Peter the Polar Bear

Chloe the Polar Bear and Monk the Polar Bear were walking on the ice by the water. They were holding hands. There were 37 bears in their grade at school, and Chloe was the first female to lose her virginity. Some of the bears were saying mean things about her. But she didn't care much. In a way, for her it was a badge of pride. She did not love Monk. And some females might say his face was a little odd. But he had a heavy snout, and most of the male bears were a little afraid of him. He was 1100 pounds. He and Chloe had done it about 50 times. And they would do it many more, as far as Chloe was concerned. They sat down on the ice and looked across the water. Monk did not put his paw around Chloe.

Peter the Polar Bear was watching them. He was near a small hole of water, pretending to look for fish. He stole a glance at the back of Chloe's neck, and wondered what it would feel like to press his snout against it. She was very small, even for a female. In school, Peter would stare at her behind whenever she walked in front of him, where the fur was short - female polar bears have short fur on their backside, relative to males. Chloe got good grades in school. Monk not so much. But Chloe liked her trouble, too, thought Peter.

Monk said something that made Chloe roar a little, and then he brushed his paw against her hind leg. High up on her hind leg. Chloe roared gently, and turned her head, and looked right at Peter, who was looking right at her.

"Are you watching us?" she called.

Peter's face burned. Monk looked at him, but didn't say anything. Peter looked back down at the water, pretending he was searching for fish. His face was on fire. He turned and crawled away.

"What a creep." said Chloe. And Monk put his paw around her.

I probably made her week, thought Peter with a nervous chuckle. Underneath her pretend outrage, she loves the attention.

Peter headed towards his favorite fishing hole. He needed something to eat right now. His face was still a little flushed. There was a colony of belugas not too far from from his fishing hole, which gave the water, and the fish who drank the water, a strange taste. Many polar bears said the taste was like eating walrus fur. But Peter liked it. And it was almost always empty there, unless there were no fish in any of the main hunting areas. Whenever Peter saw another bear there, he would wait for it to leave. He'd rather stay hungry than have to talk to another bear while hunting.

It was very dark, but Peter liked that. He didn't like when that big ball of light came into the sky. When it did, all the polar bears gathered and had a celebration. Winston the Polar Bear would conduct a ceremony honoring the great ball of light in the sky. He said it was the eye of The Great Ice Lord. Winston said that if you live by the commandments of The Great Ice Lord, then after you die He will freeze you into a block of ice, and you will be delivered to His kingdom. And if you don't, you'd be trapped in boiling water for all eternity. Peter thought Winston was a little odd.

Peter saw Cassandra the Polar Bear coming in his direction. Cassandra was not as petite as Chloe, and not as popular, but she didn't look half-bad, if you looked at her from the right angle. Peter changed course slightly so he would cross her path. He approached her confidently. Not something he did often - but there was no one else around, and he felt something stirring in him. She was looking off to the right, at nothing in particular. Her fur was very white. Peter walked straight to her, and sniffed her back-side. She kept walking, half-sniffed him for just a second, and kept on going. Hardly even slowed down. Peter turned and looked back at her. He saw her backside, where her fur was shorter. He liked that, how short the fur was. For a second he thought about sprinting at her. There was no one anywhere near. Just sprinting at her and tackling her to the ground. He was 1000 pounds himself. But he didn't do that. He kept staring at her backside, at that short fur, and what it covered. There was empty snow in every direction.

He's a bit of a strange one, isn't he? Thought Cassandra. She could hear that his footsteps had stopped, and knew he was staring at her. She didn't look back.

When Peter reached the fishing hole, he looked around and was relieved to see he had it to himself. The water was a shade darker here. Something to do with the belugas. He looked in, eyes searching for that little flicker under the surface. And dove his snout in and yanked out a fish. It was a big one. Most polar bears swallow the fish hole, but Peter liked to mash on them a little with his teeth. Feel the guts in his mouth.

He fished at the hole for about 2 hours. He ate twelve fish. He had a layer of fat forming under his snout. A strange place for a polar bear to get fat. His snout was covered in blood and fish guts. He'd eaten too much, again. Sometimes he just couldn't stop. He laid down and stretched on the ice. He needed a nap to digest all those fish. He looked up at the dark sky, and wondered what was The Great Ice Lord doing right now. Did he just sit in His throne somewhere, watching everyone? Peter closed his eyes and then Chloe and Monk came to his mind. He had an idea what they were doing now. He thought of Chloe again, when her fur was soaked with water after fishing. Before he drifted off into sleep, he imagined reaching his paw out, and touching the fur on Chloe's rear end, the fur that was a little shorter than the rest. Rubbing his paws against it. And then pulling her closer.