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The animal stood in their path, its small beady eyes
flashing at them. "It's dangerous," James muttered under his breath.
"Better keep still."
"My knees... are... shaking," Peter said in a quavering
voice. "I'm frightened."
"Who isn't? Just stay put."
Peter knew precisely how dangerous the bear can be. It
looked capable of ferocious attack, the deep growl in
its throat menacing and deadly. James took a step back
cautiously.
"Why are you moving? You told me not to move!" Peter
almost screamed.
"Look, as long as the bear does not
detect any movement, it will not attack. Now, take a
step backwards.... slowly," James cautioned.
Peter lifted his right foot and took a step back. At
that spur of the moment, he decided to take another step
and run. However, before he could lift his right foot
again for the second step, the bear lumbered straight
towards him.
"Run, Peter, run!" James screamed as he too,
took to his
heels in the opposite direction.
Peter was momentarily stunned but regained his senses
quickly and ran for dear life. He climbed up the nearest
tree and lay panting, clinging to the highest branch.
The bear seemed rather confused. The boys were running
in different directions. It stopped. That moment of
indecision saved Peter.
The bear stood under the tree, pacing the ground and
growling menacingly. After what seemed like hours, it
moved away. Peter remained on the tree, praying
fervently that James would have found help.
It was almost sunset before James came with a group of
trackers. Peter clambered down the tree with tears of
joy rolling down his cheeks.
"I didn't know you could climb trees so well," James
joked and he suffered a twisted arm for making that
remark. |
