the airplane

[instar]

Bella, Andi, and Robin all get on the plane. Bella and Robin have toothbrush caps in their pockets containing flies. Nothing in particular happens when they go through security. They fly for an hour, and then Bella, rather than risk crunch time due to turbulence or a line for the bathroom a little later on, gets up to take Trouble into privacy for demorphing and remorphing.

She takes the toothbrush cap out of her pocket and sets it on the tiny little counter, and then flattens herself against a wall to give him room.

Comments

[instar]

And off goes the Swan family into the park. Bella does her very best not to fall over too much so they can make decent headway into the woods.

They have a picnic.

[hold_infinity]

It is a delicious picnic. Robin scarfs quite a lot of cookies.

[pandion]

Andi is pleased to have converted someone else to the following of delicious sugar cookies.

[hold_infinity]

They are just so delicious.

[palmofyourhand]

Apparently Robin isn't the only one who thinks so.

An enormous grizzly bear lumbers into view and paces unhurriedly toward the picnic.

[pandion]

"Whoa, a bear."

(Andi is pretty good at not displaying reactions she is not supposed to display. She is not good at displaying reactions she is supposed to display.)

[sundayfish]

Charlie is alarmed!

"Back away slow, girls, leave the food," he says, reaching for his gun.

[instar]

"What if I fall," asks Bella, sounding wobbly as she can.

[sundayfish]

"Won't let the bear get you, just step careful," says Charlie. He's aiming at the bear now, and he frowns at his gun.

It's lighter than he remembers.

[palmofyourhand]

The bear keeps coming.

[hold_infinity]

Robin freezes - knowing in advance is all very well, but that's still a bloody grizzly bear - and then joins the others in following Charlie's sensible advice.

[instar]

("Away", of course, is deeper into the woods.)

[sundayfish]

Backing away... niiice and slow... Charlie is nowhere near the food anymore.

[palmofyourhand]

The bear snuffles around the remains of the picnic and eats the last of the cookies.

[aeskhyne]

A second bear comes loping out of the woods toward the first.

She ends up directly between Charlie and the girls.

[sundayfish]

Charlie does not like that at all.

"Keep going, girls," he calls, "look for a ranger or someone else who works with the park."

He scopes out avenues of escape. There are rather fewer of them now.

[aeskhyne]

This bear takes a more direct interest in Charlie. Steps right up to him, in fact, while the other one is still raiding the picnic.

[sundayfish]

Backing away, backing away, gun still up but he's increasingly sure it's not going to do anything.

[aeskhyne]

It definitely doesn't seem to worry the bear.

[palmofyourhand]

And of course, if he keeps backing up like that, he's going to run straight into the other one.

[sundayfish]

He backs away more... sideways.

[palmofyourhand]

The first bear heads him off.

[sundayfish]

For a moment he cranes his neck to look for the girls, who are well away by this point.

Then he resumes looking at the bears and the terrain.

[palmofyourhand]

The bear with a sugary nose now seems interested in finding out if Charlie has any more cookies hidden in his pockets.

[sundayfish]

He does not. No cookies here. He holds very still when investigated.