Day 118 Writing Short Stories

Bigfoot

He had always been a firm believer in reality. If you couldn’t see it, it didn’t exist. There were just me and the material world. Yet here he was, chasing through the national forest, the source of all the Bigfoot sightings, and for his main assignment, finding one missing stupid-ass paranormal investigator who had powerful connections, and those connections wanted her found even when there was no official missing person report yet.

At first, he was pissed off about getting the assignment, cursing his sergeant to hell and back, but once he got to the national park and set out on the route he’d walked many times in his youth, he had a change of heart. He would rather spend all his days in the woods than on the streets solving murders and petty crimes. More so now that the sun was already high enough to warm the morning frost away, and soon he would take his first meal and coffee break at the same spot the woman had taken. He had his PCS with him, along with a few days’ worth of dried food and lots of coffee.

He had spent the entire morning walking the same path the paranormal investigator had taken. All seen in her live stream, which had stopped airing abruptly under twenty-four hours ago. The police tech team had gone through the videos and laid out a path for him to follow. Usually, it was the national park’s rangers’ job to do all this, and he would assist, but again, the woman’s powerful connections sent the proper protocols out of the picture.

This was actually the best assignment he had had in ages. The anger at people going past the proper channels had almost gone away. He was looking forward to sitting down and having his coffee.

Not that the material world or the reality he so proposed to have let him. There was a scream. Not your oh, I twisted my ankle kind of scream, but the kind that makes you quake in your boots.

He dropped his backpack, pulled his gun from its holster, and ran toward the sound, noting the path he took. He rushed past the thick fir trees to a ledge void of any growth. He expected to see the silly woman there, all mad from berries and the theories she so firmly believed about UFOs and Bigfoot and the lizard people. All in her podcast, he had been listening on the drive here. But no, it wasn’t the woman. Okay, it was her too, but there next to him was the biggest, hairiest man-creature he had ever seen. The thing had his ape-like palm wrapped around the woman’s arm as the woman dangled over the ledge.

She let out another blood-gurgling scream, making the… the… heck, he was going to think it: Bigfoot flinch.

“Let go of her,” he shouted, aiming his gun.

The Bigfoot cocked his head toward him, and its eyes went wide. It in turn let out a scream, but it was more like a sad yodel.

“For the love of God’s sake, don’t let go,” the woman screamed. “And stop being a moron, and help dear Frank here.”

He stood there, his gun still aimed at the Bigfoot.

“Now!” the woman commanded.

He pushed his gun into the holster and, keeping an eye on the Bigfoot, rushed toward them.

“My foot is stuck in the undergrowth; you need to cut it loose,” the woman commanded.

The musk of the creature was overpowering, and he nearly gagged when he got close. But he pushed past the nausea and lowered down to let the woman free. As soon as the roots latched to her foot snapped open, the Bigfoot pulled the woman off the ledge and into its embrace.

“Oh, good,” the woman sighed. “I tried to shake it free, but it just got more tangled.”

She let go of the Bigfoot and turned to face him. The ape-like creature towered behind her like a protector. It let out another yodel, but he didn’t know what it meant.

“And who might you be?” the woman asked.

“I’m Detective Tom Howard, and I’m here to find you, Mildred Griffin.”

Mildred pursed her lips, looking confused at best. “Oh,” she said. “I guess that’s a good thing in the circumstances, but you shouldn’t have.”

He was about to explode, but then he remembered all the breathing exercises his shrink had taught him after the fatal shooting, and he collected himself. “Your friend was worried for your safety, and she contacted the police station.”

“You mean Dr. Gaby Gadberry?”

“The one and the same.”

“Oh, she is just the fussiest fan a person can have, but I guess I have to be thankful. If it wasn’t her, I might be in a pickle. While Frank is very kind and helpful, he isn’t that big on words and instructions. So I guess, thank you to you, too. Now, if you should be so kind and take us back to the trail.”

He escorted them back to his backpack, silent. Not knowing what the hell to think, and least of all say. This whole thing was wrong.

“So,” he said as he hoisted his backpack on his back.

“So,” Mildred repeated.

“I’m supposed to take you back, all safe and sound.”

“Oh, I couldn’t. We were just getting to know each other with Frank. He is such a fascinating creature, and with him, I think we can solve so many mysteries that riddle our everyday life.”

He shook his head, watching Mildred’s gleaming eyes. The woman was batshit crazy. Then, he swallowed and sighed as the Bigfoot’s kind yellow eyes landed on him.

—

Oh, I had so much fun writing a Bigfoot story. I saw on r/horrorlit that Grady Hendrix has a book, Bigfoot Must Die, coming out, and I wanted to take a poke at writing a Bigfoot story as I got overcoming a monster today. I also got a voice-driven comedy written in limited third person. Comedy gave me the freedom I needed to let things happen and lead the story, without having to be serious about finding the investigator woman. Anyway, yay for all the Bigfoots out there.

When I woke up, the ground was frozen. The nearby rooftops are still frozen, and the sky is pastel pink and blue, meaning that the air is below zero (Celsius). It is so beautiful.

I have a new arrangement with my phone. It stays in the drawer while I write and am at home. I have to make a mental effort to get it. It has done wonders for my mind, concentration, creativity, and emotions. I should have done it earlier.

Thank you for reading! Have a strange day, and see you tomorrow ❤