The breath of the wild

I could hear the wind howling around me. It was quite dark that night and it felt strange to be
out in the wilderness all alone. I wasn’t used to camping in the forest and my lack of experience took its
toll on my management of the situation. Loneliness was unbearable... As I was miserably starring at the
blazing campfire, unaware that I was running short on logs, a familiar but deafening sound could be heard
in the distance.
It had just begun to rain and my soaked clothes enhanced the bitter cold… The ground was
shaking with an unimaginable power, trees were being flattened as if they were matchsticks and the peace
of the wild turned into a tandem of anger and violence. If I hadn’t seen the colossal silhouette dashing to
my camp, I would have undoubtedly thought it was an earthquake. I had to face the most fearsome animal
in the whole America, the king of the Rocky Mountains, the one and only grizzly bear. The animal was
thirsty for blood for I could see the hate for humans in his merciless eyes. It began throwing rocks at me,
the speed of his attacks forbidding me to react in tine. Numb with fear, I started running desperately
hoping to find safety, a luxury unknown in the wilderness. Obtaining high ground was a priority for me as
this likely was my only chance of outsmarting the bear.
I knew I wasn’t able to physically outlast it… Nothing could fool its apex predator instinct. I
was a meaningless prey, unable to escape the animal’s dominance. The rough mountainous terrain didn’t
allow me to move properly, as I stumbled at every step. The only advantage I had in this fight for survival
was that, because of the pouring rain, the earth got muddy which slowed down the grizzly for its hairy
paws became sticky. I couldn’t help thinking how much will I be still running… I was exhausted and out
of options. Impulsively, I climbed the nearest pine tree and hung off its ranches, hoping for salvation.
That soon proved to be a horrible mistake. The grizzly began shaking the tree without hesitation, knowing
that he had the incontestable upper hand. I shut myself off, waiting for the unforgivable death…
But all of a sudden, wolf howlings echoed through the forest. A pack of silver white wolves
came to my rescue, biting the bear and shredding the flesh off his bones. It was over … The threat was
eliminated… I got down from the pine tree, gazing into the wolves’ pupils. Despite that I was starving, I
let my saviors take and eat the bear’s dead body. We all nodded in unison as a sign of mutual respect.
The wild changed me entirely as a human being. It made me reconsider my lifestyle and my
attitude towards nature. It also taught me that, no matter what, you should never give up and keep
fighting. There is always a higher force watching over you!