John was up before Anthony making coffee and rubbing his hands together to keep them warm. He looked at his GPS tracker. "Hmm? I better not let Anthony know that today is the 13th," he whispered under his breath."I'm not gonna let his superstitious fantasy keep us from making progress."
Anthony crawled out of his tent when he smelled the coffee. "I hope we can get going soon before the snow gets slushy," Anthony said.
John poured some boiling water into Anthony's cup that already had instant coffee in it.
"Hey! come here, John! Look at the foam in this coffee. What does that look like to you?" he asked holding his cup out to John.
John waddled over and peered into Anthony's cup. "That looks like a bear, sort of," he said and then tilted his head to the side. "If I twist my head like so."
Anthony looked into his cup. "Well, It needs ears but otherwise, it looks like a bear to me." They ate oatmeal and quickly tore down their tents and resumed their trek. It wasn't long before they came upon a white snow field. They soon realized that it was a lake. They refilled their water supply.
"Crunch, crunch, crunch," their shoes sounded like they were talking to each other as the tromped through the snow that had somehow gotten thicker after they left the lake. The early morning sun cast long tree shadows across the snow. Anthony marched about 15 feet ahead of John. "I'm sure glad that bears hibernate in the winter," he said as he turned his head back to make sure that John was behind him. "At least, that is one thing we don't have to worry about." He slowed down for John to catch up.
"Do you remember when we went on that hike and I was way up ahead of everybody, climbing that dirt slide?"
"Which lake was it?" John asked.
"I don't remember. But it was the second trip that Mushroom went with us. Well, anyway, since I was all by my self, I got worried. What if a bear came. How would I protect myself? Would my hiking stick be enough protection? And then I turned around to see how far down the hill you guys were. But all I saw was a big light brown thing that scared me so bad I almost peed in my pants. Ha! It was Mushroom's straw pith helmet. I don't know how he was able to get so close to me without my hearing him."
"Now I remember. That was on our way back to our cars. You got ahead of us and jumped out from behind a tree to scare Mushroom."
"Ha, ha," Anthony laughed. "Did you see how high he jumped? Even with his backpack on?"
"Ya and I saw you jump back when he screamed and threw his arms out!" John said.
"Well, I know this. His scream will scare a bear away. As for me, I froze, making myself an easy meal for a bear." They both laughed and continued walking.
"I forgot to ask you," Anthony said. "What day is it?"
"Why do you want to know?" John asked. "It's sunny. The snow is easy to walk on."
"But it's getting kinda soft, don't ya think?" Anthony asked.
"Nah! It ain't getting soft," John said. "It's getting deeper."
Anthony stopped abruptly and pointed to the footprint with his walking stick. "What day is it John?'"
"It's Thursday."
"No! Not that. What day of the month is it?"
"Why does it matter?" John asked as nonchalantly as he could.
"It's the 13th. Now I remember." He stood over an animal's foot print and bent down to get a better look. Is this a bear paw print?"
John didn't bend down. He didn't look at Anthony. He looked up ahead. "Nah. It's probably a bobcat paw print."
"Stop bullshitting, John. You know damn well this is a bear's paw print and from the looks of it, the bear has to be close by. Shit! We should have stayed in camp on this 13th day of the month." Anthony held his walking stick out in front of him and scanned the area. "Damn it! These bear paw prints go right up out trail."
John wiped his mustache and pretended to twirl the end of it. "Now would be a fine time for you to sing one of your songs.
"Are you out of your mind, John! What the hell! I don't want the bear to know we're here."
"If the bear hears you singing, he'll just sit and listen. But you gotta sing real pretty."
"That's something Dana would say," Anthony said. "Mushroom would just make himself look big and scream."
John chortled. "You can scream, if you think that will help; but I think singing would be better."
Anthony inhaled deeply and started singing, Roger Miller's song, "Trailers for sale or rent. Rooms to let fifty cents. No phone, no pool, no pets. I ain't got no cigarettes." Amazingly it calmed them both down as they walked among the trees, crunching their shoes in the snow.
Anthony cleared his throat. "Ah but two hours of pushing broom, buys an eight by twelve four bedroom.I'm a man of mean, by no mean, king of the road."
John took a photo while Anthony sang. Anthony continued singing," Third boxcar, midnight train, destination: Bangor, Maine. Old worn out suit and shoes, I don't pay no union dues."
They walked away from the bear while Anthony continued to sing. Anthony kept looking behind him. "I smoke old stogies I have found, short but not too big around. I'm a man by means, of no means, king of the road."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZuQhP3rn6o
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