ZACH
Are you kidding me?
CHASE
What are we going to do now Mrs. Tucker?
BRENDA
I'm not sure. I'm too scared to let go of this tree right now. I can't think straight.
ZACH
Chase, I thought you liked making decisions.
CHASE
I'm done with making decisions; I just want to go home.
(Connor and Robert enter the clearing near the tree.)
ZACH
Look, it's Connor and Robert! Hey, we're up here in the tree!
CONNOR
We heard screaming.
ROBERT
Yea, we were up on a nice, safe rock but Big Foo...I mean Connor, said you might need help.
CHASE
Did you see it, Bigfoot, I mean? Was that really Bigfoot?
CONNOR
Yes, it had to be, what else would it have been? He chased off the bear that had us trapped and was about to get to us.
ZACH
The bear tried to get Mrs. Tucker and Bigfoot came outta nowhere and jumped on him!
ROBERT
Are you gonna stay in the tree?
BRENDA
No I'm not, I'm coming down, I've got to find Brian.
(Brenda climbs down out of the tree.)
BRENDA
(Continued)
Listen, maybe you should all stay here in this tree; Connor and Robert, you join them. You'll be safer up there than on the ground.
CONNOR
How are you going to find your way in the dark and how is he going to find you?
BRENDA
I don't know, son.
(Brenda turns and walks into the forest. Robert grabs a branch and begins trying to pull himself up.)
CONNOR
Put your foot in my hands.
(Connor laces his fingers together and gives Robert a boost up, Robert then in turn takes Connor's hand and helps him up.)
CHASE
Hey, I just had an idea; why don't we all start yelling to Brian and he can hear us and come to this tree? and then, we'll yell for his mom and she can come back and we'll all be here?
ZACH
What about my dad, he's out here somewhere?
CHASE
We can yell for him too.
CONNOR
That's not a bad idea, the other dads are on the ledge and the bear can't get to them anyway.
CHASE
And we can all just stay up here until morning.
(The boys begin yelling out names, after a moment, Brian enters running .)
CHASE
It worked! Hey Brian! Up here!
BRIAN
(Out of breath and barely able to speak.)
Whoa! Hey...have you...seen my mom?
ZACH
She just left to keep looking for you.
CONNOR
What happened?
BRIAN
I just kept running and never looked back. I could hear them behind me for a while but then they must have gone another way. Bigfoot, can you believe it! My mind is totally blown!
ROBERT
Dude...Brian, you are crazy. I take back every thing I’ve ever said about you.
(To the others)
NO ONE ever call him Turkey again, got it?
ZACH
No one ever did call him turkey except you Robert.
ROBERT
Oh.
(Brian climbs up in the tree with the others and the tree starts to creak and begins to lean slightly to the side.)
BRIAN
Was it making this noise before?
No.
(The tree leans even more.)
ZACH
Not good, not good at all!
(Brenda enters.)
BRENDA
Why were you boys yelling my name?
BRIAN
Mom, it's me! I'm up here!
BRENDA
Brian, my baby, oh, thank God!
(At that moment, the tree begins to fall.)
ACT 3 SCENE 4
Back on the ledge
(Harold is on all-fours and Brad is balancing awkwardly on his back trying to reach the ledge.)
HAROLD
Okay, okay, it's starting to really hurt now!
BRAD
Roger, get on my shoulders.
ROGER
No way, you're about to break ole' Harold's poor back.
(The men hear noises from above and see that Bigfoot and the bear have entered the campsite above and are circling each other. Roger gets down off of Harold's back, Harold and Roger stand to see the action, Dan continues to lay on the ground oblivious to his surroundings.)
BRAD
Do you see that?
ROGER
I see it but I don't believe it.
HAROLD
It can't be.
(Bigfoot hears the voices of the men and looks down at them from the ledge. The men huddle together, scared. Bigfoot rolls a dead, fallen tree over and slides it down in position so that the men can climb up.)
ROGER
Wow, why didn't we think of that before?
(Bigfoot turns and an advance toward the bear, the bear backs up momentarily but then abruptly changes his mind and rushes toward Bigfoot. Bigfoot turns and vanishes into the woods, the bear follows in pursuit. The men are left alone.)
BRAD
I swear it looked like it pushed that tree down here so we could climb out.
HAROLD
Oh no, I'm not climbing out of here!
ROGER
I have to agree with Harold, plus there's a bear up there somewhere.
DAN
(Suddenly speaking with perfect clarity.)
So, you're content to stay down here where it's safe while our children and Brad's wife are up there?
ROGER
Dang, why'd he have to go and start making sense now?
(The three men climb up the tree leaving Dan on the ledge.)
BRAD
Dan, we'll bring you up when we know the bear is gone for sure.
(Suddenly Brenda and boys enter running.)
HAROLD
Zach, you're safe!
ZACH
Dad!
BRIAN
Dad?
BRENDA
Brad?
BRAD
Hey.
BRENDA
What are you doing here? How did you...
BRAD
Harold found me and told me what happened and I wanted to help. I'm sorry; I should have been involved all along. If I'd paid attention like I should have, I could have told Dan that it was hunting season and kept this whole thing from happening in the first place.
(Brad reaches out to take Brenda's hand when suddenly the bear and Bigfoot enter. The men step in front of Brenda and the boys.)
HAROLD
Stay behind us boys!
(Roger finds a camping shovel near a tent and Brad raises his rifle that had fallen on the ground prior to his fall off the ledge.)
BRAD
ROGER
Which one are you going to shoot?
CONNOR
Don't shoot Bigfoot; he saved us from the bear!
(Bigfoot stops, raises his hands to his neck and twists his head from side to side. He pulls upward and we see that it's actually a mask. Once the mask is raised we see a man's face.)
CONNOR
Dad?
RAY
Connor, stay back son and the rest of you!
You set up your camp too close to this momma bears den. I've been trying to lure her away but she keeps coming back to where her cubs are. She's not going to stop defending her cubs so we just need to leave. I'm going to stand my ground and keep her attention while all of you slowly start walking down the mountain, I'll meet you at the bottom of the ridge, where the road ends and I'll have Dan with me. It's going to be fine, Connor, I'll see you in a few minutes.
(Ray puts the mask back on and raises his arms above his head to keep the attention of the bear, the others stand frozen until Ray makes a "shoo-ing" motion with his arms and then the others begin backing out of the scene in unison until they are. The bear is focused on Ray.)
EPILOGUE
(Everyone is sitting on the ground resting except for Connor who stands, looking in the direction his father was when they left him.)
HAROLD
None of this makes any sense! Why would Ray Baker be here in a Bigfoot suit?
ROGER
I'm more interested in knowing how he plans on getting a man with a broken leg off of the cliff and away from the bear by himself.
BRENDA
Especially while wearing a heavy costume! It's got to be hot in there!
ZACH
Connor, it was your dad all along, that's crazy, man!
CONNOR
I just hope he's alright.
(Suddenly, a few feet from the group, a rope is seen dangling. Dan, wearing a harness is slowly lowered down from above. Roger, Harold and Brad rush to help by grabbing Dan, releasing the harness and laying him on the ground. Ray slides down the rope, now dressed in a black tee shirt and jeans but still wearing the Bigfoot gloves.)
RAY
These gloves help when sliding down rope.
(Ray and Connor hug tightly.)
HAROLD
What exactly just happened?
RAY
Sorry I had to scare you all. Once I found out I was coming home from the Middle East, my wife and I wanted to surprise Connor, she told me that he was going on a father-son camping trip so I decided to surprise him. A friend of mine owns a costume shop and I thought dressing up like Bigfoot would be funny. When I saw the bear chasing you, I decided to keep the suit on because bears usually will back down from anything that looks larger and more frightening than they are. Once I realized the bear wasn't going to leave I knew it must be because she had cubs nearby.
ROGER
How did you manage to get Dan down here?
RAY
Since this was a camping trip in the mountains, I brought my military duffle bag and hid it near your camp, it had everything I needed.
BRAD
Connor, you should be proud of your dad, he just saved us all.
(Ray and Connor embrace.)
END