A young redcurrant shrub held fast valiantly despite the rampant deer that surged through it. Unfortunately the act of shrubbery valour was instantly forgotten as a full-grown bear trampled over the plant after his prey. For a moment it looked like the predator would field the day, but a duo of stout birches ended the chase with their unequal treatment of the participants that ran between them. The bear, stuck tight between the stout trees, could only roar in frustration as the deer hopped into

The
inn at the end of the roadBy Strega
Miss
Paula ran her inn with a firm hand. The food was good, the upstairs
rooms were always clean, and the beer and wine weren't watered.
Alcohol was served only between noon and nine in the evening and
anyone showing signs of getting messily drunk was politely asked to
leave. It wasn't the fanciest place to stay but it was safe, it was
reliable, and that's all some people needed. Their little burg, all
five hundred of them, was lucky enough to be in civi

“Benny! Come here!” a loud, male voice roared through the house in the tree. The 18-year old bear boy ran to the living room where his father Mark was standing. “Yes?” he asked. Mark smiled, showing all his teeth: “Good news, son. Your human girlfriend Goldie is coming for dinner. Don't worry, she's not on the menu. She wrote me a letter that she's coming in one hour with her brother Red. Hope you like those news.”. Benny cheered at this. He and Goldie have be

The
oldest trick in the book 2By StregaThe little bear
belched, worked his jaws until they popped back onto their hinges,
and stretched, trying to get his meal settled. The woman curled up in
his stomach very much did not want to be there, but though his
swollen belly bulged and kicked the inward-pressing muscle and fur
held her nearly still as she tried to fight her way free. Her
struggles grew more frantic as the gurgling stomach acids flowed in
to fill the voids around her, and for a moment

The
oldest trick in the bookBy StregaWhen
Sandy saw the young black bear, her instant impression was that it
was sick. She saw it hunched up in the undergrowth, either gagging or
actually throwing up. She put down her fishing pole and watched as
it finally lifted it head, blinking blearily into the sunset dimness,
and dug a paw into its mouth.Something was stuck in there.
It was plain from the way it slid its paw in and felt around with its
claws that some object was obstructing its breathing.

“But I can do it!” Goldie told Jane, Emma and Alex. The 16-year old girl wanted to be in their gang, as she was constantly feeling alone in school and thought that this was the best way to get friends. She got her name from her long, golden blond hair. Goldie was wearing a pink top and blue jeans as it was very hot today. “Prove it.” Jane, the leader of the gang, said. She was wearing a white shirt and blue shorts. Her brown hair was in a braid now. Emma and Alex both had

At
the spaceport 4By StregaRandy considered the few items of
clothing left to stuff into his backpack. He'd already packed
underwear, socks and a spare pair of shorts. His toothbrush and
other toiletries were in the pack's outer pouch. That just left
T-shirts. He decided on an old convention T-Shirt to go with a plain
black one. He'd only been 16 when he went to that furry con and two
weeks later the aliens made first contact. That was ten years ago and
the world had changed since then. The