MAUL, THE WILDERNESS CREATURE

Richard W. Robinson

CHAPTER 1


It is a cold, winter morning in early January as the huge
creature walks, upright, on the wind-swept river ice in pursuit
of a meal which he smells somewhere up ahead. The only sound
that can be heard is the screak, screak, screak his huge feet
make as he hurriedly moves along. He stands about seven-and-a-
half feet tall and weighs at least four-hundred pounds. His body
is covered with a thick, white winter coat of fur to protect him
from the elements. His face is also covered with thick, white
hair. The only distinguishing feature is a small, wide nose and
a lower lip. The natives of Alaska, Canada, and the Pacific
Northwest call his kind "Sasquatch" or "Big-Foot;" his cousins in
the Himalayas are known as Yeti.

The creature follows the fresh footprints in light, powder
snow of a moose that has chosen the easier walking of the river
ice over the rough traveling of the deep snow. His stomach
growls hungrily over the sound of his footsteps as his pace
quickens. He rounds a bend in the river and sees a moose
browsing on some alder bushes which line the edge of the
riverbank.

The moose spots him at the same instant and his eyes grow


Chapter 1


Wild with fright. He waits a moment to see what the Sasquatch
will do next. His instincts tell him to look for an avenue of
escape; even though he is much larger than his upright, white
foe. He turns to run and the creature makes a giant lunge at
him, grabbing him around the neck. The creature gets shaken off
while trying to bring the moose down; and the moose lowers his
head and charges the creature with his wide horns, using them as
lethal weapons.

The creature sidesteps the initial charge and, with both
hands clasped above his head to form a club, he delivers a savage
blow to the moose's skull, just behind his horns. The moose
drops like a rock. The creature delivers another powerful blow
to his skull, and there is no more motion from the prostrate
prey. He turns his head slightly and listens to the still air
for a moment. His breath is very frosty from the exertion he has
just experienced; and he sits up after a few moments and begins
dragging the moose into position so that he can begin feasting on
it.

He pauses again for a moment and cocks his head as if he is
listening for something, then focuses his attention back to his
fresh kill. Suddenly, he hears a noise behind him and whirls
around to face a creature of his own species. The Sasquatch
intruder outweighs him by one-hundred and fifty pounds and is at
least a head taller. The intruder has a large, dark streak of
hair running down his back through the otherwise white winter
coat.

The two creatures stand facing each other; then the intruder
moves in swiftly, knocks the smaller creature over into the deep
snow, and is on top of him before he can get up. They roll
around in the snow, snarling and beating on each other wildly.
The huge intruder soon proves that he's too much of a match for
the smaller Big-Foot and beats him senseless. He stands over him
for a moment; and then bends over and bites off three of his
toes, spitting them out into the snow.

The smaller creature awakens sometime later, leans up on his
elbows, and sees the intruder tearing and biting meat off the
carcass of his moose kill. He attempts to get to his feet, but
the rival creature snarls at him. He decides to roll over and
crawl away from the area on his hands and knees. Trying to stand
up once again, he has trouble balancing and looks down at his
feet. Blood oozes out from where his toes once were and he
groans in pain.

Darkness begins to fall as he limps along on the wind-blown
river ice. His trail becomes bloodier as his steps become very
labored. Limping off the ice, he gets into the deeper snow to
seek shelter. Not being able to find anything satisfactory, he
gets back on the ice and continues walking the best he can. His
travels finally bring him to a large brush-covered rock
outcropping at a bend in the river.

Pushing aside some of the brush, he crawls in, sits down,
and begins to nurse his wounds by covering the missing toes with
snow. The blood begins to congeal as he leans back against the
rock and looks up at the clear, interior Alaska sky. Then he
nods off to sleep in the darkness.

Early the next morning, the creature is startled out of his
sleep by nearby, loud noises. Boom! Boom! Boom! The area is
rocked by explosions. He jumps up and peers through the brush-
covered entrance of the outcropping to see what's going on. The
explosions scatter snow and bushes, across the river from his
resting place, and he is thoroughly confused. His journey down
the river ice has brought him into the Army's firing range and
the Winter Maneuvers have just begun. The soldiers from Ft.
Wainwright are engaged in Operation Frozen Tundra. The friendly
forces are attired in white camouflage parkas and pants as they
travel on skis behind three armored track vehicles. They appear
in view about five-hundred yards ahead of him.

The frightened snow-creature runs out from his place of
shelter near the river and dives into a deep snow bank to conceal
himself. It begins snowing very hard and, luckily, he hasn't
been spotted. He watches, from his position in the snow, the
approaching troops as they begin to draw nearer to his hiding
place.