Later the same day, the park vehicles lined the back lot. The trailer gate creaked open. The bear stepped out slowly, rain glistening on its coat. Clara and Evan stood fifty meters away under ranger supervision. “That’s him,” the boy said softly. The animal raised its head once, meeting his gaze across distance and wire.
The convoy wound toward Ridgewood Reserve. The forest looked calmer now, washed clean by late-spring rain. Evan and his mother rode with Anika in the ranger jeep behind the wildlife trailer. None spoke much. The boy held a stuffed toy bear in his lap, thumb tracing its stitched paw.