We had a holiday weekend coming up. My ex, whom I was sharing custody with was off for her vacation and I could figure what all that would be about, so I was anxious to do something special with my 3 kids! Elizabeth age 10, Danny age 8 and Ricky age 7 were my pride and joy. I wanted to give them a weekend to remember. So, on short notice I rented a cabin about 40 miles from where we lived as a getaway. The place was out in the boonies. I think the maps showed there was a convenience store and gas station about 5 miles away and there was a lake close by. That was good enough.

Friday afternoon when the kids got out of school, I had them pack up some clothes, and we took off in my Ford truck. I didn’t bring any groceries but luckily the country convenience store was like a little grocery place so I stocked up on stuff to make sandwiches and hot dogs with along with the kid’s favorite drinks such as grape juice and ginger ale. The cabin was secluded from the view of the road by huge Photinia bushes, and I almost missed the turn off but for a mail box at the driveway entrance. I turned into a long gravel drive that led to the cabin. The cabin appeared a bit gloomy, older than the photo in the advertisement with a large canopy of tree limbs that almost covered the top of the roof leaving the cabin in the shade most of the day.

Occasionally as pine cone of limb fell upon the corrugated metal roof that made a pining noise, but when I found the key and opened the door everything looked good. To the right of the door was a breakfast nook and kitchen that led to a hallway where bedroom and bathroom were located. To the left was a living room with a couple of windows with thinly veiled curtains and blinds that had been left up. There was an upstairs loft with a half bath. The kids ran upstairs to check that out while I found an icemaker full of cubes and made the kids some drinks being that day was pretty hot.

“Daddy, can we go out and play?” Ricky asked as he sipped his cold drink.

I looked at all my kids and said, “You do not go outside unless I’m there with you! Understood?”

They all nodded and finished their drinks. I had them rinse out their cups in the sink before we headed out the door. I used to love to take them on country drives, and we’d stop to see things of interest. Once there was a wishing well in a small park so the kids started having foot races to see who could get to the wishing well and back the fastest. They loved that and we laughed and laughed! Sometimes I’d buy a large pizza and we’d stop at a picnic table in a park not far from where we lived and eat right then and there on a concrete picnic table! I was reminiscing on those times when suddenly something caught my attention!

There was a darkened figure behind some saplings and brush on the edge of a deep creek bed that bordered a few yards away from the house! I couldn’t make out any features other than it was dark and tall, whoever it was, and I shouted out to it, “Hello! Hello! I see you!”

Whoever it was, maybe a prowler maybe a hunter, I didn’t know but they immediately jumped into the creek bed and quickly disappeared into the shadows of the creek over shadowed by a tree line on both sides! In the late afternoon sun I lost track of this intruder. I called the kids in who complained without saying anything about what happened.

“I’m going to make dinner now! You guys can watch a movie,” I said while reaching for my cell phone to call the local sheriff’s office! I stepped out on the porch while I told them what had happened, and stepped back inside while the kids watched TV. I turned down the air conditioning and went into the kitchen to start the hot dogs, and warm up a big can of baked beans. By the time I had dinner set hotdogs, beans, and potato chips, I saw the deputy sheriffs pull in. “You guys stay here and eat while I talk to the good sheriffs about something.”

Elizabeth with her long blonde hair and blue eyes, gave me that look like she knew something was going on! She was a worry wart, too smart for her years. I smiled disarmingly at her as I closed the front door. The two deputies were just getting out of their cruiser. They looked concerned.

“I’m Deputy Sheridan, and this is my partner Doug. Can you tell us what happened, Sir?”

“I’ve got my 3 kids in the house and I didn’t want to startle them, but some prowler or someone was standing behind that foliage over there, “and I pointed. “I called out to them, but didn’t get a response maybe a grunt or a groan, and they jumped way down into that creek bed and took off! I didn’t see a face nor can I describe whoever it was.”

The Deputies exchanged glances as if they knew something I didn’t. “We’ll go down and check it out,” replied Deputy Sheridan with a grimace. ”Just go ahead and look after your children and we’ll take care of the rest.”

“Any idea who it might be? Any trouble makers around here?” I asked.

“Quite truthfully, Sir, we’ve had some reports in the area, but I don’t want to cause any alarm. Just stay cool. We’ll handle it.”

That didn’t sound good. “Great, first chance I get to take a few days off with my kids and…”

“Now, now, now,” The Deputy put his hands up, “it’s probably nothing to worry about. We do patrol the area,” he said in a calm and measured voice. “Relax,” he added. With that, the two of them found a path to the creek and descended down into the creek bed.

I went back inside and saw the deputies with their flash lights scanning as they carefully walked down. The kids had just about eaten all their dinner and I was about to serve myself when Elizabeth, the worry wart, tugged my arm, “Daddy, what was all that about?” She had a stubbornness in her just like her mom when she wanted a reassuring answer so I lied!

“Nothing Honey, just some local resident lost their dog and they were looking for it,” I said off the top of my head.

Elizabeth gave me that look like she really didn’t believe me, but it seemed her curiosity was quenched for the moment. I sat down and quickly ate my dinner and gathered the paper plates to throw them in the trash when I saw one of the deputies go back to the cruiser and grab a rifle that was bracketed next to the driver seat and turn to go back down to the creek. That was alarming, but I controlled an urge to go back outside and ask what the hell was going on as that might alert the kids that something was afoot! Why would this shit happen on this weekend of all times? I thought to myself.

I had the kids put away their luggage and each get a bath before bed time as it was so dark being away from any city lights even the twinkle of the stars seemed distant and vague. Suddenly, I heard gunshots echoing across the landscape and that caught the attention of the kids. “That was the deputies outside probably had to shoot an animal, that’s all.”

“Wow that was a big gun!” Ricky replied more by the thrill of a gun than by what the potential danger could be.

Danny has just gotten out of the bathroom with towel wrapped around him when I felt a tug on my sleeve, “Daddy,” Elizabeth pleaded, “What’s really going on?” Those piercing eyes of hers were hard to lie to.

“Honey, the deputies told me, whatever happened they would handle it. Now go and take a shower so we can leave for a picnic in the morning by the lake.”

Something told me that the unexpected had closed in around the deputies and now I was worried, especially when I saw one of them climbing out of the creek and hurriedly opening the driver side door and grabbing the microphone to his radio on the dash. I was outside by then and heard what he was saying too! A cold chill ran up my spine!

“Officer down! I repeat officer down! I need emergency assistance and back up units!”

I froze for a second not wanting to interrupt, but I moved toward the car anyway, “What happened? Do you need any help?”

“No! Stay where you are! We’ll handle this! Just go back inside and lock your door! I’ll let you know something later!”

Hell, that wasn’t good, I thought! Why me? Why on a 3 day weekend. And, I hadn’t even brought any form of protection! Damn it! One thing was for sure. The kids would be staying upstairs tonight and I might just stay on the couch in case there was a knock on the door or anything else happened! Now I felt responsible for making a last minute decision without doing more checking. Then I heard the sounds of sirens and flashing lights I could make out through the Photinia bushes and ran down the gravel driveway to the farm road entrance! I watched as one deputy was being moved on a stretcher into the paramedic vehicle. He looked limp and lifeless.

I walked across the street to confront Deputy Sheridan who turned to look at me as both of us were drenched in flashes of red and darkness. “What the hell happened out here?” I demanded. “I’ve got 3 little kids in that cabin for Christ sakes! “

He politely grabbed me by the arm and walked me back across the farm road all the way to his car, and sighed, “Okay, here it is. We found a Booger, a Wild Man, a Bigfoot. And my partner was ahead of me and he shot it! The damn thing swatted him down with one hand like he was a sack of dried leaves, and Doug is 6 foot 2 and weighs 220 pounds! “

“Is he dead or alive? Is he going to make it?” I asked.

“He’s unconscious, but he’s still breathing! Other than that I don’t know.”

“Okay, so what the hell am I going to do? I got kids in there and I don’t have a damn weapon other than a steak knife, and it’s too damn late to drive back!”

The deputy walked around to the passenger side of his car and reached into the glove box. He held out a pistol in a brown leather holster. “This is a backup service revolver with 6 shots chambered in it. Do you know how to use one of these?”

“Yeah,” I nodded, “I used to target practice all the time.

“I could get in serious trouble for this,” he said grimly. “But, under the circumstances. Just keep this out of reach of your children for God sakes, and let’s hope you don’t have to use it! Just get it back to me before you leave.”

“Thanks, maybe just maybe I can sleep tonight. So, what happens now?”

“We’re going to scour the area. There’s already deputies out there now searching and ready to use lethal force.  I’ll be them with them, but I don’t want to give you a false sense of security. That creek bed heads into some really heavy thicket. I doubt we’ll get very far into it, but I think we’ve scared it away, after all it’s been shot.”

“Yeah, I added grimly. “Aren’t animals when they’re wounded even more dangerous?”

The deputy gave men an expression again like he knew something more than he was telling me and replied, “It’s not just an animal. It’s intelligent.”

“Then maybe your partner, Doug, shouldn’t have shot it.”

“We can’t go back and change that now! “ Sheridan replied regretfully. “Look, I’m going to get with my people. Maybe we can drive it off further away at the very least. I’m going now. Be damn careful with that revolver I gave you. I’ll collect it from you before you leave the cabin this weekend.” He fired up his car and backed out of the driveway and I suddenly felt very alone. I walked back to the cabin with the gun and holster tucked around my back in my pants like a first rate criminal.

Luckily, the kids were tuckered out after a school day and the heat of the summer. They were all ready to sleep, and I got them upstairs. I tucked them in before going back down stairs. Luckily, I’d brought a bottle of rum and poured myself a couple of mixed drinks with ginger ale to steady my nerves, having a gun gave me some sense of security. I quickly fell into an impossibly deep sleep that night. I was exhausted!  

Morning came and the pitter patter of hungry little feet. I got up, made scrambled eggs and cheese, over toast, and they ate like beavers cutting a down a tree! The kids wanted to go out but I told them to wait until Daddy did a little work on his laptop. What I was doing unbeknownst to them, was checking out the history of the Oak Meadows Community and if there had been any reports of Bigfoot-like creatures over the years. An old Newspaper that had folded up its operation in recent years that began in the 1850’s had maintained a website of old publications. It looked like the earliest that had been copied and archived. What I found astonished me!

Oak Meadows Tribune July 12, 1860

Local Farmer fires rifle at wild hairy man trying to carry off his calf.

 

Oak Meadows Tribune August 23, 1861

Local school children at the Community Elementary school are alarmed by a hairy man-like creature that ran across school yard as they were entering class in the morning. One teacher confirms what the children reported. More details below.

 

Oak Meadows Tribune January 7, 1886

A series of robberies from local farmer’s food storage and livestock feed storage has Sheriff Malcom Armbrewster furious! One witness describes a man-like creature carrying off a side of beef from a farmer’s food locker. Deputies have increased their patrols and more manpower has been called for.

Every few years, it seemed a rash of these sightings would occur with these incidents usually associated with food theft of some kind. I followed from the earlier history to the most recent ones. I began to feel a chill up and down my spine as I read.

Oak Meadows Tribune March 7, 1977

Local Teens witness a creature crossing the road in their headlights at approximately 9:00 pm! They quickly made a report to the Sheriff Gardner’s Office in obvious hysterics. Deputies interviewed witnesses and ruled out alcohol or substance abuse. This makes the third such sighting this year.

Oak Meadows Tribune May 8, 1988

Local couple startled by a mysterious man-like creature while having a picnic in the city park. According to the witnesses, what they thought was a person spying on them, turned out to be something quite different. Mr. John Crebbs claims he and his wife viewed a large hair covered being that walked upright like a man. When his wife, Delia, screamed the thing took off with incredible speed and was gone in seconds!  Sheriff’s deputies performed a search of the area but found nothing of concern.

The most recent entry I found was in 2024 with the same type of report while local law enforcement couldn’t seem to find the suspect, but it was clear there was at least a small tribe or group of these bi-pedal primates that resembled humans, who were extremely elusive which meant they were not only intelligent but territorial as well. I let out a deep sigh, then became aware of prying eyes. It was Elizabeth reading the content I had been pouring over. My sneaky daughter!

“Daddy,” she murmured, “Why are you reading about this?”

“Honey,” I said, “I was just reading about the history of this area. It’s quite interesting. There were ancient Indian tribes here who constructed several burial mounds in the area, and the first settlers came here around 1800 or there abouts,” I lied.

“Daddy!” Elizabeth blurted out. “This all has to do with the gunshots we heard last night after the deputies showed up, doesn’t it?”

My daughter was too damn smart for her years! “You’re a worry wart!” I told her trying to distract form the source of her concerns.

Just then Ricky shouted out with laughter. He was gazing out the only window I had lifted the blinds up on. The far window nearest the TV so the kids could see better. “It’s a monkey man,” shouted in amusement. “He sure does walk funny!”

Elizabeth and I raced toward the window, but we didn’t see anything. I asked Ricky, “What did you see, son?”

Ricky made a silly looking ape-like walk, “This is how he walked.” Danny nodded, “I saw it too, Dad!”

“Danny, where did it go then?”

He pointed toward the creek! Elizabeth nodded her head like a disapproving mother when she looked up at me. Damn, she was so much like her mother!

“You’re not an adult yet, young lady!” I snapped at her.

“By the way, Little Miss Know it All, where did your mother go for this weekend?”

“Mama was going to travel with some guy named Larry! I heard her over her cell phone talking to him.” Elizabeth replied with a satisfaction of snitching on her mother.

Since we had been separated, I had tried not to pry into what the kid’s mother was up to or what she was doing in personal life so that the poison of jealousy and insecurity would not enter my soul, but that hit hard! I gasped for a moment not realizing just how much I had still missed the marriage. I turned away from Elizabeth so she wouldn’t see the pain on my face.

“I’m sorry Daddy,” she said as she rubbed my back trying to sooth her own father.

I turned toward Danny and Ricky and scolded them, “Do you see why I told you kids not to even think about going outside unless your dad is with you? You may think zoo monkeys are funny and harmless, but they are actually very dangerous, no matter how funny you think they are!”

Ricky asked me with the most priceless expression on his innocent face, “Then why wasn’t the monkey man in the zoo where he belonged then Daddy?”

I almost laughed out loud! “I don’t know son. Maybe he escaped like when a neighbor’s dog gets out of their yard.” That seemed to have quenched his thirst for explanation.

“Okay kids, pack up we’re going home!”

There was an immediate protest from kids that had expected 3 days of fun activity and it was being suspiciously cut short. “Come on Dad! We just got here!” They cried in unison.

“Okay, okay, okay, but Daddy’s got to take a quick shower. Do not go outside!”

Like a true gangster, I tucked the revolver behind me and pulled my shirt over it, making sure the kids didn’t see it. Then we went back to the convenience store down the road and I got an ice chest with drinks and snacks for the kids and we headed for the lake. It was hot outside and the lake seemed to reflect the heat. There was a picnic table under a tree where we had our cold drinks. The lake reflected the intense blue of the clear sky as the day wore on. Finally, they got tired and were actually getting sleepy to my surprise. The evening dusk was upon us surprisingly soon, and I was already thinking of the drive home when I forgot. I still had the gun. I had to drive back to the cabin and leave it where Deputy Sheridan could find it. Didn’t want to get him in trouble!

By the time I got into the gravel drive of the cabin it was twilight and the stars were just about to begin peeking out from the heavens. The kids fell asleep in the truck so I Left them quietly closing the cab door and walked up on the porch to find a place to hide the revolver. I was bent over trying to squeeze the hand gun between the wall and a planter by the front door when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned and there it was! The creature that had caused all the trouble that had almost ruined a three day weekend! I raised the revolve dropping the holster and aimed while shaking like a leaf. It stared at me pitifully, I couldn’t bring myself to shoot it. Its shoulder was already wounded. Dried blood had left a trail all the way down the right side of its body. The hair was matted with clotted blood.

Instead of a monster, I saw a wounded part human being and it reached out its hand like a beggar wanting help. It had been holding its right arm like a person would who had broken a bone. I lowered the pistol still shaking and I motioned for the ape-like man to walk toward me and to sit on the edge of the porch so could look at the wound. It murmured something that sounded like a language but I had no idea what it was saying. I motioned with hand gestures for it so sit, and it did. I told the wounded being to stay while I went to the kitchen and filled a pitcher with warm water and soap. I gently poured the cleaner on the wound to dissolve the clotted blood so I could examine the injury.

There was an entry and exit wound. No broken bone. However, the bullet has passed through soft tissue and muscle. I got another pitcher of cold water to rinse the wound of the cleaning solution. It made a cooing sound as if it had felt some relief! I went back in the cabin and found some anti-bacterial ointment that the kids had forgotten to pack and I used whenever they got a cut or scrape. I gently applied the cream to its wound hoping this would do it some good. Our eyes met as I did do, and I could feel that it somehow trusted me as not being a threat! Maybe since it saw I had kids it knew I was a protector rather than a pursuer. Maybe it had a family too at one time. Surely it understood family and the need to protect the offspring.

I entered the cabin one more time as I motioned for it to wait and remembered that the kids had left a couple of sandwiches in the fridge. I went and got them. It looked up at me with a curious expression on its rubbery face. The eyes were dark but there was a clear understanding behind that gaze. I handed a sandwich to it and it wolfed it right down then I handed the last one to the hairy man-like beast and it made short work of the turkey and cheese on whole wheat. After it licked its fingers it gave me what seemed a grateful expression, and stood up. Standing about a foot taller than me, and I’m 6’2” it walked toward the creek bed. Stopping to glance at me one last time before it disappeared into the darkness. I felt a mixture of horror, of empathy, and relief that the encounter was over. Once again I placed the revolver between the planter and the porch wall. Mission accomplished. The truck had been quietly idling with the air conditioning on so I knew the kids would remain comfortable.

When I got into my truck Elizabeth was awake and there were a stream of tears on her cheeks. She blurted out, “I saw you with the monkey man, Daddy. At first I thought it might hurt you or you might have to shoot it, but instead you cared for it. It was bleeding!” She sobbed.

“Honey, it was the right thing to do. It meant me no harm. It came to me for help.”

“Do you think it will heal itself and live?” She asked.
“I hope so, Honey.”

“I do to,” she sniffed.

“Now, you make me a promise, and cross your heart and hope to die.”

“What’s that Daddy?”

“Promise that you will never mention what you saw. Not to the boys, your friends, your teachers, or any of our neighbors.”

“But, why Daddy?”

“Because Honey, people will think you’re crazy. They’ll think you’re lying or making up stories.”

“But, Daddy we both saw it and we both know it’s true!”

“Yes Honey, but there are people who know like you and I, and there are others who don’t want to know. You’ll find out as you get older that there are things that are true that people refuse to believe, because they are afraid of the truth!”

“I promise, Daddy I will never tell anyone.”

“Good Girl!” I said and ruffled her long blonde hair. “Now, lay back and go to sleep while I drive us home.”

Once I’d gotten on the road I used my cell phone to call the hospital to find out of Deputy Sheridan’s partner was okay.”

The Hospital put me through to his room, and a familiar voice answered. “Deputy Sheridan here.”

“How’s your partner, Doug, doing,” I asked.

“They say he’ll be okay but he got a concussion though.”

“I just wanted to tell you that I’m on my way back home with my kids and I hid the revolver behind the planter next to the front door. Thanks for all your help, Sir.”

“No problem, happy to be of service!”

“Hey, I just wanted to say something about the other night. Maybe it’s better to leave some things be. Just live and let live. I don’t want your guys to have to shoot and kill that thing. Maybe it was just protecting itself.”

“I know!  Damn it! Doug was ahead of me, and I wouldn’t have shot it without provocation anyway. I’ve known about these things for a long time now, but people get scared and upset.”

“Well, I say live and let live,” I replied.

“I gotcha,” he said as though he understood what I was saying. “Take care now.”

The road ahead felt a little easier to drive now. I wasn’t worried about nodding off. The kids were all asleep and I was looking forward to getting back, maybe even sleeping late in the morning on the last day of the three day weekend. Hopefully I wouldn’t have any nightmares.