Siblings. Especially older ones. Need I say more?
But this was the ’80s, so let the outdoor adventures begin.
The summer of ’88. Both parents were at work. Grandma was off doing grandma things.
Mom had already decided I wasn’t to be trusted by myself. My brother, older than me by double digits, still lived at home and worked night shift.
And lucky me, it was his day off. So you can guess who was in charge of me that day.
As far as I was concerned, he was a full-blown menace. But okay, sometimes.
I cried when he gave me burnt toast and runny eggs for breakfast. He got annoyed when I refused to eat and held my breath until he gave in and let me have a Pop-Tart.
Finally, he grabbed his truck keys and herded me out the door.
“Where are we going?” I asked, already annoyed.
We’re going to take a ride. See if we can spot some turkeys and find a pond I heard about at work. Plus, I got the new Guns N’ Roses cassette,” he said, amused.
“Ugh, that sounds boring. I want to ride my bike or go to the pool,” I said, stomping my foot.
“Dani, just trust me. It’ll be fun. And if you see more than I do, we’ll go to the pool,” he said with a smirk.
Guns N’ Roses blared as we sped past the lake and onto some questionable back roads.
I spotted the first deer, but he spotted a couple of turkeys. We went back and forth, calling out different animals, and before I knew it, two fun hours passed.
“Turkeys! Look, there are two of them. That means I win!” I said triumphantly.
“No, you didn’t. That wasn’t a deer you saw earlier. That was Bigfoot. He doesn’t count. So we’re tied,” he said laughing.
He was a damn liar.
“No, I won fair and square. I want to go to the pool. You promised,” I said mad.
He laughed. “Okay, but no you didn’t. It was Bigfoot. And I also said we were going to look for a fishing pond.”
“No, I won. I want to go to the pool. If you don’t take me, I’m going to hold my breath again,” I said, sucking in as much air as I could.
“I promise it won’t take long. Come on, Dani. It’ll be fun. And who knows, maybe you’ll see a coyote or a wolf,” he said in his best persuasive voice.
He had me at wolf.
We headed deeper into the Appalachian back roads.
Lies. All lies stacked on top of more lies.
He pulled into a small pull-off, and all I could see was a wall of massive trees and brush with a tiny footpath in the middle.
“Come on, Dani. It’s close by. Just keep up and don’t get lost. It won’t take long,” he said excited.
We stumbled through trees and brush.
“Randy, this is taking forever. We’ve walked like ten miles,” I said indignant.
He kept walking and laughing. “Dani, we’ve barely walked a mile. Come on, we’re close. I can see the opening ahead. Look.”
I grunted and tromped along, vowing to tell Mom as soon as I saw her what her son had put me through.
“Look, Dani. I told you it was worth the hike. Look how beautiful it is. And all the fish,” he said proudly.
I was so mad I barely heard him and almost walked straight into the pond.
“Whoa, Dani. Look at this. We found it,” he said, in amazement.
To this day, I still remember how clear and clean it was. And how excited he was to show it to me.
“Finally, a new fishing spot to try out. And since you helped me find it, I promise I’ll bring you fishing with me sometime. Okay?” he said happily.
“Okay!” I said excitedly. “Can we go to the pool now?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Okay, but you’ve got to beat me back to the truck.”
“No, you promised if I won, we would go swimming,” I said, stomping my foot.
“Dani, I hope you remember your way back. Ready, set, go! And was that Bigfoot I just heard?”
And he took off.
I stood there stunned.
I didn’t want to meet Bigfoot, so I bolted. I ran as fast as my little legs would carry me, but he was gone. There was no way I was giving up and not finding my way back, occasionally looking over my shoulder for the furry monster.
I was so mad. This was flat-out cheating, and he knew it. I was definitely going to tell Mom.
I stayed on the path I thought we had taken, and after what felt like forever, I saw the truck and his big, dumb self leaning against it. Just smiling.
“I knew you could find your way,” he said with a laugh.
I was fuming. I just stomped to the truck and got in.
“Oh, Dani, don’t be mad. You did great. If I didn’t think you could have made it, I wouldn’t have raced you,” he said, trying to cover a smile.
“No, you cheated. I won earlier, and you said we could go to the pool. Then you changed the rules on me so you could win.”
He busted out laughing. “Oh, hush, you had fun, didn’t you?”
I relented a little. “Yeah. And it was cool finding my way back like you showed me if I got lost. But you promised we could go to the pool.
“Oh, this was way more fun. Plus, look, the sky is getting dark. it is going to rain. We can stop and rent a movie on the way back if you want,” he said, giving me his sweetest big-brother look.
“Can we rent The Land Before Time?” I asked.
He winched. “Okay, but if we watch that, then I get to pick the next movie we watch. Deal?”
We got our movies and a pizza. He, of course, picked out The Blog for us to watch.
That happened a couple times that summer. And each time, I fell for it.
That’s why I love the outdoors.
But I still look for Bigfoot.
It is Appalachia, after all.
