Brian's Return

The deer comes crashing out of the brush toward the lake, evidently running for the water to clear clouds of flies and mosquitos from her eyes. She lands directly in front of Brian in the middle of the canoe; immediately she bucks and kicks to escape the canoe and capsizes the craft as she bounds away onto the other shore. Brian, disoriented for a moment, quickly pieces together what happened and pulls the canoe and gear to a clearing on the shore. Thankfully, most of his gear was wrapped in plastic garbage bags and stayed dry. His sleeping bag and arrows are the only wet items, but the wet sleeping bag is enough to make Brian decide to camp at the clearing. He spreads the sleeping bag to dry in the sun and sets about making camp: setting up his tent, catching and cleaning fish, building a fire, and bearproofing the camp by tying his backpacks to a line high off the ground and burying the fish bones a distance from his camp. As the sun goes down, Brian takes care to straighten his arrows and dry them by the fire. While sitting, Brian hears the forest come alive in the dark: sounds of rabbits being caught with a cry and rustlings of other small animals. Brian is tired, and still feeling the adjustment of moving from civilization to the wilderness. As Brian waits for sleep to come, he thinks about the way the deer completely changed his plans and chose this campsite for him.

When Brian wakes, he finds bear tracks through his camp. The bear did no damage, but it dug up the fish leftovers and clawed the tree where Brian’s gear hung. As Brian launches the canoe and continues his journey, he paddles from a kneeling position for stability as he learns to control the craft. When he reaches the point of the lake that, according to the map, should connect to a river, he finds no current; he must instead navigate through a narrow pond. He proceeds and finds himself in a lush world of green that astonishes him with its beauty. The trees overhead grew together to form a canopy and the water beneath him is completely clear and still. He passes a female moose that calmly lets him pass and Brian takes in the scenery for the rest of the day as he works his way forward. He catches fish for dinner and stops to camp for the night. That night, he secures the canoe to a tree without giving it much thought, but when a storm comes in the night, he is thankful for this decision.