Bart Belly's Arc

Chapter 4 of 21

Bart walked into the wilderness with the king's bloom safe in his bag. The wind cut hard through his borrowed jacket. The boots dragged in deep snow. His breath came fast. Each step took more than the last. The gear that was supposed to save him now weighed him down like stone. Sweat froze on his face. He stopped and dropped to his knees. He could not go on like this. He pulled off one boot, then the other. He shrugged out of the heavy jacket and let it fall. Bart stood in his Speedo, belly bare, bellybutton poking out. He braced for the cold to kill him. It did not come. He waited. His thick fur held the warmth in. His body was round and padded with fat, built for ice. He laughed out loud. He was a polar bear. He had forgotten the one thing that made him strong. The cold was not his enemy at all. Bart left the gear in the snow and walked on light and fast. The drifts no longer slowed him. He climbed a low rise and saw a den ahead. Its mouth was black between walls of rough stone and packed ice. Snow drifted over its heavy dome. Fur hung across the entrance. Something big lived here. He crept closer. He hoped to slip past. But a shape rose from behind the den. It stood taller than three bears stacked high. White fur covered its heavy limbs. Pale blue crystals grew from its shoulders and chest. Its eyes glowed orange. A yeti. It fixed those eyes on Bart and let out a roar that shook snow from the stones. Bart froze. He had no gear to fight with. He had nothing but his bare paws and his fat belly. The yeti swung one huge arm. Bart dove sideways into the snow. The blow smashed the ground where he had stood. He rolled and came up running for the den mouth. He was smaller. He was faster. He darted inside where the giant could not follow. The yeti jammed an arm through the entrance and swiped. Its claws raked past Bart's ear. Bart pressed against the cold back wall. Then he saw it. Deep in the den, half buried in old furs, something shone gold. A Speedo. It caught the dim light and glowed. His heart hammered. This was no ordinary find. He crawled toward it while the yeti roared and clawed behind him. Bart's paws closed on the golden Speedo. It was smooth and warm to the touch. He held it up and stared. The legend was real, and the yeti had guarded it all along. But the giant still blocked the only way out. Bart had the prize in his paws and no path past the monster at the door.