The 2 Lonely Cubs

• Ruby Mildren, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2015

The two bear cubs play happily with each other, the smaller one biting the larger ones ear playfully. Their mother sits behind them looking out for any oncoming dangers, she sees there are none and returns her gaze upon the cubs. The mother yawns loudly and the cubs mimic in a higher pitch, the cubs follow the mother as she walks across the grass fields.
Bang.
The mother stops suddenly and raises her head, she looks around, not seeing anything out of the ordinary they continue to walk. The family reaches a water stream, the cubs jump into the water and play as the mother bites the water occasionally. After some time she catches a salmon and gives it to the cubs to share, they eat the fish quickly and resume playing.
Bang.
Once again the mother raises her head and looks around, she spots something strange in the bushes. The mother places her cubs behind her, determined to protect them from the stranger. A man walks out of the bushes holding a sniper riffle, he aims the gun at the mother. She stands on her hind legs and roars loudly attempting to scare him, she fails and the man shoots her. The bullet pierces her lung and she drops to the ground, the cubs nudge the mothers body. She roars in pain and the cubs eyes sadden, the man steps forward and yells, scaring the cubs off. The man grabs the mother bears leg and drags her a few meters before shooting her in the head and skinning her in his truck.
As the man drives away he notices the 2 cubs walking around, supposably looking for their mother. And in that moment the man realises that he feels no sorrow for the cubs nor any regret.