Heron Lake Plateau And I've spent half of my life in the customer service line

He thought he was done. It was only a blip on his radar, but that thought shot through his mind and a chill ran through his system when it registered, watching as that bear came hurtling after him. The boy faced off against the creature and bared his teeth (as if that would stop it) — he was  bristling all over and expected that broad head with its big teeth to cut him down. But instead the beast veered off. Niamh was at its heels, and then the man who had come to their aid.

As Colt chased it off Ambrose sank to the dirt and let out a heavy breath, one he didn't realize he had been holding, and closed his eyes. His sister's body crunched in to the grass beside him. He flicked his ears towards her and as he opened his eyes, Ambrose realized that one of them was still cloudy with blood and becoming inflamed to the point where he couldn't open it all the way. That was fun, lets never do that again, he commented with a sullen pseudo-cheer.

It was at that moment he concluded something else: His wrecked ear made things sound like they were underwater. He swallowed a lump in his throat and then cleared it with a cough, then leaned against his sister as he asked her, Are you OK?