Tundra+Fiction

=Tundra Fiction Story =

//** The Ptarmigan and the Polar Bear!!!!!!!! **//

It was the usual frigid morning in the tundra biome. I, being a ptarmigan, awoke from my fir-needle nest to the sight of a large polar bear chasing a small arctic hare, and the hare was in the lead. Even though the polar bear seemed lethargic, he was able to let out a loud roar and continued the great chase after the hare. In the middle of a hop, he made a sharp turn and went a different way, making the polar bear lose his trail. The stomach of the massive transparent-furred creature rumbled with a godly volume. I began to wish for the ability to fly so I could get a better view of life.

“Eerg!” M.S Polar Bear roared in pain, “I haven’t consumed any meat since two nights ago! If I don’t get any meat soon death from starvation is going to end my short life.”

I began to feel sorry for the ravenous polar bear, and left my nest to retrieve my stash of alpine bearberries. After retrieving the berries, the thought occurred to me: he would probably rather consume me other than the berries. I waddled up to the polar bear, offering part of my stash of alpine bearberries.

“Really, alpine bearberries M.A Ptarmigan?” M.S Polar Bear sighed, “I’m a carnivore, I don’t eat berries.”

“But they help both us and the berries.” I replied, “We eat the berries and poop out the seeds so more bearberries grow! A never-ending cycle!”

At these words, M.S Polar Bear just left me. When he left, I noticed that green algae was covering his back, but he didn’t seem to mind too much giving it a free ride.

Being a flightless ptarmigan, I ventured off to look for fir needles and bearberries. While waddling, I saw a ptarmigan similar to me being chased by an arctic lynx. I tried to waddle as fast as I could to get away from the lynx, full of fright and fear. Only a mere 15 meters away from the lynx, I heard its monstrous “reerrow”. It clawed up the ptarmigan and left only a few bones and the blood of the creature; the ptarmigan didn’t even have a chance to survive.

“That’s a terrible way to die!” I said to myself, “The cruelty of predator and prey.”

Still exploring for berries, I heard the cries of various creatures stating that another tundra creature that I knew had passed away.

“Polar bear down! Polar bear down!” the many cries sobbed.

I waddled faster than I ever had before, trying to get to the scene. When I got there my body went frozen: it was the same bear that I offered the berries to, and he seemed to have passed away from starvation.

I went up to another polar bear and asked, “Did he die from starvation?”

“No, I believe his cause of death was a lot worse than just starvation.” The other replied, “ It seems as if he passed away from a rare blood disease caused by //Achromobacter xylosoxidans,// it couldn’t be stopped. The disease also made it unable for him to hunt well, so there is a small chance that he died from starvation.

I became saddened at learning about how he passed away and what caused it, but Mother Nature had to take her course.

In the end, I learned many valuable lessons from this tragic event. Tragedy happens, and we have to learn how to deal with it.

~M.A Ptarmigan

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