Beautiful Curse

Chapter 26

        I wake up to the sound of heavy snuffling. I freeze, shivering, before slowly craning my neck to look out the entrance of the teepee. Please don't be what I think it is. Please don't be what I think it is, I beg the outer forces over and over. The snuffling continues, now snorts being added to the mixture as well. A large, dark shape lumbers past, seemingly clumsy in movement.

        But I know that thick brown fur and those three-inch claws anywhere.

        Only once in the past had I encountered a brown bear while on a camping trip with my parents and cousin. We had been minding our own business, setting up the tents and coolers, when a mother and her cub came along. She must have been attracted to the smell of lunch meat in the cooler, and it was obvious that she and her cub were starving.

        The bear was roaring at us—not so much with the fear of harm for her cub, but at the exciting prospect of having a human for a meal, which would be much more favorable than a few small sacks of processed meat. Mom, Dad and I raised our arms to appear bigger, which is what one should do when confronted by a bear. Being a child, Dad pushed me behind his back while the three of us slowly stepped back from the agitated mama. My older cousin stayed where he was, eyeing the bear with an expression I could not place.

        "(Cousin), get back!" Dad hissed through his teeth, still keeping the beast in sight. Beside him, Mom was starting to freak out. She kept pulling at the sleeve of his shirt and trying to gasp out something, but unable to form actual words due to her panicked state. She was pointing at (Cousin), who was standing stiff as the mother bear grew nearer while the cub stuck in the brush.

        I don't know what was going through his mind. Maybe it has something to do with the animalistic urge of the (animal) to protect loved ones from danger. Whatever the reason may be, the teenage boy fell to the ground in a fit of pained groans, moans, and the sound of cracking bones. His clothes disappeared and his torso stretched out, mouth and nose forming into a muzzle. That was the first time I had witnessed the change. The first time I realized that the supernatural actually existed.

        Mom and Dad had kept the curse a secret from me for so long, all the way until I was ten years old. They had been telling my other relatives to never speak of it, to never transform when I was near. They would have told me in their own time when I was near the age of maturity myself, but the danger of the hungry bears was enough for my cousin to break that rule to save us.

        Returning to the present, I push out all my past memories in order to completely concentrate. My heart beats fast as I crawl on my belly to poke my head from the shelter. The rain must have stopped a few hours ago, as the grass is soaked and the air feels humid. I am able to see much better because of this, even though the early morning is almost pitch-black. With my human eyes straining just a little, I watch as the brown bear—a male, from its scent—sniffs at the entrance to Sonic and Tails' shelter. The white soles of two shoes are all that I can see of the hedgehog, while the orange fox lies with his head near the doorway, his bangs swishing as the bear noses them.

        Nobody awakens. They are all sleeping soundly due to the exhaustion of travel and lack of food and water. Even Shadow must have been much more tired than he had let on. I guess, just like my cousin during that camping trip, it is up to me to protect my friends.

        While the brown bear is hovering over Tails, liking what he's smelling, I shift into a (color) (animal) as quickly as possible. Then I launch at the bulky male with an earthshaking bellow, wrapping my jaws around the thick skin of his neck. The bear roars in surprise and anger, rearing up on his hind legs to get me to fall off. I let go, dropping to the ground and staring up at the tallest creature I have ever seen. This bear is standing at about nine feet tall! Though I'm pretty large as a (animal), I'm definitely not that tall when stretched on my hind legs.