Shooting Bear

By Jack Forge

Adam Gale has been at odds with his father for years. One evening he visits the old bear hunter to show him a film about brown bear on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Excited by the film, Victor agrees to join his son on an expedition back to Kamchatka for another shoot. During the trip they bond in ways they had never achieved and develop an additional understanding about the women in their lives. When they return home, their relationship, themselves, and their lives have changed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jack Forge
• Release date: Apr 12, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476418094

Jack Forge

Born John Stephen Rohde in Los Angeles, California, I focused my academic study on the liberal arts and I have striven to create worthy art most of my life.

Book preview

SHOOTING BEAR

A Novelette

by

Jack Forge

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 John Stephen Rohde

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Crystalline light of a Nordic summer sparkled across the wild land. Bundles of cumulous clouds drifted over mountain peaks. Flowers exploded in yellow, red, and violet across lush meadows. On a high grassy slope above timberline, a grizzly bear was foraging for wild berries. Only birdsong interrupted the pervasive silence.

Suddenly the crack of a rifle shot shattered the quiet and boomed off stony outcroppings on the mountainsides. Scores of birds flew into the sky in a panic, their wings whirring in a rushing wind. The bear collapsed where he stood and lay motionless but for fur quivering in a light breeze.

Clean and quick--that's the way! said Victor Gale sitting alone on a sofa in the dark living room of his house. He cocked his arms as though pointing a rifle at the television screen. Video light accentuated the crags in Victor's grinning face, illumined his white hair, and reflected eerily in his pale blue eyes.

As he continued to watch the video, Victor saw himself as a much younger man with a rifle slung over his shoulder lifting the bear's head. He gazed into the camera triumphantly.

Victor looked longingly at the screen and his glassy eyes reflected the image. He glanced down at a bearskin on the floor in front of him and nodded with satisfaction tinged with longing.

The telephone startled him. Damn it! He paused the video, glanced at a big clock in a corner, and let the call go to voicemail: Victor Gale here. You want a call back, leave a message.

"Hey, old man--! A younger version of the old man's voice spoke. But Victor ignored the caller and continued to watch the video.

The bear's carcass hanging on a wooden frame was being skinned.

I know you're there, dad--pick up.

Victor grumbled and yanked up the phone. Yeah, whaddya want, Adam? Victor listened and said, I'm too busy, while looking back at the screen. He listened again and said, Yeah, well, I'm too busy and too old to count the years to my death. He listened. Celebrate your own birth. Again. Coming over to talk about what? I don't want any god-damned surprises. Finally--Okay. I won't spoil your fun. Bringing any babes? I'm in the mood for a blonde.

Victor practically slammed down the phone and returned his attention to the screen.

In the picture a young Victor was wearing the bear hide like a Native American cloak. The old man laughed. That was the life!

Lights flashed through the window drapes, as a car pulled into the driveway of the modest house in West Seattle. Carrying a compact disk, a young man stepped out and looked at a window. He looked much like a younger version of the old man in the house. Between the drapes Victor peered at him. The young man grinned and waved as he walked to the front door.

When Victor opened the door, the young man looked as if he wanted to hug him but refrained.

Victor eyed the tape. What's that--a porn flick--I hope?

Better. My latest film.

I'm not in the mood for one of your tree-hugging movies, Adam. He led the young man into the living room.

"I know, dad--you want your blood and guts. The more violent the better--with a strong dose of