A fantasy story that takes place right here in my hometown in the Pacific Northwest.

There once was an old woman named Madeline who lived in a military port town in the Pacific Northwest. Being old and having lived in that town for near thirty years, she had witnessed the quaint little neighborhood become a disrupting metropolis. From picturesque ferry boats, rural roads, and shaded lanes, to highways, construction sites, and chain stores, the ocean air now smelled of exhaust, the sky appeared a dirty brown, and the water never cast a blue hue as it once had.  Since she loved nature so much, the encroaching urbanization of her homeland filled her with sadness. To escape, she visited the wooded park near her wisteria-devoured farmhouse every day.  She loved the untamed undergrowth, fallen trees among the towering firs, mysterious nooks made from ferns and salals, ponds hidden by blackberry and thimbleberry, woodpeckers rattling on limbs far above and out of sight, and the scent of bear and deer hiding from human foot traffic. It was in this forest she felt the most fulfilled, as if she had a purpose and that purpose was simply to live.

When she heard the news that the county was considering selling the park to developers, she panicked. Soon, there would be nowhere else for her to go for peace of mind. There had to be a way to stop them, and the only way she knew of was an item tucked away in a secret box that her grandmother had given her. The sight of the big machinery on the road towards the forest was a clear sign that action needed to be taken immediately.

Fumbling through her clothes drawer where ten-year-old sleeveless cotton shirts were crammed into an untidy nest, Madeline searched for the key to the drawer that shelved the treasure box.

“It must be here somewhere,” she mumbled to herself. (Madeline frequently talked to herself. Rumors of dementia frightened her and so she meant to vocalize her thoughts lest she forget them). “I know I put it somewhere with the summer clothes, or was it in the winter drawer? Ah!”

Elated, Madeline held the key in front of her and sighed with relief.

“Now, to find the box.”

The buffet stood upright in the kitchen, the maple wood a bright orange in the morning sun, but the small box she needed was elusive. She wished she had remembered where she last put her reading glasses for without them, she’d never be able to locate it. Stumbling to her desk, she felt through the papers like a blind person. It wasn’t until she tapped herself on the head that she realized she had never taken them off.

With her spectacles on her nose, she hurried to the buffet again just as the house rattled from the backhoe traveling on her road. Her hands shook as she glanced at her Hummel figurines, worried they might fall.  She must hurry. Surely after they destroy the forest, they will come demolish her house too!

A click of the key and soon random objects flew out of the buffet drawer as she ransacked through them. Empty medicine bottles, papers, keepsakes she hadn’t meant to keep, a miniature flashlight with no batteries, toothpicks, a letter opener, staples. She hadn’t seen the staple gun for years. Old film, good grief, what images were on those rolls? She could only imagine! She hadn’t dusted off that Brownie camera for years.

Deep toward the back, she found it. A ceramic box that fit in her palm. Cold to the touch, she gently pulled it out of the drawer and stepped back, tripping on a plastic pill bottle. Luckily, she fell only as far as the seat of a chair, the Coffer of Youth still unharmed in her hand.

The top was painted with figures of two children swinging under an oak tree. A boy with blond hair and a girl with red curls. He wore knee britches, suspenders, and a newsboy cap. She wore a pink dress, Mary Jane shoes and white socks with lace on the cuffs. A dog barked at their heels and a bluebird sang in the trees. Madeline closed her eyes, remembering the day her grandmother handed her this treasure.

“This is where you put your dreams,” Grandma had said. “A pebble, a coin, a scrap of paper. Let each little icon be a reminder of those dreams. Drop them in here and save them.”

 “How can I contain all my dreams in a little box?” young Madeline had argued.

Grandma laughed. “Some of your dreams will come true and there’s no need to keep them in a box. This chest is reserved for the things that are difficult to get and that are priceless to you.”

What could be more priceless than a forest, eh?

So Madeline reached in the box and took out a small pebble the size of her fingernail. She remembered when she gathered this little stone. It had been embedded in a nest of lichen on a stump in the very woods she hoped to save. What made this rock special was that the day she found it was the day she saw Big Foot.

“Must be his magic,” she whispered and rubbed the stone between her fingers affectionately. If the stone would take her some place, maybe she’d stay there and never come back. She was so mad at those wicked developers she felt like leaving this world for good! Yet saving the forest wasn’t just for her sake. An ancient magic existed in those woods—a magic that gave speech to the trees and song to the wild animals that lived there. What she kept in her box was the portal to the source of that magic. Maybe she’d find a shield of some sort to keep the tree choppers away.  The problem was the price she had to pay to get there. Grandma had told her the cost and warned her about using the magic frivolously.

“You had better be careful, Maddie, lest you get yourself in a situation you can’t get out of.”

“What, Grandma? What would happen if I used the magic?”

“Slavery, my dear child. You will become an indentured servant to whoever grants your wish.”

Madeline held the pebble tight in her hand. Seventy years of living and never once was she indebted to another person. She had lived life to its fullest—had a home, presentable and friendly neighbors, and a lovely garden. She had never sacrificed for anyone.

Maybe now was the time to give back.

She closed her eyes, drew a deep breath, and whispered the magic words that her grandmother had taught her.

“Woony, doony, break my spoony. Half-pence shy and off to the moony!”

An icy wind gushed over her. Too nervous to open her eyes, she clenched tightly to the stone and felt herself traveling through the air as if she’d been picked up by a storm and transported to another place. It took all but a minute, but that fleeting moment seemed like an eternity. When she finally landed on her posterior, the surface under her was hard and a sharp pain jostled up her spine.

“Oh!” she squealed and opened her eyes to something so close, she had no view of her surroundings.

“Why are you here?” it said.

“Oh!” Madeline repeated and blinked.  At first, she thought it was a tree talking to her, but it was too hairy to be a tree, even a tree covered with moss or lichen. She followed its trunk with her gaze. Or was that a trunk? They could be legs. Yes, they were, and it had arms, too. And a neck with dark hair bouncing on its shoulders and a face with huge brown eyes that seemed more sympathetic than angry.

He was backlit by the sun, for he stood well above the treetops that surrounded him.

“I…um,” Madeline explained.                                              

“You hold the stone,” the thing said.

“I found this stone years ago.”

“I remember. The day you first saw me.”

“You’re Sasquatch?”

“Ah, so you remembered. Perhaps you remember that you were warned about the stone.” He put his hands on his hips and frowned. His bottom lip stuck out and looked like a log stuck to his mouth.

“How did you know?”

“I knew your grandmother.”

Madeline had no questions, no excuses. Blood rushed to her head in embarrassment. Yes, she’d been warned, and here she was facing Big Foot. If he granted her request, she’d be indebted to him. Or she could pass this all up and not even ask him for help. Still, how would she get home? And what about the woods she came here to save? She had no choice but to ask him for help. It was too late to back out.

Great, she thought.

“Well, I guess I’m committed, then.”

“You are. I hope your request is worth the trouble that is coming to you.”

“I want you to save the forest that is located near my house,” she explained, her mouth dry, and sweat seeping down her cheeks.

Sasquatch’s frown grew deeper and more dramatic, almost frightening. Madeline swallowed and would have stepped away from him if she weren’t sitting down.

“What forest?”

“Banner is the name.”

Sasquatch stuck out his large, furry hand. At first Madeline thought he was going to strike her, his movement was so powerful. But when he stood motionless in front of her, his eyes still gentle, his fuzzy palm up, she realized he was offering to help her stand. She reached out and touched him. With no hesitation, he lifted her off the log.

“Hold on to me,” he said. Before she could respond, the wind picked up and swooped them both into the air.

“Oh…,” Madeline cried out as already dizziness overwhelmed her and she had to shut her eyes again to keep from vomiting.

Wherever she had been when she met up with Sasquatch, she was soon gone, her feet planted firmly on a familiar trail in Banner Woods. Sasquatch was already a few feet ahead of her, marching toward the road.

Daylight had already dimmed, giving way to a sunset that topped the trees with a rich golden hue. The fresh scent of pine lifted her spirits, for to Madeline, this was home, and she followed Big Foot with a new confidence. As frightening as he was, the creature had a presence that brought things to life. The trees bent in tribute, the ferns waved, the berries ripened and popped into his mouth as he nodded a greeting. Even the rubber lizards that hikers had tacked to trees along the trail came to life and scurried after him. Chipmunks chattered and raced along his side. Crows announced his coming. Woodpeckers drummed on hollow trees in exaltation. By the time Sasquatch had reached the parking lot that bordered the forest, he had gathered a following of every creature in the vicinity, including a mother black bear and her cubs and two cougars. Ordinarily, Madeline would have been afraid, but Sasquatch kept her close to him. He turned to his audience and grunted.

“You’re safe,” he simply said. With a mixture of chatter, sighs, and laughter, the animals of the woods left. Madeline turned to Sasquatch, wondering what he would do. But Big foot simply sat on a log with no explanation, so she sat next to him.

“You’re my servant, now,” he said.  

She nodded, not wanting to argue, but she knew he had to fulfill her wish before he could make that claim. Still, who would argue with someone as large and mighty as Big Foot? Madeline yawned, for the night had fallen on them and even traffic on the road nearby had dwindled to nothing. The anxiety of the day had taken its toll on her and though she fought sleep, she couldn’t resist it.

She woke before the sun rose. The sky had morphed from black to midnight blue. As she stirred from her slumber, she noticed the sensation of hair tickling her nose and realized that she had been sleeping on Big Foot's lap, cocooned in the softness of his fur. She sat up with a start, but there was no time to apologize for burdening him, as the sound of heavy equipment had already rattled Sasquatch awake and he stood.

That was all it took.

Brakes squealed.

Logging trucks that had been parked flashed on their lights.

Engines roared.

 Before a dump truck could leave the scene, Sasquatch picked up the honey bucket that had been left in the parking lot and threw it into the back.

Madeline, mouth agape, watched the stream of taillights head down the road.

“They won’t be back,” Sasquatch said after the forest was quiet again. “And neither will you,” he added.

Madeline’s joy nosedived to dread when he offered his hand again.

There was no way out. The deal had been made. She sold her soul to Sasquatch, at least for a couple of years should she live that long.

“I’m just an old lady,” she muttered, her voice trembling.

“We can fix that,” Big Foot said.

When she took his hand and traveled through space, or time, or wherever it was they went, the journey magically revitalized her and this time she did not feel like vomiting. No, this time she enjoyed the flight and laughed. When she looked up at Sasquatch, her heart got caught in her throat, so to speak, for the wind not only blew against his fur, but blew it off and the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on appeared, grinning at her.

They landed in woods like Banner, only more colorful, filled with berries and fruit trees and a comfortable log cabin.

“Two years,” he whispered and turned to her. He had lost all that extra height. It had blown away with his fur, so now he was only an inch taller than her. He wore human clothes, jeans, and a flannel shirt and she could have easily mistaken him for a lumberjack.

“Oh,” Madeline said. What could such a handsome man want with an old lady like her?

“I can cook and sew new clothes for you,” she said timidly.

“Without knowing the outcome, you sacrificed for those woods and all the living beings in it. I don’t need you to work for me. I would prefer you just keep me company. It gets awfully lonesome wandering around the woods, towering over the trees, and looking like a freak.”

“So…you will be…you know. Big Foot again?”

“Whenever I’m needed to save the forest. Yes. I can grow on cue. And you will keep your end of the deal? You’ll stay here with me?”

Madeline swallowed. No longer did she fear staying with him. He was the most caring man she’d ever met, and they had a common interest. She formed the words ‘yes’ but no words passed her lips.

“Two years?” he asked.
Maybe more, she thought.

It wasn’t Banner Forest, but it was home. Madeline swore if she could swing it, two years would only be the beginning.

To read more of these original and exclusive stories, they are published in my special edition off-set print run of Tales of Wonder. Currently this book is available as an add on in all of my Kickstarter campaigns this year while supply lasts. 

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