Krystal Lapinski

El Camino

“Whatever you do, don’t run!” Every part of my body was frozen with fear as I heeded my father’s warning in the distance behind me. I could feel my blood run cold as the six-hundred-pound black bear, not fifty feet away from me, stood on its hind legs. A deathly silence filled the mountain trail. I could see the hot air escape from the bear's jaws as it let out an angry grunt and huff. “Walk back, slowly,” my father firmly explained, still in the distance.