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“You think he’s been trapped down there a long time?” Noah said. “Man I would hate to slip and end up sliding all the way down to where it is. I bet it if it is hungry that it would eat any of us that were unlucky enough to fall down there.” “How much further down the mountain do you think that is, from where we are now?” Ohpra asked. “I’ve been watching that thing real close, and I don’t think it is a bear.” “It has to be a bear. What else is that big? I think we’d recognize it if it was a moose.” Noah said. “I think its a bigfoot.” Ohpra said calmly. I think it is a bigfoot and I think we should help it to get out.” “If it is a bigfoot then I’m not helping it get out. I’m helping myself by turning it in to the authorities for a big reward.” BG said with pride. “Some accomplishment. So if you had a bigfoot trapped you would just let it go?” Noah asked while trying to peer down into the area of the crevice where it was dark from the shadows that were cast. If they wanted to see what was caught down there; they were going to have to climb down further than they were. He began to make his way down the mountain. “Long ways down Noah. Even a longer climb back up. You really think its worth the trouble to get a closer look at a black bear? Or even if its a grizzly, to what gain are we going to do this? Or worse, suppose the bear discovers it can climb out and it comes after us?” BG said, starting to get a worried look on his face. Rev wondered if the worried face was from the thought of tangling with a bear or was it the thought of having to climb so far back up the mountain side? “I’d like to see what it is?” “Me too. Looks like a half a day’s climb down to there. If we are going to do this it should be soon. We’re going to run out of good climbing light probably two and a half hours before the sun sets.” Noah said, after glancing back down the mountain a second look. “If we’re going to do this then lets get going.” Ohpra said as she followed Noah toward the bottom of the mountain. The other two friends followed. There was grass and bushes in between the trees to supply hand-holds. They climbed down for about an hour until coming out on a ledge that allowed a better look down into the crevice. The four friends gathered on the ledge in an attempt to see if the bear was still trapped. At first they couldn’t see anything. “It must have got out while we were climbing down.” BG said. Noah and Ohpra kept peering down into the dark shadows that fell across the crevice in odd angles. Movement caught their eyes but it was staying in the shadows. “I think it knows we are here.” Ohpra said. “See how it is staying in the shadows?” Rev gasped when he caught his first good glimpse of the creature. “Wow! That’s no bear. Opes was right. Its a freakin’ bigfoot!” Now all four were jockeying for position on the ledge so to see the creature better. “Are you two sure you saw a bigfoot?” Noah asked with more than a little doubt in his tone of voice. “C’mon Rev, you serious?” “As a fat teacher when they ask you to bend over and pick something up for them.” Rev answered. “What do you guys think we should do? Should we go get a game warden? Police? Parents?” “How about water, food.” BG said. “We don’t know how long he’s been down there.” “I agree. I would say we have about another half hour of climbing down before we will be close enough that we can lower some water and food on the end of a rope.” Ohpra said. “Are you crazy?” BG said. “What if he grabs the rope and uses it to climb out?” “My guess the first thing he or she will be doing is to eat some BG for a quick snack. I mean, since you’re the slowest of the four of us.” Noah said smiling. “I say we lower the rope down with some water attached to it and then retreat while he, or she, is climbing out.” Rev said. “Are you crazy? He’d get away.” BG said, and stopped his climb down the mountain. The others stopped as well. “This is our chance to be famous. Nobody has ever produced proof of a bigfoot. Chances are most likely when that time happened, it was going to be a dead bigfoot, either shot or found. We have the opportunity to show the world a living bigfoot.” “Just like a human being to not give any consideration to what the animal might want. How would you like it if you were kidnapped from the world you know and forced to be a zoo exhibit for creatures which have no meaning to your life?” Rev shook his head in disgust. “I won’t go for it. I’ll let him out and none of you can stop me.” “I’m with Rev.” Ohpra said. “That might be a father or mother who is counted on to bring back food etc.” “Well he wasn’t going to make it if we didn’t find him.” BG argued. “We didn’t put him down there. He would have died down there if we didn’t find him.” “To be fair, we don’t know that. Once things dry out he will possibly be able to climb out on his own.” Noah said. “In any case, if we don’t keep moving then we will be climbing out of here in the dark. You want to be out here in the wilderness in the dark after he’s climbed out? Assuming we are going to let him out and I think that has been decided.” He looked directly at BG when he spoke that last sentence. “We obviously have two votes for letting it out. One vote for keeping it trapped. Therefore I have the deciding vote and I vote to let it free. That’s what I would want.” “You guys are nuts! We have the find of a lifetime and you want to just simply let it go. This is a life-changing find. C’mon guys. Opes, this would make us rich, famous, everything that everybody wants.” BG said shaking his head in disbelief. “You come on. Tell me how if you were trapped that you would prefer it if the ones that found you sent you to a zoo instead of home.” Rev looked up at the sun overhead. “One thing is for sure, we need to keep moving.” “You’re just wanting to get rich.” Ohpra accused. She pushed past those still stopped and followed Rev down the mountain. Then she said over her shoulder, “You can come or you can stay, but we’re letting it out of its cage.” “You heard the lady.” Noah said, and he followed his friends down the mountain. BG followed and said nothing. ——— Chapter —————- When you are picking out a hundred feet of climbing rope at the sports store it looks like it is way more than you need but the salesman will tell you that it is much better to have more than you need than to not have enough. When you are out in the wild and you are one hundred feet above a creature which is ten feet tall and weighs five hundred pounds (or more), the one hundred feet seems like it is clearly not enough – distance between yourself and such a creature. The bigfoot was aware of their presence and had tried to climb out again but failed. It was able to climb a ways up the slick wall of the crevice but ultimately would slide back down into the pit. The creature showed no signs of violence toward the four friends but its size alone was incredibly intimidating. It had long strands of hair or fur, everywhere on its large body except around the face. It had a savage face that reserved a kindness about it which made for a combination which words in English are absent. There were deep lines in its face that inferred wisdom, long canine teeth suggested it was a meat-eater and could look quite frightening when exposed but it also had a kindness in its eyes that also had a wildness in them which anyone who looked into them could see why a bigfoot could never be captured. They needed to be free. All that may be true but when you are just one hundred feet above such a creature it loses a lot of its magic to sheer fear. The four friends looked down at the giant creature and had second thoughts about letting it loose. “Man he is a big fellow. That has to be a male. Right off I have to say I am not a fan of his cologne.” Rev said and held his nose while waving his other hand at the air. “That is a strong odor.” Noah laughed. “You were maybe expecting it to have that just out of the shower freshness? Who knows how long he’s been trapped down there. I bet you wouldn’t smell too good either after a few days or a week.” “Hey I’m not judging. Just saying, … whew!” Rev said. “Are we going to get him out or not?” Ohpra asked. Noah knew what they should do, what the right thing to do was, but now only one hundred feet above the fur-covered giant: he had reason to reconsider. “He is big. How long you guys think it will take him to climb out if we throw down the rope?”
“About as long as it will take BG to crap his pants.” Rev said, smiling but also semi-serious. “Man I am thinking it could go two ways. He could be slow, or he could be fast. If he is fast then he is next to us in about as long as it will take BG to fill his shorts.” Ohpra took out a bottle of water from her pack and took off the cap. Then she hollered down at the creature. “Hey, look up here. Catch.” Then she let the bottle of water drop from her hands and to everyone’s amazement the creature caught the bottle. It wasted no time drinking what was in the bottle. “Throw down another one.” Noah said, handing Ohpra a bottle from his pack. She did as was asked and the creature caught the second bottle and drank it as well. “We definitely have its attention.” The group kept working their way down the mountain side until they reached a point which would allow the rope to reach down to the bigfoot. It remained directly below them looking up. Rev took the rope and tied one end off around the trunk of a tree. Then he brought the rest of the rope over to the edge where he could throw the rope down to the bigfoot. “You guys ready for this?” Rev asked. “Maybe it would be best if we gave Opes a head start out of here just in case the bigfoot doesn’t see this as an act of kindness.” Noah said, holding Rev’s arm from tossing the rope down. “Just in case.” Rev stopped the motion of throwing down the rope and said, “That might be a smart idea. I mean if things go terribly wrong, at least there would be someone to tell the world what happened to us.” “I don’t think it will hurt us.” Ohpra said. “Send BG up the mountain with the head start. If anybody’s scared its him.” “I’m not scared. I just think we should keep it trapped and go get a game warden.” BG said, trying to sound like he wasn’t afraid. In truth he was very frightened. He really worried the animal had understood what he said when he said he wanted to keep it trapped. “Do you think it understands what we have been saying?” “Why? Are you afraid it will come after you?” Ohpra asked. “As a matter of fact, yes.” BG answered. “Then it is decided. You can start climbing out now because you will need the head start more than any of us.” Ohpra said. “Fine! I think you are all crazy for considering this idea. I will tell the world I tried to talk you out of it.” BG said, and he started climbing back up the mountain side. “If he eats all of you the world may not believe me.” “Give him a couple of minutes to get a good head start. Just in case we are wrong. I’d prefer my parents know than for them to be searching all their lives thinking I might still be alive.” Noah said to Rev, who was ready to throw the rope down. The three friends spent the next few minutes just looking around and taking in all that nature had to offer. Just in case. The smelled the breeze and felt the warmth of the sunlight on their necks. The beauty of the trees and the mountain itself. Nobody said a word. They just took it all in. At the same time Noah kept an eye on BG to see how far he had climbed. When BG was more than half the way back to where they had started down, it was time. “Go ahead and throw the rope.” Noah said. “Lets set that big guy free.” Rev hesitated, looking at Ohpra. “You ready?” He asked her. “As I will ever be.” Ohpra answered. “Never let it be said that the cursed from birth gang didn’t do all they could to see that nature stayed free.” Rev gave her a smile and then tossed the rope down to the creature. They had made sure the other end was tied off securely. The creature began climbing the rope. It came up faster than they could ever have dreamed. He was on top of the three friends in no time. They stood in awe of the giant. Ten feet tall is hard to imagine until you are facing it. The odor was very strong and very pungent. The creature made no noise but its breathing was very audible. “Don’t make eye contact with it.” Noah said, looking down. “Not a problem.” Rev said, who was thinking the only reason he wasn’t peeing his pants was because he was too afraid it might anger the big beast . Ohpra on the other hand had faced stronger opponents all her life. She was accustomed to looking those who could defeat her physically, right in the eye. She learned that in order to be respected by those that are physically stronger, it started with not being afraid to look them in the eye. Make them know you have already accepted that you are in harm’s way of physical injury and that you chose to be there anyway. While it was most definitely not a strategy that worked every time, it was never the less what her experience in life had taught her to deal with these situations. As such, she looked the big beast right back in the eye as it stood over them nearly twice their size in height and more so in weight. “We freed you. Are you now meaning to do us harm?” Tears were in her eyes. The big beast grunted while looking down at her. Then he pushed past the three and was immediately gone. The three all were beyond relieved the creature had chosen to not harm them. “I can’t believe what just happened.” Noah said. “Its what we were hoping for, right?” Ohpra asked. “Sure. But when he’s standing over you and he’s so big … I thought it was the end for sure.” Rev said, wiping sweat from his forehead. “We should go. It will be dark sooner than we’d like. If we get going now there will be time to get back to the main trail before it is so dark we can no longer see.” Noah said while motioning upwards. “I feel good. We helped the bigfoot and nobody got hurt. It is a beautiful day.” Ohpra said, and she started the climb back up the mountain side. “I feel good too. You know what just dawned on me? We could have got video footage of the bigfoot if we had brought our phones with us instead of these walkie-talkies.” Rev said, following behind Ohpra.
“Camp rule that we have to turn in all cell phones. That’s why they issue the walkies. So you can get help if you need it.” Noah pointed out. “I guess we could have kept them for the camera. Next time we will have to think about that. “Hey I can see BG. He’s almost to the spot where we stop climbing up and start heading west. You think he’ll wait for us?” Ohpra asked, still climbing. “If he wants to get back to a campsite.” Rev said laughing. “Otherwise he’s sure to get lost.” “Sort of an anti-climax of a day isn’t it? I mean, after seeing a bigfoot. Nobody is going to believe us. I may not even try telling anybody. I’m not so sure I want to go from being the ‘Frady Bunch’ to being the ‘Bigfoot Bunch’. At best that’s a lateral move.” Noah said. “I think I agree. Why set ourselves up for more mockery than we already endure?” Ohpra said. “That’s rich coming from you. You’re beautiful. You’ll be joining the most popular people club soon. You will probably not even be talking to us this time next year. Especially if your … you know what we’re not suppose to say around you. If those grow then for sure you won’t have time for us.” Rev said. “Yeah. It would take some kind of huge thing connecting us in order for you to still be friends with us next year. I mean, no offense, cause its a compliment. We’re not blind. You’re probably going to be the head cheerleader, the homecoming queen and date the quaterback.” Noah added. “I got news for both of you. I want to be the quarterback and I hate dancing so I won’t even be going to the homecoming dance.” Ohpra argued. “You guys need to get past this whole puberty thing. Yeah we are going to go through changes, and maybe we won’t have the same relationship we once had. Nothing stays the same. Ever. Get used to it. Just keep in mind it doesn’t mean we will stop being friends.” “Sure. Sorry if we made it sound like we weren’t going to be friends. We don’t mean that. Its just we can see you’re going to be so popular. Plus it is really going to suck if we don’t have you in the gang any more. You’re the carbonation in our grape soda.” Noah said. “Our jelly to our PB&J.” “Our bait to our fishing poles. Fluffy white clouds to our blue skies. The bacon in our BLT.” Rev added. “Oh that was a good one.” Noah said. “Now I’m hungry.” Ohpra said annoyed. “Before I was just thirsty.” “We got water.” Noah said. “I’m making a point.” Ohpra said, still annoyed. . They still had an hour before the sun set when they reached the location where they could stop climbing and start heading back to the main trail. They arrived back to their camp with only a little light left to see. A fire was started and they cooked some more hot dogs they had brought with them. It was a dark night as the moon had not made an appearance and the campfire barely lit things enough so the four could see each other’s faces. “Anybody else mind if I add some more wood to the fire?” Ohpra asked her friends. “I have this weird feeling. It isn’t necessarily a bad feeling but I can’t help but feel like something is watching us.” “Maybe it is the bigfoot.” Rev said laughing. In the back of his mind however he didn’t think the idea was so funny. “Yeah, go ahead. Put some more wood on the fire. We’ll be here to keep an eye on it.” Noah was feeling it too. The hair on the back of his neck was standing straight up. He grabbed his flashlight and shined it all the way around their campsite. The didn’t see anything but it felt like there was something very close to them. Suddenly the silence was interrupted by the sound of something breaking tree limbs. Then they heard a growl. It sounded like a bear. The four gathered on the far side of the campfire, from where they had last heard the growl. There was more rustling in the darkness. They could hear the movement of tree limbs, and the occasional snap of a brittle dead limb that had been stepped on. It sounded like it was just beyond the reach of the light provided by the campfire. Rev turned on a flashlight and shined it all around but they continued to see nothing. “I’m getting out my night vision goggles.” Rev said. “Better to see it coming than see it once it is right on top of you. “ The next hour the group of four continued to move to whichever side of the campfire was opposite the last time they heard a noise. Rev continued to watch with his night vision goggles but whatever was out there was staying far enough away that he couldn’t see anything. Finally things seemed to calm down. Everyone was tired from the hike and then the stress of worrying what was in the dark. They eventually decided it was safe to go to sleep. Lying in his tent listening to the sounds of the night, BG found it hard to go to sleep. He was unhappy with himself that he had left his friends when they turned the bigfoot loose. He was even more unhappy that they didn’t keep it trapped and tell the world about it. Then he thought about himself being on tv with the bigfoot in a cage behind him. The people gathered around clapping for him. He could have been rich and famous . Ohpra laid in her sleeping bag thinking about how big that creature had been. She pictured how fast it came up the rope and how easily it flung off the rope onto the mountain side. Standing over them twice their height, the way it’s expression was so grateful, the eyes so kind. The deep wrinkles in its dark face. The odor! Boy did that thing stink. The more she thought about it the more it seemed like she could smell it again. In fact the odor was becoming stronger. That didn’t happen when you were just thinking about something. “Camp rule that we have to turn in all cell phones. That’s why they issue the walkies. So you can get help if you need it.” Noah pointed out. “I guess we could have kept them for the camera. Next time we will have to think about that. “Hey I can see BG. He’s almost to the spot where we stop climbing up and start heading west. You think he’ll wait for us?” Ohpra asked, still climbing. “If he wants to get back to a campsite.” Rev said laughing. “Otherwise he’s sure to get lost.” “Sort of an anti-climax of a day isn’t it? I mean, after seeing a bigfoot. Nobody is going to believe us. I may not even try telling anybody. I’m not so sure I want to go from being the ‘Frady Bunch’ to being the ‘Bigfoot Bunch’. At best that’s a lateral move.” Noah said. “I think I agree. Why set ourselves up for more mockery than we already endure?” Ohpra said. “That’s rich coming from you. You’re beautiful. You’ll be joining the most popular people club soon. You will probably not even be talking to us this time next year. Especially if your … you know what we’re not suppose to say around you. If those grow then for sure you won’t have time for us.” Rev said. “Yeah. It would take some kind of huge thing connecting us in order for you to still be friends with us next year. I mean, no offense, cause its a compliment. We’re not blind. You’re probably going to be the head cheerleader, the homecoming queen and date the quaterback.” Noah added. “I got news for both of you. I want to be the quarterback and I hate dancing so I won’t even be going to the homecoming dance.” Ohpra argued. “You guys need to get past this whole puberty thing. Yeah we are going to go through changes, and maybe we won’t have the same relationship we once had. Nothing stays the same. Ever. Get used to it. Just keep in mind it doesn’t mean we will stop being friends.” “Sure. Sorry if we made it sound like we weren’t going to be friends. We don’t mean that. Its just we can see you’re going to be so popular. Plus it is really going to suck if we don’t have you in the gang any more. You’re the carbonation in our grape soda.” Noah said. “Our jelly to our PB&J.” “Our bait to our fishing poles. Fluffy white clouds to our blue skies. The bacon in our BLT.” Rev added. “Oh that was a good one.” Noah said. “Now I’m hungry.” Ohpra said annoyed. “Before I was just thirsty.” “We got water.” Noah said. “I’m making a point.” Ohpra said, still annoyed. . They still had an hour before the sun set when they reached the location where they could stop climbing and start heading back to the main trail. They arrived back to their camp with only a little light left to see. A fire was started and they cooked some more hot dogs they had brought with them. It was a dark night as the moon had not made an appearance and the campfire barely lit things enough so the four could see each other’s faces. “Anybody else mind if I add some more wood to the fire?” Ohpra asked her friends. “I have this weird feeling. It isn’t necessarily a bad feeling but I can’t help but feel like something is watching us.” “Maybe it is the bigfoot.” Rev said laughing. In the back of his mind however he didn’t think the idea was so funny. “Yeah, go ahead. Put some more wood on the fire. We’ll be here to keep an eye on it.” Noah was feeling it too. The hair on the back of his neck was standing straight up. He grabbed his flashlight and shined it all the way around their campsite. The didn’t see anything but it felt like there was something very close to them. Suddenly the silence was interrupted by the sound of something breaking tree limbs. Then they heard a growl. It sounded like a bear. The four gathered on the far side of the campfire, from where they had last heard the growl. There was more rustling in the darkness. They could hear the movement of tree limbs, and the occasional snap of a brittle dead limb that had been stepped on. It sounded like it was just beyond the reach of the light provided by the campfire. Rev turned on a flashlight and shined it all around but they continued to see nothing. “I’m getting out my night vision goggles.” Rev said. “Better to see it coming than see it once it is right on top of you. “ The next hour the group of four continued to move to whichever side of the campfire was opposite the last time they heard a noise. Rev continued to watch with his night vision goggles but whatever was out there was staying far enough away that he couldn’t see anything. Finally things seemed to calm down. Everyone was tired from the hike and then the stress of worrying what was in the dark. They eventually decided it was safe to go to sleep. Lying in his tent listening to the sounds of the night, BG found it hard to go to sleep. He was unhappy with himself that he had left his friends when they turned the bigfoot loose. He was even more unhappy that they didn’t keep it trapped and tell the world about it. Then he thought about himself being on tv with the bigfoot in a cage behind him. The people gathered around clapping for him. He could have been rich and famous . Ohpra laid in her sleeping bag thinking about how big that creature had been. She pictured how fast it came up the rope and how easily it flung off the rope onto the mountain side. Standing over them twice their height, the way it’s expression was so grateful, the eyes so kind. The deep wrinkles in its dark face. The odor! Boy did that thing stink. The more she thought about it the more it seemed like she could smell it again. In fact the odor was becoming stronger. That didn’t happen when you were just thinking about something. Next Page