“Dad look at what I caught,” I shouted as I walked through the front door with my kill. It wasn’t much but for me it was. My dad greeted me with a proud hug and took the rabbit from my hand to inspect it. “Good job son, you are getting better every day!” Later that night me and my dad sat down to enjoy or rabbit stew he put together from my kill. We talked about the usual, hunting magazines, what we saw while we were out in the woods and any interesting local news, which was rare since we live separated from most of society in our log cabin.

“Mark, Ranger Jack told me about some weird things he saw today while patrolling.”.
“Like what dad? What’d he see?”
“He said something about a deer nearly ripped in half and some big foot tracks with it.”
“Neat! We should go check it out in the morning,” I replied.
As i got into bed I couldn’t wait to go out in the morning after hearing what my dad had said. I woke up extra early and got ready as fast as I could. I prepared my dads breakfast got his clothes out and pulled him out of bed.
“ Dad you ready?” I shouted from the porch.
“ Yeah one second just getting my gun,” he responded.
When my dad finally came out and ready to go. We left our cabin and went out into the misty forest.We took our usual path and noticed that almost all of our traps had been set off but nothing was in them.
“Dad what do you think happened?”
“Something or someone got here before we did,” he replied.
“ But we are the only ones down here, there ain’t nobody else around here for miles,” I exclaimed.
We continued to search to see if we could anything else unusual. As we kept searching we noticed that the traps were not only empty but crushed and broken.This couldn’t have been done by another man. After seeing that trap my dad stepped close to me and choked up on his gun.
“Alright Mark I think it’s about a good time to walk back to the cabin now.”
“Yeah, this is starting to creep me out,” I replied.
As we walked through the forest we started walking faster and faster as we heard the wind blow and branches shake, we were both getting paranoid. Since all of our food had gone missing out in the woods we decided to stop by
a local restaurant a couple miles off where all the families around here gather, mostly men and their sons like my dad and I.
“Should we tell the other guys about what happened while we were out in the woods today dad?”
“Might as well maybe they have some answers and can tell us what the heck is going on.”
The place was packed and everyone seemed to be crowding around one table.

“It was huge! Must of been 8 feet tall and must have weighed 2000 pounds.”
Then one of my dads friends pulled him aside and told him what the big deal was.
“Yeah Pete said he was out hunting yesterday and saw something about 100 yards out, he couldn’t tell what it was but he said it sure was big. He’s still shaken by it, says hes never seen anything like it before in his life.”
“Hmm maybe that has something to do with our problem Mark,” my dad suggested.
“Yeah it could be, in fact it could match up with what Ranger Jack said to.”
“Oh yeah I forgot about that, I’ll give him a call tonight,” my dad replied.
As we arrived home my dad got on the phone with Ranger Jack to see if anything else had happened.
“You to? Me and my son found the exact same thing this morning!”
“Mark turns out Jack saw some traps out today, he described it just like we did his traps had been set off yet crushed and empty.”
At this point I was starting to get a little freaked out,what was going on and what was behind it? Maybe it was that monster that the guy at the restaurant was talking about and he wasn’t just crazy.
“Dad what are we gonna do if this keeps going on we ain’t gonna have any food to eat.”
“I don’t know son, I think I might get a group of guys to go check it out early tomorrow morning.”
Later that night my dad spent hours getting together as many guys he knew around the town to go on a search. Most men wouldn’t want to go out in the morning with all the fog searching for would could kill them but these men had lived here since they were kids, learning to hunt and survive out here from their dads just like I did and my dad did.
“Alright Mark I got a good group of guys to go out with me, we decided to leave at around 5 so I’ll probably be gone before you get up.”
I made sure to get up extra early that morning to watch my dad leave through my room window. As I saw him leave, I noticed he had taken all his best gear, his favorite rifle, and lots of supplies. What ever they were gonna do out there they were going prepared.
Sitting at home by myself was a first, usually i am always with my dad, we have to stick together since we were all by ourselves. It had always been like that since my mom died. She had cancer and passed away when I was 7, I was too little to understand what was happening but all I knew was she was gone and it was just me and my dad from then on.

While he was out I tried to entertain myself, play darts, listen to the radio, read magazines, play gameboy. But all I could think about was what was happening out their. Did they find anything were they in trouble? I started worrying and just hoped he would come home safe. As I listened to the radio I heard something that caught my attention.“Local man claims to have seen giant bear like creature. Unidentified tracks and broken traps and missing kill are starting to put local hunters in confusion. So it’s not just my dad and I having these problems there must be something out there doing this, I just hope it’s not a giant bear monster like that one man said. My dad didn’t mention when he would get back but every minute I wished he was still here. Every minute I think of a dangerous scenario that he could be in. I kept trying to keep myself busy to not think about it.
It was now 4 o’clock and I still hadn’t heard anything from my dad or seen him since he had left. I decided to go out into the woods and look for him. I put on some boots,grabbed my rifle and got ready to go out. I wasn’t going to go far out but just enough where I had a clear view for a couple hundred yards. As I walked out into the empty woods I was determined and ready to find my dad, or anything clues of where he is. I started getting increasingly paranoid, thinking I heard things behind every tree as if I was being followed. I heard footsteps and leaves crunch. I kept thinking it was my dad but after screaming for him repeatedly with no response I realized it was all just in my head. I walked a little further out and continued to scream his name. After another failed attempt I decided to get back to the cabin and doze off. As I wandered back to the cabin I heard a great roar followed by a shake in the ground, it nearly knocked me over. I picked myself back up and dashed home. I slammed the door close, locked it, and collapsed down trying to piece myself back together as I tried realizing what had just happened. I now believe there is something out there, not sure what it is but it must be some sort of monster. And my dad is out there right now with that thing. I called the sheriff's office and tried to explain my situation that my dad and some men were out in the woods with a monster. They said I am just a kid and acting crazy and they hang up. At that moment I was extremely frustrated. The only real help I could get just called me crazy and didn’t even listen to what else I had to say. If my dad is really in trouble who is going to go help or save him? He could be killed just because these people decided that this was just a joke and they shouldn’t listen to me because I am a kid.
Since I was going to be getting any help from the sheriff I decided to get help from some other people. Remembering who my dad went out this morning with and knowing we have all of their numbers I decided to call their home phones.
“Hello this is Mark, Rob’s son he went out in the woods this morning with your husband, have you heard from them since?”
“Hey Tommy it’s mark has your dad came back from hunting this morning?”
“What’s up Zack! Just wondering if you had heard back from your dad since this morning.”
I called 5 numbers and I got the same response from all of them.”No, sorry Mark haven’t seen him yet i’m sure he’ll be home soon.” Not one of the men had came back yet. All of this thinking was to much to handle for me at the moment so I decided to lay down and take it easy. It felt good to not think about it and just relax but at the same time it was hard to when you’ve had all these crazy thoughts going through your head all day. I slowly fell unconscious.
I dreamed back to a place when it was my mom dad and I. It was christmas and we were all together and happy. I was sitting in my dads lap opening presents, I had gotten my own rifle that day, my first and my dad said he was going to take my out hunting in the morning and teach me how to use it. Then my mom got a call, she said it was from her doctor she walked into the wall way, my dad told me to stay there so I did.When I looked over at them my mom had collapsed into my dads arms in tears, at the time they told me I wasn’t old enough to understand.
Bang!Bang! I jumped out of the couch, someone was at the door. Could it be dad? I dashed to the door thinking it was him and this this crazy day would come to an end. Surprisingly it was just a little kid, he was 4’10 feet high and looked up at me with an excited smile. He had short hair covered by a blue beanie, faded blue jeans and a ripped up gray sweatshirt that was too big on him.
“Mark! I need to talk to you, I have a really bad feeling about something!”
Somehow this kid knew me, he was out of breath and rushed inside the cabin.
“Umm, sorry but who are you?”
“I’m Jordan, our dads are friends. That’s why I’m here my dad went missing and I didn’t know who else to come to.I knew he was with your dad.”
Finally someone I could relate to, apparently Jordan’s dad had gone out with my dad this morning and is still no where to be found. I was so relieved to have someone else in my shoes, someone who understood my problem.
“Jordan tell me about exactly what your dad told you this morning.”
“Well it all started when he woke me up at like 3 in the morning. He said he was going out early to do something with the guys out in the woods. It sounded almost as if he was looking for something. He gave me a little radio and said if he needs anything just use it and he would answer. So later at like 2 in the afternoon I used it to check in with him, see when he would get back and all I heard was static,leaves and wind, but then I heard something in the background, it was like a deep growl. That’s when I started worrying and called some people, they all thought I was insane and ignored me. I finally thought of you, your dad was out there with mine, and you must have been worrying just as much as me if your dad hadn’t come back either.”
“Wow Jordan I am actually glad you came, I didn’t know anyone would be worrying as much as I am right. It feels good to be with someone else right now.”
“Thanks Mark, so would do you think we should do?”
“I don’t know none of the authorities will listen to us, we should try with them a couple more times and if that doesn’t work,maybe we should take it into our own hands.”
“Woah, you want to go out there? Mark I want my dad back just as much as you do but going out there could put us in worse conditions than they might be in.
“Jordan if my dad is out there I am going to go get him, I am not losing anyone else.”
“Mark I know what you feel, I lost my mom too, but if we go out there we might never come back.”
“I know but I’m not just gonna sit around while my dad is out there in danger. Do you know any other kids around here? Anyone that could help us?”
“I guess there’s a couple kids I could get, they’re not that bright but they know the woods like the back of their hand. If you’re up for it we could go gather em’ up in the morning.”
“Alright, but these kids better know what they are doing, I don’t want to be taking care of any of them out there if they don’t know what they are doing.”
“Don’t worry these kids have lived out here they know just as much as you I bet.”
“Alright Jordan I hope these kids are as good as you say they are.”


That night Jordan slept over, it was the first time in a while I had a friend my age to hang out with. Before we went to bed we told each other more about ourselves, we even shared stories about our parents and when our moms were still here. Turns out me and Jordan are really alike, we have the same background, hobbies, likes and we both have the same drive, he is just about losing his dad as I am. Even in the middle of the night me and Jordan would whisper each other and joke around, he was on the floor next to my bed with a sleeping bag and some blankets. It was the sleepover I never had, it would be perfect if our dads weren’t missing and stranded out in the woods. I didn’t get that much sleep that night every time I closed my eyes I would see flashes of my dad and my head would fill with twisted thoughts, I’m sure Jordan didn’t get much sleep either I could hear him shake and roll on the floor. Once I realized I couldn’t sleep anymore and it was a decent time to wake up I got out of bed and shook Jordan awake.

He was still tired but he got up eventually, we ate some cereal and then got wood for the fireplace we decided to sit next to it as we warmed up and made a plan for the day. We discussed who’s house we should go to and who would be of good help. We got everything we needed and I lent Jordan some clothes and then we set out. Jordans house was apart of a small little town about 40 minutes away on bike the town had roughly 20 families and was a close community. About half way there we saw where our dads had left their trucks to go out.
We pedaled over to them and investigated them to see if we could find anything out of the ordinary. We didn’t find anything, all this told us was our dads were still out there.
Once we arrived to his little town he showed me around. There was a barber shop, a little supermarket, drug store, arcade,bar and a restaurant. He decided to take me to Jacobs house first, he said Jakob knew how to use a rifle better than anyone he knew. Out of all the kids in town Jakob had the best shot, Jordan said he could hit a bullseye from 200 yards away. I waited at the white picket fence as Jordan went up to the door. He knocked twice and a kid about 5’2 came out, he had short brown hair and looked about 13. I couldn’t see much but it looked like he was willing to help by his face and hand expressions. Jordan walked back down to me and said, “Jakobs in he just needs to ask his mom about he said.”
“Was Jakob's dad out with ours?” I asked.
“No his dad works at the bar over there, he’s always working,” Jordan responded.
Jakob came back up holding his two thumbs up. I guess that meant he could come because he then followed us around to the next house. We left our bikes at Jakobs and starting walking Jordan started talking to Jakob about who’s house we should hit up next and they came to a decision. They didn’t tell me instead they just kept walking, Jakob would look back at me and ask Jordan something a lot on the way there. I thought he is just curious and wants to know more about me before we go out into the woods depending on one another. I finally walked up to them and asked them what they were talking about.
“I was just telling Jakob about what a good trapper you are and how you know the woods so well,” Jordan responded.”
We approached the next house, it was a big two story house painted light blue it was extremely nice compared to all the other shacks around here. Jordan pulled me aside and told me that this was Gizmo’s house.
“Gizmo is a genius, he knows every single footprint, sound and smell of every possible animal out there. Plus all the wildlife, with him we could survive out there for ever.”
We all walked to the door, Jordan knocked and a woman answered.
“Are you boys looking for Nate?”
“Yes Mrs.Schrute,” Jakob responded.
“Well he is just up stairs you can come in if you’d like.”
I followed Jakob and Jordan in, they went up the stairs into Gizmos room.
“Wait, so his name is Nate?” I said.
“Yeah, we just like to call him Gizmo because he is so smart,” Jakob responded.
Jordan slammed his door open and we all followed him in. Gizmo’s room was like I imagined any scientists room. He had telescopes, jars full of a green liquid with little creatures in them, posters of animals and wildlife. He had anything a wilderness nerd would have. Gizmo was on his computer and barely noticed us walk in. Jakob spun his chair around so he could talk to him while he sat on his bed. Me and Jordan stood as we all explained to Gizmo what our plans were. Gizmo seemed a bit scared but Jordan and Jakob kept talking him back into it. It seemed they must of been really great friends if they were comfortable talking to Gizmo like this without him getting offended.
“Alright I’ll get my stuff,” Gizmo stated.”
“ Are you boys hungry? I’m making cookies,” his mom said as she peeked her head into the room. We all nodded and thanked her, Gizmos mom was really nice and she seemed always in a good mood. We went downstairs for cookies as Gizmo darted around the house gathering supplies. He finally met up with us just as we were finishing up.
“Sorry it took me so long, I just had to go get some things from my dads stuff.”
So Gizmo must be just like his dad I thought, thats where he got all his nerdy habits and hobbies.
We walked to the arcade a couple streets down. Jordan said it would be the best way to get and know each other before going out on our mission. Jakob Jordan and I got right into games, Gizmo did his own thing; he sat on the floor near the entrance going through various books and magazines of his. We were getting pretty competitive, but still having a great time.