Letters From The Wild/After Brian's Hunt:

(Author's Note)

Hey everyone, Merry Christmas and happy holidays! I have no idea if anyone will ever read this, as Hatchet for some reason doesn't have a category of its own, but I hope you will enjoy this short collection of letters that Brian sent to Caleb(his counselor that he met in Brian's Return) depicting his life after the last book.

I, like many kids in America grew up reading the Hatchet series in school. It was by far my favorite. I have always loved this series so I decided to try to add my own ending for it. I tried my best to stick to/replicate the writing style of Gary Paulsen in this short story. I found it really difficult because of the differences in our writing styles, but I hope you all like it nonetheless. If this story gets positive feedback I might write another set of letters, though I might not. As I plan for this to be the ending. I guess it'll play by how this is received.

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Letters From The Wild/After Brian's Hunt:

Dear Caleb,

I killed a bear today. Not hunted it, or killed it in self defense, but killed it because I was angry. Because it became personal.

The bear killed David and Anne Smallhorn, the Cree family who I went to go meet when I left. Thankfully their two youngest children were away visiting relatives.

Their eldest daughter, Kay-gwa-daush, whose white name is Susan, was thankfully away from the camp collecting raspberries. Their three other dogs were not as lucky.

I found Kay-gwa-daush on the shore of the lake. After tracking the bear, a devil muckwa as Kay-gwa-daush called it, for several hours. I was relieved to see her unharmed.

I had began to care for her.

I think it started when I first saw her picture. She looked like an adventurous, self-reliant and kindred soul.

She did not know who I was at first as we had not met before, but after I introduced myself she calmed down and I helped her. I told her about her parents.

It was one of the hardest things I have ever done.

We traveled several hours back to the island together. I cleaned up David and Anne's bodies and buried them while she was asleep. When she awoke she called for help on their emergency radio phone.

Three men arrived, and four people left. Kay-gwa-daush left me her phone number and address, as she would be staying with her aunt and uncle in Winnipeg. I told her that we needed to talk again. That things needed to be said. I think that she understood me, I caught her smile as she left. We promised to meet again after I killed the bear.

I tracked the bear longer and further than I can remember, but I soon realized that it was hunting me. That it was trying to kill me like it had David and Anne Smallhorn. After being rushed by the bear I managed to stab it in the center of its chest with a broadhead. My left arm was useless, dislocated after a single bite and being thrown by the bear. As it dragged me back to it I impaled it with a second arrow in the stomach. The bear swatted my head, I landed on the ground, falling unconscious. Thinking that I would die.

I awoke later, the dog that I saved licking my face. I had killed the bear us I fell unconscious, the bear landing on the arrow. I realized that I had finally killed it after wishing it dead after so long.

It was uneventful. I felt no satisfaction upon learning that I had killed it. It was just a bear, not a devil, or a beast, but a bear. I skinned it in the dropping light, taking its meat to eat. Not wanting to waste any of it. In the morning I collected what I could of the bear, my few pieces of gear I had taken on the hunt, and the dog and gone back to the island where Kay-gwa-daush's parents were killed. Seeing the camp made me miss her even more.

I used the emergency radio phone to call people that connected me to the number she left me. I told her about the bear. How I killed it and was at her camp. She was grateful to hear that I was alright. Only my left arm had any sort of serious injury. She had the Canadian Mounties pick me up and fly me to Winnipeg where she was. I took a claw from the bear, wearing it as a necklace, leaving the rest of the animal when the plane picked me up.

I was uncomfortable being back in civilization again, but I was with her. It couldn't be too bad.

I told her about the beauty spot, she smiled. I smiled too.

I told her how I felt, she blushed and gave me a smile. She told me she thought I was a brave and handsome man.

I couldn't help but blush.

I decided to stay with her in Winnipeg for some time.

oooOooo

Dear Caleb,

I am in Winnipeg with Kay-gwa-daush. It has been more than a month since I have arrived and I have been welcomed by her family like I was one of their own.

I could get used to it here. The city is large, but we live close enough to the woods that I am able to walk in them whenever I like. Sometimes Kay-gwa-daush joins me.

I could get used to that as well.

oooOooo

Dear Caleb,

We left for the woods a month after that. Kay-gwa-daush and I. We both enjoy the woods too much to let it go completely. We traveled together in a canoe down the rivers of the North, sleeping next to each other at night on the sands of the riverbanks. Spending our time relaxing and reading Shakespeare aloud to the other.

It was wonderful.

I told her of my life. Everything I had seen and experienced in the woods. She did the same in return. We became very close. I told her that I cared for her one night under a glistening sea of stars. She called me a poet before kissing me.

I had never been more thankful for you teaching me about Shakespeare.

We traveled back to Winnipeg once the temperature began to drop, Kay-gwa-daush wishing to see her relatives and younger siblings during the winter season. We stayed in Winnipeg for the entire winter. Both Kay-gwa-daush's and I's birthdays passed. We spent both days together. Soon winter came and passed, allowing us to travel back to the woods.

oooOooo

Dear Caleb,

Kay-gwa-daush and I spent all spring and summer together in the North, always traveling together. Returning to Winnipeg every few months to visit her family. They greeted me warmly every time.

We made our way back to Winnipeg once the lakes started to ice over. We had been together for over a year when Kay-gwa-daush asked me to stay in Winnipeg with her. I did not know what to say. I wanted both. I chose to read some Shakespeare to help me think. Like you suggested. After reading several plays about young love I made my decision.

I would stay in Winnipeg with her.

She told me she was happy I stayed. I told her I was happy to be with her.

Winter came again, a long and cold one, unlike the previous year. We had both turned eighteen by the first week of spring. We decided that we would get our own place where we could live together. Close enough to Winnipeg to visit her family and for us to be able to reach the city if we needed help, but far enough away that we could see the stars at night.

I bought a large patch of land deep in the woods, just a few hours from Winnipeg. All of the money I had received for talking on TV about my fifty four days in the woods finally being put to use. Kay-gwa-daush and I started to build our cabin a week later. The land was cleared and the cabin was built before the start of summer. We moved in the next day. It was different than I expected. It did not feel like the woods or the city, but something in between. Something I couldn't explain. But whenever I saw Kay-gwa-daush sitting on the front deck knitting or carving when I came home from hunting I knew where I was.

I was home.

oooOooo

Dear Caleb,

It is winter again. Christmas. Though, by the time you'll receive this it would have already passed. Kay-gwa-daush and I decided to spend the holiday with her family in Winnipeg. The food, which was elk and wild turkey hunted the previous season, was delicious. I ate so much I felt my stomach bulge. We stayed with her family for the next month, where Kay-gwa-daush noticed a bulge in her stomach as well, though it was not from the food.

She was expecting.

It was a surprise, but a welcomed one nonetheless. We married in private a week later, only her family and the pastor present. I had never been happier in my life.

We traveled back to our cabin and began to prepare for the baby. I lined the walls with more insulation to keep Kay-gwa-daush and the unborn baby warm during the night. After that I started to build a crib, finishing it with her help. The end of winter and spring went by quickly. I spent each day working around the cabin getting ready for the baby. I built furniture for Kay-gwa-daush to sit on inside as she sewed and knitted clothes for the baby.

Before long it was about time for the baby to arrive. We traveled back to Winnipeg so that Kay-gwa-daush could have the baby in a hospital. We were both adamant about that. A week later she gave birth to a healthy, handsome baby boy. I had never been happier in my life when I walked into the delivery room and saw my wife holding the small bundle in her hands.

The nurse asked us his name.

We named him Caleb.

After staying in Winnipeg for a little over a month we headed back to our cabin and introduced Caleb to his new home. He didn't make any indication that he noticed, but I knew he loved it.

I want to thank you, Caleb. For writing to me as I tell you about my new life outside of Winnipeg. With my beautiful wife and handsome newborn son. I have included some pictures of Kay-gwa-daush and I with young Caleb. I know that you can not see them, but I hoped that you could have them put up on your wall or on your desk. It would mean a lot to the both of us. I have one last piece of news about our son, we talked about it and decided that we would love to have you be his godfather. We plan to travel back to the states once Caleb is old enough to fly comfortably. I can tell that you two would get along.

Thank you, Caleb. For helping me decide to travel back to the woods. I would not have met my wife nor had a son if you hadn't.

Until we see each other in person,

Brian and Kay-gwa-daush Robeson

P.S. Little Caleb says hello.

(Author's Note)

Thanks for reading if you made it to the end. I don't have anything to really say besides let me know what you thought of it. So I'll wrap it up here. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and happy holidays. I hope that you can all spend the time relaxing with friends and loved ones. If only for the day.

Thanks again for reading. I hope to see all of you again.

Hephaestus