Off the Beaten Path

Okay, so I come from a family that takes great interest in the unlikely or bizarre.  We've always been interested in the possibility of aliens, little green men, or as is common folklore, little grey men, and creatures of the woods, namely, Bigfoot.

At times I am a firm believer!  Years ago when my oldest son was 4 (he is now 43), the family was camping below Elk Meadows in the John Day, Oregon, area.  It was after dark, we were all sitting around the campfire just relaxing after a day of fishing when we heard the elk go crazy whistling in alarm and then the sound of them stampeding.  Almost simultaneously, we heard this long, drawn-out roar, the like

of which none of us has ever heard before. We all froze, startled and scared. My father who was an avid outdoorsman and hunter and had been all his life, said "What the f___ was that?"  None of us could even give a reasonable opinion.  It wasn't a bear.  We know what an enraged bear sounds like! It wasn't a mountain lion, or anything else we had heard in the wilds before.  

I got up and went into the camper.  If something was attacking, I didn't want to see it.  My oldest sister's daughter, April, and my son, Jared (both 4 at the time time) were sitting up in bed, their eyes as round as plates.  Jared said "Mommy, what was that noise?"  I had no answer then.

Today, I truly believe if Bigfoot does exist, that was what we heard that night.  Call me crazy or impressionable, but that's what I believe.

What is your crazy belief?

Patsy
P. L. Parker


Step into Sci-Fi Romance - The Chalice and sequel, Breeder Slave.