Encounter Part 6

Walking away

I don’t believe I even got a few minutes sleep after my encounter with the big guy. My mind was comin up with more thoughts than it could process. Crazy things. Things like, wonder what his name was? How long had he been here? Did he have a language? Did he understand mine? Was he the only one? Did he have a family? Was he really a Sasquatch or something else? I mean my mind hadn't worked that hard since Id tried to sypher the Collatz Conjecture. I had to rest my mind for two days after that. Whew!

The sun was startin to peak in through the trees as I set on that log ponderin on my new friend. I mean, why couldn't I call him a friend? Why, we was almost best buds. We did exchange smiles ya know. And let's just face it, he didn't kill me. So he must've liked me. With all my ponderin, I didn't even miss Hobo until I heard him bark in the distance. Sounded like he was back down the ridge toward the farm. He would bark and then he would let out a yep. I figured I better go see what he had gotten into.

After a little while his barks was getting louder. I figured I must be getting close. Well, I came up over the ridge and I saw him down there running with a stick. I thought, that crazy thing is playing fetch by himself. Crazy dog. He ran around some bushes to where I couldn't see. All the sudden that stick went flying through the air and Hobo right after it. Now I thought, theys no way! No way he could've done that. I stood and watched a minute or two, and then, here he goes, right back in behind those bushes with the stick. All the sudden, there goes the stick again! I thought maybe no sleep had caused me to be seeing things. So I eased my way down. About the time I made it to the thicket. Hobo darted out after the stick. I bout had a heart attack he skeerd me so bad. I heard what sounded like a chuckle. Out stepped the big guy with a smile on his face. Even though of our previous encounters, I still lost my breath when I saw him. Now that it was daylight, I could really see him. Man, what a magnificent looking fellow he was. While looking at him, it occured to me that the bandages were gone. He stood still as I stepped closer. I said, "Did you loose the bandages," as I pointed at his arm. He looked down at his arm, then back to me. He shook his head like he understood what I said. I walked closer over to get a look at his cuts to see if he was still bleeding. "No way!" I couldnt believe it! Without thinking, I grabbed his arm and looked all around hit. I couldnt find the cuts anywhere on his arm. Well I steped back in amazement just trying to figure if I was crazy or if I had dreamt it all. Then hit dawned on me about his leg. Now that was a deep wound. Hit still had to be there. I hurried back over and knelt down on my knees, looking closely to his lower calf. I'll be dad-gum, hit was gone too. I looked up at him and said, "What happened to your injury?" He grunted a little and shook his head. I swear, there wasn't even a scar on his arm or leg. I looked around and Hobo was setting there with the stick in his mouth and his tail about to beat the ground to death it was waggin so hard. The big feller walked over to him and reached down for the stick. He raised up with the stick as Hobo took off runnin. He threw the stick with a long throw. It was amazing to watch I tell ya! This big guy playing fetch with that little dog. It was something to see for sure.

After a couple more times of throwing the stick he looked at me and nodded, then walked off. Well I thought he was done with playing and just going on his way but after about 50 feet or so, he turned around and nodded again. Then went back to walkin. I got the feelin he wanted me to foller, so I said, "You want me to come?" After I said that, he stopped again and looked at me. I began walking toward him and then he turned and headed on. Now, I'll tell ya, I felt strange follerin that big guy. Even though I knew he didn't understand me, I kept talking. I kept asking him what should I call him. Did he have a name? Where was he from? All kinds of questions. I was a jabberin like the old ladies at the church social. All the while I wasn't payin attention to where we was going.  When he stopped, I finally looked around. I was standing on top of the rock cliff that overlooked our farm. He pointed down at the house and then looked at the ground and waved his hands around like he was rubbing the ground. I looked at the ground and it was wore slick. No leaves or anything. It was clear that somebody set here alot. First thing I thought was, a hunter had been setting there but from that spot the only thing you could see was the fields on our farm. Theres no way anyone could make a shot from that far. I looked at him and said, "Who's been setting here?" To my surprise, he took both hands and brought them to his chest. He patted his chest and then lowered his hands down low and waved them around. I said, "You done this? Have you been watching us?" A slow nod confirmed he understood me. But how? I said, "How in the world can you understand me?" He reached out and placed both hands on both sides of my head. He gave a little squeeze and closed his eyes and then let go. I didn't know what he was trying to tell me but I felt a tingle as he touched me. Was that some kind of sign language? Was hit some kind of greeting?

What was he telling me? Confused, I just shook my head and said, "I don't know what that means."

All I could really understand was, he had been watching from up there and from the look of hit, he had been watching a while. But why? Was he trying to learn from us?  Was he wanting to come down there? Had he been down there? Was he just watching over us? After ponderin over hit, I decided I liked the thought that he was watching over us. Like a watchman. A guardian. From that moment on, all the fear I had was gone. Knowing he was looking out for me made me feel secure. I know that probably sounds stupid but that's the way it made me feel.

Believe it or not, that's for you to decide. Until next time, Zeb out.