An Interesting Turn of Events

            There were strangers afield, but of course, Uncle Bob didn’t know that. In his dusty, pouchy way, he was afield too. He had gone up away from his Stump House, near the town where the wild turkeys liked to hang out. They felt safer up there by the haunts of man, away from Ralph or any of the clan. 

            Bob had gotten pretty good at knocking a turkey down with a carefully aimed rock. If that failed, he would pick some blackberries and then go fishing. Hunting and sourcing cooking fuel were his daily occupations.
            Bob was under the impression that he was quite stealthy, but he had a tendency to talk to himself and whistle a little under his breath. An outside observer might have honestly mistaken him for a sort of bear, a dusty, mumbling bear who knew how to whistle.

        The turkeys were evading him, and the woods seemed off in some subtle way. Bob stopped and looked around himself. He saw the usual assortment of trees, and an open sunny area further on. It looked normal. But there was a sound.
            It was a strange squalling noise, like the young of some creature. It sounded distressed. The sound distressed Uncle Bob too. He forgot about turkeys for the moment. He had to find this creature and help it! He plunged back into the woods in the direction the sound seemed to emanate from. It got louder as he went along. His heart beat rapidly and he was breathing hard. Surely he would find this young thing before it perished.
            “Where is its mother?” he asked himself.
            Then there was an alien scent on the breeze. Related? He couldn’t tell. But it was rank! It smelled like all the foolishness of human culture in one sleazy sweet odor. But he still had to find the crying baby, whatever it was. His tender heart was all wrapped up in the search. He wished Ralph was with him. Ralph would make sure it all turned out well. He always did, but Bob was alone this time.
            He knew Suzie was waiting for him, which put urgency in his steps.
            Plunging on, he came upon a confusing spectacle. It was a sheet of shining material hung on a tree, in which there appeared one like himself. He stopped dead in his tracks and stared. He waved a hand. The strange figure moved its hand! He jumped. It jumped! “What magic is this?” he asked himself. He whirled around, to continue searching for the poor young thing which continued to cry out. He feared for its safety here among the trees and all the wild animals.
          When he turned, on another tree hung the same sort of bewitched material as on the first tree. The same image stared out of it with its mouth hanging open, chest rising and falling rapidly. Bob stared, and then whirled around again to face the first piece of the awful stuff, in which the odd person once again did just as he did.
           Then he turned again to check the other one. It was the same again!
           Caught there, turning and turning in amazement, suddenly the sunlight went away, and it was dark. Bob saw points of light, much like stars, and looming dark shapes.
            “Ralphie! Ralphie, I don’t know where I am,” cried Uncle Bob. Tears streamed down his face into his beard. His feet didn’t seem to be touching the ground, and he was spinning faster and faster.
            “It’s a fake portal, Bob,” said Ralph. “Shut your eyes for a second. It’ll go away.”
            The darkness vanished and there was Ralph, smiling at Uncle Bob.
            “How did you know, Ralphie?" said Uncle Bob.
            “I heard the same stuff you did, and smelled the weird stink too, then I found you out here stuck between those two mirrors,” said Ralph.”
            “I don’t hear the crying anymore, Ralphie! Did the baby die?” said Uncle Bob.
            “There was no baby. You were tricked by a couple of Squatch investigators, Bob. They had you running all through the woods following a sound from a machine,” said Ralph.
            “They can do that? I thought it was real!” said Bob, with tears still drying on his face.
           “Well, not anymore,” said Ralph.
            “What was that smell, Ralphie? That was horrible!” said Bob.
            “Somebody told them that we might be attracted to it,” said Ralph, laughing.
            “Somebody lied!” said Bob. “Why did they do all this stuff, Ralphie?”
            “They wanted to meet some Forest People,” said Ralph. “The did too! Me!”
            “Oh! What happened?” asked Uncle Bob.
            “Well. Nothing much. I wandered into their setup and said, ‘Hi!’ They seemed mightily impressed, Bob. I suggested they take their dog and pony show back on the road. They grabbed most of their junk and ran for their truck. That’s the last of them I think we’ll see of them, at least for a while. I wonder if they’ll come back for the mirrors?” said Ralph happily.
           “We could bury the mirrors,” said Uncle Bob.
           “Maybe we should,” agreed Ralph. “Or, we could put them in Rick’s dumpster!”
           “I didn’t catch any turkeys! Or get any firewood,” said Uncle Bob, suddenly remembering why he was away from home.
            “Let’s just go fishing. OK? Fish are easy, and I’ll help you get Suzie some firewood,” said Ralph, patting Bob on his back.
            “Oh, thanks, Ralphie! I’m sure glad you found me!” said Bob earnestly.
            “Any time, Bob, any time. And the look on their faces was worth it all!” grinned Ralph.
           “Wish I could have seen that!” said Bob.
          “It was pretty funny,” said Ralph as they headed back down into the Great Forest and the silver river where the fish were waiting for them.

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