Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, you know somethings wrong. We left that September, everything had been arranged. Camp California. It was a well deserved break for both of us. We sang songs throughout the journey. Lisa's voice, well she has a raspy voice, you figure the rest out. Most of my friends ask me how I get past her voice. I would say - Hey men are attracted to women with a raspy voice, we think maybe she's done yelling.
We reached the park by nightfall. After an hour of setting up the tents and other tiring things that come along with it, we settled down for the campfire. After a couple of hours we doused the fire and hit the bed. Tomorrow would be a big day. Trekking , hiking, hunting and of course eating.
***
Her screams awoke me. I heard my name being repeated over and over and over again. Jared , Jared , Jared.
And thats when I saw it. It had entered our tent. A 6feet tall grizzly. And believe me it looked nothing like Yogi Bear. It charged at her. A bearhug. It started clawing her.
I ran to my trunk and pulled out my rifle. I aimed at it. There was enough light around for me to focus on the bear. I shot once and then again. The bear fell. She fell too. I heard her breathing. She wasn't calling my name anymore. I lit a lamp and approached the bear. A bullet had pierced its chest. The other one had missed. I was a bad aim.
I walked up to Lisa. I found my second bullet. It had hit her on her face. Her beautiful face. Her head was bleeding. Her eyes were not gazing at anything in particular. I knew she was dead.
The sun came up just then. And I could see it all clearly now.
There on the ground they lay, the Beauty and the Beast.
No comments:
Post a Comment