Canadian Hunting Trip

• Angus Tkacz, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2014

Dan awoke to the smell maple syrup smeared on pancakes and the sound of bacon sizzling in the pan on the wood-fired stove. He pushed aside his blanket and put on his wool-lined slippers.
“Dan, breakfast is ready!” Mum yelled.

“I’m coming!”
Dan stared out the window. What a perfect day to go hunting! Dan thought to himself. Mountains of pancakes and bacon towered over the table. His jaw dropped.
“Gee, thanks! You didn’t have to cook this much, Mum!”

“You need to have a big breakfast for what you’re going to do today,” Dad said.

Dan sat down and covered his plate with bacon and maple syrup sandwiches. Dan stuffed his face with his creation and ate as fast as he could while enjoying it.
“Go brush your teeth and get dressed, WARM!” Mum commanded.

“I’m ready!” Dan yelled from his room.

Dan’s dad had packed rifles, ammo, traps, bait, tents, food and drinks. The long pick-up truck trip was bumpy but the anticipation of the hunt allayed any boredom.

Having unpacked the supplies, they marched to the hunting border.

A short man sat in a booth. They walked to him and the man asked for money. Dan’s dad gave him what looked to be several hundreds of dollars and the man opened the gate, saying grimly, “Be careful boys.”
“We will.”

They scouted for the best place to setup base and traps. Finally they found a suitable and setup
camp.
“When will we go hunting?”

“Not till tomorrow, it’s getting dark.”

They set up their tents and managed to get one trap setup.
Dan was awoken in the middle of the night to heavy footsteps and breathing. He felt sweat coming down his face. The breathing started get heavier and heavier suddenly the shutters pulled open revelling his dad’s face.
“Come on Dan these bears aren’t going to hunt themselves.”

Dan let out a sigh of relief. He got up and grabbed his rifle.
They walked for hours and finally they found a bear.
“Shhhh.” Dad said.

“I’m going to shoot it.” Dan said.

He aimed his rifle and squeezed the trigger. BANG. The gun fired expelling flames and a bullet traveling at high speeds hit the bear’s coat. It penetrated its coat and the bear gave a mighty roar. It fell to the ground with a thud.

Dan awoke to the smell maple syrup smeared on pancakes and the sound of bacon sizzling in the pan on the wood-fired stove. He put his bear coat-lined slippers on and walked to breakfast.