This story has inspired some artwork as well, published elsewhere.
But you came here to read, so go forth and enjoy readers :)
*****
Maggie took a deep breath.
Yep. This is what she needed.
Two days out on her hike and she was in her element. The weather was perfect, the spring air cool enough, the sun the perfect temperature on her freckled skin, and she found her entire body recharged already despite all the exercise she was doing. Being out in nature like this was only making her feel better. The more she hiked, the happier she felt.
She'd come out on this trail by herself, a gift on her college break. All her friends had headed off home or gone away for a few weeks to party, but not Maggie. She wanted to get away from everyone and just be by herself, head deep into the forest and go exploring.
It was something she had wanted to do since she was a little girl but had only decided to follow through with her dream these last few months, and she was glad to finally gaining the courage to do it. She loved the open air, the outdoors. She loved camping and hiking, and felt confident enough to do it solo for two weeks. She'd researched the best places, and had travelled half a day from campus to come here.
She'd yet to see another soul on her trail, and she couldn't be happier. She always did her own thing, always been independent, which meant she hadn't really attracted a boyfriend yet. She was attractive, with a very shapely body and trim figure thanks to her workout regime, with sunkissed auburn hair and an ample bosom and posterior. She often gained the attention of many a male gaze, and some women, but nothing ever seemed to come of it.
Maggie didn't think she was picky, but then again, her love life had been fairly disastrous. Not many stuck around for too long. She got rid of them when they failed to make her feel anything. The boys were all the same, not men enough. And the men wanted to treat her like she was young, which she certainly wasn't. She just found herself in an awkward time, not really attracted to anyone.
So coming out here by herself was fine with her. She didn't need anyone else. She was having a nice time with just nature and the animals around her.
She was heading down into a rocky ravine, the path dusty and unused, and she kept one eye on it and the other ahead as she walked down the side of the mountain. The pine trees were thick around here, and she knew that bears and wolves were certainly around, so if she encountered anything, she may not have time to react quickly.
For the most part though she hadn't seen anything dangerous. A few rabbits, and an owl had been the highlight so far. She was happy and enjoying the hike. She still had a week and a half to go and was looking forward to getting even deeper into the forest. Maybe she'd even come across some deer?
The one thing she loved the most about being out here was the stars. Every night she would roll out her sleeping bag, staring up at the sky, watching them all twinkle as she slowly fell asleep by her fire. Being on campus for a few years, she'd forgotten what it was like to see the night sky, and she always felt so small looking up at the galaxy above her. It was the perfect ceiling as far as she was concerned. She liked being reminded of her place in the universe.
She'd picked the perfect time of month to come too. The moon was nearly at it's apex, a full moon coming tonight, and it's bright light kept a happy glow on her when she fell asleep.
Maggie hadn't taken much with her on this trip. Everything was on her backpack. Just some food, her sleeping bag, cooking utensils, hunting knife etc. Just the basics to keep her fed and warm.
She headed down the path for the rest of the afternoon as the light began to fade, the sun dropping behind the mountain and a little chill entered the air. She decided to find a place to camp quickly before all the light went, and headed off the trail, spotting a clearing in the woods about a hundred yards away.
As she was setting up camp, she heard the sound. It was a distance away, but it was loud, echoing over the valley.
Wolves.
They weren't that close at least. She estimated they were the other side of the mountain, far away from her. The sun was now setting as Maggie got the fire going, her sleeping bag unrolled. There only seemed to be one of them as far as she could tell, probably the leader of the pack. She wasn't worried though. The fire she got going was large, her sleeping bag was warm, and as she looked up at the sky, she could see the full moon starting to swing around the Earth. The wolf was probably just as happy as she was to see it all lit up.
She ate, a meal of beans and sausages out of a tin, filling up on the staple, watching the fire. She sat there, happy, the sound of the wolf disappearing as she got sleepier. The night got dark, the sounds of the fire mixing with the forest as the full moon hung overhead. She'd been sitting there for some time, just quiet, watching the flames, starting to doze off...
Before she was tackled to the ground.
Something massive grabbed her and threw her along the clearing, slamming her hard into a nearby tree. The wind was knocked out of her, her eyes dizzy, doubled over on the ground, as she tried to make sense of what was happening. The thing that had tackled her grabbed her again and threw her, back the way she had come, and she rolled end over end from the force of it.
She was still catching her breath, coughing, eyes swelling up, when she saw the thing standing on the other side of the fire.
It was a bear. A black bear. The biggest animal she had ever seen. It was eleven feet tall at least, taller than a house, and it stood on it's hind legs and roared at her.
"Oh shit...!"
There was nothing Maggie could do. She was still trying to catch her breath, her reflexes trying to get her to stand up and run away, but she was too weak. The bear hadn't gotten a good grip on her when it had attacked, it's claw getting stuck in her jacket thankfully, otherwise it would have been a killing blow. The bear roared once more and then came at her, at speed, running, anger in it's face.
She was going to die.
Maggie closed her eyes, taking a deep breath...
THUD!
There was a heavy large sound of muscle slamming into something, then the whole ground shook. It was like an Earthquake! Heat swelled over Maggie as she forced her eyes open. The fire had gone out, bits of ember and burn wood scattered everywhere, the flames licking at her before dying out immediately. The whole clearing went dark from no light, but she could see the bear in front of her.
It was wrestling with something. Something as big as he was. Even bigger! In the dark Maggie couldn't tell what it was, perhaps another bear? The two were screaming at each other, limbs thrashing, blood and spit flying in all directions. Whatever this new animal was, it appeared to be defending her! Maggie could only watch in the dim light from the stars as the two giants battled it out, screaming and roaring, hacking into each other's flesh.
She couldn't move, didn't dare move. She didn't want their attention on her. She stayed huddled on the ground, trying to catch her breath, as the larger animal finally seemed to get the other hand. It picked up and threw the bear into a tree, causing it to groan and slam against the floor. It was wounded, badly, and knew the fight was over.
This new beast stood over the bear on it's hind legs, longer than a bears or her own, and roared down at it. The bear groaned again. It stood itself back up, weakly, and began to back away, the battle lost. Maggie watched it leave, the beast standing there, panting, it's back to her.
It was hairy, whatever it was. Covered in rough fur. It's limbs were long and thin, but there was muscle rippling over the bones. It had large ears and a large fluffy tail, almost like a dog's. But Maggie couldn't see it's face. She couldn't tell what it was.
She awoke the next day, curled up in the same position, the sun streaming down on her. The beast had stayed in position all night, it's back to her, panting, protecting her. Why, she didn't know. She'd been too afraid to move to her sleeping bag or even start a fire again, so she'd just curled up in a ball and shivered during the night.
Now that the sun had risen it was gone, and she was alone once again.
The entire clearing was decimated by the fight the night before. Blood was here and there. Trees and limbs broken apart and snapped. The fire and ash all scattered around the pit. Luckily her backpack and food was all in one place.
She decided to head back to the front of the park then and there. Whatever had happened last night had been too close for comfort for her. She didn't want to risk her safety. She packed up her things, made sure the fire was well and truly out, made sure in the light that she hadn't injured herself, and decided to head back the way she came.
She got to the path before she found that wasn't going to be an option. The path that had led her here was blocked, a massive boulder having fallen across it, preventing her from scaling up it. The path was alongside the edge of the mountain, cliff faced, and she wasn't going to be able to go around it.
"This isn't good."
Part of her wondered if it had been done on purpose? The boulder had come from fifty feet above, from a position where it should have been immovable. No storm or winds had come last night. It was odd that after her attack, a boulder like that would prevent her from going home.
She got out her map and checked what she could do. There was another path that led around the base of the mountain, taking her back to home, but it would take five days to do. That was the quickest way home unless she wanted to beat it through the bush, and if something happened then, no one would be able to find her. The safest option was to head forward, and hope everything was OK.
So for the rest of the day that's what she did. She kept an eye out for bears, wolves, anything, but the forest was peaceful once again. Nothing happened to her. As midday turned to the afternoon and got closer to sunset, Maggie picked a spot for camp in a small clearing by a stream. She was on edge, but hoped that tonight things would be different. Once again the moon came up, the stars came out, and Maggie looked up at them. Strangely it looked like another full moon to her, though it couldn't be... surely.
