Realm of the Grizzly Bear

Realm of the Grizzly Bear By Alex Morgan The forest seemed different to Jarrod, strange and unworldly, as he walked deeper into the brush than he had on previous excursions. Was it because he was venturing farther into unfamiliar territory and feared losing his way back to his truck? The rain kept a steady downpour, creating a thick, hot atmosphere among the trees as if he was in Mother Nature’s own steam room. He had removed his shirt hours ago in an effort to keep cool, but the oppressive humidity made him sweat, and his chest hair was soaking wet and stuck to his skin. Or was it the forest being so quiet with only the sound of the rain? Jarrod could not hear any birds singing, insects buzzing, or any other sounds omnipresent in the wilderness. Or perhaps I’m on a fool’s errand, he thought for the hundredth time. So what gave him this eerie feeling? Was he close to finding Caleb’s cabin at last? Jarrod had been searching for it since the previous Christmas when his truck ran off the road and got stuck in the middle of a blizzard. Caleb had rescued him from freezing to death by giving him refuge in a remote cabin. Caleb’s muscularity and white-haired features had made him irresistible to Jarrod, and they had shared a night of passion. In the morning, Jarrod had woken up in his pickup with no sign of Caleb. He worried it had been a vivid, wet dream, but a few subtle clues told him it had not. Jarrod rubbed the bite mark on his chest, a souvenir from Caleb, delivered during their lovemaking session. It no longer hurt, and he wore it as a badge of honor, a reminder that the white bear had been no figment of his imagination. His parents had fretted when he reached their house after his assignation with Caleb, fearing the bite could become infected. It had not, but it had never healed completely. The doctor could not explain why, nor could he explain Jarrod’s sudden growth spurt. Since Christmas, he had grown nearly eight inches, making him well over six feet tall. His muscle mass had also increased, as had his body hair. There had to be a connection. He had not been surprised when the doctor said the wound had the shape of a bear bite, but not one of a full-grown grizzly or polar bear. “Perhaps a human-sized bear?” Jarrod had asked and quickly added, “Hypothetically speaking, of course.” “Of course,” the doctor had responded, as if humoring Jarrod. “If a bear was the size of a person, that bite would be consistent with this injury.” Jarrod had needed no more convincing. The mystery surrounding Caleb’s sudden appearance and disappearance only added to his theory that the white bear’s bite was transforming him. He just wasn’t sure into what. Jarrod had begun searching for Caleb at every opportunity, travelling back to the area where he had run off the road this past winter. Unfortunately, everything looked different when not covered in a foot of snow. He couldn’t be sure if he’d ever found the right spot, spending countless hours searching for the cabin, always venturing further into the forest with each trip. Caleb found me when I was stranded and about to die. Should I wander around lost until I’m about to kick the bucket from starvation and hope he’ll rescue me then? The notion of playing the dude-in-distress sickened him, and he figured Caleb would feel the same, too. Jarrod abandoned the idea. The major obstacle to his quest was the distance from his house. His parents had moved to this rural setting after their retirement. While he lived several hours away, they enjoyed his frequent trips, but became annoyed with his obsession with finding a man they knew nothing about. They had even asked reluctantly around their small town about a man with white hair, mustache, and full beard who lived in the forests outside the town limits. No one knew anything. Even long-term residents claimed there was no person fitting that description living anywhere nearby. Nevertheless, Jarrod had persisted, reminding himself it had not been a dream. The bite on his chest, nearly covered with a thin layer of blond hair, still stung at times, but his body reacted as if it was a s****l stimulus. His d**k would get hard and his pulse would race, causing him to break out in a sweat. Hoping it wasn’t just his imagination, Jarrod still felt Caleb’s seed coursing within him. Could that be the reason for the recent changes in his body? Jarrod wasn’t complaining. Since his growth spurt, and his beard and chest filling out, he had no shortage of men coming onto him in bars and clubs, and therefore, had not lacked for s*x. But none of his partners had come close to matching the hyper-masculinity of Caleb, the man he referred to as a polar bear. Jarrod grew tired of the wannabes and fakes who seemed to infest his stomping grounds. He missed Caleb. No man he had before or since measured up to his polar bear. In more ways than one. Now, satisfied with a plethora of reasons to find Caleb, Jarrod became tenacious in his search, despite the repeated failures. But until today, Jarrod couldn’t place the source of the strange feeling. Nothing looked familiar, and everything appeared the same as the first dozen or so times he had been here. He paused, listening to the rain’s soft patter in the leaves above, dripping onto the soaked grass and underbrush. Although his hearing seemed to be particularly acute, he could hear nothing but the rain and his footsteps. Had all the forest’s denizens gone into hiding? Perhaps I’m on a fool’s errand, he thought for the hundredth time. His nose picked up strange, new scents, the odor of rotting foliage under his feet, the fragrance of flowering plants, and the stench of animal waste. I guess a bear really does s**t in the woods. Another scent reached his nostrils. Food. Hot food! Jarrod turned in a circle, sniffing the air in all directions to determine from where the aroma was coming. The realization he could pick up a trail, a new sensation, surprised him. These enhanced senses were overwhelming, but he reveled in the sensory overload. He felt more alive than ever before, as if he was part of the forest. Jarrod began following the smell of food. Then a sound, like a door closing, reached his ear, unusual for a forest but undeniable to him. He broke into a run. The delicious aroma of a hot meal grew stronger. Jarrod’s heart began to race from anticipation as well as exertion. This is it, he thought with excitement. I’m getting closer. Several seconds later, he burst through a line of trees into a small clearing. There it is! Jarrod’s heart skipped a beat as he spotted the cabin for which he had been searching for so many months. It looked the same as he remembered it. Back then, the cabin was covered in snow with soft, yellow light reflecting off the white ground, giving it the picturesque setting of a Christmas card. Now, it sat under a rainy, summer day, water dripping off the eaves. No light shown from behind the dark windows, but a wispy plume of smoke billowed from the chimney. It was the source of the smell of food cooking. “Caleb,” Jarrod shouted and bolted forward. He reached the door in seconds and pounded on it. Part of him wanted to burst through it, but something inside him held him back. Decorum? Warning? Before he had a chance to decide which, the door flew open. The man standing inside was not Caleb. In contrast to the white bear, this one loomed larger than Caleb. His features, tanned and rough by the sun, matched the polar bear’s, but his hair, full beard, and mustache were dark brown, appearing black in the dim shadows of the cabin. Fur covered his broad, muscular chest, which tapered to a narrow waist that disappeared into a pair of cut-off denim shorts, held up by suspenders. Jarrod took a step back in surprise at the appearance of the stranger and the angry expression on his face. In a flash, the brown bear grabbed Jarrod by the throat, cutting off his air. Unable to breathe, Jarrod struggled to free himself, but the man’s grasp was too tight. Darkness overtook him, but before his vision faded to black, the last sight he glimpsed was of the satisfied smirk on the bear’s face.