Writing prompt: "As he sat in his tent holding a flashlight, he read How to Survive a Bear Attack while his hands were trembling"

A little over 2 years ago, I moved from Illinois to this beautiful place with aspen groves and mountains so striking and stunning, I just stand in awe while taking in the scenery.  Beauty of this type I have only been able to see in paintings.  I love to hike and hiking in Colorado has a whole different meaning than Illinois.  The mountains I have hiked before can’t compare to the grand majestic mountains here. 

 I have been told to be careful while hiking, because there are bears, real live bears in the mountains.  Since I have been here, I have ridden a bicycle down Pikes Peak, I’ve hiked a 12,000 foot summit, I even hiked the incline last year and many other trails and have yet to come muzzle to muzzle with a bear.  It has become a joke amongst my friends.

I know the bears visit my neighborhood. I’ve seen the pictures on Facebook.  I’ve even had friends text me pictures of those cute little black bears hanging in the trees, walking across their lawns and bathing in their pools.  Maybe they were photo shop pictures because I still haven’t seen any bears anywhere in Colorado.  Do they really exist or are they a figment of someone else’s imagination? 

Last fall my neighbor’s son Liam pitched a tent in his backyard to practice setting it up for boy scouts.  It was the weekend and his mom and dad decided it would be ok for him to sleep out in the tent for one night by himself.  Liam was lying in the tent imagining what it would be like to camp in the wilderness.  He closed his eyes and started to fall asleep to sound of the wind moving in the trees. All of a sudden he heard a loud crash outside of his tent.  The sound was so loud it startled him.  He unzipped the door to the tent and peeked out.  He couldn’t see anything because it was so dark, but he heard them.  He slowly zipped the door to the tent back up, hoping they didn’t hear him.  He couldn’t scream or they would know he was out there.  Then he remembered one of his friends had given him a book to keep him company if he couldn’t sleep and as he sat in his tent holding a flashlight, he read How to Survive a Bear Attack while his hands were trembling and the sleeping bag was pulled up over his head. 

I’ve always wanted to go camping in the wilderness and can’t imagine what I would do if I really saw a bear.  I must admit I would probably have to gather myself, swallow the lump in my throat and then off to change my pants.  Maybe they really do exist in Colorado.