Gabriel Brown: Collection of Short Alaskan Bush People Fan Fics

Breakfast

"The sun is almost up." Gabe's face was only inches from yours and his warm breath blew in your ear. His curly sideburns tickled at your cheek as he spoke. "We need to get moving if we're going to find anything to hunt today."

You groaned loudly and kicked at the light covers with your feet. Well...with your boots. Gabe had insisted you keep your boots on while you were sleeping outdoors. Just in case some wild animal decided to attack during the night. He wanted to make sure you could get up and run away quickly. Camping out before the hunt had definitely been Gabe's idea. Your boyfriend loved being outdoors and sleeping under the stars. And since you loved Gabe, well... There you were, waking up under a canopy of trees thankful that no hungry predator had come to feast on your bones during the night.

"Why don't you just shoot the animal instead of running from it?" You had asked with a frown.

"We'll shoot if we have to." He had argued. "But if we can get away from it and we all live, that's the way I prefer to do it."

You loved that about Gabe. Even in a time where he might be in danger, he was thinking of a way to keep from hurting the animal. Hunting for food was one thing. But life was life to him. At the time you had nodded in agreement and wondered how you could have ever found a man so strong and so sweet. And by the time his strong arms had pulled you on top of him and his thick legs had wrapped around yours, you were in no mood to wonder about anything except how good it felt to be with him.

Waking up on the hard ground, with the morning sun stabbing its way through your closed eyelids, you wanted to argue with Gabe against the whole idea of camping out and hunting. You were so hungry and stiff and hungry.  Yes, you were so hungry that it needed repeating. Dinner the night before had been a few pieces of dried salmon and a hard roll that had been left over from lunch.

Gabe had convinced you that sleeping outside and eating a huge freshly made breakfast was the best way to start out a hunt. You had peeked inside Gabe's backpack when he was getting wood for the fire and seen a mouthwatering stash of breakfast goodies. You couldn't wait!

"So where is this big "bush" breakfast you promised me?" You smiled eagerly and began rolling yourself off the ground to a sitting position.

"It's right here." Gabe smiled and pointed with both hands toward the camp fire.

Your eyes grew round and huge and you grabbed at Gabe to steady yourself. He let you clutch onto his plaid flannel shirt while he grinned proudly. "I hope you're hungry."

Gabe's grin turned to a laugh when you squealed and threw your arms around his waist.

"This. Is. Amazing!" You stepped over to the fire, tugging him behind you by his shirt. "Did you make all this?"

Laid out before you was an array of pots and pans, their steaming contents filling the air and your nostrils with the aroma of cooking meat and stew. The first pan held strips of frying venison. A smaller pan nearby was bubbling with buttery cornbread, already browning around the edges. By the time you located another pan filled with scrambled eggs in a tomato sauce, your head was spinning and your tummy was rumbling.

"Gabey, this is so great!" You tipped your face up to his and let your lips on his express your thanks.

"You're welcome." He smiled down at you. "Oh!" He suddenly remembered something and reached back into his pack and pulled out two small items.

"I'd 'butter' let you start eating," He handed you a packet of butter. "Before you get mad and 'a-salt' me." He handed you the salt shaker and danced back as you threatened to smack him in the chest.

You were just about to 'a-salt' him with a bad pun of your own when Gabe's eyes suddenly darted upward and the whites of his eyes almost enveloped the blue.

"What?" You swung your head around in the direction he was looking and the butter and salt fell from your hands as you came face to face with a seven foot charging bear. Gabe jumped to one side, reaching for his rifle and tried to pull you back behind him.

"Nooooo!" You yelled and jerked from his grasp. "Get away from my food!" You screamed at the bear.

Snatching up the closest pan from the fire, you had the crazed presence of mind to dump the cooked eggs out of the pan into the pan with the frying venison strips. No reason to waste perfectly good eggs!! Brandishing the greasy pan high overhead, you reminded yourself of Rapunzel in the movie Tangled. But you didn't care. Gabe had spent too much time on your breakfast and you were way too hungry to let some fat old bear take it all from you.

"Babe! Move!" Gabe shouted and you heard the click as he readied the rifle.

"Nooooo!" you screamed again and for a moment, your brain registered that you were doing a very stupid thing. But then the smell of the cooked eggs from the frying pan wafted past your nose and you dipped your arms down and then UP!

"BOING!" The metal pan connected solidly with the bear's nose and its scream was almost as loud as yours as the reverberation from the impact shot hot fire up your arms.

"Babe! Move!" Gabe yelled again.

You took one step back. But only one. You narrowed your eyes at the bear and readied your pan for one more blow.

"Shoo!" You hissed at the huge animal but by this time you were looking at its back end as it hightailed it away from you and your pan of fury.

"Dang, babe." Gabe wrested the metal skillet out of your grasp and tossed it to the side. "Why did I even bring a rifle?" He was laughing but you were sill too mad to laugh with him.

"I'm starving." You repeated and reached for the butter you had dropped and brushed the stray blades of grass from the package.

"I'm not getting in your way. Besides. With all this 'eggs'-citement," Gabe picked up the pan containing the eggs and venison and waved it under your nose, a big grin on his face. "I'm 'eggs-hausted and hungry."

"Ughhhh." You laughed and groaned as Gabe handed you a plate and you settled on the ground beside him, close to the campfire and your rescued breakfast.

"Everything looks so good, Gabey. I can 'bear-ly' wait to dig in." You smiled and looked up at Gabe to see if he caught your pun.

"I couldn't wait even if I 'fried'." He responded with a pun of his own and your giggles started low in your throat and bubbled up until both of you were laughing out loud.

"Thanks for not shooting the bear." With your hands and your mouth full, you used your foot to give Gabe's leg a little nudge.

"Thanks for saving our breakfast." He smiled and gave your foot a little nudge back. "You are amazing." His head dipped a little his grin expanded slyly. "You're just like a boiled egg."

"Don't say it, Gabey. Don't say it." You threw your head back laughing even before he said the words.

"Because, Baby. You're hard to beat."