“Alper, look who came! Serpil! She brought us figs!” My sister Buket was calling out to me from next to Serpil, who was standing at the door with a basket of fresh figs. Serpil was the tallest and thinnest student in our class. When school started, we would take our places together with Serpil in the fourth grade of primary school. Serpil was a harmonious, quiet, calm girl who never fought with anyone.
Whenever they saw Serpil, both male and female students in our class and schoolyard would laugh among themselves, giggling and talking as if they were hiding something. I always wondered what kind of storms nicknames like “Skinny,” “Stick Girl,” or “Tall Poplar Trees” created inside Serpil’s inner world.
After saying, “Welcome, Serpil!” I climbed onto the wide daybed next to the chairs and rested my back against its large, wedge-shaped cushions leaning against the walls.
Serpil had never been to our house before. My mother brought a tea tray and a large plate filled with biscuits, placing them in front of us.
Buket, Serpil, and I had a very enjoyable time. When I said, “After all, it’s summer. No school. I guess we’ll get together and play again,” Serpil replied with her head bowed:
“I would like to invite you to our house too. Our home is at the end of the village, right where the forest begins. If you want, we can have a picnic under the pine trees next to the house—what do you say?”
My mother had packed a bundle of food into the reed basket Serpil had brought us the day before: potato and spinach pastries she had prepared yesterday, cheese, eggs, fresh green onions, tomatoes, bread, grapes, and apples.
After turning the corner of the last house at the edge of the village, as soon as a small, solitary wooden cabin adjacent to the forest appeared about a hundred meters up, Serpil, who was waiting for us, came running over and took the items from Buket’s hands. “Welcome! I’m so glad! No friend of mine has ever visited me until today!”
Two little girls, one aged 3–4 and the other 5–6, came barefoot out of the cabin. Overcoming their shyness and surprise, the two little girls ran toward Serpil and us. We had walked up to Serpil’s mother, Aunt Fadime.
“I would have liked to host you inside the house. But Serpil mentioned you were going to have a picnic.”
After spreading out the rug and tablecloth, Buket spoke up: “We’re all hungry. Come on, sit down, we’re unpacking the food.”
Turning to Serpil’s little sisters, Buket asked, “Shall we play hide-and-seek with you?” and the girls leaped into the air with joy. Buket took her playmates over to the large pine tree a little further away. I turned to Serpil and asked, “I heard your father is sick. Who provides for the household? And aren’t you afraid of wild animals here?”
“My mother goes to work with olives and figs in the village. And I gather mushrooms from the forest. But I’m very lucky. I even became friends with a family of bears.”
“With bears? I thought bears never let anyone near their cubs. Tell me, how did that happen?”
“Last summer, I was in the forest again to pick mushrooms. Suddenly, I heard an animal crying out in pain. I ran toward the source of the sound.”
“Weren’t you scared at all?”
“No, I have always loved animals. Whenever I see an animal in pain, I can’t stand it. Anyway, a few minutes later, I could hear the groans of the animal in distress. I moved toward the sound. And guess what I saw?” My excitement had reached its peak: “What did you see?”
“A huge brown bear was lying on the ground, and her two tiny cubs were pacing around her. The mother bear’s right paw was trapped under a thick wooden log. I stepped closer. The animal was looking at me with eyes that seemed to say, ‘Can you help me?'”
“How did the log fall on the bear?”
“She was probably looking for something underneath it. Besides honey, bears also like woodworms. She must have gotten trapped while trying to turn the huge log over.”
“Were you able to rescue the bear? Weren’t you scared? Quick, tell me what happened!”
“Like I said, it was clear from the bear’s gaze that she was asking me for help. I couldn’t lift that huge log off the bear by myself. It immediately reminded me of how my father uses wooden wedges when moving heavy items. Meanwhile, I can never forget the affectionate look the bear gave me. She understood what I was trying to do. She waited patiently.”
“What were the cubs doing in the meantime?”
“The cubs also realized I was trying to help their mother. They were rubbing their tiny heads against my feet, making strange purring sounds. To lift the log, I rammed a branch I found nearby into the dirt and pressed down with all my strength. The log on top of the bear’s paw didn’t even budge. On my second try, when the branch went a bit deeper into the ground, I got hopeful. Indeed, this time, when I climbed onto the branch and pushed down with my entire body weight, I realized from the grunting sound the bear made that the log had raised high enough and her paw was freed. Rolling over, the bear freed her paw and began licking the parts that had been trapped under the log. The little cubs immediately ran to their mother and threw themselves into her strong arms.”
“So what did you do next? I assume you didn’t go over and hug the bear!”
“Actually, I wanted to do that. But one must respect these wild animals. Holding her two little cubs to her chest, the mother bear somehow reminded me of my two sisters and my mother. I realized once again that no matter how hard life gets, our love for one another is more important than anything else.”
“Did you tell your family or friends about this incident?”
“No, I haven’t told anyone until now.”
I have never shared what Stick Girl told me with anyone until today. Most likely, no one would have believed me or her. But who knows, maybe you might think differently…