Welcome to the fourth week of the Spring Writing Challenge!
You all did so well with your stories last week! There were so many interesting and unique ways you interpreted the prompt. It’s now the fourth week, so it’s time to do it again! Will your story have an epic battle between good and evil? A long-lost evil brother? Whatever you decide, we can’t wait to see what you come up with.
So, without further ado, here’s your next prompt!
Week Four Prompt – The Theme Prompt
Write a story that’s about a
Bigfoot Reunion
Wait…what’s a theme prompt?
A theme prompt is a prompt that’s about a particular subject! It doesn’t matter where your story takes place, who’s in it, or what’s said. The only thing that matters is that your story must be about a Bigfoot Reunion.
Before you start writing, we have some important rules for you to follow.
Writing Rules
1. Please keep the content of the stories you post to a PG rating. Please avoid real curse words. Violence/fighting should be limited and purposeful. Please do not include any spice.
2. Your story must be 1,000 words or less, and must contain the prompt to be counted for the challenge. You’re not required to post it in order to “win” the challenge, but if you want it to count for your team, your story must be posted by Sunday at 11:59 PM ET, and you must include your team name.
Remember to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and post your story as an “answer” to this question, not a “comment”. 🙂 You’re all doing such a great job! I’m so proud of all the stories you’ve posted.
Happy Writing!
TEAM A
Bigfoot Reunion
The Big Foot Field Researcher’s Organization (BFRO) never knew what hit them.
There hadn’t been a single Class A sighting in Kern County since 1976. Sure, there’d been some possible tracks in Tehachapi in 2009 and 2010 (the ones with the possible midtarsal joint present in the photos), and some possible vocalizations outside Inyokern in 2007, but that wasn’t much.
When the reports started flooding in of sightings all over the Lake Isabella area, you couldn’t blame the president of BFRO for feeling skeptical. Bigfoot sighted near the Trail of 100 Giants. Bigfoot sighted crossing Walker’s Pass. Bigfoot sighted by not one, not two, but eight different hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail.
Matthew Halker drummed his fingers against the map. “I just don’t believe it anymore. We’ve been searching, for so many years with no evidence. And now, all this in one week. Someone is pranking us.”
Jimmy chugged down his Red Bull and pulled on his faded cowboy boots. “But Dad, this is our big break. We can’t not investigate. Finally, the whole world will see that Bigfoot is real! It looks like all the sightings are converging on the Johnsondale Bridge.”
Matthew rubbed his forehead. “Oh, Jimmy. I get it, I really do. You’re young and enthusiastic and you still think we’re going to catch one. I used to believe, too, but now I’m mainly just…tired.”
“Can’t we just go see, Dad? Maybe we don’t find anything, but at least we’ll be out there, trying!”
“Well…”
“And you can tell mom that we actually did some male bonding together on your weekend. Maybe she’ll let me see you more if she thinks we’re not just sitting around your cabin watching reality TV all day.”
Matthew frowned. “Is that all that woman thinks we do during my visitation weekends?”
“Yeah, because that is all we do, Dad. But this weekend, we can saddle up the horses and grab our cameras and have a real BigFoot adventure. Just like you used to promise me we would. You know, before you abandoned all hope and all.”
“I didn’t abandon hope, Jimmy. Hope abandoned me.”
“I thought Mom’s name was Jane.”
“That’s right. She abandoned me, too.”
Matthew lumbered to his feet and sucked in his gut. In one motion, he buckled his belt and pulled on his weather-softened cowboy hat. “Alright, son. Let’s do it. Let’s go catch a BigFoot. And show your mom that I’m not quite as washed up as she thinks.”
It took a few hours to get all the equipment ready, but once the horses were loaded up, Jimmy and Matthew began their ride toward the Johnsondale Bridge. They crossed past Lake Isabella, and up the river past Kernville, and everywhere they went, people stopped to talk to them about the BigFoot sightings.
“Are you going to finally get a photograph, Jimmy?” Gushed Brooke when she saw his lanky figure astride the horse at the general store in Kernville.
“We’ll see,” said Jimmy. “And if we do, it won’t be blurry, that’s for sure.”
“Won’t the trip be dangerous?”
“Don’t worry about us. We’re not afraid.” Jimmy stated, sitting up straighter on his
horse as he and Matthew began their final journey toward Johnsondale Bridge. They had to keep to the horse trails to avoid the car traffic on the highways, so the going was slow, but the day was beautiful and the sun streamed through the bull pine trees.
“Can I ask you a question, Dad?”
“Sure, son.”
“Was your search for BigFoot the reason you and mom split up?”
Matthew wiped the sweat off his brow beneath his cowboy hat. “My job, Bigfoot, my taxidermy hobby, fishing, hunting…you name it. All the things I wanted to do, I did. And I didn’t much ask her what she wanted to do. I think she just got lonely and figured if I was never going to be around, she might as well leave. She tried to tell me, in a lot of different ways, but I never really listened. It was my fault, Jimmy. I can’t blame BigFoot.”
As they crested the ridge above Johnsondale bridge, there was a flicker of movement. Branches cracked and there, right in front of them, Jimmy and Matthew clearly saw two tall figures, male and female, emerge from the woods holding hands and descending toward the bridge. Not quite human, not quite simian, they were hairy and naked, with dark fur. And they were strangely beautiful, elegant in their fluid movements.
The horses were calm and unbothered, and as the two BigFoots descended, they seemed not to notice the man and the boy who stared, open-mouthed.
Jimmy reached quietly for his camera, but Matthew mouthed, “no!” and motioned for him to put it away. Jimmy looked frantically at him, but Matthew just shook his head.
In a few moments, the two beings passed out of sight and, far below, Jimmy and Matthew could see the woods around the Johnsondale bridge covered in what looked like hundreds, if not thousands of Bigfoots teeming in a mass like a hive of bees.
“What are they all doing?” Hissed Jimmy.
“I think…I think it’s a reunion,” said Matthew.
They stayed for a while, watching the scene below. Then Matthew turned the horses away, back toward Kernville.
“But Dad, we could get proof! Real proof! BigFoot is real!”
“I know, Jimmy. But I didn’t have the heart to do it. If my family was ever reunited- if I ever got back together with your mom, I wouldn’t want some kid with a camera taking pictures of us. I’d like some privacy.”
“Do you ever think about getting back together with mom?”
“Only every day, son. Only every day. But I don’t think it’s possible.”
“Dad,” said Jimmy, “We just saw an army of the most mysterious creatures on earth meeting together. If that’s possible, then anything’s possible.”
I really liked the way that you used the motifs of separation, search, and reunion in a story about Bigfoot to explore the relationships within a human family.