I am physically handicapped. I was diagnosed with Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) when I was born, meaning my muscle strength is not as capable as the common population. It’s harder for me to walk and climb like the average joe, nonetheless I partake in hiking and other physical activities to keep myself in shape. Over the years I grew to love hiking. I’d started out with my parents and sister, then I grew into going solo. There’s something about traveling the wilderness all by yourself, sitting on a edged and uncut stump and reflecting on moments in your life, good (“I got to 15,000 steps today!”) or bad. (“His life expectancy – with his condition – is most likely 60, at the max.”) I learned to love my condition over the years, something many people find hard to do, and accepted it as a defining part of my life and body. A few days back, I traveled to Northern Montana to breathe new life into what I thought was a mid-life crisis.
My shitty Honda Civic miraculously putted itself up to the entrance of Glacier National Park – A utopia of forestry and crystal blue lake waiting to be ventured. I assorted the gear out of my car and started on my way down the main trail. The sky transferred from a silky blue brightness with clouds that showcased faces, places, and unknown silhouettes to a creamy pink paradise, where the clouds had fully vanished, further illuminating the sky above the mountains.
As I jumbled down the trail, I noticed a man standing alone at the side of the trail. He struck me as an odd fellow, as he stood statue-like staring at the other side of the road. He was big, and wore black aviator sunglasses with a thick, reddish mustache and sported a seemingly red and white ball cap. I thought he was the Ron Burgundy incarnate, perhaps taking it easy in the Montana wilderness. The trail led downwards, where he stood off to the side, and I had to take my time going down or I would have fallen and been latched in the ground. After a minute or two, I was likely a meter or two away from the confused character. Still, he had been staring across the road. I looked with him, to see if he had actually seen anything that might’ve put him in this hallucinated trance.
I asked lightly: “Hello? You alright there, bud?” I put my hand up and flailed it in front of his officer mustache.
He seemed to snap out of his trance, but carried on as if nothing happened. “Hey! Are you traveling down the trail?” He spoke in a friendly and professional manner, I knew almost instantly he worked here. The sky above was slowly reducing to black, like waiting for the paint to dry on the garage.
“Yeah, any advice?”
“Advice? Sure. Don’t go past Avalanche lake. Manager’s thinkin’ of closing it off. Apparently there’s a big son of a bitch roaming around there.”
“What do you mean?”
“Bear. Real nasty one. Almost got two travelers a few weeks back. I don’t want to frighten you, just steer clear of that area and you’ll be fine.”
“Sure, thanks.”
I headed cautiously away from the curious man and opposite of Avalanche lake, which was a shame since I had my heart set on taking some photos of the majestic water. I hiked for about 2 more hours before it was completely pitch black out and I had to use my flashlight. I headed to my reserved campsite: St. Mary’s campground. After another hour I reached the site. It was dark, and hard to get my bearings of everything, but I was certain after reviewing the area again that I was completely alone out here. Perfect.
I laid my bag down and set up my tent, the crickets singing a ballad into the night sky. My tent was frustrating to pitch in the darkness, and it was a cheap piece of shit with shoddy poles the wouldn’t stick into the ground. I threw the logs into the campfire and lit the match, basking in the flicker and glow of the lasting flames. I set my camp chair and leaned back in it, taking a deep breath and exhaling, eyes closed. This was what I imagined heaven was like. Pure and utter bliss, no one is around to disturb you in the very few moment’s peace you get in your life.
The creature, stowed away in the deep bush, watched me silently.
I didn’t know it yet, but I wasn’t alone anymore. I was too busy kicking my feet up and humming to myself, drawing the figure in the woods ever so closer. I sat up and folded my chair, slowly placing it on the dirt beside the tent. I stretched to an extreme limit, like a professional gymnast, and felt the cracks present throughout my entire body.
I went to lift open my tent flap, when I noticed something obscure in the corner of my eye. A large, donut shaped silhouette on the corner of the road, maybe 60 feet away. A lot of people might’ve assumed at first that it was an object, maybe even a person, and then finally an animal such as a moose or deer. Not me. I knew immediately that this was a grizzly bear perched in the dark, the moon itself being unable to encapsulate it. It didn’t need to. I heard its slobber, teeth grinding together with a whispered growl, and choosing me as its victim in the newspaper lines the next day.
I scrambled for my flashlight in my bag behind me, eyes never taking itself off the bear. I dug through the front pouch rapidly as it stepped towards me in pace.
One.
I felt nothing in the front pouch.
Two.
I zipped on the second pouch and dug blindly behind me.
Three.
I felt my hand grasp over a sharp piece of metal and gripped it tightly.
Four.
The bear was closing in quicker, every few flickers from the fire illuminating its scarred face for a brief moment.
Five.
I pulled the flashlight out of my backpack and whipped around, flashing the bear. As the light hit, the bear seemed to stop in its tracks. I inspected the creature, my bones chilled from the horror I was witnessing.
A blue fabric of clothing hung out of its mouth, teeth piercing through the middle and making a fabric mouthguard. A scar latched around the top right of its head in a perfect circle, it creased over the eyes which I noticed were different colors. One was a shade of brown, and the other was crystal-white, where the scar looped around. Its bloody vigor was riddled with pink patches of skin all over certain spots of the body and missing a massive chunk of its ear.
(rrrrrrgggg)
It still refused to move, yet the bear was making audible noise now. Low pitched growls stemmed out of the mouth in a threatening tone. There was simply no use in trying to make friends with this bear, so I backed up. Quickly. My feet took me as fast as they could go as the bear eyed me down in a joyful glance, I could swear it was mocking me. Like it knew I couldn’t do anything.
I backed too hard and caught my heel on a rock, throwing me to the ground with a dull thud. Then the bear started to move again. Faster.
One.
Two.
I tried to get up, but couldn’t, my condition forbidding such a thing as my legs gave out on me and I had to crawl.
Two.
Three.
(RrrrrrrrGGGGGG)
It kicked its foot and started to charge.
Three.
Four.
Five.
I screamed for help, unable to get up. I was paralyzed (Six) in the ground as the bear (Seven, Eight) ran at me in (Nine, Ten) the isolated woods. It picked up the pace (Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen) and before I knew it the monster was right above me. Reflecting now, I noticed how massive it was before it threw itself onto me. It was like a 8 foot grandfather clock falling on you, as you were unable to move, unable to scream, unable to fight back. Thing is, this clock had claws and teeth sharper than razors. This bear however, liked to play with its food.
It tore my legs open, blood spilling out like an automatic water fountain. My face turned red with pain, I could feel my forehead vein present itself strongly. The feeling was like no other. When it dug their meaty paws into the tip of my thighs, it felt like 10 butcher knives stuck in you. They wriggled around and scratched itself along the bone like a fork dragging across a plate. Then, it screeched down my legs, and pulled itself out, the pain being immensely worse than before.
I screamed in unbelievable pain, my adams apple feeling like it just came out of my mouth with spit flying onto the bear’s nose. That seemed to irritate it, and it lurched up again, and came down with a swipe.
(BANG!)
The bear collapsed on top of me, a large hole through its body. I couldn’t move, and felt the bear being taken off of me. My vision was blurry, threatening to make me pass out, and I noticed a shade of pink through my cracked eyes. It was the man I’d seen on the trail earlier, with a double-barrel shotgun sitting prominently in his clasped hand. He kneeled down, waving a hand in my face.
That’s when I passed out.
I woke up a few hours ago, dazed and confused in a hospital bed. I got up and looked around the building, and ultimately found bodies of doctors and patients scattered all over the place. Some were dismembered while some had slow blood running out of them.
I thought to myself, “Had the bear come here?” I tensed up, my legs bandaged up from head to toe. How was I walking?
I went back to my room and now am writing this. If anyone can come help, come explain something, please, let me know. Why is everyone dead here?
I just noticed, there’s an awful lot of blood on my shirt.