This story was written about four years ago as my submission to the 'Symbol of a Nation' anthology; I decided to with the provincial animal of British Columbia (where I was born): the Kermode Bear, also known as the Spirit Bear. Basically it's a black bear with a genetic condition called leucism, giving it white fur instead of black. There are a good number of them out in certain parts of B.C. I also deliberately kept the animals showing up in the story limited to those that were actually native to British Columbia.

I decided that the perfect occupation for a 'spirit bear' would be as an 'Agony Aunt'. If you're not familiar with the term (it's more a British term) think 'Dear Abby': an advice columnist. Then of course she'd need someone to talk to, as well as the people coming for advice, which is where the 'take your daughter to work day' idea came in.

Sadly, the story didn't make it into the anthology. And honestly, it wasn't my best work, as well as being more philosophical than what they were likely looking for, so I wasn't entirely surprised. But I figured I could post it here for others to read.

All animals here are 'feral' in form, if I didn't make that clear enogh in the story itself.