I know I just posted about committing to every Saturday but I am going to go ahead and post this since it is more of a fun post than anything else. I found this old bit of fiction on a USB stick I ran across while setting up my old desktop PC for my children. The original idea was to do a shared story with another writer about some teen kids looking for Bigfoot over their summer break. The plan was for each chapter to be written by one person and the next chapter would be written as a response; each one of us would write every other chapter. I started with the chapter below but my partner never sent the next chapter so it never went any further. I wrote this in one sitting and I have not been back through to edit, clarify, or revise yet. Maybe I will or maybe I will not. I feel somewhat odd about even trying to finish it by myself because that was not the original concept of how the writing would work. Just for fun, I thought I would post it up here.
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A Bigfoot Story
1. The Walk Home
“I
can’t believe Mrs. Roberts gave us homework the first weekend of school!”
exclaimed Eddie to no one in particular as his twin sister Maria walked next to
him. The pair was on their home from school with the whole weekend in front of
them. Eddie was disappointed because Mrs. Roberts had just completely upset his
plans.
The routine had been the same for
years. When summer was at an end, the
school year started on a Thursday but school did not really start until Monday. The first two days were just for getting a
locker assigned, books, and any changes that students desired in their class
schedules. Students were not given homework the first weekend. Thursday and
Friday were merely practice then the students were supposed to get a break and
come back on Monday for real. At least, that is the way Eddie thought of it and
what he had expected. Mrs. Roberts had dared to challenge the established
precedent with a paper due on Monday.
“You are aware that homework and
school go together, aren’t you?” teased Maria. She had always been the better
student of the two. Although the two were twins, they were very different.
Unlike Maria, Eddie was not near the top of the class. He was not a bad student
but other activities – football, video games, and movies – were also important
for him. One thing they did share was a tendency to give each other a hard
time.
Eddie rolled his eyes as he quickly
responded, “I know that, apple-polisher! I just wanted to finish watching those
new horror DVDs this weekend and then hit the books on Monday.” Eddie playfully
kicked at the rocks in his walking path as they continued their journey home.
Normally, he would pick up rocks along the way and toss them into the woods
along the side of the road. The cast he now wore on his throwing arm prevented
him from following his normal routine. Eddie was fond of routine and did not
like being forced out of his.
Maria looked at her brother as they
walked and said, “Eddie, it’s just a simple oral report on what we did this
summer. No problem.” She paused for a few moments to gather her thoughts before
continuing. “Plus, Mrs. Roberts is going in alphabetical order so we won’t have
to give our reports until later in the week since our last name is Walker.” Eddie nodded
slowly as he thought over the facts his sister had just pointed out. She was
silent in her confidence that her argument would lighten his mood a little bit.
The pair continued walking in
silence for a few moments. Maria fiddled with her cell phone. She was texting
with her friends to pass the time. They had a twenty minute walk in front of
them and she liked to keep busy during that time. Of course, they could have
ridden the bus but that would have taken longer. Plus, in three weeks they
would both have a driver’s license and would not have to worry about the walk
or riding the bus either.
As Maria and Eddie walked he
remained silent. His attention had wandered to the woods on the side of the
road. Eddie was thinking of the oral report due next week and the events of
this past summer. It was just like any summer from the previous years which
meant going to the mall, hanging out with friends, playing video games, and all
sorts of leisure activities. Then things changed after a few weeks into their
break from school. Eddie remembered
being excited about the invitation for him and Maria to spend three weeks in Arkansas with the
cousins they only managed to see rarely at special family gatherings.
As
Eddie continued on his walk home with his sister, he realized that the woods
were making him uncomfortable. He had passed them many days previously on their
walk home together and not felt so. Eddie used to enjoy spending time in the
woods with his friends during the weekend or summer time. The trip to Arkansas had changed all
of that. His thoughts drifted back to the assignment due next week. He was
conflicted about what details to include and what to leave out. Of course, he
would include the usual summer details of video games, going to the mall,
watching movies, and having an all-around good time with his friends. He was
going to include the trip to Arkansas
to visit family but that’s where things got complicated. Did they want to admit
to spending over a week in the woods in search of the rumored Bigfoot creature?
His arm was in a cast so wouldn’t the other students wonder how it happened? What
was Maria going to put in her report? As much as he dreaded it, he knew the
only thing to do was talk to her about the assignment.
Eddie
gathered his thoughts as the two walked and finally asked, “Sis, how much of
the Arkansas
trip should we put in our reports?” The silence continued for a few seconds.
“What
exactly do you mean, Eddie?” responded Maria. She knew he was talking about the
part of the trip that involved searching for Bigfoot in the woods. That was
supposed to be “their secret”. She was starting to get irritated about the
question because she knew he wanted to break their silence.
“Well,
I was thinking…” Eddie trailed off as he gathered his thoughts, “People are
going to ask about this broken arm and” – he was cut off quickly before he
could continue.
“You
want us to look like obsessive fans that have watched the Blair Witch Project
one too many times and decided to copy it, Edward!” Maria exclaimed as they
continued walking. Eddie could tell from the look on her face and the tone in
her voice that she was really not happy with him. The fact that she had used
his actual name was even further proof of her irritation.
“No,
that’s not it at all. Obviously, I have to mention how I broke my arm during
summer vacation. I’m just wondering how we’re going to explain it; that’s all.”
Eddie explained in defense of his question and waited for an answer.
“How
about we stick to the story we agreed to and say you broke it by falling?” asked
Maria. She wasn’t in the popular clique – neither one of them were – but she
didn’t want to be labeled as “the bigfoot freak” or “the bigfoot freak’s
sister” either.
Eddie
thought over her question and their decision to keep silent about the reason
they had gone into the woods as their walk home continued. He could see their house up ahead in the
distance. He still wondered if it would
be so bad to just mention hearing about the Bigfoot rumored to be in the woods
near the home of their cousins. Finally, he asked, “Hey, do you think it would
be so bad to just mention the legend? You know, spice up our reports and make
them stand out from the usual stuff about Six Flags, camp, family road trips,
or any of the regular stuff? We don’t have to say we found Bigfoot or anything
like that – we just went looking for him…” Eddie let the idea hang in the air
as the walking distance left to their home became that much shorter.
“We
haven’t even told mom and dad yet, Eddie…” she paused to think before
continuing, “How do you think they’re going to react?” She hoped that might
make him reconsider his desire to include the Bigfoot encounter in their
reports.
The
two of them were almost to their driveway as Eddie was still thinking it over
in his mind. He couldn’t help but want to share their wild summer adventure
with others. He acknowledged that they had decided to keep it secret but he
also felt a desire to get it off his chest. He also realized that both of them
had to include it in the assignment or continue to keep it a secret. They
stopped at the mailbox to see if the contents had already been picked up. As
they were examining the mail, Eddie remarked, “I see your point but I also know
that we don’t have to decide right this second what we’re going to include in the
report.”
Maria
looked at her brother thoughtfully before she replied. “Eddie, that’s the
smartest thing you’ve said on the walk home. Let’s work on the reports this
weekend and we’ll decide by Sunday morning if we’re going to include the
Bigfoot – deal?”
Eddie
glanced at his sister, smiled, and simply replied, “Deal.” Deep down he could
feel this was going to be a much harder decision than he originally thought.
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There is part one. I gave it a quick speed read and I can already see some things I would change....lol. If I get some free time to some ideas I may expand this at some point. I enjoy doing some fiction writing but it is not easy for me. I can write term papers and other such material pretty quickly but fiction pretty much has to be dragged out of my head kicking and screaming the whole way. Who knows if this will ever get completed?
