WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.919 --> 00:00:04.839 Putting we got. I wonder nothing. 2 00:00:06.839 --> 00:00:10.279 There. I can't tell all I know. It's just my 3 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:12.599 vendor light came on and I just hap with a question. 4 00:00:12.839 --> 00:00:15.199 They just think running across the yard not a good 5 00:00:15.240 --> 00:00:17.800 tight mad or something olip quite for me. I don't 6 00:00:17.800 --> 00:00:20.239 know what it's Watch just fifte right across the yard. 7 00:00:21.719 --> 00:00:23.879 Leaning against the three in a wooded area. 8 00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:27.160 I have seen many of people with big feet, but 9 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:28.039 not big foot. 10 00:00:28.120 --> 00:00:29.079 Three monks of crush. 11 00:00:29.399 --> 00:00:31.760 He sees about seven and seven and a half foot tall, 12 00:00:32.359 --> 00:00:34.960 sasquatched looking back at him, because it kind of looks 13 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:37.679 like a wolf, but not like a neighborhood dog. Took 14 00:00:37.759 --> 00:00:39.679 these stores for what they are and hopes that maybe, 15 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:41.240 like if it's out. 16 00:00:41.079 --> 00:00:43.719 There, the show me yeah, and says. 17 00:00:43.560 --> 00:00:46.520 He might have caught the mythical hub of Cobra, which 18 00:00:46.520 --> 00:00:49.560 you're terrorizing his chickens. It's like a grunt and a 19 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:50.560 knocks like a cloth. 20 00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:54.000 I think there's kind of a cultural tendency for people 21 00:00:54.039 --> 00:00:56.079 to want to make peak foote quote unquote monster. 22 00:00:57.560 --> 00:01:11.519 Welcome to he c v R O big Foot Radio. 23 00:01:11.719 --> 00:01:14.239 There is a ghost town high up in the Montana Mountains, 24 00:01:14.519 --> 00:01:18.319 not far from Yellowstone. Few people know about it. The 25 00:01:18.359 --> 00:01:21.319 only road in and out fell into disrepair long ago. 26 00:01:21.640 --> 00:01:25.200 Getting there requires an intermediate climbing skill set. It can 27 00:01:25.239 --> 00:01:28.200 only be attempted when conditions are warm and dry, which 28 00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:30.280 around here amounts to a window of a couple of 29 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:34.239 months each year. My grandfather spoke of it once. The 30 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:37.840 story lacked detail, the particulars lost in the fog of memory, 31 00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:41.560 and Pop was never one to embellish once his recollection failed. 32 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:44.519 It was a story he heard as a boy of 33 00:01:44.560 --> 00:01:47.200 a silver mine up in the mountains, of a creature 34 00:01:47.239 --> 00:01:50.519 that called the forest home. It was no bear, it 35 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:53.640 was no wolf. Whatever it was refused to share the 36 00:01:53.719 --> 00:01:56.120 land with the miners and the fledgling town built to 37 00:01:56.159 --> 00:02:00.280 support them. What followed was a massacre. The survivor, evvers, 38 00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:04.040 abandoned the town and never returned. Last summer, Taylor and 39 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:07.280 I hiked and camped for a week within Yellowstone National Park. 40 00:02:07.879 --> 00:02:10.360 We lucked out with the weather, We went off grid 41 00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:14.360 and loved every minute. The last night, beside a whispering fire, 42 00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:17.639 we promised we would do it again. As the firmament 43 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:20.400 above turned about the north Star, I told her about 44 00:02:20.439 --> 00:02:23.520 the ghost town. She breathed the story in. That's where 45 00:02:23.560 --> 00:02:26.759 we would go. A harsh winter is rendered tolerable by 46 00:02:26.759 --> 00:02:29.479 the promise of spring. It was the summer, though, that 47 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:32.280 held my attention, A long break from school and a 48 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:35.080 week in the mountains. It is a rare treat to 49 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:38.319 do precisely what you most desire. The warmth of the 50 00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:41.759 sun brought with it an unbridled giddiness. The weight was 51 00:02:41.800 --> 00:02:45.240 almost over. We drove as far as we could, winding 52 00:02:45.240 --> 00:02:47.840 our way up between mountains stripped of the white caps 53 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:50.360 of winter and smeared with green and blue and brown. 54 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:53.319 Taylor rolled the car to a stop on the shoulder 55 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:56.759 of a lonely dirt track. The crisp mountain air tempered 56 00:02:56.759 --> 00:02:59.599 the warmth of the sun. We shouldered our packs and 57 00:02:59.639 --> 00:03:02.439 climbed What is left of the ghost town, as far 58 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:05.759 as we knew, did not amount to much. The rangers 59 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:08.240 fingered it on a map, though none had been up there. 60 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:12.479 The location was an inherited knowledge. My grandfather could only 61 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:15.960 guess as to the whereabouts. It's up there somewhere, he 62 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:18.520 had said when I told him our plans, and that 63 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:21.919 it was his story that inspired our destination. A smile 64 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:25.000 gave way to pensiveness. He told me to be careful. 65 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:28.120 I told him not to worry. The spruce trees thin 66 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:31.479 the higher we climbed. We scrambled up a rocky shoulder 67 00:03:31.479 --> 00:03:34.520 and tailor checked the map. We were making good ground. 68 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:36.919 If luck fell on our side, we would get there 69 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:40.759 by sunset. An impassable chunk of vertical rock face led 70 00:03:40.759 --> 00:03:43.000 to a detour that cost us a couple of hours. 71 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:46.120 It would have to be tomorrow. We camped in a 72 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:48.680 clearing with a view of our destination across the plain. 73 00:03:49.400 --> 00:03:52.080 In the distance, the trees huddled together as if against 74 00:03:52.120 --> 00:03:55.159 the cool night air, and obscured the X on the map. 75 00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:59.080 I wondered what we would find. There was a good 76 00:03:59.159 --> 00:04:02.919 chance little remained, perhaps a few stumps where a rudimentary 77 00:04:02.919 --> 00:04:06.479 wooden house once stood. We turned our attention to the 78 00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:10.080 sky and watched for shooting stars, and agreed it didn't matter. 79 00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:12.840 Taylor woke me in the dead of the night, the 80 00:04:12.919 --> 00:04:16.160 half moon hung low over the mountains. Her whispered words 81 00:04:16.199 --> 00:04:19.399 came out in bursts. My groggy brain took its time 82 00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:23.519 assembling them into something coherent. She had heard something, the 83 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:26.279 crack of a tree branch, sharp and loud, as if 84 00:04:26.279 --> 00:04:28.959 it had been snapped like a twig, and now there 85 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:31.839 was a light in the pale silver glow of the moon. 86 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:36.120 I followed her outstretched hand. Hanging just above the horizon, 87 00:04:36.360 --> 00:04:39.319 A yellow light flickered. It gave the impression of a 88 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:42.720 candle burning in a window, except out here there were 89 00:04:42.759 --> 00:04:45.120 no windows and no one to burn a candle. I 90 00:04:45.160 --> 00:04:48.720 could only offer vague solutions an optical trick played by 91 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:52.519 some atmospheric anomaly, a hunting group around a camp fire, 92 00:04:52.920 --> 00:04:55.319 though this was not a usual place for such things. 93 00:04:55.920 --> 00:04:58.720 Whatever it was, it lay far enough away to pose 94 00:04:58.759 --> 00:05:01.560 no danger. What neither of us said is that it 95 00:05:01.639 --> 00:05:04.560 lay in the direction of our travel. We lay back 96 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:07.319 down for a time. I opened my right eye at 97 00:05:07.319 --> 00:05:11.079 intervals to check if the light remained. It did, and 98 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:14.079 then I slept. We barely spoke in the morning and 99 00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:16.839 set off in the direction of the ghost town. I 100 00:05:16.920 --> 00:05:19.879 was anxious to uncover a mundane explanation for the light 101 00:05:19.959 --> 00:05:22.800 we saw the night before, the remains of a camp 102 00:05:22.839 --> 00:05:26.000 fire or some hermit living alone up in the mountains. 103 00:05:26.680 --> 00:05:29.160 The way Taylor kept her eyes on the trees ahead 104 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:32.519 told me she was thinking the same. We entered into 105 00:05:32.519 --> 00:05:35.519 the thick patch of forest. The trees grew close and 106 00:05:35.560 --> 00:05:39.079 blocked the sun. Stray branches scratched at our bare legs. 107 00:05:39.560 --> 00:05:43.319 The ground undulated, and I found myself instinctively following it down, 108 00:05:43.720 --> 00:05:46.920 and soon I was disoriented. Taylor took out the map 109 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:51.160 and the GPS inexplicably, the GPS gave no signal, and 110 00:05:51.199 --> 00:05:54.360 she turned her attention to the map. I ventured forwards 111 00:05:54.439 --> 00:05:58.360 until my boots stubbed against something solid. After a glance down, 112 00:05:58.439 --> 00:06:01.680 I jumped back. A wooden stake was driven into the 113 00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:04.920 hard earth. It had cracked about a foot above the ground, 114 00:06:05.279 --> 00:06:07.879 and whatever once had been above I could only guess at. 115 00:06:08.439 --> 00:06:11.879 But then more emerged from between the trees to my left, 116 00:06:11.879 --> 00:06:16.199 a clearing full of them, wooden crosses, arranged haphazardly, dozens 117 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:19.199 of them. I called out to tailor, my voice thin 118 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:22.759 and small. I stepped through the cemetery, careful not to 119 00:06:22.759 --> 00:06:25.079 step on the ground directly in front of any cross, 120 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:29.680 an old superstition difficult to kick. The crucifixes were rudimentary, 121 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:33.800 simple planks of wood. Some were overtaken by rot, others 122 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:36.879 preserved well enough to read an inscription across the horizontal 123 00:06:36.920 --> 00:06:40.759 member names and dates. The congregation in the back corner 124 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:43.720 contained no less than six, all with the same date 125 00:06:44.199 --> 00:06:48.560 December seventh, eighteen ninety one. My grandfather's story, I thought 126 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:53.600 probably cholera, Taylor said, voicing her own explanation. If there 127 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:56.399 is anything left of that town, we must be close 128 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:00.879 beyond the cemetery. The spruce thinned and the ground rose. 129 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:05.040 We crested the slope, and there it was. The remains 130 00:07:05.079 --> 00:07:07.480 of the town stood on a plateau of hard earth. 131 00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:10.920 A few of the wooden houses remained as complete structures. 132 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:13.839 The timber warped and cracked and bleached the color of 133 00:07:13.879 --> 00:07:16.839 the ground. A few more were relieved of roofs and 134 00:07:16.920 --> 00:07:19.759 parts of walls, leaving a fragile relic of what had been. 135 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:23.439 My eyes swept up the sloping mountain, beyond, where a 136 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:26.720 rusted red limb of mining equipment poked above the rocks. 137 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:30.959 Taylor approached the closest house and pushed the door. The 138 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:33.600 gentle force tore the door from its hinge, and it 139 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:37.519 slapped against the dirt interior of the house. Needles from 140 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:41.600 the surrounding spruce littered the floor. She ventured inside. I 141 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:44.399 lingered on the outside and examined a pair of grooves 142 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:47.480 in the timber siding. The weather had worn the edges. 143 00:07:47.879 --> 00:07:49.959 I ran my fingers down them and wondered what could 144 00:07:49.959 --> 00:07:54.079 have made such marks. This is cool, Taylor said she 145 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:57.319 was right. Some of the houses contained old tables and 146 00:07:57.399 --> 00:08:00.399 chairs and bed frames left behind before the move down 147 00:08:00.439 --> 00:08:03.959 the mountain. We found little else save a lone glass 148 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:07.360 bottle half buried in the ground. We dumped our gear 149 00:08:07.399 --> 00:08:10.639 beside the house closest to the cemetery and set about 150 00:08:10.680 --> 00:08:13.800 scaling the rock in the direction of the mining equipment. Beyond. 151 00:08:14.680 --> 00:08:17.279 We found a crude staircase cut into the rock and 152 00:08:17.360 --> 00:08:20.560 powered to the top. What remained of the mining equipment 153 00:08:20.600 --> 00:08:23.160 amounted to an a frame with a bucket on rails 154 00:08:23.160 --> 00:08:26.800 to extract the dirt, and a few abandoned picks. A 155 00:08:26.839 --> 00:08:30.360 shaft cut into the earth and was soon swallowed by darkness. 156 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:34.000 We could only guess at the depth. I scrambled up 157 00:08:34.039 --> 00:08:36.679 a slope beyond and sat on a small rock platform 158 00:08:36.759 --> 00:08:39.840 with a lookout over the valley below, my legs dangling 159 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:43.399 over the side. In the distance, the mountains looked blue. 160 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:46.480 We lingered there for a time until the sun kissed 161 00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:49.159 the peaks to the west. To night, we would camp 162 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:51.759 at the ghost town and we would stay a few days. 163 00:08:52.559 --> 00:08:55.320 The first sign of trouble was my red windbreaker lying 164 00:08:55.320 --> 00:08:57.639 on the ground beside a half collapsed house at the 165 00:08:57.679 --> 00:09:01.039 back of the ghost town. When we left, the wind 166 00:09:01.080 --> 00:09:04.639 breaker was packed tight into my backpack. Something had messed 167 00:09:04.679 --> 00:09:08.279 with my bag. It wouldn't be the first time squirrels 168 00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:10.720 or birds had done it before, but I was sure 169 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:13.360 the wind breaker was deep down in my bag. It 170 00:09:13.360 --> 00:09:16.159 would take a persistent squirrel to get to it. A 171 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:20.000 second option had my heart thumping a bear. Our gear 172 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:23.159 was a mess, Our clothes and sleeping bags were strewn 173 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:27.039 across the ground. The small gas burner was upturned. My 174 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:30.639 backpack had two parallel tears running top to bottom. I 175 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:32.559 ran my hand over them, like I had the two 176 00:09:32.600 --> 00:09:35.720 grooves in the siding on the house. This was no squirrel. 177 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:38.480 Tailor picked up her black pan and turned it in 178 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:42.799 her hand. She showed me one side buckled inwards. Taylor 179 00:09:42.840 --> 00:09:44.639 gripped it and pulled at the metal to bring it 180 00:09:44.679 --> 00:09:48.200 back into shape. It did not budge a bear, I 181 00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:51.200 said it had to be. I fumbled in my bag 182 00:09:51.240 --> 00:09:54.200 for the canister of bear mace. My muscles tensed and 183 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:57.240 my hands worked frantically until I found it stored where 184 00:09:57.279 --> 00:09:59.639 I had left it. At least we still had that. 185 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:03.159 We searched the ground and looked for bear tracks, the 186 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:05.879 tell tale wide paws and grouping of front and back 187 00:10:05.960 --> 00:10:09.759 legs together. I found a depression in the ground. I 188 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:13.559 hovered my foot above the footprint. My shoe dwarfed in comparison, 189 00:10:14.039 --> 00:10:17.240 and no second print. Whatever came into our camp did 190 00:10:17.240 --> 00:10:19.320 so on two legs, and at the base of those 191 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:23.240 two legs were extraordinary feet. It can't be true. Some 192 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:27.279 one is messing with us. Tailor inspected the print. Neither 193 00:10:27.320 --> 00:10:30.279 of us had ever seen anything like it. I looked west, 194 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:32.960 and the sun was already gone, the sky turning a 195 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:36.120 shade of orange at the horizon. Light would fade fast. 196 00:10:36.519 --> 00:10:39.519 We had few options. Whatever it was that had been 197 00:10:39.559 --> 00:10:42.320 here was not here now. We had planned to camp 198 00:10:42.360 --> 00:10:45.759 outside under the stars, but with something stalking the forest, 199 00:10:46.120 --> 00:10:48.840 we rolled our sleeping bags and mats inside one of 200 00:10:48.840 --> 00:10:52.480 the houses. At least it provided some semblance of security. 201 00:10:53.080 --> 00:10:56.480 We did not risk a fire. Darkness overwhelmed the light 202 00:10:56.600 --> 00:11:00.559 quickly and completely. Clouds rolled in from the west at night. Nightfall, 203 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:03.879 a light breeze carried a faint hint of moisture. The 204 00:11:03.960 --> 00:11:07.600 forecast had warned of possible storms. I stuck my head 205 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:09.919 out one of the windows, and, aside from a blurred 206 00:11:09.960 --> 00:11:12.720 smudge of the moon through the clouds, the sky gave 207 00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:16.279 no light. We were on edge. Inside the house, it 208 00:11:16.399 --> 00:11:19.639 was deep pitch black. I set the canister of bear 209 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:23.039 mace beside my pillow, periodically palming it to make sure 210 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:26.120 it was still there. Every crack and rustle from the 211 00:11:26.200 --> 00:11:29.039 forest had us twitching and turning our ears to the sound. 212 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:32.320 I buried my head between my knees and wondered how 213 00:11:32.360 --> 00:11:36.600 I could tolerate the hours left until morning. I apologized 214 00:11:36.600 --> 00:11:39.759 to Tailor for suggesting we come out here. She laughed 215 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:42.159 it off. We'd get through it and have an amazing 216 00:11:42.200 --> 00:11:45.600 story to tell. Her voice trembled. I don't know what 217 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:48.240 time I fell asleep. When I woke, it was still 218 00:11:48.360 --> 00:11:51.120 dark and my pillow was wet. Light rain made a 219 00:11:51.159 --> 00:11:53.720 gentle wrapping on the roof. A hole in the roof 220 00:11:53.799 --> 00:11:56.720 let through a small drip. I dragged my sleeping bag 221 00:11:56.759 --> 00:11:59.639 over to a dry section of the floor. In the distance, 222 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:05.120 thunder rumbled low and ominous. Then something else closer, A 223 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:09.039 crack from the forest, not a twig, but something more substantial, 224 00:12:09.639 --> 00:12:13.679 and then a growl, low and deep. I shook Taylor awake. 225 00:12:14.080 --> 00:12:18.000 In the darkness. We listened nothing. Had I dreamed it? No, 226 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:20.759 I couldn't have. There was something out there. Should we 227 00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:23.919 risk turning on the torch. No, we had to be quiet. 228 00:12:24.440 --> 00:12:27.320 I closed my hands around the bear mace. The drumming 229 00:12:27.399 --> 00:12:30.399 on the roof intensified. The drip drip of the leak 230 00:12:30.440 --> 00:12:33.639 in the roof turned to a constant dribble. A flash 231 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:36.120 lit up the sky and on its heels. A clap 232 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:38.639 of thunder shook the flimsy structure we had chosen as 233 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:41.960 our protector. The door flew open. I let out an 234 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:45.759 involuntary scream. In the strengthening wind, the door flapped back 235 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:49.080 and forth, rapping on the wall. I froze in place, 236 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:53.519 fear rendering my muscles useless. Tailor made a rustling beside me, 237 00:12:53.720 --> 00:12:56.320 and I guessed she was moving for the door. Another 238 00:12:56.360 --> 00:12:59.639 flash of lightning confirmed my guess. The silhouette of Tailor 239 00:12:59.639 --> 00:13:02.519 fumbled in the dark for the door. She used the 240 00:13:02.519 --> 00:13:05.080 brief moment of light to gather her bearings and grip 241 00:13:05.159 --> 00:13:08.639 the door. A second flash followed the first, and through 242 00:13:08.679 --> 00:13:12.919 the doorway. A figure emerged, big and black. It was 243 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:16.440 no bear. In the moment of light, it looked stationary, 244 00:13:16.679 --> 00:13:19.799 but my imagination soon put it in motion, lumbering for 245 00:13:19.879 --> 00:13:24.320 the open door. Shut the door, I yelled. Taylor clapped 246 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:27.159 shut the door, and a deep growl mixed with the thunder. 247 00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:32.120 Help me, Taylor screamed. Her voice shifted my brain into gear. 248 00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:35.279 I jumped up and scrambled forwards and fell into the door. 249 00:13:35.799 --> 00:13:38.159 I braced my legs and pressed my shoulder against the 250 00:13:38.200 --> 00:13:42.240 old and cracked timber. Did you see it, I asked, yes? 251 00:13:42.759 --> 00:13:46.039 What was that? I don't know. Gilt flooded my brain. 252 00:13:46.519 --> 00:13:48.840 It had been my idea to come out here. I 253 00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:51.799 had pushed for a second summer in the mountains. Taylor 254 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:54.840 could have joined her college friends in Mexico. This trip 255 00:13:54.879 --> 00:13:57.639 had been, at least in part, a sense of duty 256 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:01.200 for her. I thought of the cemetery, the dozens of graves, 257 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:04.200 the six on a single day. The scratch marks on 258 00:14:04.240 --> 00:14:07.240 the house were made by a powerful hand. The stories 259 00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:10.840 were true, at least in the important details. Something lived 260 00:14:10.919 --> 00:14:13.360 up here, something that did not care to share its 261 00:14:13.399 --> 00:14:17.159 home with humans. Taylor's voice cut through my thoughts. Should 262 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:20.480 we run, no run where we had to stay together. 263 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:23.279 The creature pushed at the door with such force I 264 00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:26.159 felt about as big and strong as a toddler. We 265 00:14:26.200 --> 00:14:29.639 pushed back, and the door slammed back into place. The 266 00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:32.720 timber pinched at my shoulder. I felt with my hands 267 00:14:32.759 --> 00:14:35.159 and found a split in the wood. The door would 268 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:38.679 not hold much longer. Through the torrent of rain. The 269 00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:42.360 creature snorted and spat its hot breath, penetrating the crack 270 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:45.600 in the door and blowing over my neck. It pushed 271 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:48.240 a second time, and that was enough. We fell to 272 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:51.559 the ground, fragments of the splintered door clattering to the 273 00:14:51.559 --> 00:14:55.080 floor around us. I landed heavily on my right side, 274 00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:58.440 the canister of bear mace spilling from my grasp and 275 00:14:58.600 --> 00:15:02.240 rolling away into the darkness. I crawled after it, feeling 276 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:04.840 in the dark and expecting at any moment to be 277 00:15:04.919 --> 00:15:08.799 lifted in the air by my ankles. Behind me, Tailor screamed, 278 00:15:09.240 --> 00:15:12.360 it had her. Finally, the edge of my index finger 279 00:15:12.440 --> 00:15:15.440 hit the cold steel of the canister. I fumbled it 280 00:15:15.480 --> 00:15:18.840 into my hands and stood. I saw nothing in the darkness. 281 00:15:19.480 --> 00:15:21.799 The rain beat on the roof, and the wind howled, 282 00:15:21.799 --> 00:15:24.440 and the creature snarled, and in among it all, I 283 00:15:24.519 --> 00:15:27.600 found no compass. I prepared to fire the mace in 284 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:30.960 random hope, and hesitated a second, enough for a jagged 285 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:34.320 fork of lightning to illuminate the sky. The animal held 286 00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:36.679 Tailor close to its chest in the corner of the room. 287 00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:39.559 I jumped a single step, and as the world went 288 00:15:39.639 --> 00:15:43.120 dark again, I sprayed and hoped. The creature wailed in pain, 289 00:15:43.480 --> 00:15:46.320 and Tailor thudded to the ground at my feet. Heavy 290 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:49.159 footsteps sloshed on the sodden ground outside the house, and 291 00:15:49.240 --> 00:15:52.960 then stopped. He wasn't gone yet. I stepped out into 292 00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:57.000 the rain. The water logged ground saturated my woolen socks. 293 00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:00.399 The rain fell thick and cold. A freezing wind took 294 00:16:00.440 --> 00:16:04.480 the warmth from my body. I listened, I waited, I shivered. 295 00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:06.799 The first dose may not have sent it fleeing to 296 00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:09.840 the forest, but a second might. Where was the lightning 297 00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:13.759 was the storm spent? A hand gripped my bicep. It 298 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:17.200 pulled me close. Lightning lit up the sky. My face 299 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:21.000 was inches from his eyes, eerily human, A thick mat 300 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:24.000 of black hair soaked from the rain. With my free hand, 301 00:16:24.039 --> 00:16:26.600 I pushed the canister to his flat nose and sprayed. 302 00:16:27.159 --> 00:16:28.799 He threw his hands in the air and lifted me 303 00:16:28.840 --> 00:16:31.720 clean off the ground. For a moment, I felt weightless, 304 00:16:31.720 --> 00:16:35.440 and then came crashing back down. Soggy footfalls faded into 305 00:16:35.480 --> 00:16:39.039 the distance. It was gone. We huddled in the back 306 00:16:39.080 --> 00:16:42.080 corner of the house until daybreak. With the rising of 307 00:16:42.120 --> 00:16:45.440 the sun, the rain turned to drizzle and finally stopped. 308 00:16:46.039 --> 00:16:49.480 We kicked at the fragments of the splintered door outside, 309 00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:53.399 several vague footprints pressed into the mud, partially destroyed by 310 00:16:53.399 --> 00:16:56.960 the rain. We gathered our things and began the walk home. 311 00:16:57.720 --> 00:17:00.519 The crosses standing in the cemetery hammered home that we 312 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:04.119 had been lucky. Before commencing our descent down the shoulder 313 00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:06.920 of the rock, I turned and looked back up the slope. 314 00:17:07.480 --> 00:17:09.799 In the gloom, A lone light shone on the hill 315 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:12.799 where the ghost town and the cemetery stood, not a 316 00:17:12.839 --> 00:17:24.720 welcome light, but a warning. My name is Jack Wells. 317 00:17:25.400 --> 00:17:27.759 I'm a rugged kind of guy, the sort who's always 318 00:17:27.799 --> 00:17:31.319 preferred the company of whispering pines to crowded city streets. 319 00:17:32.119 --> 00:17:34.720 Nick and Sam are the same, my brothers in arms, 320 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:37.599 even though we share no blood between us. It was 321 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:40.759 the end of June, the perfect time for our annual ritual, 322 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:45.480 a hunting trip deep into the heart of Washington State's wilderness. Nick, 323 00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:48.720 the lion hearted jokester of our trio, was hunched over 324 00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:51.880 a map of the Pacific Northwest, his finger tracing the 325 00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:54.759 path we'd take into the belly of the forest. You 326 00:17:54.839 --> 00:17:57.680 ready to bag us a trophy, Jackie boy, he asked, 327 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:00.960 a cocky grin splitting his face. Nick had a way 328 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:03.720 of turning everything into a competition, but that was part 329 00:18:03.720 --> 00:18:06.720 of his charm. Sam, on the other hand, was as 330 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:09.119 still and deep as a mountain lake. He was the 331 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:13.519 Yinn to nix Yang, always listening, always observing, our unofficial 332 00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:16.599 guide and guru. Sam had been born with a gift 333 00:18:16.599 --> 00:18:18.799 for understanding the rhythms of nature in a way that 334 00:18:18.839 --> 00:18:22.279 had always fascinated me. As for me, I was just 335 00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:26.960 a simple man, caught somewhere between Nick's bravado and Sam's tranquility. 336 00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:30.640 I found my joy in the simplicity of our expeditions, 337 00:18:31.160 --> 00:18:33.759 the feel of the earth beneath my boots, the smell 338 00:18:33.799 --> 00:18:37.000 of gunpowder and pine, the silence that comes only when 339 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:43.559 you're miles away from civilization. Our equipment was laid out meticulously, rifles, ammunition, 340 00:18:44.039 --> 00:18:47.200 camping gear, everything we'd need for a week of hunting 341 00:18:47.240 --> 00:18:50.519 in the untamed wild. Nick held up a new hunting knife, 342 00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:53.880 light glinting off its polished edge. Just in case we 343 00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:56.759 meet a grizzly, he said with a smirk, tucking it 344 00:18:56.799 --> 00:18:59.960 into his belt. As we finished our packing, the sun 345 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:03.359 was starting to set, casting long shadows across the dense 346 00:19:03.400 --> 00:19:08.359 evergreen forest surrounding our launching point. We stood there, three friends, 347 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:11.839 bound by mutual respect, shared laughter, and a love for 348 00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:14.920 the wild. We raised our beers in a toast, the 349 00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:18.640 amber liquid shimmering in the dying light, to the wilderness 350 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:21.839 where men are made and legends are born, Nick announced, 351 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:25.920 his voice echoing into the silence. We drank, the taste 352 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:28.559 of hops and barley, mingling with the anticipation of the 353 00:19:28.599 --> 00:19:32.519 adventure that awaited us. Little did we know our camaraderie 354 00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:34.839 and courage would be tested in ways we could never 355 00:19:34.920 --> 00:19:38.240 have imagined. If I'd known then what awaited us in 356 00:19:38.279 --> 00:19:41.559 the depths of those shadowy woods, I might have turned back, 357 00:19:42.279 --> 00:19:44.640 might have chosen the safety and comfort of the known. 358 00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:48.240 But that's the thing about life. You can never foresee 359 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:51.240 what's waiting around the next bend. And so, with the 360 00:19:51.319 --> 00:19:53.839 laughter of good friends echoing in the crisp ear and 361 00:19:53.880 --> 00:19:56.799 a sense of adventure burning in our hearts, we set 362 00:19:56.839 --> 00:20:00.119 off into the vast wilderness, oblivious to the fact that 363 00:20:00.200 --> 00:20:02.279 this trip would be nothing like the ones that had 364 00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:05.680 come before. As we made our way through the small 365 00:20:05.720 --> 00:20:08.759 town that marked the end of civilization and the beginning 366 00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:12.279 of wilderness, I felt a change in the atmosphere. The 367 00:20:12.359 --> 00:20:15.920 buildings gave way to trees, the traffic noise replaced by 368 00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:19.039 the rustling leaves, and the distant call of an unseen bird. 369 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:22.559 It was just what we came for, just what we loved. 370 00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:26.720 Our last stop was a small supply store, a hodgepodge 371 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:30.079 of equipment, canned food, and an old Native American man 372 00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:33.240 behind the counter, who greeted us with an almost imperceptible nod. 373 00:20:33.960 --> 00:20:36.799 His wrinkled face was like a map of time, eyes 374 00:20:36.920 --> 00:20:40.720 like ancient lakes, hiding secrets deeper than we could fathom. 375 00:20:40.920 --> 00:20:43.960 Headed to the forest, are you, he asked, his voice 376 00:20:43.960 --> 00:20:46.559 a deep, resonating hum that seemed to vibrate with the 377 00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:50.599 rhythm of the earth. We are, Nick replied cheerily. Time 378 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:54.200 for our annual trophy hunt. The old man's gaze hardened. 379 00:20:54.599 --> 00:20:57.480 You must respect the spirits of the forest, he said. 380 00:20:57.920 --> 00:21:00.279 This is not just any forest, it's an aim ancient 381 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:03.359 place with spirits older than the stones. Take only what 382 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:06.319 you need, give more than you take. Nick laughed it off, 383 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:08.519 assuming it was all a part of the local charm. 384 00:21:09.079 --> 00:21:11.519 He slapped some bills on the counter for our purchases 385 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:15.519 and spun a reply with his trademark irreverence. Sure thing, 386 00:21:15.559 --> 00:21:18.960 old man, we'll play nice with the forest spirits. The 387 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:22.359 man simply shook his head, his eyes meeting mine. They 388 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:25.400 held an intensity that made me uncomfortable, that made the 389 00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:27.880 hairs on the back of my neck stand up. There 390 00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:30.400 was a warning in his gaze, a plea, maybe for 391 00:21:30.519 --> 00:21:33.799 us to heed his words. Outside, the air seemed colder. 392 00:21:34.039 --> 00:21:37.799 The sky grayer. Sam was quiet. He had always been 393 00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:40.880 more attuned to the nuances of people and places, his 394 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:45.119 intuition often proving eerily accurate. I noticed him staring at 395 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:47.839 the old man's shop, a far away look in his eyes. 396 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:52.720 What's up, Sam, I asked. He shrugged, but his gaze 397 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:57.000 remained thoughtful. Did you feel that in there, Jack? That heaviness? 398 00:21:57.599 --> 00:22:00.839 I knew what he meant. The old man's words echoed 399 00:22:00.839 --> 00:22:03.079 in my mind as we packed our new supplies into 400 00:22:03.079 --> 00:22:05.880 the truck. I tried to shrug it off, tried to 401 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:09.039