Supernatural Wildlife Competition

My name is Diana and I'm going to capture an extremely elusive creature on camera. At least, that was the idea until my camera was stolen. Now, I'm no photography expert. I do have experience, but that's with old point and shoot ones. But when this competition came up, I felt with every fiber of my being that I should compete. So I rented one from a camera rental store in the Bay Area before coming up to Redwood National Forest. This wasn’t cheap, not for me who has a nice job but one that hasn’t been paying well enough for a while. The folks at the rental store answered my questions until I was sure they were blue in the face. They reassured me that this one I got would be fine. The bill still felt high. After asking around for some money, I had all this… stuff for a week. I also had to rent a car for a few days. And find the cheapest motel I could find. There was so much riding on this that I was in a sort of brain fog. Which was very similar to the environment in which I now found myself.

One of my friends who hunts monsters for a living told me that the creature I was looking for would be up early. So I had to get there early. I thought they confused this hunt with fishing, but I went with it. So there I was, hiking in tennis shoes, shorts, and a tank top going deeper into the Redwoods than I had ever gone before. I walked around with a camera and a lens I didn’t feel qualified to lug around, much less hold. The camera was a tiny black box connected to a large cylinder with rings of gray and black. It looked more like a strange kaleidoscope to me. I also had the folks at the rental store print off instructions for various modes like time lapses and other words. They gave me blank stares and handed over a manual.

"Why does this have to be so early,” I said while setting things up. I was constantly worried that I pressed the wrong button or forgot an extra battery. "It's so foggy." Coastal fog still clung to the tall rusty brown trees. The air was cool and still. To counter this, my heart and head raced with worry. Why did you decide to do this? This was an expensive mistake, I thought. And then it hit me. I had to go to the bathroom. Perfect timing. I was looking at the manual one final time when it struck me that I had to pee. Not being much of a nature gal, I decided to go all the way back to the main part of the park to find the facilities. You’d think a mile would be short, but not when you have that much pressure trying to announce its exit. I found the bathroom and had just barely made it. But the anxiety flooded back when I started washing my hands.

"Calm down," I said out loud to nobody in particular. I turned off the faucet. “Just remember: This photo contest is open to amateurs and professionals alike. You're pretty good. Hopefully this photo competition will pull through for me.” That cheered me up as I walked outside, and into a person.

I rounded the exit and ran into a park ranger in a full tan uniform. She nearly fell over as I was taller than she was. I got my black hair wrapped around my face, whereas she dropped a camera. Fuck. We both gave a look of surprise as we realized what happened.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry!” I nearly shouted.

"Hey, sorry about that," the park ranger bent down to pick up her camera. It looked like a cheap old point and shoot like I started out with.

She was a bit shorter than me, with brown hair neatly kept up in a bun in the back. She looked pretty fit; which made sense considering she worked outdoors. I looked down at her expensive-looking hiking books and was a little bit jealous.

"No worries. The fog makes it difficult to see our here," internally I was sweating bullets.

“Not to pry. But did you say something about a photo contest?” she patted herself down to get rid of dirt.

I caught myself staring and closed my jaw. “Ah, yeah. I, uh, did.”

“What’s it about? Maybe I could help,” she looked away for a moment. “Summer is kind of a busy time of year for one. Lost of tourists around. That’s all.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that. This is going to sound silly. But it’s a supernatural wildlife contest,” why did the words sound so incredibly silly coming out of my mouth? Also, I hated that I was blushing.

“How many have you entered?” she seemed really enthusiastic now, words coming out like a stream of consciousness. “Can I see your work?”

“Ah, this is… actually my first,” I looked away, afraid to see the judgment on her face. But when I looked back, her expression hadn’t changed. Maybe she wasn’t looking to shut me down after all. “I’ve never worked with anything more expensive than a point and shoot. I don’t really know what I’m doing.”

“I know what you mean,” she nodded reassuringly. “Photography is so difficult to get into these days. You have guys telling you what to get. And gear you don’t really need. It’s super annoying and confusing. I’m just a hobbyist myself.” She kept staring at me.

“Oh my god, you’re so right!” I laughed and a little bit of my anxiety went away. “I live in the Bay Area and there’s so many snooty people telling me how things work. And I’m like, you use a lot of big words that mean nothing,” we both got a good laugh from that.

When the ranger’s laugh finally subsided, she wiped away a tear from her face. “Oh my gosh! I almost forgot. What’s your name?” She pointed at her breast pocket. “I’m Britney, one of the rangers. I’m making my rounds right now.”

“That's easy to remember. That's also one of my best friend's name," I really smiled this time. Because if there was any danger, I knew who I could go looking for. “And I’m Diana. It’s really nice to meet you.”

“Likewise! Well, I should be off. Just needed a quick break first,” she waved at me then made her way into the restroom.

And that set my spirits high. I had the gall, nay, the audacity to think that I might have a chance in this contest. I had run down the trail for a few minutes. But since I wasn’t holding anything in now I figured I could stroll back to my site. It was secure and ever-so-slightly out of the way, so nobody would know where anything was. Especially since there was so much coastal fog rolling around.

But the camera wasn't there.

My heart dropped.

Where was my rental camera?

I looked around the area. Maybe it had fallen somehow while I was gone? The gear box was there, but nothing else was taken except the camera and tripod. I found myself picking up what was left and putting it inside what might as well be a suitcase: some box with a handle and wheels. A few feet away I saw it: a giant footprint. There was no fucking way. Was this a prank? It better not be. But it pointed off-trail. Staring off into the distance was difficult with the fog. There was no telling what could be out there. Bears, or men. “Bigfoot or bears would be more welcome,” I said as I picked up the box and headed out in the direction of the footprint.

I didn't know where I was going. I was just walking. Looking up I felt tiny. The Redwoods really were massive columns. Some of them were so high up they turned into tiny little toothpicks. The canopy looked like pinpricks of light. The sun barely poked through in places and that made some pretty strong beams of light come through. Down where I was, the fog was starting to clear up. But I was no closer to finding my lost camera. My old shoes were not cut out for hiking of any sort, and here I was looking for an ape man.

As uncertain as I was about being lost in the Redwoods, I started thinking about my livelihood again. The bar I work out just wasn’t cutting it. Things were getting more expensive, and I needed a second job. I’d caught some other supernatural things on my point and shoot back home, but they were always shot down because of the low quality or I was late. In such a supernaturally rich world, why was it still so difficult to make a buck?

I'm not sure how long I walked. Being in a daze will make you blind to the concept of time. But I eventually made my way to the edge of a clearing, where I collapsed into a newfound sob. Head in hands, the tears poured out of me. I thought I'd be the source of a new river that would make its way to the Pacific Ocean.

"I'm done for. Before I even begin my photo career," I got out between sobs. "This was my one chance to get noticed. And I blew it! I'm worthless."

A little bit of pressure touched my shoulder. And also my head. I looked up, confused. I saw Britney standing in front of me, a frown plastered all over her face. Oh no, she caught me.

"Hey Diana. You seem troubled. Wanna tell me what's wrong?" Britney lifted her hand as I slowly stood up. That other pressure felt like someone had put their finger on my forehead. But they never let up, try as I might to move.

"What was that?" I was dumbfounded. The pressure actually increased a little bit. It wasn’t letting up.

Britney stood slowly and methodically. She was about a head shorter than me, so had to look up.

"Let's expand on that," Britney said.

"I--" the words were about to spill out of my mouth, but whatever pressed against my... brain I guess pressed again. As if to catch my attention. To the left, it said. To my left. I was used to supernatural things happening, but this was new to me.

Looking over made my jaw drop. I thought I saw some weirdo in one of those camouflage suits at first. But I blinked and really saw what was on the other side of the clearing staring at me. In an instant I could sense that this creature was the one forming some kind of link with me. The presence in my mind reassured me that this creature was no man (they also have concepts of gender apparently and identified as she), but an 8 foot creature with curls for days running all around her body. I looked down and recognized my camera and tripod. I gasped with a mix of emotions. The link gently pressed further into my head. And seemed to drain some of the anxiety I had from earlier.

Britney shook me a little bit, trying to break me out of my stupor. She spoke more formally. "Diana, what is it? I want to help, but I can't if--"

I pointed to the creature and Britney looked over as well. Her jaw went slack as we both stared at the curliest gal in the forest. Though she still stared at me, she put the expensive camera down. It was almost like she was used to handling camera gear. She regarded us both as it stepped back and... seemed to disappear with the rest of the morning fog.

"Oh my god!" I yelled as I ran over to my things. "I was trying capture it on camera. And it disappeared. I've been looking for it," tears rolled anew from my eyes.

"You're pretty lucky," Britney calmly joined me at my side. "Looks expensive."

The camera was indeed expensive. But it looked like it was in the same generally good condition as before. I heaved a sigh of relief.

"Oh!" Britney piped up. "Do you have the memory card still in there?"

I looked over to Britney. “Great question.” I turned the camera over on its side and looked for the place where the memory card should be.

“Hey, do you know where it’s is supposed to be?”

Britney gave a nod and a smile and carefully took the camera from my hand. “This hobbyist is happy to help out the professional,” she said, making me blush. She looked it over for a moment before pressing some button. The door popped out, revealing the card. Then she closed it and turned the camera on to look at the previews. Her smile went from end to end.

“I think you’re in luck,” she looked up at me again. “These are really good.”