~Twiss's Big foot Story~

I walked down the street the wind driving rain into my hair, bypassing my feeble attempts to shield myself with a broken umbrella. Eventually I gave up and sheltered in an alleyway, I couldn't believe that less than a year ago I had been stationed in Afghanistan, where gunshots were my alarm and my gun was my best friend. I shook my head snapping me out of my day dream, I may have been a bad-ass soldier then but now I was just one of thousands living in small apartments in central london. I was beginning to get bored of just standing so I decided to explore the alleyway. I started walking not really thinking about anything when I saw something in the corner of my eye, it was a poster, not one of the hundreds of grey and white posters that populated the rest of the walls in the alleyway, but a bright red one. Since I had nothing better to do I read it,

“Big foot Hunters Wanted. Big foot wanted dead or alive. 100 MILLION DOLLAR REWARD.” I stopped. I re-read the poster just  to make sure, I even pinched myself to make sure that I wasn't dreaming, I wasn't. I started to think, 100 million dollars is a lot of money I could buy everything I had ever wanted, but then it dawned on me, is there even a big foot out there and if there is how many people would be searching for it. But now the rain had stopped and it was getting late so I walked out of the alleyway chucking my umbrella in a bin as I did.

I woke up in the morning, my eyes blurry from sleep. I reached around for my alarm finally knocking it of the bedside table onto the floor, that stopped it. I swung my legs out of bed and walked two steps into my cramped kitchen where I poured myself a bowl of cereal of which I ate where I stood, I had to sell my table and chairs to get past last months rent. After an uneventful breakfast I started to get ready for my day ahead, I pulled on my camo pants and shirt, I grabbed an ammo sling from the single set of shelves I owned, then I walked slowly, half for effect and half because I had dodge around all the junk on my floor, towards my gun locker, inside the locker was my greatest earthly possession my hunting rifle my pride and joy, I entered the combination on the lock 8697 then brought out my gun, I looked into the mirror and placed my hat on my head, I was ready. After a long car trip I finally reached the forest that the poster had singled out, I looked around, my eyes widening as I saw that there were hundreds of cars, I started to panic if there was that many people in the forest I would have to beat to find big foot, so many bodies searching this forest would find big foot in a few days at the most, I had to hurry or I would have to watch as someone else collect 100 million dollars, I decided I had wasted enough time doing unnecessary things, such as thinking, so I secured my gun tighter on my back and set off into the forest. As I was running I realised that I had nothing to fear, none of the people in this forest would have as much experience as I did, three years of active service in the British army and I had been hunting since I was large enough to hold a knife. I slowed my pace and started walking I didn't want to risk the chance of missing a trail that could've been left by big foot, I went to adjust my gun on my back when I heard a rustling noise, my heart stopped, I heard it again in the corner of my eye I saw a bush move, I whirled round gun in hand, eyes aiming down the sight,

“Who’s There” I shouted, no reply, suddenly a man leapt from the bush, knife in hand, I stumbled back only just blocking the first knife attack with the butt of my gun, I took another two steps back then swung my gun around whacking the man in the temples, as he went down I leapt on him pinning his arms behind him. His bloodshot eyes were darting left from right, his topples torso was covered in scars, in his right hand he held a rusty knife, I stopped, was that rust or was it something, else. I began questioning him,

“why are you here” I asked, he shook his head, no answer came. I kept pressuring him with questions but for every question I asked, he had another shake of the head to answer, in the end I gave up, but before I knocked him out I asked him a question, just so I could sleep at night,

“Is that rust on your knife” I threw the question in his direction, but instead of shaking his head like he usually did he just smiled, then he uttered one word that infuriated me

“no” I kicked him in the head knocking him out cold, then I tied him up using some rope that the man had on him, then I took the knife in the man’s hand and threw it far into the woods, then I set off further into the forest.

I heard a scream, it came from seemingly next to me, out of sheer reflex I turned and raised my gun just to see a girl no older than 12 stumble out of the bush covered in blood and crying. I ran to her

“what’s wrong” I asked as she collapsed on my shoulder sobbing

“my mum, she’s, she’s...,” she broke into tears “dead” this voice was small as if she gave had given up

“how did it happen”

“mum thought she had heard a noise up ahead so she went off ahead to investigate, when I caught up to here big foot was over here feasting on her flesh” she broke down into tears

“where is big foot” I asked in a calm voice, she pointed off in the direction she came from. I un-holstered my rifle and set off slowly into the bush, gun up, finger on the trigger, suddenly big foot leapt at me, I crashed through the bush then fired two shots into big foots face, he fell to the ground, dead. I went over to the body of big foot and looked over it, I looked over it again and once more again. It wasn't real. I started to laugh, I couldn't stop, insanity was coming over me,

“It’s an ape” I said to myself, laughing, “It’s a low life ape.” After I had finally stopped laughing I stood up and turned around, where was the girl I wondered. I looked everywhere, she was nowhere to be found, in fact she had never been there. I was truly insane.