Bears

The four of us were sitting around the dining room table, the remains of dinner still out, full bellies increasing the length of conversation until someone summoned the motivation to get up.

My dad turned to me in sudden excitement.

"Hey, did you hear about the new neighbor-" he began. I interrupted him.

"You mean the bear?" I asked. My parents looked at me in astonishment.

"You've only been home for a day," said my mom.

"The librarian told me," I said, a trifle smugly. They continued to stare at me. "What? She heard it from the postman."

"Which librarian?" asked my dad incredulously.

"The nice one," I said. "That goes to our church."

"Oh, okay," he replied. "It didn't seem like any of the other ones would've cared to tell you."

"It seems like you're fitting back into small town life well," grumbled my mom, possibly referring to the fact that the librarian knew exactly who I was and where I live, and that there had been bear sightings in my neighborhood.

"I want to see the bear!" I exclaimed. "I didn't see any in South Dakota, and I think it's my turn to see one."

"Well-" my mom began, but my dad cut across her.

"I'll put some food out back for it!" he said in excitement. "Oh! and I bet I could get some old donuts to put out for it too!" He caught on to the fact that my mom was glaring at him. "What?"

"We are not putting bait out for the bear!" she said firmly. "Do you want it going through our garbage?"

"Yes," my dad said belligerently. "Bears are uncommon. And it probably won't be around that long. And I want to see it!"

My parents both left the table without discussing the bear any more, but from the look on my dad's face, I think we can expect to see some random food out by the woods in our back yard. And for the record, I think my dad is quite right.

UPDATE: Apparently the police came and took the bear away. Sad day.