Post by Doc Barranti on Apr 6, 2013 20:51:29 GMT -5
The sun cleared the mountain top behind him as he sat with his back against a quakie overlooking the rocky edge of a cliff and spreading valley below him. He glassed the opposite hillside and spotted his hunting companions who were doing the same. Setting down his binoculars, he reached into his pack taking out his lunch. They had just eaten an hour ago, and it would be another 10 hours til they made their way back to camp, but he was hungry.
A biscuit with 5 thick slices of bacon, a ham sandwich, an apple and most of his water went down in less than 10 minutes. He tore open a bag of jerky, set it next to himself on the ground and chewed on a few pieces of the spicy dried beef. He closed his eyes and rested his head against the trunk of the tree as he chewed, enjoying the flavor and aroma of the snack.
Opening his eyes, movement across the valley caught his attention. Picking up the glasses again, he focused in on his companions. They both were waving their arms. He grinned and chuckled to himself and waved back. This made his companions wave their arms in a more frantic fashion, to which he did the same thing. It dawned on him that maybe they weren’t just waving, but pointing in his direction. Just as he came to this realization, he heard a noise behind him.
He turned his head in time to see a cub sticking his nose into the bag of jerky. Doing what came natural, he snatched the bag away from the bear cub, which caused the startled cub to jump back, rolling onto its rump. His eyes then went past the rolling cub to the dark image behind it.
With a ‘woof’, the bristled sow was on him. Despite his size, she tossed him around like a rag doll. The scream he let out was more like that of a school girl than a full grown man. She bit at his crotch and he fell backwards with her on top of him and they rolled down and over the edge of the cliff, him screaming the whole way.
The thud of him hitting the floor was enough to wake him. Sweating and confused, he looked at the jumble of blanket and sheets he had kicked off in his sleep. He peered over the edge of his mattress to the opposite side of the bed where his wife lay. He breathed a sigh of relief that he hadn’t disturbed her.
The sound of my cell phone buzzing on my nightstand woke me from a sound sleep. The glowing numbers on my alarm clock told me it was 2:35…AM. I grabbed my phone and even with blurry vision, I could see the name come up in the display; Tank Hoover.
“Hello?!”, I whispered into the phone. “Doc, you awake? It’s Tank!” he replied in a hushed voice. A number of things rushed through my mind to say, but all I said was “yeah, I am now! Where are you?” I asked. “I’m in the closet…” came his reply. My eyes darted to my closet in horror, but realized he meant his own. “What are you doing in there, Tank?” I asked. “I had to talk to ya and didn’t want to wake Camille up. Doc, I’m worried about this bear hunt we’re going on! I’ve been having nightmares!” I started to laugh but caught myself. The thought of a man as big as Tank having nightmares was amusing at 2:35AM, but I didn’t want to sound like an uncaring friend, so I did my best to console him. “What the hell do you mean you’re having nightmares? About the bears?? You are probably bigger than all the bears we’ll see out there, Tank! Man up!!” So much for the gentle approach…must have been the lack of sleep.
“But Doc, what if one of those bears sneaks up on us? What if we bump into a mama bear with a baby bear?” He then explained his dream in graphic detail, including the bite to the crotch. “Doc! I felt it! I really felt it! You ain’t never felt something so painful!” his voice shaking. “Tank, listen to me”, I said, losing my patience, “it was just a DREAM! You know Dick will be there and he won’t let anything like that happen!” I spent the next 10 minutes calming Tank down and when he was done hyperventilating, he agreed to try to get back to sleep.
I looked at the clock as I placed the phone back on the nightstand; 3:00am. I sighed as I rolled back into bed. “Where you on the phone?” asked Michelle. “Yeah, Baby…it was Tank.” I replied. “Again? Two more weeks until your hunting trip. How many more times will he call you in the middle of the night?” she asked as she faded back to sleep. I laid there staring at the ceiling in darkness, knowing full well the answer to that question….
A biscuit with 5 thick slices of bacon, a ham sandwich, an apple and most of his water went down in less than 10 minutes. He tore open a bag of jerky, set it next to himself on the ground and chewed on a few pieces of the spicy dried beef. He closed his eyes and rested his head against the trunk of the tree as he chewed, enjoying the flavor and aroma of the snack.
Opening his eyes, movement across the valley caught his attention. Picking up the glasses again, he focused in on his companions. They both were waving their arms. He grinned and chuckled to himself and waved back. This made his companions wave their arms in a more frantic fashion, to which he did the same thing. It dawned on him that maybe they weren’t just waving, but pointing in his direction. Just as he came to this realization, he heard a noise behind him.
He turned his head in time to see a cub sticking his nose into the bag of jerky. Doing what came natural, he snatched the bag away from the bear cub, which caused the startled cub to jump back, rolling onto its rump. His eyes then went past the rolling cub to the dark image behind it.
With a ‘woof’, the bristled sow was on him. Despite his size, she tossed him around like a rag doll. The scream he let out was more like that of a school girl than a full grown man. She bit at his crotch and he fell backwards with her on top of him and they rolled down and over the edge of the cliff, him screaming the whole way.
The thud of him hitting the floor was enough to wake him. Sweating and confused, he looked at the jumble of blanket and sheets he had kicked off in his sleep. He peered over the edge of his mattress to the opposite side of the bed where his wife lay. He breathed a sigh of relief that he hadn’t disturbed her.
The sound of my cell phone buzzing on my nightstand woke me from a sound sleep. The glowing numbers on my alarm clock told me it was 2:35…AM. I grabbed my phone and even with blurry vision, I could see the name come up in the display; Tank Hoover.
“Hello?!”, I whispered into the phone. “Doc, you awake? It’s Tank!” he replied in a hushed voice. A number of things rushed through my mind to say, but all I said was “yeah, I am now! Where are you?” I asked. “I’m in the closet…” came his reply. My eyes darted to my closet in horror, but realized he meant his own. “What are you doing in there, Tank?” I asked. “I had to talk to ya and didn’t want to wake Camille up. Doc, I’m worried about this bear hunt we’re going on! I’ve been having nightmares!” I started to laugh but caught myself. The thought of a man as big as Tank having nightmares was amusing at 2:35AM, but I didn’t want to sound like an uncaring friend, so I did my best to console him. “What the hell do you mean you’re having nightmares? About the bears?? You are probably bigger than all the bears we’ll see out there, Tank! Man up!!” So much for the gentle approach…must have been the lack of sleep.
“But Doc, what if one of those bears sneaks up on us? What if we bump into a mama bear with a baby bear?” He then explained his dream in graphic detail, including the bite to the crotch. “Doc! I felt it! I really felt it! You ain’t never felt something so painful!” his voice shaking. “Tank, listen to me”, I said, losing my patience, “it was just a DREAM! You know Dick will be there and he won’t let anything like that happen!” I spent the next 10 minutes calming Tank down and when he was done hyperventilating, he agreed to try to get back to sleep.
I looked at the clock as I placed the phone back on the nightstand; 3:00am. I sighed as I rolled back into bed. “Where you on the phone?” asked Michelle. “Yeah, Baby…it was Tank.” I replied. “Again? Two more weeks until your hunting trip. How many more times will he call you in the middle of the night?” she asked as she faded back to sleep. I laid there staring at the ceiling in darkness, knowing full well the answer to that question….
. You-all better bring Fermin along to protect you. I think the air is too thin at this altitude and we would have to hear him complain about constant nose bleeds and head aches. He would probably stay in camp and write stories about the episode and fill it with questionable facts. 
