From "Lost Among Pines"

The door closed slowly with a long metallic creak. Gregg the Grizzly, fresh from the Aleutians, eight feet tall and naked yet sweating due to his thick water-resistant fur walked past the jukebox, taking a second to glance down at the grime-covered playlist. Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle” was playing above the smoke -- Gregg always loved that song. It reminded him of upstream salmon. It reminded him of his father.

Gregg saddled up to the bar. His monstrous claws tore large gashes out of the poorly laid varnish. “Oh well…it wasn’t that nice to begin with,” Gregg thought. “And look at these people…what are they doing in a bar? It’s 1 P.M. on a Tuesday!”

“But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them...”

“How goes it, stranger?” said the portly bartender, a gnarled and pockmarked short blonde known to the daily regulars as Janice or Sweet J. Gregg acknowledged her, nodded, and let out a low, groaning growl from deep in his gullet while refraining from tearing her into pieces with one paw swipe. He had come here to drink.

“You can call me Sweet J, sugar. Now what can I get for ya?”

Gregg awkwardly lifted a paw a pushed it in the direction of the smoky bottle of Caol Ila Single Malt 25. The top shelf. The good stuff. That’s the only thing that would do the trick now. Janice passed him the full bottle. Gregg ate it in one bite.

The glass crunched in time with the music.

“If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty
Except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you”

“Take it slow there, darlin’” said Janice. “It’s gonna be alright. Whatever it is, it’s gonna be alright. I’ve seen your type before, the huge, monstrous brooders, and I know that, no matter how tough you may think you are, guys like you still gotta take the time to hurt – gotta realize that the pain is real and that it’s okay that it’s there.’

Gregg flexed his omnivoric jaw and inhaled deeply. She was right. God dammit, she was right. Tonight he would go back to his cave, scratch his back on a tree, drink until he passed out and begin the process of healing.

Gregg stood up, mauled three people, and left Janice a sizable tip. Wisdom, it seemed, could be found in the most unlikely of places.