OK, this is the setup: Uncle Bob
wanted to talk to Ralph in the worst way. It was urgent. He stumped down out of
the meadow and into the Home Clearing. There was Ramona! Ah!
“Mona! I mean, Firekeeper Ramona, I need to talk to Ralph. Is he around here somewhere?” said Uncle Bob, who was a little embarrassed, and short sighted too.
“Oh, hi, Bob. You can call me Mona if you want,” said Ramona, amused. “I’m not sure where Ralph has gotten to. Not for sure, you know how it is. Last I heard he was going to go see Ranger Rick.”
“I don’t really know Ranger Rick, Ramona. I need to tell Ralph that there are some elk up in the far side of the meadow nearest the town and we should go hunting right away before they leave!” said Uncle Bob. “Do you think it would be OK to go look for him there. I guess if Rick knows Ralph and Twigg he wont faint if I show up, right?”
“No, Bob, I think Rick can handle another guy from the woods. Why don’t you just go on over there and maybe you can catch Ralph before the elk take off,” urged Ramona. She was already thinking about how many days an elk would feed them, and maybe passing some along to Thaga.
So, Uncle Bob set off to the ranger station and campground area on a mission to find Ralph and get up a hunting expedition while the hunting was good. It was getting towards evening, and the last light of day was fading, not that dark nights bother the Forest People.
As he was approaching the campground, but it was really still out in the forest, he came upon an odd sight. It was odd to Bob anyhow. He stopped and stared, forgetting for the moment what he was doing there.
It was a structure made of some kind of human cloth. It was yellow and orange. It wasn’t really big enough for Bob to get inside of, but he thought it might be something that humans use, like a little house or something. It was lit up from the inside, so that the whole thing glowed in the dark shadows of the trees like some strangely shaped lantern sitting on the ground. It smelled interesting to Uncle Bob, who like all Forest People had a sense of smell even better than a bloodhound’s.
Uncle Bob approached as silently as he could manage. Well, not that silently. He walked around the strange structure a couple of times. It smelled of food, not honest meat, but cookies and all sorts of decadent stuff. He sniffed loudly in appreciation. He wondered if the thing was warm to the touch, so he placed one of his big hands on it and pressed. Yes! It was warm. Uncle Bob could hear someone moving around in there too. He heard a sharp intake of breath and then silence. Interesting. Indeed, there must be a person in there.
There was a small metal tab at the top of a sort of seam. This interested him, so he touched it. Then he pulled on it, and the seam began to open. Just a few inches of the interior began to show.
A terrified young man’s face stared back at Uncle Bob. Bob jumped back a few feet!
This guy jerked the zipper pull all the way to the ground and opened a flap. He stared out into the darkness searching for any sign of Uncle Bob who was pretty far back. Then all of sudden, fast as a jack rabbit, he popped out of the tent in just his tropical print boxers and a jacket, wearing his unlaced boots too, and ran off into the direction of the ranger station as fast as he could run, boot laces whipping around his feet as he ran. Bob watched him go with his mouth hanging open.
“Chill, man,” said Uncle Bob, to himself apparently because this bird had flown.
Bob left the abandoned tent hanging open and headed on down to the ranger station.
Meanwhile, the guy in boxers made it down to the station, but Rick wasn’t there because he goes home at night. The poor freaked guy just ran up to the campground parking lot, got into his Kia, and drove home convinced that he had barely escaped a gruesome death.
When Bob got to the ranger station, still searching for Ralph, he found Ralph just about to vanish behind the dumpster.
“Ralphie!” Bob called.
“Oh, hi, Bob. What are you doing here?” asked Ralph.
“Looking for you!” said Bob, huffing and puffing a bit.
“You found me! Cool! What’s up, man?” Ralph asked his boyhood friend.
“I was just coming down to find you and the weirdest thing happened on the way! There was this yellow thing all lit up on the inside with a guy inside of it. This guy was really sketchy, Ralphie!
“He totally freaked at me! He took off running down here to the station, but I don’t see him anywhere!” said Bob in wonder.
“Oh, I bet he wanted to see Rick! But Rick had just left before you got here. Some guy went running up to the parking lot and blasted out of here like Maurice was after him!” giggled Ralph.
“Maurice wouldn’t hurt him would he?” said Uncle Bob.
“No, but I bet he would think so! Well, you’ve scared the guy. He’ll probably come back tomorrow and file a report and try to work up the nerve to go get his stuff and Rick will have to play dumb. He’ll have to blame it on a bear,” said Ralph.
“Wait a minute, you came down here to tell me something, not to go scaring campers. What’s the dealio Bobbo?” said Ralph.
“Oh! Oh! I saw a herd of elk up in the meadow and I thought we should go hunting before they disappear, Ralphie!” said Uncle Bob.
“Well, goodness, man, why didn’t you say so? Let’s do it!” said Ralph.
And so Ralph and Uncle Bob did go hunting up in the meadow nearest to the town, and didn’t miss the elk! In fact, they caught quite a large one and had to carry it all the way back down to Ramona. There was plenty for all, including Twigg and Leely, with a nice roast for Thaga too.
“Mona! I mean, Firekeeper Ramona, I need to talk to Ralph. Is he around here somewhere?” said Uncle Bob, who was a little embarrassed, and short sighted too.
“Oh, hi, Bob. You can call me Mona if you want,” said Ramona, amused. “I’m not sure where Ralph has gotten to. Not for sure, you know how it is. Last I heard he was going to go see Ranger Rick.”
“I don’t really know Ranger Rick, Ramona. I need to tell Ralph that there are some elk up in the far side of the meadow nearest the town and we should go hunting right away before they leave!” said Uncle Bob. “Do you think it would be OK to go look for him there. I guess if Rick knows Ralph and Twigg he wont faint if I show up, right?”
“No, Bob, I think Rick can handle another guy from the woods. Why don’t you just go on over there and maybe you can catch Ralph before the elk take off,” urged Ramona. She was already thinking about how many days an elk would feed them, and maybe passing some along to Thaga.
So, Uncle Bob set off to the ranger station and campground area on a mission to find Ralph and get up a hunting expedition while the hunting was good. It was getting towards evening, and the last light of day was fading, not that dark nights bother the Forest People.
As he was approaching the campground, but it was really still out in the forest, he came upon an odd sight. It was odd to Bob anyhow. He stopped and stared, forgetting for the moment what he was doing there.
It was a structure made of some kind of human cloth. It was yellow and orange. It wasn’t really big enough for Bob to get inside of, but he thought it might be something that humans use, like a little house or something. It was lit up from the inside, so that the whole thing glowed in the dark shadows of the trees like some strangely shaped lantern sitting on the ground. It smelled interesting to Uncle Bob, who like all Forest People had a sense of smell even better than a bloodhound’s.
Uncle Bob approached as silently as he could manage. Well, not that silently. He walked around the strange structure a couple of times. It smelled of food, not honest meat, but cookies and all sorts of decadent stuff. He sniffed loudly in appreciation. He wondered if the thing was warm to the touch, so he placed one of his big hands on it and pressed. Yes! It was warm. Uncle Bob could hear someone moving around in there too. He heard a sharp intake of breath and then silence. Interesting. Indeed, there must be a person in there.
There was a small metal tab at the top of a sort of seam. This interested him, so he touched it. Then he pulled on it, and the seam began to open. Just a few inches of the interior began to show.
A terrified young man’s face stared back at Uncle Bob. Bob jumped back a few feet!
This guy jerked the zipper pull all the way to the ground and opened a flap. He stared out into the darkness searching for any sign of Uncle Bob who was pretty far back. Then all of sudden, fast as a jack rabbit, he popped out of the tent in just his tropical print boxers and a jacket, wearing his unlaced boots too, and ran off into the direction of the ranger station as fast as he could run, boot laces whipping around his feet as he ran. Bob watched him go with his mouth hanging open.
“Chill, man,” said Uncle Bob, to himself apparently because this bird had flown.
Bob left the abandoned tent hanging open and headed on down to the ranger station.
Meanwhile, the guy in boxers made it down to the station, but Rick wasn’t there because he goes home at night. The poor freaked guy just ran up to the campground parking lot, got into his Kia, and drove home convinced that he had barely escaped a gruesome death.
When Bob got to the ranger station, still searching for Ralph, he found Ralph just about to vanish behind the dumpster.
“Ralphie!” Bob called.
“Oh, hi, Bob. What are you doing here?” asked Ralph.
“Looking for you!” said Bob, huffing and puffing a bit.
“You found me! Cool! What’s up, man?” Ralph asked his boyhood friend.
“I was just coming down to find you and the weirdest thing happened on the way! There was this yellow thing all lit up on the inside with a guy inside of it. This guy was really sketchy, Ralphie!
“He totally freaked at me! He took off running down here to the station, but I don’t see him anywhere!” said Bob in wonder.
“Oh, I bet he wanted to see Rick! But Rick had just left before you got here. Some guy went running up to the parking lot and blasted out of here like Maurice was after him!” giggled Ralph.
“Maurice wouldn’t hurt him would he?” said Uncle Bob.
“No, but I bet he would think so! Well, you’ve scared the guy. He’ll probably come back tomorrow and file a report and try to work up the nerve to go get his stuff and Rick will have to play dumb. He’ll have to blame it on a bear,” said Ralph.
“Wait a minute, you came down here to tell me something, not to go scaring campers. What’s the dealio Bobbo?” said Ralph.
“Oh! Oh! I saw a herd of elk up in the meadow and I thought we should go hunting before they disappear, Ralphie!” said Uncle Bob.
“Well, goodness, man, why didn’t you say so? Let’s do it!” said Ralph.
And so Ralph and Uncle Bob did go hunting up in the meadow nearest to the town, and didn’t miss the elk! In fact, they caught quite a large one and had to carry it all the way back down to Ramona. There was plenty for all, including Twigg and Leely, with a nice roast for Thaga too.
😹🤍😻
