Writing Resources from Fifteen Minutes of Fiction

At the Zoo

The polar bear lumbered out of the dank tepid pool and onto the rock. The water ran off his yellow fur and trickled back into the pool. The public were not more than 10 metres away looking down from behind bars. Excited children pointed at the bear and screamed and shouted to get his attention.

Turning his head to the wind and closing his eyes his brown nose twitched without control, taking in a thousand smells. If he concentrated and tried to cut out the noise from the humans he could float out of his prison. He searched for the one smell that could elevate him out of his dungeon. If the wind was blowing in the right direction then he would be free - for a while at least.

The bear was in luck, the wind came down from the mountains in the north and with a sudden gust engulfed the bear in the wonderful smell he had been seeking. The public simply pulled their hats down and turned up their coats to shield themselves from the cold wind. They did not have the bear's acute smell. But to the bear, it was unmistakeble, the sweet smell of pure snow, fallen not more than an hour ago.

With a rush of blood to his head, the bear was elevated back to his snowy wilderness that once was his home. His soft padded feet could feel the snow push through the gaps in his toes. The cold wind ruffled his fur but he did not feel cold or uncomfortable. After all Mother Nature had build him for these conditions. As the icey wind blew into his face, the bear felt alive. He was free, for that instance.

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