Page 9 of Wrong Turn, Right Bear
Chuck suggested we take a roundabout route back to the hotel, as there was another lookout every visitor should see once during their trip.
There was a rustle in the bushes and I froze and goosebumps crawled over my skin. Sweat trickled into my briefs. If a wild animal attacked us and we died, they’d find me with stains on my pants and think I peed myself. Or that I’d been jerking off multiple times.
Fuck, I was about to die and my mind was on whether as they transported my body to the local mortuary, they thought I peed myself from fright.
Chuck didn’t freak out like me, but sniffed the air. He was supposed to tell me there wasnothing to worry about. But his face creased and he muttered something that sounded like, “That boy!”
Boy? If this was a kid playing tricks, I wanted to kick his ass.
A branch broke nearby. That had to be Ash and the others returning. They’d save us. But no one else appeared in either direction until suddenly, there was a pair of dark eyes staring at me through the bushes.
Cloaked in shadows, the eyes glinted and glittered because that wild beast was getting ready to eat me. Or perhaps just tear off a limb and gnaw on it. I was kinda fond of both arms and legs and didn’t want to lose one.
“Do… do you see that?”
“Back off,” Chuck bellowed, and I squealed and I did almost pee myself.
I leaped behind him, and a pounding echoed in my head. Damn, it was my heart and it was galloping.
The eyes were still fixed on me, but the animal made no move to show itself. I grabbed Chuck’s arm. He lived here and should know the drill. Should we stay where we were and wait for it to attack or get bored? Or slowly try to make it back to the hotel? My phone was in the room so I couldn’t research, though my shaking hands wouldn’t have been able to hold the device, let alone tap out a question.
“Stay here.”
“What? No!” Damn, that was too loud. I forgot a loud noise might spook the animal.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes. I have to teach someone a lesson.”
He spoke in sentences, but none of the words made sense. A wild animal was eyeing us up for his dinner and Chuck had to teach a class and leave me here? No, no, no. I gripped his shirt and tore off a button.
But he told me nothing bad would happen, and he traipsed into the bushes.
Fuck, I was alone and I could no longer hear Chuck’s footsteps. My body was ice cold and if I moved, tiny pieces would chip off.
The eyes! They’d vanished along with Chuck. Now what?
My stinky sweat was competing with the scents of the forest and I was sitting in a puddle of more perspiration. I had no memory of sliding onto the forest floor and I slowly pushed myself up, my wrists straining under my weight as I paused mid-air, half expecting the beast to reappear.
But there was silence except for the erratic beating of my heart.
The soles of my feet were slippery, and I shuffled one foot after another along the path, keeping an eye over my shoulder. If I was going to be attacked, I wanted a few second’s warning.
But nothing happened. No wolf or bear rose up out of the vegetation and I picked up the pace, still worried the animal would tear after me. I counted the minutes in my head because I wasn’t wearing a watch. Time had stood still while I sat terrified of being mauled.
How long was I there? Five minutes? Ten? An hour? Whatever it was, I should have met Chuck by now. But he told me to stay where I was and I didn’t. Worried the wild beast still had me in its sights, I didn’t want to call out his name in case that drew attention to me. What if there were other wild animals lurking in the undergrowth?
I was panting as I trudged through the forest, searching for the hotel, towering above the trees. But it was as if I was the only person on the planet.
Now I was running. Difficult to do in flip flops. Chuck had to be here, or I was close to the hotel. But with my mind occupied with wild beasts, I tripped over a rock and faceplanted on the path.
Dirt coated my tongue and now my knees ached from where they hit the hard ground. Tears spilled over my cheeks as I hugged the path. If the wild animal was following me, if he expected this to be a game of cat and mouse, he might give up because I was no fun.
But as I lay there, it occurred to me no one knew where I was. I may have taken a wrong turn and unless I got myself out of this, I’d be here alone all night. If theforest was forbidding now, it would be the stuff of nightmares when the sun set.
Heaving myself up, I ignored the pain in both knees and the bloody grazes on one hand. With my back to the river, I retraced my steps, searching for another path. Each crackle of a dead leaf, or a flapping of a bird’s wings had me hugging my pack to my chest.
I came to a fork in the path, but which one to take? I chose the one I thought led to the hotel. The sun was getting lower, and I had to take a chance that shouting for help wouldn’t entice a parade of wildlife, curious about the human creating a racket.
“Ash!” My croaky voice wouldn’t be heard above the woodland noises, so I gathered my strength and yelled. “Ash-by.” Two syllables were easier to scream than one.
