Touching Spirit Bear Chapter 5 Summary

  • Cole's starting to run out of steam, but when he looks up, he finds that he's no closer to the next island. He realizes his mistake immediately: He's been swimming against the tide.
  • He's starting to fail, so he knows that he just has to get back to the island so he doesn't drown to death.
  • It's almost dark when he stumbles onto the shore, freezing and exhausted. Of course, now he doesn't have any shelter either. Good going, Cole.
  • Cole tries to stand up, feeling totally weak and drained…and that's when he sees it: a giant white bear staring at him. He's shocked as he remembers what Edwin said about the Spirit Bear that supposedly wanders around this island.
  • Then the bear wanders off, and Cole vows that if he sees it again, he'll kill it. He has a knife amongst his supplies, after all.
  • He thinks of all the things that have happened, refusing to take responsibility for any of it. He hates all the people in his life who have treated him poorly and led him to this place.
  • Cole thinks back to one of the Hearing Circle meetings when his father said that he and Cole's mother have devoted their whole lives to their son, but that Cole's just a bad egg.
  • That's when Cole explodes and yells that if his father were such a devoted parent, he wouldn't be a drunk who whips his kid for no reason. We have to say, we think Cole's onto something.