“Bear!” hecried into my ear. “What‟s going to happen to me? Oh, Bear, I‟m just a littleguy! I‟m not big like you! What‟s going to happen to me?”

“But Bear said I shouldn’t talk to strangers because they would be scared of me. I always thought I was supposed to be afraid of them, but Bear said I would just end up talking them to death and that any nefarious purpose they might have had would become moot. When Bear McKenna accuses you of talking too much, you know you have a problem”

“Because you’re worried, Bear. And it makes me nervous. You know when you worry, I worry. It’s just something we do.”

“We crashed and collided in ways I didn’t think were possible between two people. If I wasn’t careful, I was going to be in over my head before I realized what was happening.”

“Wait till it’s my turn to tell the story! They’ll be like ‘Bear who?”

“When Big Eddie left, I only worried about how it affected me. I didn't worry about the others. I was selfish. Self-centred. I took to the river and let myself float on its waters. I didn't care if I drowned. I didn't care what became of me. I was hurt, I was angry, and I didn't care what that meant for the future. I just wanted everything to stop.”

“Don’t even try to figure out where that came from. I assure you the logic chain in Bear’s head makes sense if you actually know him (and by ‘makes sense’ I mean in a Bear way), but for a newbie like you, it’ll probably just break your mind”