Leanne gives me a thumbs-up behind the camera. Good start.
“Temperatures may be chilly,” I continue, “but the Christmas cheer is keeping everyone warm and glowing. We’ve got hot cocoa, we’ve got carols, and we’ve got more twinkling lights than Santa’s workshop after an overtime shift.”
A few people turn and smile at the camera. One guy waves.
“And in just a few minutes, this beautiful tree behind me—towering at over thirty feet—will light up the heart of this mountain town. Locals are calling it a ‘tree-mendous’ moment.” I grin. “And I mean that literally.”
Leanne chuckles quietly behind the camera.
“At any moment the countdown will begin,” I go on. “You can feel the excitement in the crowd. It’s literally?—”
“GRIZZLY!” a woman screams, interrupting my broadcast.
There’s a collective gasp and then more screams. People start fleeing. Running this way. Runningeveryway. I nearly get knocked down by a man holding a little girl.
“It seems like there’s an uninvited visitor to the tree lighting ceremony,” I say, nervously trying to keep my cool. More people come running past us. Should I be running too?
“When I said everyone was invited, I didn’t mean those who walk on four legs,” I say, chuckling, although I’m starting to panic inside.
Leanne’s head pops out from behind the camera. “Go,” she mouthes to me, waving me forward.
My eyes widen. Go?Towardsthe bear?
I don’t think so.
She urges me again with a steely look and then starts walking, forcing me backward.
“I guess we’re going to check it out,” I say with a nervous chuckle. “Because that’s what reporters do…”
Damn, why did I wear these high boots? I can’t run in these!
My heart is hammering in my chest as I head in the opposite direction of the people fleeing.
But thankfully, there are alwayssomepeople whose self-preservation instincts are under developed. I head to the crowd of lurkers who think that grizzly bears are nice and friendly like the ones on cartoons and in toilet paper commercials. Do these people not realize that a grizzly bear canliterallyrip your head clean off?
“There he is,” I say as Leanne gets a shot of the grizzly bear sitting on the sidewalk like he’s waiting for the bus.
He is kind of cute. That fear that was surging through my veins a few seconds ago magically disappears and I actually feeldrawnto the bear.
An urge to go over there and cuddle him fills my head, but I ignore it completely. I’m not insane.
He blinks slowly at the crowd and then spots a candy cane lying beside him.
Everyone around us gasps as he reaches down with a furry paw and grabs it.
“Aww,” someone in the crowd says. “He’s eating a candy cane.”
Leanne zooms in on the bear as he chomps down on the candy cane with a loudcrack.
This is gold. We’re going to go viral with this adorable bear for sure.
“I think we’ve discovered who’s been raiding the North Pole’s candy stash,” I say with a smile.
The hulking creature tilts his head at the crowd, slowly gets up, and then lumbers into the town square.
More people leave. Leanne pushes forward. I hurry to keep pace with her.
“For those of you joining us at home, this local grizzly appears to be… enjoying the holiday spirit. Let’s hope he doesn’t gobear-zerk.”
