Standing next to the chicken house, the young boy could not believe his eyes: a bear had emerged from the woods just feet away from him! It lumbered lazily toward the chicken house, but paid no attention to him. He didn’t think bears lived in Oklahoma!

Then he felt a sense of panic, because just on the other side of the chicken house was his sister, checking the nesting boxes for eggs. She was too preoccupied with her task even look at him so he could warn her. What should he do? he wondered.

Then the better question came to mind: what would Steve do? Steve was the bear whisperer elsewhere in the country, and Eli has watched his show dozens of times, learning how Steve managed bears to keep them out of trouble.

With a greater sense of confidence, Eli rushed to his sister’s side and snatched one of the eggs from the nest just as the bear rounded the other corner of the chicken house to face them. “What are you doing, you bad bear?” he shouted, trying to sound fierce. When the bear stood its ground as his rebuke, he angrily tossed the egg into the bear’s face. It shattered across his forehead, covering his eyes and nose in gooey egg slime. The shock and sudden blast of moisture on his face shocked the bear, and he beat a hasty retreat into the woods where he had first appeared.

Lizzy was still standing in shock at the sight of the bear, but Eli didn’t waste a moment. He knew the bear could come back. He quickly slammed the chicken coop shut and took her hand. They ran back to the house together, and slammed the door closed behind them.

“Dad, Dad,” they both shouted. “We saw a bear!”

“Bears don’t live in Oklahoma,” Dad responded without looking up from his book.

“This one does!” Eli retorted, “and he was gonna eat the chickens.”

“Let me see.” Dad replied, getting out of his chair.

(to be continued…)