The Boys Who Cried Sasquatch

Chapter 12

We walked along the river. Being down here reminded me about Saturday, even though the location of the spotting was further down the river. I wanted to kick myself. If I hadn't slipped on the rocks then I wouldn't haven scared off Bigfoot. It's no use sulking over it or wishing what could have happened. I may have stuffed up the discovery of him, but sulking over it isn't going to help us find him.

We walk up the river, searching for any clues. I wasn't exactly sure what we were even meant to be looking for. There wasn't any mud or wet sand, just rocks and moss along the river bed. There was nothing where his foot prints could have been planted into the ground. We follow the river down to the creek. As we walked I kept a look out of our surroundings, hoping to spot him appearing behind trees and then vanishing again, as if he was an illusion and wasn't really there.

As we reach the creek it starts to sprinkle. Hopefully it won't start pouring. A couple in their late twenties are down here, having a dip in the waterslide. In the summer it's always pack here as residents and tourist come to the waterslide here. It wasn't warm and I wonder to myself how they could even go into the water. I'm sure it's cold and I don't want to dip my feet in to see if it was.

Leaving the couple where they are, we head along the trail that leads to Keekwulee and Snowshoe Falls and ending at Melakwa Lake. We walked under the bridge as cars and trucks from the Interstate drives over. It's loud underneath it, but the further we walked away from it, the sound fades in the distance, only just hearing it slightly, but the noise didn't really matter when you had the beauty of the nature to admire around us.

We take a quick break near the river where a foot bridge is and sit down beside the river bed. It begins to drizzle, but the rain didn't bother me. I was busy scanning my surroundings, trying to spot Bigfoot just in case he is hiding somewhere.

Julian pulls out a bottle of water, taking a sip before handing it to Sally and me.

We continued our hike, crossing the river. We walked off the trail, heading west towards Granite Mountain. Unlike on the trail, here we had to be careful not to trip over tree roots. We also had to be careful of any wild animals that could be roaming the forest. We were far from help and we were out of cell phone coverage.

I had no idea what time it was, nor did I care. I was busy admiring my surroundings and concentrating on where Bigfoot could be. I had no idea where we were going, but I followed Julian, hoping we wouldn't get lost at all. My stomach grumbles with hunger half way through the trip, but food wasn't on my mind. When Sally started complaining about how far we had to walk, how tired and hungry she was, we had no choice to stop and rest.

"How much further is there to go?" Sally wanted to know.

"I'm not really sure," Julian answers. He hands me a slice of white bread before taking one for himself. "We just have to keep heading west."

"What are you going to do if you don't find him?"

"We will just go back home then," I say. "There won't be any use continuing to look for him. I bite into the slice of bread. God, I wish Julian had brought along some peanut butter that way we didn't have to eat dry bread.

"Do you think Ken Brooke will ever find him?"

Julian and I look at each other. How could we answer when we didn't even know ourselves?

"Well, I don't think we really need to worry too much," Julian says. "We are just taking precautions to make sure he is safe. But if we don't find him then I doubt Ken is ever going to find him."

"Yeah, and if no one has ever been able to capture him then I guess no one ever will. He is smart if he is able to outsmart humans and remain hidden."

"Our best chance at finding him is at night. He is nocturnal. I reckon that's why he hasn't been proven to exist because no one has been around when he comes out at night."

We carry on eating, answering questions the best we could with whatever she fired at us. My sister can be annoying at times, but she has never been this annoying with asking so many questions Julian and I weren't sure ourselves. But at the same time I was impressed with how much interest she took into finding Sasquatch. As siblings we never took an interest in the same thing. In the past she would never agree about going camping with Julian and me. She dislikes the idea of camping, even when we used to take family camping trips.

Once our stomach was filled, we continued our journey. The rain had finally stopped and the sun was fighting its way out of the clouds. I pushed the sleeve of my sweater up as it starts to warm up. I had no idea how much longer we had to walk for, but it feels like this trip is taking forever. If we walked along a trail leading to Granite Mountain, the walk would be two hours. Since we are taking the long way, the time is probably doubled.

I suddenly spot something from the corner of my eye. I stop walking and turn to see something standing up against a tree that is a few feet away from us. It's standing on two legs. Could it be Bigfoot?

"Julian, Sally, I think I see him," I call out quietly to him.

The two of them walk back to me, standing beside me. We watch the creature until it crouches down to walk on all fours. It was then we realised it was not Bigfoot, but a grizzly bear. As soon as the animal walked away, I was afraid to look at Julian and my sister. My cheeks heat up from embarrassment. How could I have been such an idiot for thinking the bear was Sasquatch?

Julian taps me on the shoulder. I didn't have to look at him to know he had a smirk on his face, trying hard not to laugh. When I do catch a glance of my sister, she is giving me a weird look as if to say can't I tell the difference between a bear and Bigfoot. Maybe that's why people get mixed up when they spot a bear in the distant, thinking it was Bigfoot when really it wasn't.

I must be slowly using my mind.

We continued on. After what seemed like forever, we finally reached the lookout. We set our things down beside the platform and climb the stairs. We look out at the forest below us and the other peaks in the distance that were snow-capped. If we are really going to search for Bigfoot out here in the wilderness, it's area we have to cover. It will take us days.

"Please tell me we have hope in finding him?"

Julian presses his lips together and shakes his head. He turns to me. "I hate to break this to you, David, but there's a slight chance we won't ever come across him again. I mean, this area is large. He could be anywhere. There's like one per cent of ever finding him again."

I knew he was right. I don't even know why I talked myself into coming on this trip. Let's face it. Bigfoot does not want to be found. The same goes for aliens, the Loss Nest Monster and other mythical creatures that do not want to be found. Maybe they know what will happen if they were discovered. The government will be all over them, as well as scientist, just so they are able to study them.

But at the same time I wanted to have faith that we will find him again.