Dark-Balkans

     “Faster, faster!” the boy blurted as he ran barefoot downhill, vaulting over rocks and fallen branches upon the leaf-coated slope. A brown bear was chasing after him. “Faster, man!” But the man at his side was panting heavily. He was ten steps behind the boy, his knee-high boots barely dodging the obstacles in their path, weary under the weight of the sack he was carrying on one shoulder.     “Drop it, man, let it go,” the boy prompted, his black brow frowning. But the man's grip tightened upon the mouth of the sack instead, and his head shook in dismissal. At the foot of the hill he stopped, crouc