“I say we try again.”

“All Trails said there were no bears.”

“Sorry, Stephen. It looks like maybe bears can’t read.”

They’d tried for the car twice already, only to find the trail blocked by a sizable grizzly.

“I’m going to call someone,” he announced, pulling out his phone. “This is a public place. They can’t just have bears roaming around. It’s not safe. We’ll call a ranger and they’ll come get us.”

She shook her head.

They couldn’t overnight here—not in these clothes—with the weather coming. He was making this so difficult. The whole trip had been frustrating—him slogging along, unable to put his phone down for five minutes and enjoy the moment.

He pouted as he swabbed at his phone. “There’s no signal.”

She snorted, one eye on the trail. It didn’t matter if the bear was still there. What mattered was who could run faster.

—

151 words

This has been an edition of What Pegman Saw. To read more stories inspired by the prompt click here.

I think this is the second time a bear has made an appearance in one of my Pegman stories, but when I read the reviews of this trail on All Trails, and saw it had been closed several times this season due to bears, I couldn’t resist. That, and the fact that my trip to Yellowstone a decade ago was rife with grizzly encounters, which left me with the sense that anytime I wandered into the Rockies, the bears might find me.