Lucky's Hibernation

Lucky woke up with a yawn already forming. She stumbled out of bed and down the stairs to her kitchen, where she found her dogs asleep by the fireplace. It was spring, they should be waking up anytime now. 

Lucky had been accustomed to missing winter for four years, a habit she had picked up when she ‘accidentally’ got into a fight with a girl who had been bullying her best friend. The bully had a ‘fairy godmother’ as it seemed, and Lucky had been punished. 

Her favorite season was the winter. It was cold, it was snowy, blissful, and it felt so right. But when she punched that girl in the face and broke her nose, she lost that. 

You see, the girl did have a fairy godmother. Except, she was her real mother, and she happened to be a sorceress. The mother cursed Lucky to sleep through her favorite season- odd curse, I know- because the mother wanted Lucky to miss big parts of the year.

When she started nodding off in class at the first sign of snow, she had been dragged to every hospital her mother could find. Nobody knew what was wrong. Nobody but Lucky. 

Every year since she had missed Christmas and the first snowfall and every memory she’ll never be able to make. She got her own house and got pet dogs, and they began to pick up her habits of sleep as well. 

Lucky called her mother, something she did every time she woke up after months, and they talked for hours. Lucky tried to explain to her mother, again, why she had to sleep through the winter, but she didn’t believe her. Really, who would? But was her mom the one who should have kept an open mind?

Or was it Lucky?

Lucky had always thought she would just live like this because of something she did when she was younger, but deep down she knew that wasn't the full truth. But, what was?

Lucky and her mother talked and cried and as Lucky was about to say her goodbyes, her mother stopped her.

“Darling, there is something you need to know.” Her mother began.

Lucky knew her mom, knew she didn’t need an invitation to continue, so she waited patiently on the other end of the line as her mother sighed. 

“You think you know why you sleep through the winter, but you don’t. It’s not because you stood up for your friend, or because some bully’s mom was a sorceress- that’s all just some hoopla I put in your mind. The truth is, you’ve been like this since you were a little baby. 

“You know why your nickname is Lucky? Because it’s lucky you survived. We went camping and… your dad took you somewhere to see the overview, the pretty sunset, but he didn’t know there were baby bears nearby. He didn’t hear the mama bear coming back. He turned to take you back, and there he was faced with the bear. He ran by to get to me, he didn’t notice that the bear had clawed off the pack you were being carried in. When he noticed, his face went pale and his eyes became wide and frantic. He ran back, desperate to find you, and he noticed the bear staring at you. Its head was tilted. A bear cub came out and snuggled with you, and the only damage he could see on you were a few scratches from where the pack had been ripped. He didn’t want to leave you in danger, so he came forward slowly. He leaned down, but as soon as he touched you, the bear snarled. The baby bear was right there. So he slowly backed up, waiting. He waited until night, thinking the bears would leave you out there, but they took you with them into their den.

“When night fell, your dad crept into the den carefully, he couldn’t see a thing. He actually carefully picked up a baby bear first, mistaking its fur for your pack, but quickly corrected his mistake. When he finally got back to camp, he looked rugged, tired, and worn down. So we cut the camping trip short and took you home. But that year, you slept through the whole winter. We were worried, but the doctors said nothing of it. So we ignored it and spent the rest of the year together. But the next winter, you did the same thing. So, we went to the hospital after hospital but could figure out anything. Finally, your smart papa connected it to the bear. It must have been magic or something.

“But… that’s the truth.” Lucky’s mom finished. 

“Wow,” Lucky said, “That’s…” She almost kept her voice even before they both broke out into laughter. Her dad was an actor who hated camping, and her mom was the mayor. Neither of them wanted to nor had time to ‘see nature’. Plus, they both knew the actual reason Lucky slept through winter.

It wasn’t because of some magic mother or magic bear.

Lucky slept through winter because she simply felt like it.

Sure, she loved winter, but her job required late nights, and she figured out a system. Tell everyone a story that could be believable in this magical world, never sleep the rest of the seasons, and hibernate through the summer. It worked. 

Lucky’s bosses were kind and everyone knew she was the hardest worker, so they humored her. Even though they also knew the story was a ruse, and Lucky would be better off and much healthier if she just did her work a normal amount, slept a normal amount, and didn’t miss her favorite season. She would be happier.

But Lucky was stubborn, and nobody was going to tell her what to do. So she told her stories and worked her system until her body nearly broke, and then she slept. And slept. And she slept for days, months, and when she woke up she was refreshed. But it didn’t last long, it never did. Had she been less stubborn and listened to others, she would have…. Well, not had to hibernate. Not had to miss showers for months or get yellow teeth from lack of brushing, or wake up nearly famished to death. So let’s be honest, did her system really work?