I was walking to work yesterday morning, listening to my audio book on headphones under my fur hat. Then I heard my name, a soft voice was calling me.
"Hey Bruce, Bruce look over here."
I looked over and there was this bear sitting there in a bucket on the front step of a house. I looked at the bear and blinked, the bear looked back at me and did not blink.
"Did you wash your hands before you left the house Bruce?" the bear asked.
I thought about that. "I had a shower this morning," I told the bear.
"You should wash your hands before you leave the house, right?" the bear said. "To keep everyone safe."
"I forgot," I said.
"That's OK," the bear said. "But wash your hands when you get to where you are going. OK?"
"Yeah, OK. I have to go now," I said.
"You have a safe day," the bear said. "Enjoy your story. It has a surprising ending."
"Sure," I said and walked on.
This was a disturbing event. This is my first time talking to a bear. I like to avoid them. But I heard there were bears around. There was a story in Yellowknifer. You can see it here.
These are strange times. What bothers me most about this bear though, how did it know my name?
Wonder if anybody else has a covid bear story?