Chapter 2

“BANG!!”

    I jerk awake at the sound of the gun.  What was that?  Hunting season is over!  I lean over to check my clock and see that it is 6 AM.  Why didn’t my alarm go off?

    Kile.

    Oh, he will get is for this prank.  Just wait.  Then I hear the birds chirping and I remember why I set my clock for six-o-clock.

    Today I plan to be in the woods all day.  I throw on some sweats and a camo shirt.  I also snatch my satchel which has been patiently waiting on my desk chair all deer season.  I also grab my special binoculars.  I leave my cell phone plugged in because I don’t take it with me to the woods.

    Not only am I prepared for the woods, Lacy is, too.  She is like a whole ‘nother dog now.  She listens to my hand commands and is very stealthy.  Usually she is like a bull dozer, loud and knocking over things wherever she goes.  But now, she is like a sly fox, sneaky and quiet.

    I silently creep down the steps and open the food cabinet.  I quickly make a pb&j sandwich and put it in a zip lock baggie.  I also grab an apple and grapes from the fridge.

    Then I remember that I’m not allowed to leave the yard without permission and since technically the woods aren’t our property anymore, I leave a note.

        M+D

              I’m in woods

              Be there all day

                                  -K

    I put everything in my satchel when my stomach growls.  Great.  Now I have to make something to eat.  I decide to just have a yogurt and a granola bar.  I walk to the fridge and grab my strawberry and banana yogurt as Lacy quietly comes walking into the kitchen.  She probably just ate.  Lacy is a responsible dog when it comes to eating, so we just always make sure she has food in her food bowl, she eats as she pleases.

    I finish my yogurt then I continue out the door that leads to the garage.  I munch on my granola bar as I take two waters and a Gatorade.  There is nothing like getting dehydrated and fainting in the middle of the forest.

    As soon as I am out the side garage door, Lacy and I run through the field and into the woods.  Finally, I’m free.

    When I am in the woods, I feel like the freest person in the whole wide world, even freer than the Jews at the end of Nazi Germany.  When I am in the woods, there is not a care in the world.  I love the feeling I get when I am outside.  I love the sound of birds chirping, the wind blowing through the trees, and the rain pitter-patting on the leaves.  But most of all, I love to see all the little critters.  Since we are so quiet, Lacy and I see many animals- big and small.  We have seen raccoons, chipmunks, squirrels, groundhogs, rabbits, deer, and numerous species of birds.

    Deer are easily my favorite animal that live in the woods, but sometimes they are the hardest to spot.  Their brown color helps them blend in to their surroundings.  Plus, they can stand still for hours at a time making them look like trees.  I get the feeling I won’t see many deer this year.

    I know these woods like my own room.  Last year Dad helped me build a treehouse deep in the woods.  It is square-shaped with a pointy roof.  I added a ladder and a little seat on top of the ceiling so I could sit up there and get a better view of things.  There are windows on every side, so I keep a canvas inside in case it rains.  I love to read and observe the forest inside my treehouse.  After Dad sold the woods, I camouflaged the outside so hopefully no hunters would disturb it.  Now all I have to do is make my way towards the treehouse.

    After walking deeper and deeper into the forest for about 10 more minutes, I come across my treehouse.  After a quick glimpse around, I conclude that my hideout was completely untouched, except for a bird’s nest inside.

    The first I do is take out all the leaves and branches from the doorway and inside.  I think I might leave the outside disguised so no animals will see it.

    Just as I am about to climb the ladder (my ladder is just some pieces of wood nailed into the tree trunk), lacy nudges my leg.  I turn around and see a doe and a buck.  The buck’s left antler is shaped like a trident, and the right looks like, well, nothing.  The doe looks like she’s been in battle.  She has a long scar all along the side of her neck.  Slowly, I move my hand to my bag as not to startle the deer.  My binoculars have a camera in them, so I can take pictured of things I see through the lenses.  I quietly pull out my camera, steady the image, and SNAP!  Only problem is that that loud SNAP! Wasn’t my camera, it was a twig.  When the deer heard that loud SNAP! They darted.

    “Aww man,” I complain.

    It takes me about 20 minutes to make my tree house neat enough to sit in.  Tomorrow, I’ll start bringing books into put on my bookshelf.  I usually only keep two or three novels in my treehouse because I usually just keep nature books in there, like a bird book.  I’ll also have to bring my bird caller.

    I decide to just sit around listening to the birds until my watch says it is 11:48, so I get out my sandwich and grapes.  So far, I have drunk one water bottle and a little less than half my Gatorade.  As I eat my lunch, I wonder what the rest of my family is doing.  I figure Kile is reading his book about some astronauts who got sucked into a black hole and Kristian is probably helping Dad shear the sheep.  He has to turn in the wool by next Wednesday.  Then I assume that Mom is cleaning the house.  I look at my sandwich and remember that I forgot to put away the ingredients to my sandwich, I left the bread on the counter, the jelly open next to the bread, and the closed peanut butter jar adjacent to the jelly.  She’ll be real mad when she sees my mess that I left for her to clean up.

    By now I have finished my sandwich, so I start on the grapes.  I open my new water bottle and pour some water in Lacy’s mouth.  It is actually very amusing to see her trying to lick the water into her mouth as it falls down past her face and all over her head.

    I didn’t bring anything else to put in my treehouse, so Lacy and I walk around in the woods some more.  In the past before we sold the woods, we had a family rule that said that we had to be home from the woods by 5:30-and that includes adults.  It takes about 15 minutes to walk from my treehouse to my house.  I make a mental note to that will help me make sure I leave my treehouse by 5:10.  That means that I should pack up at about 5 so I make sure that I am back in time because if I am late a huge punishment awaits. Last year, Dad was in the woods recording bird species, and he was home exactly seven minutes past the family curfew, and he missed dinner.  There is no bigger or worse punishment than missing dinner in our family.

    I check my watch again and it is now 12:27.  I decide that I am I just going to simply just walk around and see what difference Big Buck’s Hunting did to the environment.

    About 100 feet away from me, I see a little space where there must have been some type of tent a hunter set up.  After I examine the area, I can determine that the person walked north because he made a little trail.  I can also determine that this man is very, very clumsy because he made a wild get away, almost as if he was running from something.  I continue my trek east, parallel to my house.  I don’t find anything else as intriguing as my encounter with the deer, but I still have a very relaxing hike.  I come across a few more places where tents were, but that’s about it.  I decide that I should turn around and start heading back when Lacy nudges my leg again.  I turn only to see the same doe and buck I saw earlier.  I would recognize her anywhere because of the scar.  I really wish I would have packed up before I looked around because now I don’t have my binoculars with me.  The male turns, stares into my eyes for the longest, most arduous minute of my life.

My brain’s thoughts during this minute

First 10 seconds- Okay, this won’t last long; they are deer, they won’t stand still staring at me for that long.

20 Seconds- Why aren’t they moving!  It’s been like, five whole minutes!

27-35 Seconds- Seriously, are they motorized statues or something!

40 Seconds- I’m getting scared because an attack from a male deer’s antlers can                       be very deadly.

50-55 Seconds- Making a mental will and hoping some magic happens and                                       Lacy can read my mind and tell the world my last wishes.

56 Seconds- Please don’t kill me.

57 Seconds- I’m too young to die!

58 Seconds- Please, PLEASE, PLEASE!!!!!! Just don’t hurt me!

59 Seconds- My watch beeps saying it is 3:00

1 Minute- Deer run away, sparing my life. THANK YOU WATCH!!!!!!!

    I still don’t move for about another five minutes because I am paralyzed with fear, but as soon as I can move, I run as fast as I can to my treehouse.

    Once I get back to my base, I grab my trash from lunch that I weighed down with rocks. I take that garbage to my bag, which I put on a tree branch and stuff it in side.  I look around for my binoculars for about 10 minutes before I finally realize that they are in my bag, ha shows just how much I need glasses.  I check my watch once more, and now it is 3:40.  Suddenly, I hear a distant howl and know that I should head back early.  By 3:45, I leave camp and start the quarter hour hike to home.

·       *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *          *       

I get home at 4:03.

    When I get to my house, I go inside to put my satchel away.  I open the door and a voice calls out to me.

    “How was your walk honey? You’re home early,” shouts Mom from another room.  And she always yells at us for yelling in the house.

    “I know, but was great!” I reply.  “Hey, where is Dad?”  I really want to tell him about my dangerous encounter with the deer, he always loves an animal story.

    “He just left with and Kile to get Lacy more food.  He would have taken you, but we assumed you would be home a little later.”

    “That’s okay. Do you know what Kristian is making for dinner tonight?” I ask.  Kristian is a cook at a nice Italian restaurant in town.  Every Sunday, he makes us the week’s special.

    “Yea, there has been a change of plans.  Kristian isn’t going to make dinner tonight because he is going on a date with his girlfriend.”

    Kristian is dating the hottest freshman, Stacy Luver.  Stacy is really nice, too.  She is a waitress of the year at a fast food restaurant and volunteers at the animal shelter on weekends.

    “Oh, that’s alright.  As long as he is happy.  Did he mention where he is going to take her?”

    “I think he is going to take her to a beach restaurant up north ways.”

    “Aww, how romantic,” I says sweetly.

    “I know,” says Mom.  “That is exactly what I said and his face turned cherry red.”  After she says that, we both start laughing.