Beaver, Antelope, the River, and Brave Me

2025, Illinois campsite

“I’ll get to you whenever I can…the camping area’s internet signal is really poor……I know right? The bathroom doesn’t even have electricity! I just really, really want to go home–”

*No service*

I sighed. I’ve only signed up for the fall camping trip because a new friend I made in university prompted me to do so. Now, she and a group of other college students are squeezing by the bonfire, insisting on staying outdoors in the cold air. I don’t understand how they find this fun, and I don’t understand how I’m supposed to receive messages from my friends who live elsewhere or to finish the assignments due next week without any internet signal.

I need the internet right now…Only the internet fuels my life, and I’m near-death right now.

As I headed back to the camp house in despair, a dark, tiny figure approached, and stopped right in front of me. I blinked twice, then tried to widen my pupils as much as I could to capture what that is. It was a cute, tiny beaver. It remained eye-contact with its tiny, shiny eyes with my dark, tired eyes for a moment, then hurried away into the water stream, which lead to the endless river……

2017, Yellowstone National Park

“The beaver is swimming over again!” “Yay!”

“The beaver is swimming away…” “Ohh…”

“It looked at me! It looked at me! Did you see that?”

“Oh there are two?”

“They just kept swimming back-and-forth…I wonder if they are playing a game?”

“I think they’re playing us…” Ella spitted out the truth. We thought that we were observing the beavers; but in reality, the beavers were wondering what us humans were doing. The adults were frantically using their laptops at the only gas station with internet services nearby doing whatever “business client thing” they needed to do, while Ella and I were having way too much fun observing beavers.

“Girls, we’re done. Let’s start the day!”

“Finally…” Ella and I rolled our eyes and exclaimed unanimously.

Not knowing both the most fascinating and near-death adventure of my life was about to begin…

Ep 1: The Zipline Incident

It was me and Ella’s family’s second day at Yellowstone National Park, and it has already become my favorite place on Earth. On the first day, I was amazed by the powerful geysers and the colorful yet deadly natural hot-pools. But Day two was what I was most excited about, because we were participating in my favorite activity of all time: ziplining.

Just then, I saw a huge sign that read: MINIMUM WEIGHT OF 66 LB / 30 KG REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE IN ZIPLINING.

Apparently, I wasn’t. I was quite tiny for my age, only 26 kg. Making the most logical and responsible decision a ten-year-old could make, I stuffed several rocks from the ground into my backpack, and miraculously passed the weighing test.

As we climbed up onto the first pole that seemed 100 miles from the ground, the park ranger energetically asked: “Who’s ready to be the first?” I jumped up and down, matching her energy while shouting: “ME!”

“Alright!” She seemed to be satisfied with my energy. “Let me grab your backpack for you, then I’ll tie you onto the safety gears, and you’d be all set to glide all the way to the other side. Are you ready?” “MORE THAN READY!”

I happily glided through the first three ziplines with everyone amazed by a tiny girl’s bravery and energy, before reaching the fourth one. This one seems longer than the ones before; or, to be precise, “This one’s four times longer than the previous ones! Are you ready?” A sour and numb sensation traveled up my spine. “Yeah!” Making the most logical and stubborn decision a ten-year-old could make, I gave a mighty jump off the pole and into the air. However…as I was a few meters away from the other side, my speed gradually declined, and I started sliding BACKWARDS! “OMG OMG OMG I shouldn’t have lied about my weight and I’m so sorry and am I going to die right now and what is happening right now?!” But as I almost reached the starting point and saw the frantic faces of the others, I gave a huge grin and waved, “HI! GUESS WHAT? I’M BACK!”

Apparently, a ten-year-old has not learned physics yet and has gotten surprised as I started sliding backwards towards the opposite direction again. To make matters worse, as I approached the middle of the zipline, I slowed down…gradually…and stopped. I was stuck mid-air! I was so frightened I started to shout a bunch of words: “I’m sorry! I lied about my weight! I am only 26 kilograms!...” I don’t remember the rest, but I almost cried.

Long-story short, the park ranger professionally pulled out some equipment and safely pulled me back to safety. Phew…I was safe. As I finally reunited with my family and friends, my parents gave me an admonishing glance and said: “Hmmm…Somebody learned a lesson to not lie!” “Were you scared?”

“Scared? Of course not! I got two more glides for free!”

I would never lie again…

Ep 2: The Antelope Incident

It was our fourth day in Yellowstone National Park. Ella and I bonded so well during the trip we composed songs together: “Shit hole~ it’s a shit hole oh~oh~oh~oh~oh~...” Our parents sighed in disbelief that two girls could be so interested in campsite low-quality bathrooms. “In the middle of nowhere~a bison is crossing the road~...” in addition to the traffic caused by numerous bison blocking the road.

“I think I have an idea for the verse.” We sang cheerfully as we marched ambitiously through the grassland towards a gigantic hill. “Don’t go too far!” I heard Ella’s mom shout, but we continued marching through the tall grass without a thought of concern in our minds. Fifteen minutes before, we heard the screams of some “mysterious wild animals” and decided to go on a mission and find out who they were. As we looked up, we realized we were literally “in the middle of nowhere.” Our families, who stood by the road waiting for us to come back from the mission, were already out of sight. A thought dashed through my head: what if those creatures were huge! And dangerous! Nobody was in sight to possibly save us. I tried to calmly state my concern, but instead blurted out, “The animals can EAT us…” Terrified by my statement, Ella instantly stopped, looking at the hill, and then at me. I just stared at the yellowish meadow beneath, not knowing how to react. After a while, she finally said, “Should we go back?...But what about the animals?” We had already dedicated time and effort into the mission, and we weren’t to give up so easily. After a brief discussion, we decided to continue the adventure. Yet, with each step closer towards the hill, our footsteps got slower, more uncertain, and increasingly nervous.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, we heard Ella’s mom shouting from the distance: “what…moving…” In the blink of an eye, we saw a herd of huge antelope with sharp, gigantic horns galloping from the back of the hill directly towards us, at full speed! We completely froze for a few seconds, then started to dash at full speed. To make matters worse, the animals took a left turn and followed us. We unanimously turned towards the other direction and instinctively sprinted like two deer escaping from a cheetah. Whoosh…the herd finally lost us and dashed away, yet the wind produced by their speed felt strong and vivid on our skin.

The antelopes settled in the open meadow by the road and started peacefully grazing as if nothing had happened. Both panting in exhaustion, Ella stared at me as if she was waiting for my reaction.

“Well…that was exciting?” We both burst into laughter, with our parents scolding us and reassuring our safety at the same time.

***

It was our eighth day at Yellowstone National Park, and we were heading home. Last night, we discovered that the cars we rented for the trip had balconies. We joked about the pity of only discovering them towards the end of the trip as we gazed into the starry galaxy in the pitch dark nature for what seemed like hours.

My parents started humming: “Country road, take me home…Taipei, Taiwan~” “No! I don’t want to go home! Let me stay longer! Let’s stay for another day, please……”

2025, Illinois campsite

“Take me home…Seoul, Korea! Tokyo, Japan! Chicago, Illinois! A group of college students are relaxing by the bonfire, laughing in the warm air.

“Guys! I have something to say…” My new friend spoke, “It’s amazing how I wasn’t on my phone all day, yet chatting with you guys and breathing in the fresh air of the forest was so fun! I haven’t been bored all day!”

I cautiously joined in: “Hey…may I roast some marshmallows?”

“OMG Sophie’s finally here!” “Of course!” “Sophie, share the highlight of your day!”

“Um…I had eye contact with a beaver just now…”

“OMG where is it?”

“It hurried into the river already…”

“So envious! I want to see a beaver too!” “Me too!”

“I’ll call you over next time…”

……