So there I was sitting there under the tree that was now my home. It had only been a week since I had run away from home, my parents, and society. I was tired of being fussed at, judged, and humiliated; so I decided I would go live in the wild. Considering that I knew more than most twelve year old boys I figured I was at an advantage I took the first bus out to the Olympic forest. All I had was some warm clothes, a knife, and a fire striker.
It was summer so I didn’t have to worry much about staying warm, but the insects were so bad they would carry you away. I learned that if you put a layer of dirt on your skin they don’t bite as much. The first three days out were pretty rough but then I found the tree! It was after a failed fishing trip when I came across it and it immediately raised my spirits. It was about one hundred yards from the river, and some of its roots were out of the ground and the middle had burned out when it was struck by lightning. I eased into it making sure that there were no animals that had made it their home. Once I got inside I realized how perfect it really was. The tree had make shift shelves that I put my clothes in. I took my rain coat and tied it over the opening to make a door that would work for now. There was still some small hole but they would be good ventilation for a fire in the winter time.
So I got it set up and slept the first night in my new house. The next morning I got up and decided to go fishing for breakfast. I went to the river and began to look for lures in the trees. Many fishermen come and fish the river and get their lures stuck in trees then I get them out and reuse them. As I began looking for lures I saw a low tree over the river. I began to search its limbs and there were many lures in it. So I started climbing the tree and broke off the limbs that the lures were in and tossed them to the ground. When I got all of the lures out I had two hooks and three spinners. The good thing about the plain hooks is that I can put all different types of bugs and worms on them I have also learned that the fish love lizards.
I found an earthworm and put it in the hook then I pitched it out into the water. With the little bit of line that was on the hook I pitched it out and let it float down the river with no success. The fifth time a fish hit it hard. I was in a fight with whatever was on the end of my line. I fought it for about two minutes before I landed it on the bank. I knew it was a small mouth bass and it weighed about a pound and a half. It would make me a mighty good breakfast and maybe lunch too. After fishing I went back to my house and gathered kindling for a fire then I took out my fire striker and started the flame. I took the cleaned fish and put it on a stick and slowly roasted it over the fire. It tasted absolutely fabulous especially since I was completely starved.
Since I had learned a lot about herbs which ones you can eat and ones you can’t. It had about a month since the catching of that first fish and I had gotten pretty good at it. I wanted something other than fish for my meat so I decided to make a bow. I found a little sapling and braided four strands of fishing line together to make my string. I then cut two notches in both ends of the sapling to hold the string. Now I had to make arrows so I went on the search for some straight sticks. I found about six pretty good sticks then I decided to go on the look for some turkey feathers which would not be to hard considering all the turkeys around here. It took me a couple of days to find enough feathers for the six arrows, but once I got them I took my knife and cut them in half right along the Stem so to say. Then I took some sap off of some firs and heated it up so it turned into a liquid and used it to glue three feathers to each arrow. The feathers would help it fly straight. Then I had to decide what I would use for arrow heads. I was walking along the river and found some glass bottles and it hit me I would use the glass as arrow heads. I looked until I found six glass bottles, and then I broke the tops off and kept the bottoms because that was the only straight part. I took a piece of an elk horn that I had found and used it to chip off glass until I got it to the shape I wanted. Then I started to just take little flakes of the glass off. It became a quite sharp little arrow head. I cut notches into the ends of my arrows that I could place the arrow heads in then I put some heated sap onto them to glue them in place. In the end I had a good group of arrows and a descent bow. Now I set out to get good with it.
All I did for a week other than fish and sleep was practice with the bow. I would shoot it at mushrooms and everything else; then on the way back from fishing one day I had my opportunity. There was a rabbit on the side of my path about ten yards away so I notched an arrow and slowly pulled back. The rabbit hopped a few steps and came out right in the middle of the lane. I knew it was a perfect shot opportunity so I let it fly and I heard a thud as it struck the rabbit right in the shoulder. It pinned him to the ground and he didn’t move. That night I boiled the rabbit over the fire then put some herbs that I found in there and had one good rabbit stew. For dessert I had some blackberries that I had picked by the river.
After that I got pretty good with my bow and I was able to kill turkeys and even a deer. The deer don’t go down so easy with just a little arrow so I had to track them. One good thing about the deer is that you can tan their hides and then use them as blankets. I even used one to make a permanent door for my tree.
Since winter was approaching, I also got some rocks from the river and made a little fire place held together by some mud to prepare for the winter fires. I knew that food was going to be hard to get in the winter and the fish would be deep, so I decided to make a raft that could go out into the middle of the river where I could fish the deep hole that was behind a huge rock. I found three good logs about ten inches in diameter and about seven foot long. Then I gathered some smaller limbs and placed them along the evenly spaced logs. The problem was, what would hold them together? I thought about it and decided that I would go look for some smaller vines that would bend pretty easily. Once I had gotten enough I went to work tying all the limbs to the logs. After I had finished my project I had to give it a test run, so I went up the river from the big rock. I put in, it floated great so I started so paddle out to the center where the rock was, the current in the center was very slow so I just bumped up against the rock I hopped off on to it and tied up my raft with a vine. I walked to the front of the rock and looked down into the deep murky waters. Then I walked back and got on my raft, I paddled it to shore as quickly as possible then I took the vine and pulled the raft up the river while it was in the water, once I got it back above the rock I pulled it ashore and hid it in the woods.
I also knew that ducks would come to the river in the winter time and my only chance of getting them was to throw a net over them while they were in the water. So I set out to make a net. I took fishing string that I had found and I wove it together and then I tied rocks around the edges. I was ready for the fast approaching winter and I knew if I made it through my first winter I would be all right. I spent a lot of cold night in my tree that winter I managed to live off of deer mostly every once in a while a fish. I only manage to catch one duck all winter it was a fail.
It was now early spring and the fish where beginning to bite again. I was having very good fishing trips and eating like a king after about starving to death that winter. I went to the river to fish and about a hundred yards down the river was a brown bear so I just moved down and started to fish. It had been about ten minutes when all of a sudden she roared and came at me. I dropped my line and took off running she was in hot pursuit and gaining on me fast I could smell the stench on her as she closed in. I thought about climbing a tree but bears can climb trees too. So I just kept running then I came along a ledge. There was no were to go so I took my bow off my shoulder and put an arrow in it, I shot, hit the bear in the chest then reloaded. I let the next arrow fly then another and another. Then it came and swatted my arm and cut it badly, I had one arrow left. I pulled backed a found a spot on her chest that had already been hit, I focused on it then let it fly when it hit she let out a noise and collapsed to the ground. I Looked at the cut on my arm and knew that it was very bad a dark rich red colored blood covered my arm, so I did all that I knew to do I put a tourniquet above the cut. I knew that if I was going to live I needed to go to the hospital. I didn’t want to because I had not seen another human in close to year but I had no choice. So I began my walk back into the city finally it came into view I could see the hospital. So I walked straight up to it and walked in, I went to the Desk and got some paper work. I sat down and began to fill out the paper work. Once I filled it out and gave it to the lady at the desk. When she put my name into the computer something must have popped up because only an hour after I walked in my parents showed up. They were all crying and hugging that our family was back together again. It had been about ten or eleven months since we had seen one another. I was in all glad to see them and life is much easier in the city. To this day every time I look at my arm it reminds me of my life in the woods.