I reach out and shake the baby bear’s little paw. He smiles wider, and looks
a bit relieved. The old man tells me as much. People are often so reluctant
and unsympathetic when they meet him. They’re too afraid. They just came
through something called the Vela, and still think they’re about to wake up
from a bad dream. It’s not a dream. It’s all real. The man built this cabin
near Big Bear Lake deliberately because it happens to be some kind of focal
point of instantaneous travel. People from all over the world spontaneously
wake up here having never transited the space in between. Every night
someone new arrives somewhere in a kilometer radius of this cabin. For some
reason, I showed up earlier than usual, which is why mama bear wasn’t ready
for me. She’s normally tasked with going out, and nudging the arrivals to
the cabin. She’s not as smart as her son, but she knows that she can
convince people to go this direction simply by placing herself on the other
side of them. She was probably pretty surprised that I wasn’t scared of her,
and was able to pass by her with none of her usual form of coercion. Very
rarely, two people will show up on one night, so she continues to patrol
until morning. That’s why she didn’t come back with me. When I ask the man
what happens next, he tells me that the Vela chooses people using whatever
parameters it’s decided upon, if it’s even sentient. He doesn’t know. He
only knows it’s my job to find my own exit, but only after new clothes and
hot tea. I’m not sure I’m going to go look for an exit point. It might be
nice, renting a car, and driving back myself. It’s not like I have anywhere
better to be. I don’t have to work until Monday, and my parents will be okay
on their own for now. Anyway, I don’t have to decide anything right away.
I’ll just sit and enjoy my tea.
A half hour later, the mother returns, but she’s not alone. A woman about my
age is accompanying her. She doesn’t appear to be scared of the beast
either, nor worried about where she is, or what the hell is going on. She
too is naked, and isn’t even shivering. I didn’t think there was anyone else
in the world who likes the cold as much as I do. She asks the same
questions, and the man answers them again. She asks a couple more, like how
the bears are so smart. The mom had her own Vela experience while she was
pregnant, and it changed the both of them. Brown bears aren’t even native to
this area, but they chose to stick around so they could help the humans.
This calling has been passed down the old man’s family for generations, but
the incidents became more and more frequent, and he never found the time to
meet someone, so the bloodline ends with him. When he dies, people are just
going to have to deal with their situation themselves. The woman and I
exchange a look. Little bear nuzzles her knee, so she pets him. All my life
I’ve been trying to figure out whether I had some kind of purpose. Folding
clothes, and returning them to their tables surely isn’t it. I’m sure my
sister can take care of our parents on her own. She prefers it, and I’ve
never been much help anyway. Perhaps this is what I’ve been looking for this
whole time. This old man needs to retire, and the lost souls who pass
through here need a way to return home. I tell him this, and he thanks me.
He doesn’t even try to argue, or talk me out of it. He’s obviously been
hoping for a replacement for awhile now, but he’s never known how to go
about asking. The woman stands and informs him that now he has two to take
his place. We all smile, even me.
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