When Curious Bears Went Cliff-diving

The sun’s might was in its finest – that the clouds fear him; they chose to stay on the horizon,

covering the summits of some nameless islands beyond.

It was still a fine sight, though – a glistening cyan sea, the familiar sky, and some isles swathed

in green and chiselled with grand rock formation. Indeed, it was picturesque.

On a grassy cliff not far along the shore, two bears were sitting, both engulfed in a long and

gusty silence. Looking at nature's marvel, both of them maybe or maybe not, were enjoying the

scene.

There was a constant silence, until one of them broke it.

“Should I jump off the cliff?” the first bear asked seriously.

“Why?” The second bear answered with a more difficult question.

“Because I want to....” the first bear suddenly stopped, trying to weave a more appropriate

verb.

“What?” the second bear blurted, obviously desperate to hear the perfect phrase.

“Because I want to take the risk,” the first bear replied with an unshakable conviction.

“Risk?” asked the even more curious second bear who, at this point, seemed to be in dismay

upon hearing the answer.

“Yes.” The first bear responded, again, with conviction and intensity greater than before.
“Why?” The second bear’s voice rose like a hot geyser.

The first bear got startled upon seeing such expression of intense curiosity closed to mild

madness.

The first bear struggled to weave words again like a spider that ran out of thread.

Then, the first bear softly scratched the right lobe, then the temple and last was the back of the

right ear, pondering over where the skills of reasoning go.

“Why?” The second bear repeated but in a voice enough to lull a crying puppy.

“because I want to go with the flow. See where the water takes me. Feel the current under. Just

like the drifting bark of a tree, I want to wander.” This was the first bear’s best counter to the

second bear’s query. This was the best the first bear’s thought – a mighty attempt to cease a

bullet of question.

For the first bear, it was a battle of thoughts. The bear needed rescuing.

“Really?” the second bear popped dryly in a gentle but fearsome voice, you can taste how

bitter.

The first bear was in dread for nothing bringing to mind to speak but the look upon the first

bear’s face tells the answer like a sundial.

The second bear evidently understood what that ‘look’ meant.

The gusty silence went on as the cool sea breeze became warmer and warmer and

unexpectedly intimidating. The first bear was now in the deadly pursuit of protection from the

second bear’s company and daunting gaze.

Silence crept like old vines until the second bear dropped words.

“Jumping off the cliff won’t tell you where the water flows, doing so might just crack your head

or break your spine or give you an unthinkable headache.” the second bear blurted out like an

old philosopher.

The first bear was relieved upon breaking from the chain-like silence but got drowned in the

second bear’s pool of words. It was as if a maelstrom – torn between comprehension and

curiosity.

The second bear could not help but notice the first bear’s invisible crisis. Still, the second bear

carried on with the lecture.

“Jumping off the cliff won’t turn you into a wanderer, doing so might just make you homeless or

lead you to your loss or direct you to the dark side.” the second bear persisted.

“When you jump off the cliff, you may or may not feel the current under because you may fall

hard and die. When you jump off the cliff and die, you won’t have a single idea where the water

would take you to. You know why? Because your lifeless body will never know just like that ugly

drifting bark of a tree you’re comparing yourself with!” the second bear blasted.

The first bear was hit as if by a water cannon.

It was a short silence after. The first bear articulated his mind, finally, without struggle and

intimidation.

“Yeah, I know. These thoughts are indeed crazy. I should have not thought of them as if it is a

magnificent idea, should have not talked about them to you as if it is a very important news,

should have not brought it out like it’s a delicious honey in a jar, should have not thought of it,

in the first place. You don’t have to deal with me and all my stupidity. Stupid me.

The first bear wove those words like a mother spider with plenty of threads to spare and a

wave of self-dismay.

It was a short and serene silence after until the second bear spoke.

“You know what, it’s fine. Great, actually, because I like stupid. “No, because I think I am stupid,

too.”

The conversation ended as they both dared to seek where the water would take them with one

hand holding the other, at least.

Author: Ria-Flor V. Valdoz

Teacher I, Amucao High School
Tarlac City, Tarlac
Address: #457 V. Corcuera St., Guevara, La Paz, Tarlac
Contact Number: 0948-612-3096