Searching for Bigfoot
Many, many years ago angels fell to the earth. They were actually demons. Not content to
live in heaven, they decided to live where humans lived, and to act as humans acted. They were
indistinguishable from humans, and they mated with human women. This unholy union created
the Nephilim. They were giants. At first, ancient people accepted them. Then, an incident
occurred when a starving family of Nephilim hunted down an elderly, sickly human and
consumed him. The people were disgusted and terrified. They began to hunt and kill the
Nephilim. Soon, the few Nephilim who remained took cover in dense forests and mountains,
where humans could not find them.
I believe the creature that is labeled Bigfoot is a descendent of the Nephilim. When my
husband passed away, suddenly, because of pancreatic cancer, I found myself with a lot of
money from his insurance policy, and a lot of time on my hands. I want to make it clear that I
didn’t want the money, I only wanted my husband back. However, I was tired of crying every
morning, I was tired of the “poor you” looks from well-meaning people, and I was tired of
having nothing to do. Due to the amount of money my husband left me, I would never have to
work again. However, having no work routine made me feel anchorless.
Before my husband died, we talked about the adventures we would have. That was when
he was in the early stages of the cancer, and recovery seemed like a real possibility. We wanted
to go find some sort of mythical beast, together. We ruled out the Skinwalker because that
seemed way too dangerous. Chasing down a shape shifter like that one? Nope. We also decided
against looking for Nessie in Scotland. With all of the chemo treatments, we didn’t have money
to travel abroad. But, Bigfoot? Bigfoot seemed like a real possibility. Pierce County, in
Washington, wasn’t too far from us, and we read that there were many Bigfoot sightings in that
area.
My husband died, and it seemed like looking for Bigfoot was a pipe dream. However,
like I said, I was tired of having nothing productive to do. And, now, I had the financial means to
pursue our dream. I decided to assemble a team to help me find Bigfoot. I had already done quite
a lot of research about the creature, if you wanted to call Bigfoot that. So, I appointed myself as
the head researcher. Next, I hired Daniel Nickerson as our camera operator. He was an old friend
from college, and one of the craziest people I’d ever met.
Daniel was from West Virginia, and thought a good time was sitting in an inner tube,
going up and down rough rapids. He was also an avid rock climber. So, not only could he
operate a camera, he would be able to get into some river and mountain areas that would terrify
most people. I decided on Emily Travers as our cook. She enjoyed camping, and could
whip up a healthy meal with limited ingredients. Emily was also my best friend.
The last member of our team was our navigator, Travis Wilson. Travis was my neighbor,
and was also a Boy Scout leader. He had been my husband’s best friend, and they had been in
Boy Scouts, together. You get a badge for navigation skills, so I figured Travis would make an
excellent navigator. We all met at an old hunting cabin I’d researched. It was located in
Washington, in Pierce County. I briefed everyone on the number of Bigfoot sightings in our
area.
“Well shit,” said Daniel. “Let’s get our butts out into the forest and start lookin'."
I smiled. Daniel would require careful handling. “Well, it’s almost midnight. If we go
into the woods, now, we have a good chance of getting lost."
“I agree,” said Travis. “If we don’t have the sun, it’s harder to navigate.”
Daniel held up his hands. “Alright, then. Let’s start first thing in the morning.”
We all agreed and settled into our sleeping bags.
I woke up to bright light, and a container of oatmeal being thrust into my hands.
“There you go,” said Emily. “Apple cinnamon oatmeal. It’s delicious.”
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and saw that everyone was eating oatmeal, except for
Daniel.
“Where’s Daniel?” I said.
Emily rolled her eyes. “Daniel couldn’t wait and left the cabin before dawn.”
“Great.” I said. “That’s just great. We really needed him to operate the camera.”
“I can do the camera,” said Travis. “It doesn’t seem that complex.”
I thought for a moment. I was out of options. “Okay,” I said. “You are promoted to camera
operator.”
Travis lit up. “Alright!” he said. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
We finished our oatmeal, packed our backpacks, and set off. Travis was in the front with the
compass.
“I say we head due north,” he said. According to you, there have been the most sightings
in that direction, correct?”
I smiled. “That is correct. Emily, do you have an opinion?”
Emily beamed. “I agree. Let’s head north.”
As we walked along a makeshift trail, we tried to stay as quiet as possible. The only
sounds we heard were bird song, and the rushing of a river. Then, we began to smell something
strong.
Travis turned around. “Bigfoot?” he whispered.
“Possibly,” I whispered back. “Most people report a skunk smell before they see it.”
Travis looked puzzled. “Before they see a skunk?”
I was about to laugh but stifled the sound. “No, before they see the creature. Bigfoot.”
Emily said, “uh-oh”.
“What?” I said.
Emily pointed upward. Daniel was hanging upside down from a tree limb.
“Help!” he said.
“What in the world?” muttered Travis.
I climbed up the tree. Daniel wasn’t the only one with climbing skills. I saw that his legs
were tied around a thick branch with rope. I pulled a small hunting knife out of my pocket and
began to saw through the rope.
“I saw it,” said Daniel.
I was incredulous. “You saw Bigfoot?”
Daniel snorted. “Who do you think tied me up in this tree? A rabbit?”
As I was sawing, I had to cover my nose with a handkerchief. “You certainly smell like
Bigfoot,” I said.
“I told you that Bigfoot put me up in this tree,” he said. “It was horrible. That thing
must’ve been 7 feet tall. And that wasn’t the worst thing.”
“What was the worst thing?” said Emily.
“That son of a bitch had red eyes,” replied Daniel.
“Did you get a picture of it?” said Travis.
Daniel sighed and climbed to the ground. “Would you believe that I forgot the camera?”
“Yes,” said Travis. “I’m holding the camera, now.”
“You should have taken a picture of me all tied up,” said Daniel. “Now, we’ve got no
evidence."
I sighed. That was the problem with hiring an eccentric character like Daniel. They could
always do crazy stuff like forgetting a camera.
“I say we all go back to the cabin,” said Emily. “Pancakes for everyone.”
We all cheered, except Daniel.
“I don’t think I want to see another Bigfoot as long as I live,” he said. The haunted look
in his eyes was disturbing.
“Let’s get you back to the cabin and all cleaned up,” I said. “Does that sound good?”
Daniel smiled weakly. “You bet your sweet booty, it does,” he said.
Back at the cabin, Daniel took an outdoor shower and the rest of us ate pancakes.
“Do you think Bigfoot actually tied him up in a tree?” said Travis, nodding in Daniel’s
direction.
“I don’t know,” I said, “but I’ve never known him to be that scared of anything.”
“I think something tied him up,” said Emily. “When I was working as a nurse, I would
see veterans with PTSD. They all had that same haunted look that Daniel has.”
“Well,” I said, “I vote that we take Daniel to the closest medical facility, to get him
checked out.
Travis finished the last bite of his pancake. “I second that motion.”
We quickly packed up our gear and drove Daniel to the nearest hospital.
After a doctor examined Daniel, he asked: “Has this man been exposed to radiation,
recently?”
“Not that we know of,” I said.
The doctor looked puzzled. “I don’t know how this is possible, but the patient has
radiation burns. I’d like to keep Daniel overnight, just to make sure his burns don’t worsen.”
Emily volunteered her services as a nurse, but the doctor declined.
“It’s okay,” he said. “We’ve got plenty of nurses, and you all look like you could use some
sleep.”
Travis, Emily, and I checked into the nearest motel.
“Maybe he really did see Bigfoot,” I said.
Travis and Emily were undecided.
The next day, Daniel was released from the hospital. He never went camping again.
When I asked him why, he said: “There used to be only one thing I was afraid of, and that was
the police. Now, I have two things to be scared of: Bigfoot and the police. If I go camping again,
I might find another thing that makes me pee my pants. And that’s one more thing I definitely
don't need.”