My Home, My Warmth

Theo sighed as he walked home, his translucent fur appeared white even though in actual sense his skin was jet black. Thanks to this beautiful fur he and the people of his kind commonly known as the Polar Bears could be able to keep themselves warm even in the cold conditions. Theo arrived home from his tiresome day of hunting, as soon as he was seen approaching his little cub Winnie rushed to him in joy and exclaimed, ‘‘daddy, you’re back!’’ Theo lovingly parted Winnie’s fur as she laughed in joy, the two soon sat down and ate the little bird Theo brought home. From time to time, Theo fed Winnie who was very pleased by the act. The two only had each other after Winnie’s mother died on one of her hunting trips when she swam in a polluted part of the ocean. It was clear that the effects of climate change caused their sea ice to melt and that was their home. Living in the Arctic was not as easy as it seemed, all creatures strove to survive, as conditions worsened so did their strife. The conflict between human beings and the polar bears grew more and more by the day as humans seemed not to care or maybe they were simply unaware of what pollution especially that of the water bodies did to marine creatures. Anyways, that would be settled later. Winnie dozed off as Theo kept on parting her back as he told her a bed time story. Theo looked at the most important creature in his life and told her the last line of the story, ‘‘and that was how life was for little Monty, a little joy and a little pain but overall he was still a little light.’’ Theo wondered if he could be able to watch her grow, if she would be allowed to have her own family one day, given how the world changed for the worst for them, he hoped someday everything would be alright.

The next morning, Theo woke up early and kissed Winnie's forehead, she stirred a little in her sleep but still continued sleeping as Theo left. He walked for an hour straight and soon reached the close pieces of parted ice in between them was cold water. To humans survival would be unlikely but to polar bears survival in such weather conditions was primal. Theo wasted no time to dive into the cold water as he began to swim, you might wonder just how could a polar bear estimated to be the weight of four grown men be able to swim without drowning? Well, I guess even Theo himself did not know how or why that was possible, he swam till afternoon but was unsuccessful in finding food to eat. He soon decided to head home and look around his area, on his way due to his strong sense of smell he found carcasses. Rather than go home empty handed he got what he found and took to Winnie who welcomed him with the same enthusiasm as she always did. That night as usual he told her a bedtime story and she slept. That routine continued every day for the next two months with nothing much changing. Thursday midday, Theo headed to the square for a meeting. As soon as he reached he made sure Winnie sat comfortably next to him, every Polar bear sat around in a circle as they waited to be addressed. Soon a small group of six figures was seen approaching them, every Polar Bear stood up and shielded the vulnerable ones, the smaller and weaker bears hid behind the bigger and stronger ones. The six got closer and closer till the bears could see who it was, and they began to speak among themselves in hushed voices, ‘‘the foxes?’’ ‘‘What do they want?’’ ‘‘I hope they come in peace?’’ ‘‘do they ever come in peace, I highly doubt it.’’ The Arctic foxes still approached the celebration of Polar Bears with no fear or hesitation even when they saw the stance the bears took. In a minute, the two sides were now face to face with only a few centimetres separating them. Among the Arctic Foxes, one of the females spoke with authority and confidence, ‘‘we come in peace, allow us to state our mission.’’ The polar bears had different reactions to that statement, most of them did not believe it as the Polar Bears and Arctic Foxes were not really friends. The Arctic Foxes were a more isolated group and did things their own way hence, the two groups each kept to their own sides without much interaction. The Arctic Fox that spoke before spoke again, ‘‘I am Clarence, but I am known as Clare, as much as I and my group would prefer to stay within our own proximity, we see it fit that we come here and reach an understanding, so please give us an opportunity and after that we’ll be out of here.’’ At this point even the little ones who were shielded peeped through to see who was speaking, one of the leaders of the Polar Bears then spoke, ‘‘everyone stand down, foxes come through.’’ The Polar Bears relaxed a little and returned to their seats as the Arctic Foxes occupied a small space among them, the Polar Bear leader then spoke, ‘‘we called this meeting to mainly address the issues we are facing especially with food hunting but we’ll let the foxes state their agenda.’’ Clarence then spoke, ‘‘we came here for that same reason, this area has been facing mild now going to severe famine hence, we the foxes moved around to look for greener pastures and we found some but we need your help.’’ The bear leaders nodded their heads for her to continue, which she did steadily, ‘‘the area is east of the Arctic, it is the least crowded area and large enough for both the Foxes and Bears of our region, the water there is fairly clean and less populated as there is much more food in the sea. All we need is manpower to clear the land and protect the area if it is to be our territory, we as foxes have a lower population compared to you, we come with a treaty, we work together and share the land.’’ Everyone was now in thought about what they just heard, one of the leaders of the Polar Bears then spoke, ‘‘we hear you, give us three days to reach a conclusion, we’ll get back to you.’’ The foxes stood and bowed a little to everyone as Clarence spoke, ‘‘thank you for your time, consider our proposal, good day.’’

Theo and Winnie arrived home later after the meeting, they sat to eat as Winnie began to speak, ‘‘I like Clare,’’ Theo stopped eating for a second and resumed as he replied with a question, ‘‘and why do you like her?’’ Winnie smiled upon answering the question, ‘‘she is confident, and strong, and beautiful, I want to be like her.’’ Theo nodded his head as he remembered Clarence, the first thing he thought when he saw her was that she was feisty. She was indeed beautiful with those naturally squinted attractive brown eyes, squeaky clean fur and beautiful tail, she was really a sight to behold. Theo got out of his thoughts and answered little Winnie, ‘‘true, she is all that, just take your time and enjoy yourself, don’t try too hard to be like but, embrace yourself and then you can work on you, you are already a jewel.’’ The two continued eating in a comfortable silence. Over the next month, the Polar Bears and Arctic Foxes moved to the prescribed region, both still kept to different sides as the foxes still liked to be isolated from other creatures. Winnie made a number of new friends and now she did not have to stay home all alone, she also began to swim around and had fun with her friends. As Winnie played in the cold water, on the other hand Theo and Clarence walked side by side as they held a conversation. Clarence then spoke, ‘‘well, I like your daughter, tell her that she’s beautiful and adorable.’’ Theo smiled upon hearing that, ‘‘I will, she will probably jump around in joy and miss a meal or two,’’ Clarence lightly laughed, ‘‘she deserves to be happy, everyone does I think.’’ Theo nodded his head, ‘‘that’s right, everyone deserves to be happy.’’ It was clear to both Theo and Clare that this was the beginning of a possibly long lasting good friendship. Later that day, Theo arrived home with some juicy food he was sure Winnie would like but he found her fast asleep. Winnie was the light to his life and warmth to his home, he walked to her and kissed her forehead as he was thankful that despite everything, he still had her.