My heart felt like it had just slightly sunk. My hopes had collapsed. I had been waiting for this trip for the past month. I forced my eagerness to stay put, and finally when the day had approached to let it all out, I lost my chance.
“You just missed ‘em,” the woman at the front desk explained. We were to travel by coach busses. An hour drive to Kananaskis with my friends, the people I had spent this school year with. Today was supposed to be memorable. I sighed, turned around, and walked towards the door. My sister was standing in front of the car, her eyes squinting. The sun was shining towards her, the wind lightly brushing her hair onto her face. I looked away, forcing the tears back. I took a deep breath and walked towards her.
“The bus left,” I muttered.
“Are you okay?”
“Not really.”
She turned away for, what felt like, hours. No one spoke. I felt hopeless. She, then, suddenly walked over to the driver’s seat and swung open the door. “Get in.”
“Are we going home?” I asked. She didn’t speak. Confused, I opened the door, and slowly sat inside. She drove out of the parking lot, and onto the highway. My eyebrows narrowed in confusion.
“Home’s the other way,” I explained.
“We’re not going home.”
“Where are we going?” She turned towards me, smiling.
“Kananaskis,” she said, excitedly. Our adventure had begun.
The radio blasted in my ears, as the cool breeze blew past my face. The sky was all shades of blue. There was no cloud in sight. The rays of the sun, ever so perfectly, settled on the towering mountains in the distance. And on the tips of each mountain, was a blanket of pure white snow. In one word, I would describe it as breathtaking.
By the time we arrived at Kananaskis, I had already eaten most of my snacks. As my sister approached the parking lot, I looked up and saw two busses that read “Coach Canada” on them.
“We found them!” I yelled.
“The busses, yea, but there’s no one here,” she pointed out.
“Maybe they started hiking.”
“Well then, let’s go.” She jumped out of the seat, slipped on her sunglasses, and walked towards a trail. Sighing, I put my backpack on, and opened the door. The sun was scorching hot. I breathed in the warm air around us, slowly stepping out onto the gravel. My eyes stared up at the huge trees, as faint sounds of birds chirping echoed through my ears. I followed my sister down the trail, amazed by the beauty of nature. The sun’s rays slightly shined through tree branches, as a light breeze rippled through our clothes.
“Do you know where we’re going?” I asked, slightly worried.
“As long as we stay on this path, we won’t get lost,” she explained. However, lost is exactly what we got within about twenty minutes of wandering on a “trail.” And I realized this, when I thought I heard her stomach rumble.
“Was that you?” I asked. She stopped walking, and turned around to face me. Her eyes were widened and her voice, I could tell, was shaking.
“Shh, be quiet.” After a couple of seconds, there it was again.
“Groowwl..” The second time I heard it, the sound had gotten louder. This was the moment, I came to the realization that it wasn’t her stomach rumbling. It was the sound of a bear.
We both turned our heads towards the growl. I couldn’t see the bear, but it was somewhere behind hundreds of trees.
“Yell,” she suddenly ordered.
“Why would we yell?” I asked her, terrified.
“If the bear sees us two, we’ll be dead. But if we yell, it’ll think we’re bigger than it, and hopefully leave.” I wasn’t going to yell, until the moment the bear growled once more. I, then, opened my mouth, and screamed out random things. She did the same.
“I DON’T KNOW WHERE WE ARREEE!” She screamed, still trying to scare away the bear. We walked in all directions for the next couple of minutes trying to find a pathway, still shouting and hollering. She suddenly stopped and pointed towards a trail. We looked at each other, relieved. I froze in place, and the only sounds I heard were of the breeze and the birds. The bear had left. I sighed in relief, as we both walked towards the trail.
“We were about to die,” I pointed out.
“But we didn’t, that was fun,” she said, laughing. I glanced over at her, surprised. I had been terrified, she had been brave. The day was full of craziness, but I decided to laugh it off with her. I, then, stared into the distance, squinting my eyes.
“We found them!” I joyfully screamed. Small figures of people walked in our direction. I ran towards them, hugging my friends. At that moment, I realized that none of this would’ve been possible if it weren’t for my sister. I turned towards her, smiling.
“Thank you,” I mouthed.
“Your welcome.”
