Hiker's Tale

The beast gripped its soft paws on Andy's shirt and playfully barked. Doing so, Andy realized that this beast was not a terrifying wolf but instead it was his own Little Dog.

"Oh.. Hey bud!" Andy gently stroked the soft, calming fur of LD. "You scared the bejimmeny out of me!" He scolded. Andy looked about him and kept an ear open. He heard no more from the wolves now. Andy knew that shouts and tantrums can scare off predators such as wolves, coyotes and dingos. Shrugging in relief, Andy headed back into the tent. Trevor was cuddling in a corner and Trish was sitting up straight staring curiously into Andy's dark eyes.

"What WERE you doing?" She cried. "We thought you were attacked by wolves!" Her eyes seemed to have been previously filled with tears and were now filled with anger.

"I'm sorry... I heard some wolves and went out to kill them and they weren't there and---" Andy's speed talking always annoyed Tricia. Putting a stern hand up, Tricia scolded him as if he were her own child.

"Stop! I don't want to hear it! That's enough out of you... Everyone get back to sleep." Tricia settled back inside her sleeping bag and cuddled up. Andy shook his head slowly, feeling punished, he plopped back into his bag and put his gun beside him. The only sound heard now was the sweet sound of crickets, whistling winds and creeks trickling. Andy slowly closed his eyes, exhausted from the happenings of that day, and drifted off into sleep.

Next morning everyone awoke around the same time. Everyone's spirits were high that day and all couldn't wait to hike once again. Trevor slowly pulled on his mother's sleeve.

"Mom..." he said, in a raspy whisper.

"Yes, Trev, what is it?" She replied, not making eye contact.

"I-I have to...." Trevor began to hop up and down, "Use the potty..." His face flushed with embarrassment. Trish looked at him and quickly shot her glance at Andy.

"Andrew! How are we supposed to... uh..." She looked at Trevor's 'Potty-Dance' and pointed.

"Ooh!" Andy said, almost excitedly. He walked over and grabbed Trevor's hand. "Follow me." Andy dashed out of the tent and into the woods where they were isolated. Patricia shook her head and kept packing her pack.

After a few moments, Tricia became worried. She rushed out of the tent and into the open grassy plains. Glancing around, she saw no sign of her boy or Andy.

"Andrew?!" She called, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Trevor!?" She put her hands down, angrily, once no reply came and searched around. Looking under bushes, behind trees and by caves Trish saw nothing. Finally giving up and assuming that it was......'Bathroom-Problems', Trish began to walk back to the tent-- but something stalled her. Tricia's small foot slipped and fell into a large hole in the ground. The hole grew wider as her foot pushed further in and soon her whole leg was stuck. She screamed in pain and fright but no one came.

"ANDY!!!" She called, yanking on her own leg. Suddenly, something began moving around her leg and wrapped around it. Once again she screamed but no benefit was found. The thing released her leg but suddenly bit it. Tricia screamed in horror. The pain was unbearable. The bite was wide and bloody. It stung from the venomous fangs of the snake that bit her. Not knowing of the dangers of this bite, Trish struggled as much as she could, trying her best to be set free of this gaping hole. Once again she cupped her hands around her mouth and cried out, this time more desperately.

"TREVOR! ANDY! WHERE ARE YOU!?" She called. Suddenly, she heard rustling in the woods. She immediately shot her glance towards this noise, hoping to see Andy or Trevor. But instead of seeing familiar faces, she saw a complete stranger's, kindly but rough, face. Stranger or not, he could help her either way. Trish lifted her arms and began to shout to the man. Almost immediately the man caught sight of the obviously desperate.

"Hola, estás bien? Qué ha pasado?" A man's unfamiliar tongue cried out. The man dashed towards Trish as fast as he could. Finally reaching her, the man grabbed hold of Tricia's arm and pulled her out. Catching sight of her leg, the man immediately jumped backwards in fright. "Oh no! Es una mordedura de serpiente!"

Tricia shook her head, in pain and confusion.

"I'm sorry--I-I don't speak your language!" Gripping her leg she began to press the sides of the wound to try and squeeze out the venom. This did not last long, for the pain of making contact with the injury was excruciating.

"No Spanish?" The man asked. "Oh. Me Pepe...." He placed his hand on his chest and nodded, kindly.

"Uh, me Tricia." Tricia followed his actions and nodded towards him. Since she was in pain, there was barely any time for kindness. Pepe appeared to know what he was doing.

"I have campsite few miles from you." Pepe said, smiling and wrapping up the wound.

"Thats....nice..." Tricia began to say but couldn't finish due to the pain. Suddenly, once her leg was wrapped and was seemingly okay, Andy and Trevor were spotted rushing out to her. Andy slid to her on his knees, quite concerned of what had happened. Seeing Pepe, Andy stood up and swung around.

"Eres tú el que ha hecho esto? Está bien Tricia?" Andy asked, in surprisingly good Spanish. Pepe, amazed that someone else knew his tongue, nodded and pointed at Tricia.

"Ella fue mordido por una serpiente de gran tamaño." Pepe answered. Andy and Pepe talked for awhile, introducing themselves and telling each other their stories of how they ended up here. Tricia looked back and forth as the two continued to talk in this unknown language.

"What are you saying?" She finally decided to ask. Trevor, seeing her leg wrappings, rushed to her as well and knelt down to her side.

"Momma, are you okay?" He asked, gently touching her leg.

"Yeah, sweetie. I'm fine." Tricia grabbed his head and hugged it. She threw her head up and looked at Andy. "What are you two saying?" She repeated. Andy glanced down at her and swallowed hard.

"Apparently... You've been bitten by a large snake... You might need medical attention--" Andy answered, being cut off by Tricia's exclamation.

"WHAT!?" She shouted, releasing Trev's head. She threw her hand up and smacked it down on the ground, angrily. "What a WONDERFUL birthday!!" She sarcastically said. Tricia plopped down on her back and stared at the sky, quite angry at Andy. Andy felt horrible. The hike was supposed to end today but it seemed like Tricia may be immobile and having no car or transportation systems, they may have to stay a few more days. Andy first thought that the only way to end the trip today was to call the rescue team.

"Hey..Hey, Trish. Look, I'll call the park rangers. We'll be out of here before you know it!" As always, Andy was smiling. He grabbed his cellphone and walked up to a rocky cliff, as to reach receptions height. But, his height was unsuccessful. Andy climbed a little more, further up the mountain and further away from the campsite. He reached a tall rocky cliff, quite high, and, in doing this, received a reception. But, this horrible day wasn't done shedding its tortures on the hikers. Pepe, not knowing what Andy was doing, walked up behind Andy, as he was dialing, and tripped on a loose rock, falling down and knocking both Andy and his cellphone off the cliff. Andy, miraculously, managed to grab onto the ledge, hanging there. But, unfortunately, he did not manage to grab onto his cellphone before it fell. Andy did only have one injury from this small fall. He had hit the bottom of his jaw on the hard rocks before falling and busted his lip. Though he was bleeding quite a bit in his mouth, he still managed to stay calm. Andy, frustrated, watched as his only lifeline fell down the rocky mountainside, smashing into pieces each time it hit anything. Quite angry at Pepe, Andy looked back up and cried out to him.

"PEPE!!" He shouted, waiting to see Pepe's face pop up from behind the edge of the rocks. "Pepe! Estás ahí?" He cried. He waited for Pepe once more. His fingers began to slip and get cut on the sharp rocks he had grabbed. "Pepe!....Tricia!" He called once more. "TREVOR!!!!" His voice became raspy and scratchy. He was beginning to slip and starting to become nervous from the height he was on. Wondering where Pepe could've been, Andy tried to pull himself up. His face grew red and he grunted and shouted. He pulled as hard as he could. Being a quite strong muscular man, Andy managed to pull himself halfway to the top. He started to see the solid ground. He pulled harder and it only became harder. Finally, after pulling for about ten minutes, Andy reached the top and flopped, exhausted. He turned his head in the direction he knew Pepe was and saw Pepe lying face down on the ground with blood trickling from the side of his head. He saw that he had tripped and hit his head on a nearby rock. Andy immediately rushed to Pepe. And threw him over his shoulder. Though exhausted, Andy knew that this could be the only way of saving the stranger. He stumbled down the rocks, ignoring his own blood trickling down his hands and face. Finally, Trevor appeared by the cliff, trying his best to make his small weak body move up the hill.

"TREV!..Thank God-- Come! Help me out, bud!" Andy called, laughing a bit in relief. Trev nodded, knowing that this was serious, and surprisingly, helped carry Pepe back to camp.

"How's mom?" Andy asked, once all was back at camp, safe. Andy patted a rag on the still unconscious Pepe.

"She is okay. Just a bit tired, thats all." Trevor said, munching on the meat Andy had cooked on the bonfire. Day was dead and not had come upon the hikers. Andy decided they should eat, just in case they need strengthening if something else bad is thrown at them. Andy and Trev sat by the fire they had made, eating the scrumptious meat while Trish lie in her sleeping bag, fast asleep.

"Do you know any Spanish?" Andy asked Trev, trying to get their minds off of the bad things that had happened and could happen.

"Uhh... Some." Trev answered, not making eye contact, for Trevor was not at all a show-off.

"Lets hear it..." Andy said, chewing up some food and smiling playfully.

"Caramba, me encanta mi sombrero de pollo." Trevor said, obviously not knowing what he was saying. Andy chuckled at this.

"Joven, usted no tiene idea de lo que dijiste." Andy answered. Laughing. Trevor shook his head confused.

"What did you say?" He asked pointing at him and smiling.

"I said, 'Young man, you have no clue what you said.'" Andy answered, shuffling his feet a bit.

"Oh..." Trev laughed. "What did I say?" He asked, naively.

"Gosh, I love my chicken hat..." Andy said with no expression and no emotion. The two stared at each other awhile before bursting out in laughter. Andy patted Trevor on the head, sweetly. "Do you want some coffee?" He asked, picking up the kettle he had made.

"Mom said I'm---" Trevor began to say, holding up his empty cup.

"Pfft. Mom said this. Mom said that. It seems like your mother is the reason why you don't even know what you are saying sometimes." Andy said, pouring coffee into Trevor's cup. Andy sat down on the ground and pointed at him. "Trevor, how old are you?" Andy asked, concerned.

"Almost ten." Trevor looked down at his cup of coffee, feeling like he may regret it if he drank it.

"Ten? Why, you are already a man! I'm telling you, you're gonna beat me to fifty!" Andy playfully exclaimed. Trevor laughed, sweetly.

"Thats impossible!"

"You see, Trev. You need to start living your own life... How do you think I got this far in life?" Andy said, pointing to himself. Trevor shook his head and stared at the coffee. "Well, it was certainly not from my mother babying me for years, now was it? If my mother was like Trish, I'd still be living at home... Trev, you gotta be independent! Especially since you are becoming a man!" At his last word, Andy flexed his muscles and made a silly face. Trevor burst out laughing and copied what he did. The two stayed "Manly" for a few minutes before Trevor talked once more.

"You're right, Andy. I gotta be tough." He smiled and sipped the coffee, wanting to be like Andy. But, tasting the bitterness of black coffee, Trevor immediately spat it back out and smacked his mouth, trying to get the taste away. At this, Andy burst into laughter. The two laughed and laughed. In fact, they laughed so much, that they laughed themselves to sleep....