I was driving home along the familiar motorway, the kind of quiet stretch where cars are rare, nothing but woodland and crisp air all around. An ordinary day, with no hint of the oddity about to unfold.
Thensomething dark at the roadside caught my eye. As I drew closer, I saw it was a bear. A she-bear, perched on her hind legs, waving a paw at me as though beckoning.
At first, I thought she mightve escaped from a travelling show or wandered out of the woodsbut my heart still lurched in shock. I nearly hit the accelerator to flee, until I noticed something eerie in her gesture.
I stopped. Slowly, she rose and ambled toward the trees, glancing back now and then, as if to see if Id follow. Curiosity, or some gut instinct, kept me from driving away.
Just a few yards in, where the trees thinned, I saw the cub. A plastic jar was wedged tight over its headthe poor thing thrashed wildly, hopelessly stuck.
Then it struck me. The mother hadnt meant to threaten. Shed been pleading for help.
Moving carefully, so as not to startle her, I crept toward the cub and pried the jar free.
The bear nosed her cub, licked its fur as if checking for harm, then turned and vanished with it into the undergrowth.
Before disappearing, she cast one last look my waysomething almost like gratitude in those dark eyes.
I stood there, catching my breath, before hurrying back to the car and driving off. That day, I knew, would stay with me forever.