The stories of old still live in the Carpathian mountains. You know the stories...the ones of vicious beasts, cunning and blood thirsty...the wild boars, the bears, the roaming wolf packs... The ones that seem legends now...or nightmares of a bygone age.
Such as the story of the old woman who lived in the woods and the bear...
She lived alone in a cottage in the woods. She knew the forests and the area well, having lived there most of her life. If was a simple life. Raising animals, tending to them, planting in her garden. She lived alone, all the family having long since gone off to make a life for themselves elsewhere. But like most people she was content in her humble life. She took great care of her home. It was obvious that the little cottage was warm and homey always. The villagers living down in the valley would come up and visit her once in a while. Especially recently, as a logging company had just cleared up a path leading right past her home so it was easier to walk up. This visit up to the old woman's cottage was random like any other. In was around sunset as most other visits. When the visitors arrived at the little cottage however they were surprised to see that the old woman was nowhere in sight and all the lights were off... They called for her but no one answered...They entered the cottage and found her hiding in a corner behind the door...eyes filled with panic and fear.
A bear had come by earlier, she saw it come up from the window. He lumbered up to the cows and with the force of one paw snapped the animals spine so it could no longer move or run. It did not kill the animal though...it simply started eating it. The screams of the cow resonated for at least half an hour...though the woman believed they didn't stop for hours. She barricaded herself in the cottage and waited for it to end.
The visitors were not surprised, after all she had no dogs for protection...and the animals from the Carpathian mountains, which make up the largest virgin forest left in Europe...they are not shy. They have lived alongside people for hundreds of years...they learned many things...
After a cup of tea to steady her nerves...they advised her to get some dogs.
