No Electric? No Problem. 

by Tracey Lalena Tabers

“Give me that! Why did you take away my diamond sword! I HATE you”, screamed ten-year-old Jake to his younger brother Mason. Five-year-old Mason screamed back, “I hate you too! You always take my stuff and I’m tired of it”. Then the fighting ensued – there were kicks and slaps and even the occasional punch.  

Madison came running into the room and pulled the plugs out of the wall. All the consoles went dead. Both brothers screamed at her telling her that they wished they had another mom and she was horrible and then they ran upstairs. Madison had been putting up with this kind of behavior much too long and this was finally the last straw. 

She could hear the boys still sobbing upstairs. first world problems, she thought to herself. She sat down for a beat and thought how she was going to show these boys of hers that she was serious. After about five minutes she knew what she was going to do. She made her way to the basement and faced the main breaker box. With one fell swoop she pushed the main all the way to the off position and everything fell silent. Even the dog was quiet as he was looking at her questioningly.  

Madison grabbed her dad’s old camping gear from the shelving in the basement. She didn’t know what to bring so she brought up all of it. There were camping chairs and stools, a tent, a rainfly, a couple of canteens, a sleeping bag for each person, and a compass. Then she went to the kitchen and threw in peanut butter and jelly and some bread into a Walmart bag. She started packing it all into the SUV when her kids came running out of the house.  

“Hey, mom! What happened to the electricity?” asked Jake. She told them that there was no more electricity at the house and they had to take a road trip and when they came back it would be all fixed up. It wasn’t exactly a lie after all.  

“Let’s get into the car and figure this thing out”,said Madison.  

“Ok, momma”, said Mason meekly. He was still holding onto his big brother’s hand for comfort.  

She drove to the nearest campgrounds that she knew about, found a clearing and asked the boys for help putting up the tent. They reluctantly helped her and complained a lot about doing anything that was physical. They finally got the tent up and felt a sense of pride when they finished. Luckily, Madison had a good understanding of survival skills and knew how to do the basic things like putting up a tent and making a fire. Her dad had taught her these things while she was growing up and she remembered them. She even recalled how to make a small game trap.  

The boys seemed out of their element here in the woods. She regrets not passing down her knowledge to her kids. This is a great opportunity to show them a different side of life, she thought to herself.  

Madison built a campfire and the boys were entranced by it. They stared into it and started nodding off.  

“Ok, guys. Time for bed”, she announced. She got no fight or resistance from the kids. They cuddled up into their sleeping bags and fell right to sleep.  

Jake shot up, “Mom, what is that sound,” he whispered to his now awake mother.  

“Shhhhh”, she whispered back. She listened again and told the older boy that it was a bear and he better not wake his little brother.  

The dog whimpered. Jake’s eyes got huge and he grabbed ahold of his mom. She just told him to be still and quiet and all would be ok. Their food was being stored in the SUV not the campsite so the bear lost interest and left the campsite. Madison stroked Jake’s hair until he felt sleepy and dozed off.  

The next morning, they ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. That would have to hold them over until they could catch some game later on to cook. Lunchtime came and went as they spent a good portion of the day trying to find dinner. Madison had set a trap up earlier in the morning. They were now heading back to see if the wire had been tripped.  

“We got dinner!” Madison announced proudly! She grabbed the rabbit and started heading back to camp with the boys. When they finally got there, Madison started preparing the meat as her father had showed her so long ago.  

“Mom, where’s Mason?” Jake asked. 

“He was just with you, wasn’t he?” concern starting to show in Madison’s face.  

“He’s nowhere! I can’t find him!” said the older brother.  

Madison stopped what she was doing and looked around frantically.  

“Mason! Mason! This isn't funny! Stop hiding from us,” yelled the mom. 

“Hey mom! Look what I found.” Mason came running up to them and showed them a bunch of delicious looking berries.

He had some in his mouth. Madison ran to greet him and she hit the berries out of his hands. They went flying through the air. He was only five years old so that kind of abnormal behavior from his mom scared him. He started wailing and crying. As he opened his mouth to cry the berries came pouring out of his mouth. Madison swept her finger from one side of the mouth to the other side to make sure all the berries were out.  

“Those were poisonous, honey.” 

She took him in her arms and he buried his head in her shoulder and cried so hard.  

“You didn’t swallow any, did you?” she asked questioningly.  

“No momma,” he said through huge tears.  

She hugged him again. Jake just stood there with his mouth agape not saying a word.  

Madison cooked up the rabbit and they ate. The boys complained because they never had this before, but after their long trip through the woods their bellies were grumbly and they were ready for dinner. . 

The third, fourth and fifth days passed in the same way. Madison setting up traps and cooking the meat that she found underneath. The sixth day was somewhat like the past days...until...nightfall.  

The boys and mom were full from the dinner of squirrel of which the boys did not complain too much about. They were all lying in their sleeping bags and off to slumberville. Madison was woken up by a howl type sound. It was way off in the distance so she wasn’t immediately on edge. She sat up and listened carefully. The second sound sounded more like a screech and it was coming closer. Madison heard the thumping of the animal’s feet as it drew nearer. Once it was right in front of the tent it let out a scream so loud that the boys and their dog jumped and the boys covered their ears when they heard it.  

 “That’s not a bear mom!” cried Mason as they looked at their mother with terror in their eyes.  

“Mom what is it!” Jake said begging for an answer that he would understand and comprehend.  

“I’ll tell you in the car.” 

The smell of this thing smelled like the cross between a trash dump and human waste. It was permeating the air all around their campsite. Were there more of these creatures? They didn’t know if it was dangerous or simply looking for food. Maybe it smelled the dinner that they cooked up that night.  The family unzipped the tent and ran for the SUV that was parked close by. Madison glanced back at the campsite and spotted the creature’s long beastly arms ending in thin elongated fingers. It reminded her of the old Patterson-Gimlin filmed animal from the ‘60’s but in some way more modern.  They got in and locked the doors. After a while the creature got spooked by their dog barking and the monster ran off. 

“I think it’s a Midwest Mammoth Monster. They have been known to inhabit this part of the world. They are similar to Bigfoot but show more humanistic qualities like a more angular face and longer and thinner fingers. They are able to manipulate many objects like we do because of their opposable thumb,” Madison explained. “These creatures live a life away from human activity because they are scared of us.” 

The boys and their mom slept in the vehicle for the rest of the nights there.  

The next morning, they checked around the campsite to see if anything was amiss. They found large footprints in the dirt along with some rough type of thick hair pulled out by the branches. They weren't scared anymore but very curious. They knew that they had the safety of the SUV come nightfall.  

When the subject came up again the boys spoke about their observations.  

“It was so hairy,” Mason pointed out.  

“It was tall too. Did you see the size of those feet?” asked Jake. 

That day they took a stroll through the woods and the boys started appreciating the flora and fauna. They had seemed to have gotten over the fear from last night. Fear gave way to intense curiosity. They came upon a cave and smelled that smell again and turned to look at each other realizing that this was where the beast is living. With an abundance of caution the family hurried back to the campsite and quickly packed everything up and threw the items in the back.  

“Well, guys, I think it would be a great time to head back home. What do you think?” asked Madison. 

“Yes!” they yelled in unison. 

When they got home, video games were not that important. The fighting between the two brothers was almost non-existent. As a family they enjoyed the outdoors more and found an appreciation for the natural and also the obscure world around them.  

20 YEARS LATER

So much time has passed since the incidents but instead of scarring them and causing them permanent PTSD, they used it to become curious and scientific adults. Mason became a cryptozoologist and studied hidden animals in the world and Jake became a biologist for all things unexplained. I bet you are wondering what happened to Madison, the mom. Well, she became an author and you are reading her words right now.