Story

Thomas Bigelow-Grade 10 Mrs. Amberg Lesson #7 ELA-“Doors to Stories” Domiciles Project: Door #2 Gouvenuer High School That Feeling Roger awoke in the ambulance. His friends Bob, George, and Gary were with him. He couldn’t remember what had happened, but his friends told him. After Roger woke up again in the hospital he remembered what had happened and pieced together the full story. Roger was on his way to his hunting spot. As he was passing through a white birch forest he felt as though he was being watched. When Roger had reached his hunting spot he used his binoculars to check and see if his friends had made it to their places. Roger spent the next hour observing his surroundings. Then, a nice white tailed deer walked out. Roger was preparing to take a shot when everything fell silent. During these brief few seconds something had hit Roger, causing him to fall onto his back and drop his rifle, which then fired. In response to the sound of a gunshot his hunting partners all looked in Roger’s direction and saw something terrible. Roger was fighting the cougar to the best of his abilities; he knew that if he could get the cougar off of him Bob was a good enough shot to kill the cougar. Roger struggled but he managed to wrestle the cougar off of him; then a single shot rang through the air and the cougar fell, but it managed to put Roger into pretty bad shape. Gary was the last to reach Roger, which was unfortunate given the fact that he was the only one with any medical experience. Gary used the small first aid kit he had to stop the bleeding. On the way back to the hunting cabin, Roger was coming in and out of consciousness so they sent George ahead to call for the ambulance. Roger was unconscious when they loaded him into the ambulance. A few days after, he awoke in the hospital. Roger was okay, but he was a little sore and didn’t have the same range of movement as he had before the attack. Roger decided that he was in good enough condition to go out hunting again. Roger was alone this time; he walked through the same birch forest when it got quiet. A few days had passed and nobody had seen Roger. Bob went out to look for him around his hunting camp, and found nothing but a hunting cap and a bloodied topographic map marked with an X. Bob went and got George and Gary before checking the marked location. As they approached where the X was on the map, they found a note. It read: “I decided to return and get rid of any more cougars in the area. I admit that it was a foolish choice, but it was necessary to keep the area safe. I’m going to go and rest on the tree next to the big rock. If I am still there when you are reading this note, I fear it may have been too late for me, and if it is, I wish to be buried on the hill behind my house.” Ever year after that; all of Rogers’ family, friends, and their families would all gather on the hill behind Rogers’ house and read the tombstone aloud. It states: Here lies Roger Haun, a great man, loving father and husband, he was known for removing the cougars from the property and his famous 200 yard shot with the .22 mag.