Her Tortured Bear

Chapter 13

We just met the person. How can they become such a “sudden enemy?” We write this person off immediately. Before we know anything beyond what our eyes tell us, before they speak one word, we think there is no way we could tolerate this guy/girl, let alone socialize. We lump them into a certain unlikable type, and maybe they in turn, place us into a derogatory category. This is purely from appearance, face features, eyes too close or too far apart. Or it’s about the hair, or it may be the choice of clothes because many decide on issues of fashion or at least they believe they do. At any rate, we have already made up our minds that this is “a sudden enemy.” We all understand. Many times I have sized a person up, and dismissed any chance of friendship. Then, I find I am totally wrong. You think you know, and surprise - my “first impressions” are often my “worst impressions.”

But with this girl nothing was like that. She was like an open book yet I could not turn the pages for she had glued them shut. I carried her in my arms and then felt that she weighed not as light as I thought. She had good strong bones which meant that she must do a fair deal of exercise to keep herself so spry and wiry. But there was one thing that I could feel from her and that was her anger. It was flowing off her in waves. There was something or might be a lot of things which made her so distraught and angry but I would find time for them later on. Right now I could see that she needed support more than anything else.

There was this strange vulnerability around her which she did not let anyone see but I could sense that it was eating her up from the inside. She could not feel the pain anymore and her hands and posture grew slightly more relaxed.

“Are you feeling better now?” I asked her while she looked at me and smiled in gratitude.

“Yes, a lot better. I think I am going to be able to walk now as well,” said Miranda while I kept on trying to get a sense of what was it that was exactly happening. Because this was something I really could not put my finger on.

“You better not wear the shoes…they might cause the swelling up to increase once again,” said I as she nodded at me.

“What about the one who is still under the jeep? Should we go and help him out? I mean, he might be hurt no?” she asked and I found something in her eyes which I usually saw in my mother’s. Concern. It was like a stab to my heart.

She was concerned for a boy who was in reality trying to hurt her in some way possible. If I had not been there then her bravado would not have come to lot of work at that point of time and I knew that. But she did not know that I was the one who had overturned their jeep. And neither was I going to tell her anything about anyone or my world. She was a mere human and she was not worthy of this knowledge.

“I had already called the sheriff before coming here. So he might be arriving with the paramedics anytime soon. They will be more than capable of dealing with him. Hunting is outlawed in these woods and lands and still these stupid gits think that hanging the head of a deer on their mantle would enhance their prestige. If I go and find him now, there is a strong chance that I might snap his neck. SO it is better that I stay away from them as much as possible,” I said as I could see that she was smiling at my anger.

“I told them this exact same thing. But they would not listen. But I am really glad that at that point of time the bear came and then turned the jeep. It almost felt like it came to save me only and for that I am utmost grateful. Who knows what those idiots might have done in case it had not appeared. Whatever it happened for, I am glad that it did,” said Miranda and I looked at her in order to guage her original reaction and strangely I understood that she was speaking the truth. There was not one ounce lie or making up from her end.

“So can you walk now?” I asked her and she held up her leg gingerly and then placed it flat on the stone slab and then said with a deep breath.” I think I can manage. I might need some help though.”

“That you will get whenever you ask here,” I replied with a smile and then helped her up on her feet. She was holding my hands, her palms firmly clasped in mine and I knew that she trusted me. It was good to know that a stranger trusted you with something as precious as their health or their life but there was bigger question which was playing in my mind.

Was I going to be able to trust her?

But why was I even thinking about this? Where from this question arise in my mind? Why did it matter if she trusted me and if I trusted her? For all I knew she might leave tomorrow and I was never going to see her again but then why did I feel this pain at the thought of her leaving me? What on earth was happening to me? Why was I behaving like a fool?

“How far is your home?” asked Miranda and my reverie broke at the sound of her voice.

“Slightly less than a mile. I mean, I am the only person who has a home in this entire vicinity,” said I as I put my hand in her and then helped her walk. She was walking slowly and gingerly. Her duffel was still slung on my back.

“But why would you live so close to the forest? I mean, do you live alone or with your family?” she asked, as she still kept on walking slowly.

“No I live alone with Jax,” I replied thinking why was she asking me so many questions. She seemed to be awfully interested in the fact that I had a creature named Jax. And I could see that in her expression itself.

“Jax? Is Jax is a dog?” asked Miranda as her face lit up with genuine curiosity and interest.

“And that is an interesting matter of fact?” I asked in reply.

“Oh yes!! Of course…I love dogs…what breed is it?” asked Miranda as I looked at her in curiosity this time. This girl was telling me that she was interested in dogs and she camped in the woods. What girl of today, humans I mean did these stuff?

“He is a rescue dog, so I am not sure what particular breed he belongs to. I tried asking the doctor, I mean the vet who checked him up he said that he is a mixed breed of some kind which was probably the reason that he faced so much abuse in the home where he last was. But let me tell you something, he does not take kindly to strangers. I mean, he is really vicious and ferocious when it comes to strangers,” I said but she smiled.

“Sometimes the creatures who face a lot of abuse and torture they become vicious like that…but they are actually misunderstood. SO if only they get proper love, care and attention at all points of time they will become as good as new. It just takes a little bit of patience,” said Miranda as I looked at her in Marvel. This girl was not at all what I was thinking. So I did not say anything and allowed her to speak her mind.

“When it was me and my Dad we used to go to this shelter every weekend at the vet’s place and then it became almost like a habit. I always wanted to bring one of the dogs back home and Dad was also an avid animal lover. We have a lot of space as well but my mother was strictly against keeping any animal at all. She said she was allergic but then I heard one day speaking with one of the other ladies who came for their afternoon tea saying that the things women had to speak for the sake of keeping things at home alright. She said that she detested all kinds of animals and anything beastly….how ghastly it would be to have those creatures lumbering around in her own house all day which she kept immaculate but no…we were not letting that happen so she had to resort to white lies. Then I heard a lot of things she said which made me realize for the first time in my life that I was living with a liar. She lies at almost every single thing that does not go according her own whims…” said Miranda as she sighed. She was bitter and she was angry and I would understand that any child would be bitter and angry but to know that every day of your life your mother had been lying to you. That was something that she could not come to terms with. I knew, I would have probably done something different had it occurred with me but then my parents were nothing like hers.

“When we are born or come into the world, we do not choose our family or our parents. We just have to make do with what we get and rest we have to leave in the hands of fate,” I said to her with a slight nod and a kind smile so that she would calm down. She was getting too much agitated for her own good.

“True what you are saying but when things get out of hand should we keep on suffering our fate or are we going to take the matters in our own hands?” she asked and then said,” You seem to be very fatalistic in nature. Why is that exactly?”

“And how are you saying that I am fatalistic?” I asked her amused that she would even know the meaning of the word fatalism and the philosophy that lay beneath it.

“Of course you are. You just said that we should leave things at the hands of fate and let them unfold the way they are supposed to do. I mean who thinks like that? If that bear had attacked me, should I have run or not? Or should I have believed in fate and waited to be mauled by it? If those boys had attacked me should I have tried to save myself and injure them, fight back or was I supposed to be gang-raped and then thrown in a ditch left to die so that my body would decompose over the weeks?? Is that what you are saying? That we can not help ourselves even if we want to or even if we have the chance? That we should be going on with what everyone says that you have to go on with?” asked Miranda and I was strangely shocked at how could a young girl be this much aggressive and that too when she was hurt. Moreover what she was speaking about I did not really have any answer for that. She was speaking in perfect sense and there was no answer to her question.

“I am not fatalistic Ms. Cooper. I was a soldier and we don’t believe in fate like the way you meant that I was saying. So I think that answers your question,” I said hoping that she was going to be silent then but that had no chance of happening and I should have known that.