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Aurora
Aurora was a very happy little girl, and as she grew, she learned the forest well. Eached flowered glade and grove of tall trees was as familiar to her as her own small room. When her monthly blood flow started, Abby told her about the ways between a man and a woman, but the interpretation scared Aurora. Since she had never seen man, however, she didn't think about it. It was another far-off fantasy like those that her mother told her about the outside world.
One evening, Aurora was roming over her vast forest when she came to what her mother called the "road." Her mother always warned her to stay away from this strange phenomenon, but Aurora didn't worry about it. She had been walking fo about an hour, when she heard a strange clamor from around the bend of this "road." She had long since learned not to trust strange noises even in her beloved forest, so she quickly ducked into the undergrowth at the edge of the clearing and watched to see what was causing the dreadful uproar.
What she saw shocked her so much that she almost sat down in the dry leaves she was crouched on. What appeared to be two large deer with odd-shaped, long faces were pulling a wooden box that seemed to be supported on four rings of wood. There were other humans on the woodenstructure, but they were so unlike she and her mother that Aurora wondered what had befallen them. Then she realized that these strange creatures must be what her mother had referred to as "men." Deciding to follow the strange contraption, Aurora receded into the forest a little more and started to trail the company.
At first, the small group didn't seem to be doing much, just sitting on strange seats in the moving box. Then, as nightfall approached, they stopped at a large clearing next to the road. Right before her wondering eyes, a shelter that seemed to be made of cloth was erected, and a fire started. One of the men called to the others that he was off to hunt for food, and walked away from the group. Aurora decided to follow him and observe the method he used to hunt.
The stranger was surprisingly quiet in the fores, almost as silent and stealthy as she. He slipped through the forest, looking for small game. It soon became very obvious that he was headed for hanger, however. Aurora knew there was a bear den in the direction he was hiking. In the spring, the mother bear was always hungry, and in addition, she had given birth to twin cubs that winter, which would put her very much on edge.
Helpless, Aurora watched the man walk into the clearing before the cave. Her heartbeat quikened when she realized that the mother bear was on one side of the clearing and the cubs on the other. The man had just effectifvely cut the mother bear off form her cubs, a very dangerous position to be in.
One of the cubs caught the scent of the man and made a frightened sound, causing the mother bear to look up. Aurora called out before she even though, diverting the beast's attention. As the bear paused, deciding which interloper was a bigger threat, Aurora shouted to the stranger, "Run! Climb the tree!"
The man glanced at her in shock, and then to the bear. Without a moment's hesitation, he shot toward the nearest tree. The bear started to chare him, but Aurora threw a stick at her, effectively distracting her. Then, she disappeared into the underbrush. The bear lumbered toward the spot where Aurora had stood, and snuffled around in the undergrowth, looking for her adversary.
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