Once upon a time, not too long ago, there was a faraway land of black and white grizzly bears. One of the black grizzly bears was named Aurora. This story is about the day she stopped by a grizzly bear Rite Aid on a sunny Sunday morning to pick up a few items: Honey Tylenol, Salmon Benadryl, and berries made with cough syrup. Her three little grizzly bear daughters were sick. 

Aurora bear was a 23-year-old black grizzly bear who had been widowed at a young age. She had nice brown eyes, big paws, and lots of beautiful black fur. Aurora worked hard, Monday through Saturday, 6am to 9pm. As a mother should, she loved her three little grizzly bear daughters very dearly. But when she saw them so sickly, her heart shattered to see them suffer so much. So she raced to the grizzly bear Rite Aid to get their medicine. 

For some reason, as soon as she entered the store, all the white grizzly bears were eyeballing Aurora bear as if she didn't belong. They stared at her with absolute disgust. Cashiers were whispering and pointing fingers at her, as well. An elderly white grizzly bear even had the nerve to shove into Aurora bear and the audacity to say, “You black grizzly bears don’t belong with us white grizzly bears. You black grizzly bears might try to steal from us. Always snooping around trying to take what you shouldn’t have access to in the first place.” Aurora didn’t know how to respond.

The old, white grizzly kept talking: “If I see your dirty filthy black grizzly bear paws on anything, I’m calling the grizzly bear police department. The only place your stinking grizzly bear paws belong is in my grizzly bear cotton field. You black bear monsters. Go on now, you black grizzly bear girl. I don’t even want to be close to a black grizzly bear like you.” Aurora backed away, trembling and shaking. She did her best to hurry and find all of the medication she needed for her three little grizzly bears. 

When Aurora bear got to the register, there was a white female grizzly bear cashier who started questioning her. “What is a black grizzly bear like you doing with all this?” the cashier asked Aurora. “You can’t afford it.” Aurora was shocked, but eventually responded, saying, “Miss, I have a decent job. My card has enough money to pay for the grizzly bear medication for my three little sick grizzly bears.” The cashier just rolled her eyes, and Aurora bear handed her card to the cashier. 

Even as the cashier takes the card, she said, “I just know it’s going to be declined. Most black grizzly bears are poor. They aren’t good enough, worthy enough, smart enough, or light enough to get accepted into a job. Proper white grizzly bears don’t like black grizzly bears like you working with them.” Then the cashier laughed loudly. 

The cashier swiped Aurora bear’s card and it automatically said approved, showing that Aurora’s payment of 70 grizzly bear dollars went through. The cashier’s eyes widened, full of absolute shock. Then, after a moment, she became frighteningly angry. The cashier said to Aurora bear, “No, this can’t be right. I’m not seeing things clearly.” The cashier forcefully threw Aurora bear's card at her face and aggressively threw all of her grizzly bear medicine to the ground. 

The cashier yelled, “Get out of here, you black grizzly bear! You probably stole that card from a white grizzly bear’s purse while it wasn’t looking. You shouldn’t even be allowed to own a card. You aren’t worthy of it, you black grizzly bear witch!” Aurora bear quickly wiped her tears and picked up her credit card and grizzly bear medication from the ground. She hurried toward the door without looking back, not realizing that the cashier was calling the grizzly bear police department on her.

Suddenly, Aurora realized that other white grizzly bears who were in the store were yelling things at her and calling her a thief. Aurora tried to exit as quickly as she could.. Just as she went out the door of the grizzly bear Rite Aid, out of nowhere, ten grizzly bear officers tackled her. Guns raised. Tasers out. Pepper spray ready for use. As if she had just robbed grizzly bear Rite Aid.

One of the white officer grizzly bears immediately slammed Aurora’s chest into the ground. He banged her head on the pavement, giving her a concussion. The officer grizzly bear screamed at Aurora, “You are a stealer! You are a thief! You are a robber! You are a liar!” Aurora caught her breath and responded to the officer grizzly bear, saying, “You have to believe me! I work hard day and night! Hour after hour! I just know my grizzly bear card was approved! I need to give my three little grizzly bears their grizzly bear medicine. They are suffering!” 

Hearing that, the white grizzly bear police officers became even more furious. They tased Aurora bear. She fell down and started to hyperventilate. Then they punched her in the stomach, breaking her ribs. Aurora bear began screaming, “Help! Pleeeeease! Help! Noooo! I didn’t do anything!” But no one came to help her. 

At that point, Aurora was barely holding on. She said “I can’t breathe.” But the grizzly bear officers had no mercy at all. One of the officers put his knee on Aurora bear’s neck. As she suffocated, she begged them to help her sick children. After a few more minutes, Aurora bear was pronounced dead.

The detectives and investigators appeared and the cashier and police officers told their lies.

But there had also been two black grizzly bear witnesses that day, Anna bear and Bianca bear. These two black grizzly bears had recorded the entire incident from start to finish. This recording revealed the full truth. So of course, Bianca bear and Anna bear — both being good bears that had pure and good grizzly bear hearts — uploaded the recording to Instabear and Bearbook. The video instantly went viral and bears started seeing hashtags like #blackgrizzlybearlivesmatter and #icantbreathe. 

Everyone eventually saw the truth of what had happened to Aurora bear, who had been innocent, and the white grizzly bears had to pay for their crimes. 

At least, that’s what would happen in a fairy tale.

Anyla is a student at Walla Walla High School. She aspires to become a poet, short story writer, and essayist speaking about racism against Black people, current world problems, and hot topics. When she writes, she does it with purpose and passion. Anyla feels destined to touch others with her words, and wants to be known as someone who takes a stand and impacts lives with her writing.