The Stiff-Legged Bear

Copyright © Dan Absalonson 2017

Most people think it's weird that I go camping in the woods my brother Cody died in, but it's the best way I have of remembering him. He went missing four years ago. We still don't know what happened to him. Sometimes it turns out the most unbelievable stories are the true ones.

Every year, around the weekend of his death, I camp in those woods to be in the place he loved most. It's where I feel closest to him. His empty grave has never brought me any comfort or closure.

I had just finished my coffee and was going to take a leak when I stepped over it. The biggest footprint of any kind I had ever stumbled across. It looked like it belonged to a bear, but I thought it was way too big for that. I called my buddy Nick right away. He hunts bears.

"Hey Luke. What's up man?"

"Dude. I think Cody was right. How big is a normal bear paw print?"

"What are you talking about? Where are you? I can barely hear you."

"Yeah I have a weak signal out here. I'm in the woods camping out."

"Is it that time of year again already? I'm sorry man. How long has it been?" Nick asked.

"Four years, but listen. I'm not kidding man. I'm looking at a bear paw print that's got to be like almost two feet long!"

"Are you serious?"

"Dead serious," I said.

"A normal bear paw print is a little over half a foot long."

"I knew it! This thing is way bigger than that."

"That's crazy."

"I need your help man. You've got to come out here. Can you bring all your bear hunting stuff?"

"Do you think you found a paw print of that thing your brother was always looking for?"

"The Stiff-Legged Bear? I never thought I'd say this, but yeah man. I think that's exactly what I've found. So can you come?"

"Yes. I'm in. I'll pack up my stuff and head out," Nick said.

"Thanks dude. This means a lot to me."

"I know."

"I'll send you my location," I said.

"Okay. See you soon."

I hung up the phone and tapped a few more times to send Nick my GPS location. A gust of wind blew past me. I needed to put on my jacket and get back to my fire. I looked down at the massive paw print again.

"What happened to you little brother?" I said aloud.

The print was in some dirt that had been pretty wet when it was stepped in. The curves and folds of the monster's paw had pressed a perfect mold into the ground. Inside of the main pad shape were soft shadows and smooth gradients. The same went for the smaller places where the thing's toes had left their marks.

Then there were the sharp precise slashes from the claws. They left bold dark grooves. They weren't jagged lines like rips in the dirt, but deep and crisp. Looking at them sent a stronger shiver through me than the gust of wind had. The claws that made those marks had to be really long, like five large kitchen knives. One swipe from a paw like that could kill a man with ease. I bent down and took a closer look. There were a few thick black hairs left behind stuck in the print.

I walked away from the paw print and warmed myself at the campfire as I waited for my friend to arrive. I thought about my brother as I stared into the bright waving flames. If this thing was real, did I really want to find it? To find the thing that killed my brother just to suffer the same fate? Was I about to get myself and my buddy Nick killed? Is that what my brother would have wanted? I stretched my hands out toward the fire. It's warmth crept into me from my fingertips to my chest. I looked up from the fire out into the woods.