Marlene's Secret

Deep inside the bears huddle, Marlene’s stomach grumbled. It was so hot in the centre that the ice was starting to bubble. Marlene insisted that the other bears take a running jump before landing in the middle. They added to the strength of the huddle.

The younger bears agreed to it, because it was dangerous and because if they timed it right they could practice their acrobatics and land next to Marlene. The older bears froze on the outer edge. They argued it was much better when they had lived in the sub-zero, perfectly preserved hut on the other island, but Marlene was the leader. Her word was bear-lore.

It was nearly midnight. The night was clear. Lucille sang to cover up the gassy noises coming from the huddle.
Cesk had still not returned from his scavenger hunt. Marlene secretly loved Lucille singing. She possessed one of the most beautiful bear voices she had ever heard. The tune made the younger bears eyelids droop until they were in a sleep so powerful they didn't realise when someone kicked them out of the huddle.

“What colour are the stars out there?” A little brown pup with dark eyes called Vivien raised her snout from the huge fur mountain.
“They’re white, Receptioner. Like the moon, and the water, and Marlene’s worn backside!”
A cackle rose from the middle of the huddle, rocking it back and forth. Marlene had, had enough. She shoved matted paws and necks aside to get herself clear of the huddle. For once she didn’t appreciate the warmth.
“Shut up, all of you. Remember how we managed to get out?” A silence settled over the animals. “Remember how we all escaped? Remember the colour of the stars, because if they ever catch up with us, we’ll be seeing them from the inside of a cage.”
Marlene shook her legs free and the maze of bear feet and legs and stumpy tails closed behind her, to stop all the heat from escaping. Some of them sighed. They didn’t like remembering how they got here, and Marlene was always good heat source.

The bears missed their true home. Once, a long time ago, they had all belonged to the most famous troupe of travelling bears in the world.
That was in the days when the bears were chained up, and had to beg for scraps of food. To look at them now you wouldn't recognise them, they were so fat. At least that's what Marlene and the others hoped, because they were on the run. They were escaped bears, lonely bears, angry bears.
But it wasn't all bad. The one things that circus bears were good at was providing their own entertainment, and of course, survival. They knew exactly how to survive.

The night of the escape, the bears were on board a large ship, bound for America. Vivien, Marlene, Lucille and Grace were the largest, most well-known bears. The boat was dark and cramped. Every so often the air rushed past Lucille’s nose, smelling of straw and something else that was completely unpleasant.

They were all alone in their cages. Marlene had been separated from her cub, Sebastien, and he was crying out for her in the darkness. It was only Lucille’s singing that calmed them all, because when you’re in a dark tanker, with only the sound of the waves for company, not knowing where you’re going, things can get quite unsettling.

And then the storm started, tossing the boat from side to side. Clattering and breaking the chains that held the cages in place. Ropes frayed, locks broke. The bears found themselves hitting the coldest water they had ever swam in. Marlene was scared her heart would stop. Her paws were so numb.

They swam as a group, together or not at all. Survival. That was the task. It was only when they reached the shore that Marlene knew Sebastien was missing.

The bears found the hut, and slept. It was only Marlene who didn’t. She refused to eat or sleep for a week. It was only when they found the egg that the grizzly opened her jaws and roared.

It was Cesk’s lonely looking egg, abandoned, that made Marlene feel sad. Lucille had told Cesk that Marlene wanted to eat it. But what Cesk didn’t know was that she wrapped her shrivelled body around the egg and refused to move from it, until Cesk, the penguin appeared.

Marlene could see him now. His frazzled, furry outline was rushing towards her on the clearest of nights.

“Do you want to hear something that will wow your eyes, chatter your teeth, and make your bones leap up and down as if you’ve been dipped in an ice hole?”
“No, I want some food, Cesk.” Marlene said.
The penguin put his flippers together. He blushed. There was no food.

He held his head, where the cut had stopped bleeding. Cesk expected to be whacked across the ice, far away from the huddle. But Marlene didn’t move.
“I don’t suppose you managed to find any?”
“Well, there was a killer whale, but he didn’t look so good.”
Marlene reached out her paw and patted him on the head. “Well, if that’s all there was...”
Cesk looked up at the grizzly and narrowed his eyes. He didn’t trust this Marlene. She was far too kind. But he was too busy wondering about the whale and the Penguin Horde, and the Gentleman Penguins of Heart to stop now.
“How about I tell you about the wowing of the eyes bit? It might stop you from feeling hungry.”
Marlene sighed. “You know I used to tell stories to Sebastien, before the storm.”
Cesk stopped his nervous chatter. Marlene never talked about Sebastien, the cub they had all left behind.
She looked down at Cesk, and nodded at him, as if he should keep on talking.

Cesk steadied himself. He held up one flipper to the stars, and then realised there was not much to tell. He didn’t know enough about The Penguin Horde to tell any story.

“I only know a bit, because the whale left me before he could tell me everything about the Horde. But they sound magical, and I want to find them, because if anyone belongs in the Horde, it’s definitely got to be me.” He turned his flipper and tapped his furry chest hard.

“The Horde? Antarctic fairy tale. You might as well look for polar bears.”

Silence. Cesk gathered himself up to argue. This was going to be a good one, because he had at least the killer’s tale to prove it.
“When you told me how you came here, with me, even though it was the most unbelievable tale, I believed you. When you told me that penguins should serve circus bears, despite the fact I can only carry one or two fish in my beak at a time, I believed you. When you told me that my furry behind was so big that I would steal heat from the huddle, well, I didn’t believe you, but I accepted it, because you’re bigger than me, and scarier than any of the other bears.”
Marlene was still looking at him, blinking into the night, not able to stop Cesk from his speech. “When Lucille told me not to talk about Sebastien, I didn’t, because I know that it makes you sad.”
Cesk rose up on his orange feet, shivering.
“But I am not, I repeat, not accepting that the Penguin Horde does not exist, just because you SAY SO!”
His voice was usually tiny. This time it boomed into the night so much that the force of the last two words bristled the brown fur above Marlene’s nose.
Cesk stomped off into the night, to his rock hole, leaving Marlene stunned.