Self Discovery

Self-Discovery

It was deep into February, but not too cold for her to want to be outside. The strong wind that had been blowing hard enough last night to freeze her face twice over had died down in the morning..  Sixteen year old Mia felt that it would be okay for her to take a walk in the woods. That’s where she did her best thinking. She needed some of that right now, as she was wondering a lot about her future these days.  What did she want to do for a living?  Did she want to become a school principal like her mother, or maybe a computer programmer like her father was? Ever since she could remember, she had loved music, very much due to the influence of her grandmother, her Omi. She could play the guitar, but she wasn’t sure that she wanted to make that her career. It could involve being far from home and travelling too much. She liked playing, and that was all. And she loved to dance. But she wondered whether that could be a career for her. The dance world was very competitive. Walking in the snowy woods might help her arrive at an answer to this life question. It was certainly worth a try. Nothing else was working. 

Sounds in the Woods

After she had been walking into the deep woods for about an hour, Mia heard a sound that reminded her quite a bit of her cat Angie (named after her Omi. It was years now since Mia had rescued that cat from a mean owner who intended it harm.. She could tell the cat’s mood by the sounds that she would make.  It was like that with her grandparents parrots as well. Although they spoke few English words that could be recognized as such, she understood them as if they were uttering words: “come close”, “keep away”, “I am angry with that bird on top of my cage.” All were like words to Mia. And their body language could speak sentences that she could read like a book.

The cries Mia heard now sounded more like there were a small group of Angies in the woods, not just one. Maybe a mother cat had just had a litter. But the sound was different too, louder for one thing. They weren’t kittens. And there was no mama cat. They were something else, Mia was certain of that. 

           They sounded more like Poldark, the old black, curly-haired labradoodle that was born the same year that she was and who was very vocal, and not just with his barking. From their earliest times together, when she was a toddler and he was too in his own wild way. She felt that he could almost talk, the way she could understand what he was saying to her, with voice and body language, just like with the parrots. And it was more involved than just “I want out” “I want in” and “I want to be fed.”  But the sounds she was hearing now were different even from those that he made, as puppy and as adult. It wasn’t dogs of any age that were making those sounds. Mia was pretty sure about that.

           Then she saw something black, kind of like Poldark. Then she saw several such Poldarks. They were black bear cubs. Ursus Americanus in the small size. She knew that she should suspect that a larger-sized one, the mama bear would be appearing soon. She had read that in the wildlife magazine that she received every month and read religiously. But she heard no sound that indicated that mama was there.

           Something in the sounds and actions of the bear cubs, told her that there might be no mama bear around. She did not know exactly why she felt that, but she was becoming increasingly sure of her suspicions. This gave her the courage to walk towards them, making herself appear as small as she could, so that she would be less likely to appear to pose a threat to the little guys.

           As Mia got closer to the bear cubs, she saw that they were beginning to feel comfortable with her. And there was definitely no mother bear around. She would have appeared by now to protect her babies. Mia knew that.

           As she walked into their midst, she saw why no mother bear was present. Not far away from the little ones was the body of an adult bear lying on the ground, a large, obviously very heavy branch was lying across her head and the upper part of her body. Last night’s strong wind had created a tragedy in the bear family.

           Mia took out her phone and called the nearby branch of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR). The people she talked to at MNR had said that they would come to pick up the little ones. In the meantime, Mia had to stay with the cubs and be sure to keep them together and out of trouble. They were happy in her company. It was no work for her to do as she was asked.

           It didn’t seem long before the people from MNR arrived. Mia worked with them to help the cubs into the back of their truck.  She was so useful in the process that one of the workers told her “You really seem to know what you are doing. Have you handled bear cubs before?” She told them that she hadn’t, but that she had spent a lot of time with a ‘wild” labradoodle. “After that,” she said, “No animal poses a problem to me.” After a short pause, she then asked, “What are you going to do with them? They can’t raise themselves.”

           “You are right there. It happens that we are in luck. We have in one of our outdoor cages a wounded she-bear that lost her young. With a little bit of work, we can help her mend, and bond with the little ones.” There was a brief pause, and the MNR staff member asked Mia whether she would like to help. She, of course, agreed. 

           “There’s nothing that I would rather do. Believe me.”

           “I thought so.  You seem to have a gift for this type of thing.”

           Mia called her parents, and told them where she would be. After she finished the call, she realized that she had found an answer to the question that she had gone to the woods to think about.