for any of this to happen. He hadn’t even told his Dad his dream of seeing a black bear! Noah shuddered at the thought of his Dad’s reaction to this revelation.

“No, I have never seen a black bear before. And I wish to God I never do,” Jack’s voice was laced with venom and hate. Noah was taken aback. What had gotten into his father? He kept looking at his father, who seemed like he had been teleported back into time. He knew his father well enough to know he needed space, and so he gave him that. 

But the voices inside his head didn’t rest. Was his father hiding something? He had never seen him behave like this before. He had always been the happy-go-lucky Dad who smiled and hugged his children even when they did something wrong and then reprimanded them with a voice sweet as honey and warm as a mother’s hug. 

Secrets ©Ron Lach / pexels.com

So what was all this? Did his father have a secret?

After what felt like an eternity, Jack took a deep breath and looked towards his son. He had a strange expression on his face, something that resembled bitterness, melancholy, and … regret? Was Noah seeing it right? 

“I am sorry for reacting this way,” Jack’s voice was hoarse. Noah was immediately on his feet. He took his father’s hands in his own and shook his head. “You don’t have to be sorry. But is there something you have been hiding from me all along?” 

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Noah could see his father avoiding his gaze. “These woods are not as welcoming as you think they are,” he finally muttered. 

That one line was enough to punch Noah in the gut. He was taken aback by the syntax and semantics of it all, but what bothered him the most was the faraway look in his father’s eyes and the scathing hot venom he could sense coming out of his mouth. 

Never in his entire life had his father stopped him from embracing the woods and holding them as close to his heart as he had. 

The Gut Punch ©Light and Vision/Shutterstock.com

So what had changed now? 

“What do you mean, Dad?” Noah cupped his father’s hand even tighter. His head was swarming with thoughts, and he needed respite. Things finally started to dawn on him. Slowly but surely, he clicked the pieces together. 

How his father had once frantically called the police when he had wandered a bit too far in the forest and was twenty minutes later than the usual time he returned home. How his Dad had taught him to count his steps in the forest and never go farther than 150 steps from his house. His Dad was always armed with a licensed gun whenever he went over the designated 150 steps. 

Piecing Things Together ©Gabriela Palai / pexels.com

What lurked in the forest and in his father’s past?