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HALLOWEEN SPECIAL VOL. 7, No. 36 |
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of TheColumnists.com
“Can you hear the sound? Over there, just beyond the light of the fire; there’s something there.”
Freddy bolted to his feet and began to point and scream. “What’s that, what’s that?” His eyes gleamed in the flickering light of the campfire as they bulged in terror.
Lucy jumped to her feet and screamed. “Stop it, Freddy!”
On the other side of the fire, Rocky Fowler
rolled with laughter.
Jill Hampton whacked her boyfriend in the arm. “Cut it out,
Rocky!” She was Lucy’s best friend and didn’t
take kindly to her being frightened by the two male morons that
accompanied them on their final summer outing before school started--a
camping trip in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.
Regaining her composure, Lucy smirked, as she stared at Freddy with disdain. “I knew you were making it up.”
“Sure, you weren’t scared one bit.” Freddy started to bite his lip but it was too late as he exploded in laughter.
Lucy ignored him as she moved to the opposite side of the fire to sit next to her girlfriend.
“Hey, I’m sorry, all right? It finally sank into Freddy’s head that he would be sitting alone that night if he didn’t do a little groveling. He quickly maneuvered next to her and attempted to put his arm around her only to have it peeled off and thrust back at him. This game went on for several minutes until she finally let him back into her world with a whispered scolding and a peck on the cheek.
A half hour passed as they sat by the fire, laughing, talking politics and arguing the finer points of Hip Hop. Rocky started to crank out phrases to the latest Busta Rhymes lyrics when he stopped dead in his tracks.
It was off in the distance, away from the comforting warmth of the fire: a low moan, sobs, then a high panicky scream followed by a thump and the sound of something being dragged.
Jill stood to confront her boyfriend.
“You guys might have thought it was funny to scare Lucy but it’s not funny at all!”
Rocky, round-eyed, shot back: “I’m not doing anything. That noise came from over by those trees.”
Jill would have none of it. “You’re lying, Rocky; and to prove it, I think I’ll walk over to those trees and have a look.”
She turned and stormed out of the camp light as she mumbled; “You think you can scare us because we’re girls-----I don’t think so.”
Rocky turned to Lucy for support. “She’s your friend; tell her to come back.”
Lucy stood up and peered into the darkness but it was like staring at black nothingness; her friend had simply vanished.
Jill found herself in the silent darkness, silent except for the pounding of her heart that throbbed in her ears.
“Is anyone here?”
She stumbled in the blackness, groping with her hands to avoid the low limbs that she knew would smash her face if undetected. Time seemed to stop as she wandered on. Her senses abandoned her as the sensations of up, down, left and right lost their meaning. She seemed to be floating in space but there were no stars to guide her. It was as if the forest was closing in on her and she began to panic with claustrophobia.
She thought of sitting down and waiting for her friends to find her when a distant light appeared. It must be the campfire, but how did she wander so far? With the beacon of light to guide her, she made her way out of the void and into a dimly-lighted clearing where a lone figure sat cross-legged in front of the embers of a campfire.
She instantly realized that this was someone she did not know. He was a man dressed in buckskin, his shiny black hair braided in a style unfamiliar to her.
She was compelled to speak: “Who are you and where are my friends?”
The man slowly turned to her with a look of death and despair etched deeply into his face. His sad eyes pierced her to her very soul as he raised his hand and pointed a slender finger at her.
“You and those who travel with you are in great danger.”
The hair on the back of her neck began to bristle but something inside whispered to Jill that this stranger needed her undivided attention.
“What do you mean?”
The stranger fixed his eyes even more intensely on her as he began his story.
“My name is of no consequence but my tale is true and my sorrow is real. I was a strong leader of my village, destined to be a tyee of great respect. My wife and son were the center of my universe and the spirits smiled on our home. Our life was good and our love complete. Our village prospered for many seasons, until one night, during the season of the falling leaves, a bear as big as 10 men entered our village and killed our beloved dogs.
“The council of elders decreed that I, being the bravest and most cunning of the tribe, should seek out the bear and avenge the death of our dogs.
“I was full of pride and boasted my intentions to all who would listen. My son wanted to hunt with me and I accepted his plea. My wife thought him too young and voiced her displeasure but I made a solemn promise that I would protect him with my life and no harm would come to him; it was a vow that I would pay dearly for the rest of my life---and beyond.”
Jill sat down by the fire as the stranger continued his story.
“My son and I traveled many days in search of the beast, but it was to no avail. One night while we slept, the bear fell upon us like a demon, and in the ensuing battle I was knocked down and stunned. As I lay frozen with my muscles rigid, the bear dragged my son off into the brush, his screams brought my body to life and I leaped to my feet. I dashed into the brush but he and the demon had vanished. I spent the next day looking for him and the day after that. Weeks went by and I still looked; there was nothing. I couldn’t face my wife and I would not break my promise. I would not come home without him.
“Months turned into years and I grew weary of the hunt. One night as I sat by the fire, the Great Spirit spoke to me. The Saghalie tyee told me that I would be rewarded for my honor and that I would be allowed to continue the hunt one night a year until I killed the bear.
“It has been 600 winters and springs since I began my hunt but the bear still eludes me. This is the one night until the leaves fall again that the bear and I walk the same ground. The one night that we are not shadows moving silently on the forest floor.”
Jill could not contain her emotions any longer.
“You’re a ghost!”
The man showed no emotions as he talked.
“This is true, I am but a spirit but on this night I’m very real.”
He reached out and touched her arm; his flesh so cold that her first reaction was to pull away.
He continued: “The bear has also been granted this small moment of life and for this one night he will search for another to drag into the brush to be devoured. This fight is between the demon and me. You must flee before he finds you first.”
Panic began to overcome Jill.
“It’s so dark. How will I know if the bear is close?”
“The bear and the forest are one. When the smell of freshly turned earth fills your nostrils, it is then that you will know that he is upon you and your survival will most assuredly depend on your legs.”
Jill sprang to her feet and turned to scour the darkness for her friends. In the distance she spotted a fire. Why hadn’t she noticed it before? She turned back to the man, only to discover that he had vanished. How could he have left so quickly and silently? She pondered for a moment before sprinting toward the light in the distance.
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more than 600 years. Was this the final battle for man and beast? |
The fire had begun
to die as the three campers huddled together. The darkness in
front of them seemed to close in with every dying ember.
“Do you smell something?” blurted Lucy as she inhaled
deeply, crinkling her face as if she had just eaten a lemon.
Rocky took her lead and put his nose to the air as he struggled to peer into the darkness.
“It smells like my Dad’s garden after I’ve roto-tilled it, kind of dank”
At that moment, Jill came crashing through the brush and fell into a heap beside the fire.
Freddy was the first to speak.
“Where the heck have you been? We knew you were joking around
with us but you’ve been gone an hour and it’s not so
funny anymore. That was a really dumb thing to do.”
“Ya, really stupid” added Rocky.
Jill was shaking as she scrambled to her feet. “Shut up and listen. We’ve got to get off the mountain now------I mean RIGHT NOW!”
Lucy was defiant. The joke was going too far and besides, they had a perfectly good camp set up where they were.
“I don’t know about you, but Freddy and I are staying.”
“Oh, no, you’re not!” screamed Jill. She wanted to tell them about the stranger but there was no time for explaining; she would tell them later.
Jill kicked wildly at the fire, scattering it in all directions. Lucy tried to grab her, but it was too late, as the fire began to flicker out.
Jill was adamant: “If we don’t leave right now, we may never leave!”
Her words seemed to carry a heavy weight and Rocky began to feel uneasy.
“What makes you think we’re in danger?”
Jill grabbed his shoulders tightly as she barked into his face.
“You can smell it, can’t you? It’s a bear and it’s close to us; close enough to taste us----and it will, if we stay!”
The blood drained from Rocky’s face as the hair stood up on the back of his neck; something was watching them, something just beyond the light. He was speechless for a moment before he exploded: “Grab your packs; let’s get out of here!”
A full moon had risen over the ridge, giving the kids some shadowy light as they raced down the trail. Branches seemed to reach out to slow them down, but they would have none of it.
It took an hour to reach the trailhead and their car. Gasping, they grappled with the keys to open the door of Lucy’s Pathfinder, but before they got the door open, a sound as eerie as the dark night drifted down from the hills and passed over them like a misty fog. Screams, wails and roars filled the air.
“Did you hear that?” Lucy lifted her head to listen.
“Sounds like a battle or fight or something.” added Freddy.
They piled into the SUV and barreled down the road. There was no looking back and no talking for the first few miles. The FM blaring from the radio slowly reconstructed their nerves. Rocky, took a deep gulp of air and began to speak.
“Boy, this has been one scary night. I'm sure glad it’s over.”
Jill chimed in: “You’re not the only one happy to see this night end.”
She stopped and thought for a moment: but for others, this night is only the beginning-----always the beginning.
BOO!
©2006 by Kent Holsather. The illustrations are from IMSI's Master Clips Collection, 1895 Francisco Blvd. E., San Rafael, CA, 94901-5506, USA. This column first posted Oct. 30, 2006.
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