There is a legend in my town about a fiendish being that is white and hairy. At night, it eats children who wander too far into the snow-covered woods.

I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I am determined to find out. I am only nine years old, but can curiosity kill?
Hopefully not.

I have read books and folktales about this beast. My dad used to say they call it “The Yeti”, which is  spooky name, if I do say so myself. It lives on the peak of  Ice Top Mountain in Colorado.

Many writers and journalist tell of hunters that have gone up the mountain to find the Yeti, but have never come down to live another day. One of those “hunters” was my father. He always was curious about these myths and legends when he was growing up, and that’s what killed him.

Curiosity. It’s kinda exactly like that saying, “Curiosity killed the cat.” Unfortunately, the cat in this case was my father.

I was no older than 5 years old the first time Dad told me about the Yeti. I was so intrigued by the stories, even though I was so young.He even brought me a Yeti plush one day from the Ice Mountain Resort and Spa  where he worked. We used to go up there every winter break as a sort of “winter vacation” type thing, but in Colorado every day is winter. That’s why we moved here.

My parents love the cool weather but I was used to the Texas heat. In Texas, there was warmth, pools, fishing, and most importantly, NO YETIS! I’ve tried leaving the house and go to Texas, but my mom laughs and says, “Silly you, kids can’t ride the bus by themselves”. 

Colorado is okay, I guess. There are some cool activities like skiing, mountain biking, hot springs, etc.

My family and I love to tour the town. Since Dad died, it’s just my mom, my older brother Michael, and me. There are many places we love to go, but we try to avoid our least favorite place: The Ice Mountain Memorial Cemetery for those who were killed by the Yeti. My mom tries to avoid the cemetery because, we miss our dad so much.

Our favorite activity is skiing. Every weekend we get V.I.P passes to the Ice Top Mountain Resort & Spa since my father worked there. While my mom is getting a massage, my brother and I go snowboarding for a couple hours. We also have snowball fights, until the fun starts to wear off and we get cold. Then we go inside, drink hot cocoa, and look through a telescope at the Yeti’s cave. We spend on average about 8 hours at this place, then go home.

Other than the food and the resort, we just spend time at home. My mom does her stay at home job, my brother goes to his girlfriends’ houses, and I just sit in my room staring at the ceiling waiting for something exciting to happen.

That’s the way it used to be: pretty boring. But then it struck me. I got an idea to sneak into the Yeti’s cave and try and get a picture of it. I planned and planned, and as soon as my mom started talking on the phone, my plan went into action. At approximately 3:30 PM everyday my mom gets a very long phone call from her business partner, Shealea. T

Monday, November 3rd, my plan went into action. My brother had left. My mom received the phone call. So I put on my jacket, snow boots, toboggan, and grabbed my  camera. Then I set off on my journey to the Yeti’s cave on Ice Top Mountain. I made it about halfway down the street when my brother had seen me. He asked, “WHAT!, are you doing out of the house?”, I replied with my plan. He snorted back in a c***y sense of sarcasm, “Whatever dude”.

I began to climb the mountain around 4:00 PM. I climbed and climbed up 785 ft of grueling terrain. Icy roads, big boulders blocking the road, and stupid mountain goats wanting to be pet, until I got to the cave. Exhausted, I sat outside and opened my pre-made canister of hot cocoa. Sweet Relief!!! A good tip for snowy days: a good batch of homemade hot cocoa can cure the cold. After reenergizing for  bit, I began my toll into the treacherous cave that belonged to the fiendish and child eating Yeti. After about 30 minutes of walking through bone piles and nasty reeking piles of flesh I saw a white blurry figure sweep across the caves dark terrain. THE YETI!!!! I grabbed my flashlight and my camera to get ready. But with one swipe everything was gone out of my hands. I grabbed my back up camera, snapped a very quick picture of the yeti and ran to get the heck out of that cave. Then I tripped. Following my instincts, I grabbed the sharpest object next to me. I was disgusted by the stench of this object, but it was the first thing I grabbed.

As I held my fighting stance the Yeti just stood there,  staring at my shiny necklace pendant. Then I had the thought, What if the yeti isn’t this terrible nasty beast, what if he is just curious or just frightened? I made the decision to take off my necklace and walk closer to the Yeti. I put down the weapon and gently handed the necklace to him. In amazement the Yeti grabbed it. I sat down watching him play with it for a while and then left the cave.

When I crawled in bed that night, I stared at the ceiling with a thought in my brain. Why was the Yeti not vicious? Maybe it is because he is misunderstood or just frightened when he sees these men with weapons intruding in his home.

When I woke up the next morning I still had the thought in my head about the yeti. Perhaps the Yeti has a family or something like that. I wanted to know and I needed to know. So I went back up to the Yeti’s cave.
As I climbed up the mountain I looked down at the city below and was thankful for where I live and what I had. Because after this visit who knows if I will come back. I reached the cave. I felt a sense of adrenaline and anxiousness as I walked into the cave. I heard a snarl and two puffs of breath came at me like a speeding car. A very smelly speeding car. The Yeti was near. So with great caution I hid inside of the darkest part of the cave. I was starting to think I would alright until something grabbed my leg. I screamed at the top of my lungs and I woke the Yeti. It let out a roar and I heard it coming towards me. I turned on my flashlight to see what was grabbing me. It was a small white Yeti baby. With awe I stood there petting it like a dog not thinking about where the big one was.

As I rose to my feet I felt a drop of drool splash me on the back. I turned very slowly and shined the flashlight at the Yeti. In one swift blow of its arm, I was at the cave's entrance with a roar to send me on my way. As I began walking down the mountain I no longer thought why the Yeti hated us I now knew.  The Yeti is not some monstrous being who hates human, it is a parent defending its children.

So after my encounter with the Yeti, I never went up to the cave again, but I knew someday I might.