Kicking Around (Completed!)

The Cliff

Dan frowned. "Wait. Hold on. You're doing what, now?"

"The camera? Hello? I'm setting it on my tripod, so I can catch this awesome view. Gonna put it on panorama mode, let it microburst every ten seconds to get this awesome sunrise."

Dan closed his eyes in frustration. Ever since Scott received the new camera for his birthday last month, he'd been obsessed with it, taking photos of everything and everyone he could, everywhere he went. He was constantly exploring the numerous features and settings on it. The guy would spend hours just reading through the manual. Typically out loud, much to Dan's dismay.

He swore. Dan knew he never should have agreed to come out here. He wasn't an outdoor guy. At all. One hellish week of camping with his family back in high school was enough confirm of this. Sure, he liked the idea of s'mores, socializing by the fire, roasting hot dogs and the like. But the reality was he'd rather spend that time reading a good novel squirreled away in an isolated corner of the RV.

More rustling up above, and he looked up just in time to get another face full of dirt.

"Hey! STOP IT!"

Scott's face popped over the edge again. "Sorry, I'm sorry...I just wanted to let you know the camera's all set."

"That's great. Now would you please..."

"Be right back. I gotta go take a dump."

"What? No! No, Scott!" Dan yelled. "Take your dump later! I've been hanging here for over ten minutes! TEN MINUTES!"

"Dude, I'll just be three minutes, tops..." and he disappeared again. "I'm gophering, man! Have some pity!" he yelled as he dropped out of sight.

"HEY!" Dan yelled again, his voice strained with exasperation. He looked out over the forest canopy and glared at the scenic sunrise.

Three minutes passed. Then another three. After eight minutes Dan decided he wasn't going to wait around for Scott's help anymore. He didn't want it. The jerk wasn't going to get the satisfaction of helping him "conquer the great outdoors" for another minute. In fact, not only was he planning to finish the rest of climb on his own, but once he got topside? He was going to throw down his backpack and beat the living snot out of the guy. Frankly, he didn't care if their friendship survived after that. This was it. He'd had enough.

After a series of grunts, serious straining, and two failed attempts, Dan finally found a viable purchase point for his hand and pulled himself close enough to the edge to prop a foot over it. Flexing every muscle he had, he pulled himself up to the plateau, rolling to his side in the dirt. Out of breath, his chest heaving in and out as he struggled for oxygen, he stared up through the trees at the pastel sky.

Dan was furious.

But he did have to admit that the view over the forest floor was pretty impressive, even for a non-nature lover like himself.

Two minutes passed, and Dan finally stood up, squirming out of his backpack and tossing it angrily to the ground. He unhooked the rope from his harness and dropped it to the ground where it bounced and promptly disappeared over the edge.

Dan scrambled to grab it, but stopped himself just before he plunged over the edge. He lay on the ground, staring at the rope as it swung from the nearest hook, three feet away. Well out of arm's reach. That's great, he thought, pushing himself to his feet. Freaking fan-TAS-tic.

"Hey!" he yelled. "What's the matter with you? You left me hanging on a cliff, you know!"

He scanned the area, but all he saw was dense forest to his right, a collection of large boulders to the left and Scott's gear in a heap a few feet away. Beside it, the camera was fixed atop a thin tripod, a faint CLICK emitting from it every few seconds. Dan's first instinct was to drop his pants and moon it, but then he calculated the power of the Internet combined with an eternal, digital image, and decided against it. His computing professor's wise words echoed in the back of his mind. Once it's online, it's out there forever.

Instead he glared at it, sticking out his tongue. Dumb camera, he thought, looking around again. He picked up a rock and chucked it at it, missing by at least three feet. Whatever.

"Scott!" he yelled, walking toward the forest. "I swear, if this is some kind of a joke just to scare me on camera, you're gonna..."

Snap.

Dan stopped moving, turning his head toward the sound, straining to listen. He could have sworn he heard something, but now there was nothing but silence. He was about to take a step when he heard a muffled rustling over to his left, just behind the boulders. He slowly stepped toward it, ear cocked to hear better.

More rustling, followed by a grunt. Dan smiled. Found you, dork.

"Let me just say, you had better be making a colossal poop, buddy," Dan said as he strolled around the corner. "Because that is the only reason I'm not going to..."

Dan froze.

He stared down at the ground where Scott lay, staring up at him, unmoving. His eyes were wide open, his face frozen in a look of unmistakable terror. His head jerked to the side an inch, and Dan's eyes slowly moved down Scott's corpse, coming to rest at the black creature still hunched over him.

It's back to him, Dan watched as the blood-soaked bear tore violently into Scott's torso, burying its muzzle deeper into the open ribcage. Dan stood paralyzed, his body refusing to move even as his mind recoiled in horror. Snap! The familiar sound split the air as the bear bit into another one of Scott's ribs, snapping it off effortlessly.

Unfortunately, that was the moment Dan's body finally caught up with his mind, but instead of running away he found himself doubled over, violently vomiting his morning's protein-rich breakfast bar onto the ground directly in front of him. He tried to cover his mouth to prevent it from coming out, but he couldn't stop himself. It flooded through his fingers, the chunk-filled, burning bile splattering everywhere.

As the last few globs fell from the corner of his mouth, he looked up slowly. The bear had now turned around and its eyes locked on his, a bloody rib extending awkwardly from the corner of its mouth. It bit down on it with a loud crunch, stopped chewing, and let out a low, guttural growl.

Yay! A cliffhanger! (Or is that "Boo! A Cliffhanger!"?) Eh, either way...

Like it so far? Hooked yet? Care to Star this thing, add it to a List or leave me a comment? Maybe? Possibly? (Insert goofy grin here...)