The Trap

​I crawled into my tent after a hard day of hiking in the mountains. Beside me was my rusted but trusted double barrel shotgun that was more than powerful enough to bring down a bear which was my biggest fear in this neck of the woods. 

​I slipped into my sleeping bag and pulled it up tight around my neck and tried to get some Z's. It wasn't easy as there were all sorts of creatures up in trees or in the bush. During the day I heard and saw nothing in terms of wildlife, but at night the forest came alive. Moments later my eyelids felt heavy and seconds after that I fell asleep...

In my dream I walked through the woods at night and could hear something trample the sticks in behind me. I turned back but there was nothing but the black jagged outline of the trees against the bluish black backdrop of the sky. Even though there was nothing behind me I still had the feeling I was being stalked by a predator. I had my flashlight in hand but was reluctant to use it because I knew that if I snapped on my powerful beam in that type of darkness I would ruin my night vision for the next half hour. 

I wasn't sure how far I had walked in the dark woods and I didn't have the slightest clue as to where I was. Then came the cracking noises from deep in the darkness. I placed my thumb on the on switch of the flashlight ready to blast the predator with a beam of light. A technique called spotlighting which causes the animal to freeze and become blinded once the light is flashed in its eyes. 

I waited and stood in one spot for a good ten minutes to familiarize myself with all the noises of the night. Suddenly everything grew silent which was a signal that I was being stalked from my movements. As soon as I stopped moving the predator stopped moving. Then just as I was going to take a step I hesitated for some unknown reason and there was a loud snap from the bush along with a grunting noise. It was definitely not a man. I couldn't take it anymore so I snapped on the beam and slowly scanned the woods in a full circle. Two red circles shone in the flash of the beam. I walked closer to the red eyes. It walked towards me on its four legs. It was a bear. I turned and started to run, picking out a path in the night with my flashlight. I was breathing so heavily that I couldn't hear if the bear was chasing me. I headed down into a ravine when I stepped on something that felt like a spring. Then two metal jaws clamped around my leg. I screamed. I had stepped on a bear trap.

And then I woke up screaming as my foot was completely numb from it falling asleep.