Bears open fire

In Louisville there were bears that know how to gather and kindle fires , basking near them in winter evenings instead of going to hibernation . The elderly mother of the protagonist leaves the orphanage and joins the animals.

Excerpt from the story:

... The smell of bears is harsh, but not unpleasant, you just get used to it. Not that it resembles the smell of a crib, just wild. I leaned over to whisper my mother's ear, but she shook her head. It is rude to whisper in the presence of entities that do not own speeches, she uttered to me silently. Wallace Jr., too, was silent. Mother shared her bedspread with us, and we looked at the fire for what seemed like hours.
The big bear supported the fire, breaking branches and branches, holding them at one end and stepping on the middle, as people do. He very skillfully regulated the height of the flame. Another one occasionally agitated the coals with a cudgel, but the others did not interfere. It seems that few of the animals knew how to use fire, and it was they who carried the rest with them. But isn't it the same with humans? Sometimes a small bear appeared, entered the lighted circle and threw brushwood brought into the pile. The roadside brushwood was distinguished by a silvery shade, like a fin ejected by the sea ...

• 1990 - Nebula Award , in the nomination Short Story.
• 1991:
  • Award (reader) magazine Asimov's Science Fiction , in the nomination Story;
  • Award "Hugo" , in the category Story (Short Story);
  • Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Prize , in the nomination Best NF-story;
  • Award "Locus" in the nomination story (Short Story);
  • SF Chronicle Award .

The story is included in the collections:

• Bears Discover Fire (also called The Shadow Knows ), 1993 is the very first Bisson collection of 19 stories, including They are made of meat .
• Minsk magazine of SF science fiction " Fantakrim-MEGA ' ", No. 2, 1992.
• Anthology The New Hugo Winners III , Connie Willis , Martin G. Greenberg , 1992 - the anthology also included works by Mike Resnick , George Alec Effinger, Connie Willis , Robert Silverberg , Lois McMaster Bujold , Joe Haldeman .
• Anthology Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the Century , Orson Scott Card , 2001 - a collection of the best, according to Card, stories of the XX century , in which Card collected the stories of 27 colleagues: P. Anderson , R. Heinlein , A. Azimov , T Sturgeon , A. Clark , R. Bradbury , H. Ellison , D. Martin, R. Silverberg, F. Paul, W. Gibson , D. Crowley, T. Bisson and others ...
• Anthology of Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction , Gardner Dozua , 2005.

• "Bears open fire" - the story of the publication on the Internet Speculative Fiction Database .
• "Bears open fire" at BestScienceFictionStories.com - story reviews