Sam Seaver was thirteen back in 1976, the year of the bicentennial celebration. His uncle worked in developing night vision technologies which included the most common and most efficient type of night vision (at the time) which took whatever light was available, from the moon, stars, etc, and boosted it hundreds or thousands of times, providing the basic green-tinted video you see today often times, especially on the more low-budgeted shows, which often involve ghost hunting.
Sam had that type of night vision on in 1976 the weekend of the bicentennial. It was to be a weekend of excessive fireworks. Explosions of all kinds and of the most complex, most expensive, available fireworks would be seen and heard shot off the bicentennial weekend. He was given an allowance to go buy fireworks and it was a generous one. It seemed his parents were going out of town for the celebration but since he was thirteen he was being trusted to be left with his seventeen year old sister in charge and an older brother who was fifteen. Charlie and Kate were their names.
Sam got into his dad’s night vision equipment nearly as quick as his parents drove out of town. There was something strange going on in the valley, an area which was privately owned but that everybody felt should not be: therefore the local kids were often hiking back up into the valley and then getting caught and run out either by park rangers, game wardens, or the people who owned the land that patrolled the area. There was a park which butted up next to the valley, which was why the rangers were sometimes involved.
Sam had went on one of those campouts which got caught by the owners of the property and they were told to leave and never return. However while walking out, he thought he saw, no, he knew he saw something, he just wasn’t entirely certain what it was he saw. what he thought he saw was an extremely big wolf, standing on its back legs. Then it was gone. He wanted another chance at seeing that creature.
The fourth of July during the bicentennial was the perfect opportunity for him to get back there and get a look around without too much worry of being caught. The holiday was just too big for most anybody to have any volunteers for such menial jobs as patrolling a forest-filled landscape. It was a really big celebration. Every night that weekend the sky was lit up with explosions and fireworks of all kinds being enjoyed.
Sam made his way over to the valley while everybody else was making their way to the elementary school which was where the community fireworks were to be shot. Friday and Saturday nights were to be warm-ups for Sunday night, the big finale.
Everybody knew the boundaries. They knew where the private land started, where the boundaries were located along the sides of the valley, before you either got over into the river itself. or someone else’s privately owned property, and they knew where the state road cut the valley into sections. The part of the valley which was opposite where the river ran its course, was where the landscape started to find its way up from the flatland part of the valley. There were minor rock formations that rose out of the flatlands announcing that further beyond them would lie high ground. The land steadily rose from that point, putting the river and the valley behind it.
Sam approached the valley from the opposite end than where the state road cut it in half from the land stretching beyond the state road. If the valley were a football field then the river would have been running along the far side of the field, and he would have been walking up from the endzone on the home team side of the field. So when he arrived at the spot he wanted to watch the valley, you might word it as he was strategically sitting on the fifty yard line.
The night crept up like a cat after a mouse. Everything stayed patiently quiet until the darkness was complete. Then the noise began. Fireworks exploded into the night throughout the land. Almost immediately Sam saw things begin moving along the valley floor. They were fast, big, and they had a grey fur which was almost silver, along the mane behind their backs up along their shoulders. The rest of their fur was darker and kept getting darker the further it was from the creature’s shoulders. He could see that much just from the flashes from the fireworks exploding not overhead, but close enough to provide light into the valley.
Sam gasp and fumbled to get his father’s night vision goggles on his head. As he was struggling to get the goggles on his head and in place so he could see through them, he was struck with a shiver that ran the length of his entire body. There was a roar that echoed across the valley which was unlike anything he had ever heard before. Just then, before he even had the chance to completely deal with the roar he heard, came another equally frightening announcement across the valley. A howl. A very deep, very genuine howl. What the crap was that? The howl almost seemed to be a response to the roar that came first.
Sam got the goggles on his head, found the on switch and gave them life. Immediately he was shocked to see the valley lit up in a green hue and there was movement! A lot of movement. Whatever was out there was staying to the cover provided by the scrub brush and trees that can be found along any sizeable river and the bottom land that spreads out on both sides from the river.
At first he was worried they were after him, because they tended to move in unison. If a fireworks exploded, or a sound happened that was louder than the others, it was a signal for the group to move. They would move at the same time, and be behind something again just seconds after moving. It was clear to Sam they were moving very carefully. He relaxed when he concluded that whatever they were sneaking up to attack, that it was not him they were trying to surprise. Next he noticed coming up from the banks of the river were several other creatures which were also of considerable height. Much like the ones he saw moving on the valley floor, these were also in the tall six, and definitely seven foot areas. In fact the ones coming from the river bank were a little taller and looked a little thicker.
He thought there must be six to eight of the slightly smaller stature creatures. Coming up from the river bank, and flanking the other creatures, the slightly bigger animals had the advantage of surprise on their side. The bigger numbers looked more like dogs, especially their heads. Keep in mind he was seeing from a distance, so there was not chance for much more than seeing shapes. At first, later, when the fight almost landed in his lap, he got a much better look than he ever wanted.
When the skirmish first started, the fireworks were going off in the not so distant, distance, and the light from their explosions provided illumination to the valley. Sam had to be careful to keep his body pointed in the right direction so to allow him to see what was going on in the valley yet to keep the fireworks explosions at his backside. Even then there were some extra bright explosions which caused him to flinch and then be blinded for a short period. That was how the fight got much closer to him than he had ever planned on allowing.
When things started coming his way he didn’t panic. Whatever the creatures were, which he had termed as being either dogs, or apes, they were entirely focused on each other, and on the fireworks, than they were on him. As long as he stayed hidden, they wouldn’t ever know he was there. Except of course, if they smelled his presence.
When the fight began to come his way, the most terrifying thing about it was the sound. He knew they were deep in battle with each other but the visciousness, the brute unforgiving violence of the circumstance’s sounds, as they were drowned out by the explosion only to become very audible for as long as it takes for fireworks to again, echo their power through the night. Every bit of unexploded night which escaped the explosions was a frame for the noise of bones being broken, jaws being forced open and then breaking from the fact they could go no further open. Yelps heard in their high-pitched cries for mercy, danced into oblivion when the next round of explosions came to cover the ugliness that was happening in a valley just a short distance from all the festivity and celebration.
Sam watched the valley and saw the four creatures which came from the river bank were upon the other group and a chaos of violence followed which was perhaps only overshadowed by the amount of screams, roars, growls and yelps that could be heard in between the explosions going off overhead. He had opportunity to consider how these two sets of animals were intelligent enough to not be phased by the explosions, although he did notice the canine-looking group did react to the explosions at the second they happened. He wondered if it was more due to them having such great hearing as canines are known to have, as opposed to the ape-looking creatures which if truly ape-like, would have had inferior hearing, as well as inferior sense of smell.
Perhaps these creatures, one, or both groups, were so smart that they knew the fourth of July celebration would conclude at darkness with the fireworks, which would conveniently mask the many cries, growls, snarls, roars and yelps which he was hearing.
There came a break in the fireworks which made the darkness rush back in. Sam quickly fumbled with his night vision and got it going. He looked into the darkness and saw the battle was now all over the valley. Dark moving shadows darted in and out of his vision. The sounds of the battle filled the night. He heard a thud not too far away and was able to get his night vision pointed in that direction just in time to see that a canine team member had been thrown on the ground with extreme strength. It let out a yelp and then made no further sound.
Suddenly the fireworks began again, causing Sam to be blinded because he still was wearing the night vision. For nearly sixty seconds he could not see what was happening, only hear the sound of bones being broke, growls and snarls coming from almost all directions, then the occasional roar which Sam couldn’t help but associate with the old Tarzan movies when he would roar across the land.
When Sam was again able to see he had taken off the night vision and was terrified to see that there was a canine that had been knocked down and left behind the battle, that was not far away and had taken to sniffing the air and looking in Sam’s direction. He was still well-disguised under some dead weeds he had gathered to use for cover. Now however it was becoming evident that his scent was being not only broadcast, but received. The dog creature began to walk toward him, becoming more and more apparent that he was on to Sam, and was coming for him.
More breaking of limbs could be heard and more snarls, growls and roars. Sam got as low as he could as the dogman grew closer until it was nearly on top of where Sam was hiding. Suddenly out of nowhere a flash of movement followed by the sound of a growl as one of the apes had intercepted the dogman at the last second before it was about to reveal Sam’s presence.
When the motion came and took the dogman out into the valley, both creatures rolling across the ground, Sam used the opportunity to get moving. He went the exact opposite direction the two creatures went rolling.
Now Sam did not enjoy the perfect spot to observe the battle. Now he was in the midst of it and trying to crawl his way out without being noticed. There were growls and snarls on every side. Twice he thought he was going to have to face one of the creatures when another one would attack and take them both out of his path.
Finally the boy reached the spot where he could climb up out of the valley and from there he went straight home. He was of course very frightened. The next morning he went out to the field and walked around. He found several spots where there was still blood to be seen on top of the plants and grass growing there. He never spotted any sign of either creature though he felt certain there were those injured or possibly even killed that should have been visible that next morning. They were gone. He wanted to look further but saw the owners of the property were coming on an ATV so he quickly found his way back up out of the valley.
Saturday night arrived and Sam was too afraid to go back out and see if there was another fight. He stayed home by himself and ordered a pizza and called it a night right after the fireworks. He listened to hear if he could maybe pickup a yelp or a roar, but he heard nothing.
Sunday night arrived and Sam decided he was going back out to see if there was another battle. If he was correct that these animals had chosen to battle on the nights of the fireworks, this would be his last chance to see a battle.
He arrived early and got a great spot to view across the valley. All he had to do was to wait for the darkness to arrive. Soon the day’s heat was replaced with a cool breeze that carried the scent of the river with it. He also took note of the sweet odor of the various native flowers expressing their delight in another summer of blooming and seed making before the unforgiving heat of August came through and put an end to any further life in the form of flowers or anything green for that matter. August promised only dry, brittle and finally dust. This was their time to shine.
The cool breeze had a dark side to it and it began to show itself in ever increasing amounts as the day gave way to dusk. Then as purple faded to black came the sound of the first of what was to be the mother of all firework displays. All across the United States the various cities, counties, and communities all gave their most to provide the two hundredth birthday of a lifetime to a country which had not yet become so divided, so riddled with covid, west nile, and a host of other yet birthed diseases and sicknesses.
As the darkness danced its way in while ushering the light out there came a sound of thunder in the distance. Or possible thunder. It could have been the first explosion of the night, signalling the kickoff of the greatest display of fireworks across the great country to ever happen. Then came a change in the wind direction followed by it increasing in strength. Sam could smell the rain coming.
Meantime it became apparent that those in charge of the fireworks had got the message about the weather possibly changing because suddenly there were fireworks going off at what seemed like record speeds. Sam watched the valley for any action but nothing was moving around. He decided perhaps the fireworks were being shot off at too fast a pace.
The barrage of fireworks continued for about half an hour, all the while the threat of rain was standing just on the edge of town but so far it had not seemed to move forward. Then when the finale was done, and the sky was finally allowed to return to the blackness, there came a flash of lightening on the horizon.
The flash of lightening revealed large bodies, three of them, were climbing up over the river bank. Sam looked across the way, to the opposite side of the field from where the three characters were coming. He saw what appeared to be five in that group. They were starting to split up and go in different paths, most likely thinking to flank their opposition which was still coming at them, not showing any sign of offensive action.
Then he heard some twigs breaking behind his position. It sounded like there were more than one, of which side he didn’t know. The crunching of their walking seemed to be getting dangerously close. There was no choice, they were nearly on top of him and it was so dark he had to get his night vision on to see what was coming after him.
Just as he got the night vision on his head and then turned on, he was hit with a bright light that nearly caused him to black out, it was such a severe shock. Immediately he yanked the night vision off his head, desperate to see what had found his hiding spot and that was surely about to eat him since he could not see at all. He was completely blinded and helpless. Then he heard English being spoke and his fight or flight system began to shut down. A few more seconds passed and his sight slowly started to come back. He was at least now able to see the lights from the flashlights that were being flashed around him.
A couple more seconds passed and his hearing started to work again. He could make out that he was busted by the local cops who had been called when someone had seen him coming down into the valley before the fireworks were shot off. Apparently the LEOs had not chosen to check out his particular circumstance until after they had addressed all the other nickel and dime calls or reports made. Everybody knew the situation concerning the valley owners and the kids, so there was no immanent circumstance there. They would get to him when they got around to it and it proved to be a correct guess.
What the local law didn’t know was what they broke up by busting Sam. As soon as the flashlights came on and the sound of men stumbling their way through nature, the two nocturnal apex predators evacuated the area like they were water being held back by fishnet stockings.
Sam didn’t go to jail that night, it was too big of a holiday to be punishing hometown kids for trespassing through a valley that shouldn’t have been privately owned in the first place.
There will be future summer nights for Sam to get his curiosity satisfied.