The Adventures of Aries, The Little Bear That Couldn`t Sleep

With that, the two cubs scampered back off to the forest.

“Now that’s an offer you can’t refuse,” said Ethyl. “Maybe those two rascals are good for something after all. Let’s go to lunch ladies,” so the other three bears followed the cubs to the forest.

Aries was still examining the pinecone and she now held it out to her mother.

“What’s this Mom?” She asked.

“It’s a pine cone,” she answered.

“Can I eat it?”

“Well you could I suppose…” but before she could finish the sentence the hungry little bear popped the cone into her mouth and bit down hard.

“Urgh”, spluttered Aries, spitting out the cone.

“That’s absolutely horrible”.

“But they are very hard and don’t taste very nice,” continued her mother.

Ethyl chuckled at this.

“That wasn’t very nice of you sister,” she said.

Ethyl turned to her two cubs. “Ants you say? Mmm, mmm. I just love ants for breakfast. I do hope they are the red ones. So much tastier than termites I find. Lead the way boys. And boys…”

“Yes mom?”Asked the cubs.

“It’s very rude to throw pinecones at young ladies.”

Bor and Bru faced each other trying to look i

“Pine cone? What pinecone? I didn’t see any pinecone,” said Bru.

“Me neither,” said his brother. “But I did see an ants nest and ants taste a heck of a lot better than clover. Let’s go Bro!”

Bor & Bru turned and scampered back to the forest and the rest of the group followed at a slower pace.

“The twins are still a handful then?” Asked Gentle.

Ethyl sighed deeply. “Yes Ma`am. Every minute of every day, it seems. Take my advice Aries, if you want to stay out of trouble, just watch what the twins are up to and do exactly the opposite.”

Aries nodded her head and gri

“Aw come on now sister,” said Gentle. “Don't be too hard on them. Before long it will be time for them to leave and find a new life of their own. You will miss them, you know you will.”

Ethyl chuckled to herself at this remark. “You think so? Some days I can hardly wait! I have a hunch it’s going to be an interesting summer.”

With that, the bears entered the relative shade of the forest and set about a tasty snack of red ants.

Chapter 3. A Close Call at Antler Falls

Some days later, all five of our bears could be seen walking along a well-trodden woodland path through the trees. Aries was lagging behind.

“We’ve been walking for hours and my paws are aching. Where are we going again?” The tired cub asked, rubbing one aching paw with another.

Her mother turned round to explain. “We are going to the big river. Today is a great day for all the forest bears and an important part of your education.”

“This is the time of year all the bears meet at Antler Falls to wait for the spawning salmon,” her mother continued.

“We are going to teach you how to catch fish.”

“Okay…so what are fish and what do I with them once I catch them?”

“They are creatures that live in the water. For a couple of weeks every summer thousands of them swim up the Big River to lay their eggs.” Her mother explained.

“And when they get to Antler Falls we will be waiting for them,” said the twins making a show of catching fish with their paws.

A thought occurred to Aries and her eyes lit up. “Hey! Can I eat them?” she asked in an excited voice.

“Of course you can eat them,” said Bor.

“That’s kind of the whole point of the exercise,” said Bru.

Aries was curious.

“Do they taste nice?” She asked.

Bor looked at her incredulously. “Taste nice? Are you kidding? Cousin, let me tell you, fish are even tastier than ants, and that’s saying something.”

“Last year we ate so many we could hardly walk.” Said Bru, while he patted his stomach fondly remembering the experience.

“Don't worry Aries. Not far to go now,” said Ethyl. We should be able to see the big river from the next ridge.

Reassured, Aries picked up her pace and caught up with the others.

A short time later, the group reached the top of the next ridge and looked down onto Antler Falls. The Big River lay below them, a series of rapids with foaming waterfalls and deep pools. There were bears everywhere, some along the banks, some in the water, others perched precariously on slippery rocks waiting for the salmon to come.

“Wow! Just look at all those bears!” Aries had never seen so many bears.

“It looks like we are a little late. Everybody got here before us,” said Gentle.

“From up here it looks like the best fishing spots are already taken.”

Ethyl wasn’t worried. “Don’t worry,” she said. “There's always more than enough fish to go around. I see Aunty has got the best spot as usual.”

Ethyl pointed to a large female bear stood on a flat rock in the middle of the river. The water was fu

Aries was curious.

“Is she really my Aunty?” she asked.

“Actually no. We are related to most of the bears here some way or another.” The mother bear replied. “Aunty is just her nickname among the other bears.”

“It’s not her real name. It’s short for antisocial. She has made being bad tempered into an art form. She’s the girl that put the “Grrrrr” into Grizzly.”

As they watched a male bear tried to join Aunty on the rock, but she jumped up and karate kicked him in the chest. She landed nimbly on her feet as the other bear fell back into the water with a huge splash.

“Go find your own fishing spot sucker! Hah!” yelled Aunty.

Ethyl and Gentle looked at each other. “Yep, that’s Aunty alright.” They agreed.

With that, the bears made their way down towards the river and Antler Falls.

After reaching the river, the two families split up to fish from their favorite spots. Gentles fishing spot is on a rock surrounded by foaming water. Aries is on another rock in shallower water, much closer to the riverbank.

The salmon are swimming upstream and can frequently be seen jumping out of the water. “Now watch me closely Aries,” she tells the young cub. “Every bear has their own fishing technique, but this way works fine for me.”

Gentle is an experienced angler and patiently waits for the right moment to strike.

Suddenly a fish jumps out of the water to her right. She flashes out a paw and the salmon lands at her feet, flapping around on the rock.

She flashes a paw out at another jumping fish, but this time misses her mark.

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