“Ouch!” My freshly sharpened pencil pokes into my finger. 

“Shushhhh”  Ms. Tinkle snarls, shooting me a glare. The chatter of the classroom ceases like birds falling silent for a wandering predator.

Ms. Tinkle is a large, mean looking woman with pointed glasses and a fur jacket. The stench of beef jerky wafts from her in waves. My nose wrinkles. She reminds me of someone I’ve met before, but I can’t quite place who. I can assure you it is not someone I want hovering over me like a vulture while I’m taking the most important test of the year.  

“And begin!” she booms.  

The sweet citrusy balsamic scent of a cedar tree fills my nose, as I roll off its lumpy roots. My right cheek is sore from the uneven ground I’ve been laying on, and I peel a few yellowing aspen leaves off my face. Needles cling to my bare arms as I sit up. It takes me a minute to remember what happened. My stupid brother thought it would be so funny to leave me here after I fell asleep. 

“Cruz!! Cruz!” I call out, expecting him to jump out from behind a tree any minute with the clown mask our dad got him for halloween.

  No answer. I let out a breath, tighten my shoelace, and set off towards the road. I picture his face full of menace, laughing his head off when he sees me appear out of the woods dirty and tired. Two hours later, I reach the road. There’s no white truck, no brother, and no sign of life in any direction. 

I open the SAT, and turn to section one. I read the first article, then look at question one. What is the most likely reason the author draws a distinction between two types of “parties”? Is it hot in here? A trickle of sweat runs down my forehead. I have no idea. I exhale, and unenthusiastically fill in letter B, my safety letter. It's only the first question. That says nothing about how I’ll do on the test right?

“Quiet, Teddy!” Ms. Tinkle hisses. “No one should be able to hear your breathing but you.” 

I look down at my test again, reading the next question, now embarrassed on top of my trembling nerves. This is terrible! I’d rather be in those woods again than here! Over the next 65 minutes I painfully make my way down the bubbles, watching them turn gray as the lead dulls. My confidence grows, and I’m only occasionally running into trouble. 

Fall in Montana means it's cold. The few sun rays that are left taunt me from behind the dark sky providing no warmth. Cruz is definitely not coming back tonight. This was payback for stealing his house key a few weeks ago and locking him out. I head towards the lake where I used to go canoeing as a kid. Not yet thirsty enough to drink the questionable water, I sit against a tree and close my eyes. Night falls and I start shivering, first just in my arms and legs, but pretty soon my whole body is quaking. Cicadas buzz and leaves rustle in the frigid wind that crawls its way under my skin. 

The break is up and it's time to start the math section. I look around and see my friend Annie’s pencil wiggling between her fingers in anticipation. Ms. Tinkle has scooted her dest closer to mine and I hear her yellow teeth grinding, gnawing through the silence in the room. I start on the next set of problems, only taking a second to look up at the clock. The minute hand is moving way too fast as the time runs from me faster than I can keep up. 

My frozen sluggish limbs do their best to move me though the forest, but every small task seems to take a million years after a freezing sleepless night. The only working part of me is the relentless growl coming from my stomach. Berries! Big juicy huckleberries that spent all summer ripening sit pleasantly on countless bushes as my mouth waters. My limbs magically come alive, move towards them, and shovel the tiny things into my mouth. The small, plump fruits taste like candy and each bite warms me up a little. I pause half way through shoving a handful into my mouth as something catches my eye. A baby bear sits, munching on a nearby bush. In my daze of hunger and fatigue, I take a second to realize what this means. A huff breaks the silence. “Crap!”

 I turn around and find myself standing face to face with a huge brown bear. It bares its yellow fangs as I stand frozen between Momma and baby. Fight, play dead, backaway, run, make eye contact, don’t look, scream, stay quiet. I can’t move. I don’t know what to do. Anything I’ve ever learned about bears fled the scene as soon as the bear appeared, and left me there. Alone. 

“Five minutes left!” Ms. Tinkle grumbles. NO! I’m two thirds through the problems and I only have five minutes left? I frantically read over the questions letting instinct take over and giving my best shot at the most logical answers. Ms. Tinkle prowls the edges of the classroom like a threatened bear waiting to snap at the sign of a cheating kid. That's who she reminds me of. The primal animal that stood me off two years ago in those dark woods. Her pacing slowed and she stopped by my desk. Was this even allowed? It couldn’t be. I took a short glace up and a ruler sat in her left hand while being strangled by her right. Was Ms. Tinkle threatening me? I filled in the last of the bubbles just as the ruler came down on my desk. SNAP! The whole room jumped as the ruler rang out from my metal desk, slicing the silence once and for all.

 “Pencils down, now! Shrieked Ms. Tinkle. 

I set down my pencil and looked around. Everyone looked a little pale and sweaty. Except for Annie. She sat back in her chair, looking pleased with herself and not at all fazed by Ms. Tinkle. Seeing a friendly face in that room was a little out of place, but very welcome.

My heart was still pounding as I stopped running and slowed to an unsteady jog, putting distance between me and the bear, but no longer concerned I was being followed but still full of fear. A doe looked up from its patch of lichen it was nibbling off a low hanging branch. A warm spring breeze drifted from somewhere, as I sat down on a rock to watch the deer. I’d bet you a thousand dollars she smiled at me before going back to the lichen. I was gonna be okay.