Bohemia Village Voice  Bohemia Village Voice

For bohemians everywhere

Kerry Evans

Polar Bears

They had been watching Frozen Planet until the electricity went out and the room fell into darkness.
“You see,” said Janice, “you’ve got your Emperor penguins and your polar bears. They’re the only ones tough enough to last out the winter. When she’s laid her egg, the female penguin goes hunting in the treacherous sea and leaves her mate in charge until spring. He has to keep the egg on top of his feet, tucked under his pouch, that’s all he’s got to do. If the female makes it back alive she brings a belly load of food for the baby which has probably hatched while she’s been away.”
Janice optimistically felt the radiator to the side of the settee but it was icy cold. She drew the blanket closer around her and the baby in her arms. He had not yet been weighed but the white velour sleepsuit was a reassuringly snug fit. And he had not yet been named but Janice found herself calling him ‘Bub’.
“Well, I can tell you now that we are not penguins. You wouldn’t catch me going off hunting and missing you coming out of your egg. No way. And I wouldn’t leave you with your father, wherever he may be, or any other man for that matter. They’ve got one simple job to do – keep the egg off the ice – but you should never trust a man with something as important as that because they get distracted, and before you know it, the egg’s on the ice and it’s frozen solid.”
Janice looked down at Bub and felt his nose, but her fingers were too cold to tell her much, so she brought his face to hers and pressed their cool cheeks together. Bub mewled at the disturbance and his breath showed like smoke in the chilly dark, so she stuffed him down her jumper and pulled the blanket right up over their heads.
“No, my darling,” she said, “we are like polar bears. The male polar bear, he pursues the female, he fights other men for her, acts like he cares, but once he’s had his wicked way, he’s off without so much as a ‘by your leave’, never to be seen again. So the female polar bear – that’s me – she finds a spot on the snowy mountainside and carves out a den. It’s not much, but it’s home.”
“The arctic winds whistle over her and she is absolutely alone. But that’s okay because inside her a little polar bear is growing. And in the darkest depths of winter, in the den that she has made, the baby bear is born.”
“They don’t have any help; it’s not easy but they manage, just the two of them, doing what comes naturally. And that is how they survive, by doing what comes naturally, huddling together until spring comes, when it will be warmer and they will go out, find food, say ‘Hi’ to the other polar bears. Because spring will come, you know, it always does in the end. But for now they are everything to each other.”

Leave a Response

You must be logged in to post a comment.