Day 2
Moonoo was starting to enjoy his new job.
Yesterday's orientation came and went in the blink of an eye. He hadn't even remembered all too much about what Aurora had covered, except for the promise that 'she'd cover the technical stuff when it came to it', whatever that meant. But for now all he had to do, was take orders from the soft-spoken supervisor. Stuff like keeping records, cleaning the windmill and reporting data from simple weather instruments.
He had completed his chores in the first hour of the morning, leaving Moonoo to stew inside of his oven-like lookout. It wasn't any better outside on the balcony either. His feet were kicked up on his wooden desk and the chair reclined at a diagonal angle while he fanned himself with a forest pamphlet. He felt slightly crabby that he couldn't close the curtains that were attached to the far-ends of the large glass windows. Doing so would miss the whole point of his job.
Still, at least his room was nice, he thought. It was sparsely decorated, but the necessities were there. There was the circular table- the Osborne Firefinder in the middle, as well as a creaky bed, wooden table and a row of cabinets lining both the bottom wall opposite the door. Built in to one of the cabinets was a sink, but the water didn't turn on. In the corner next to the desk was also a steel fireplace, designed so that two pans can be placed on top of it for cooking, as well as a gas stove and oven next to that. Although the gas didn't seem to work either.
There was one thing missing however.
Moonoo leaned forward, extended his arm and swiped the walkie from the desk, and went back to leaning on the chair. He held it to his mouth and pressed the button on the side.
"Thoroughfare, you there?"
"Yeah I'm here," she returned, almost immediately.
"How do I shower?," he asked, fanning even harder. The sweat stuck to his skin like saran wrap.
"Annoyingly, the U.S Forest Service reduced our operating budget by 30 percent...," she began. "...and part of that budget included water systems."
"So..."
"So...you have to use the lake."
He almost fell out of his chair. "What?! That's four miles away!"
"Sorry. I don't make the final decision around here."
"Unbelievable. I might quit right now."
"Well, look on the bright side," she said, trying not to show her smile through her voice. "You're gonna sweat anyways and it's nice and cool in the lake."
"And what about you?," he replied. "It's even further away for you."
"Umm..."
"Come on..."
"Ah, the perks of being a long, standing employee of the Forest Service!"
"Seriously? You get a shower?"
Moonoo heard a loud crunch over the radio. It sounded like she was on her lunch break, by the sound of things. "Mhmm. If you really want one, you can head out now."
"What about my duties and stuff?"
"Well, your last for today would be clearing out the brush from the helipad near Mule Point. I was gonna have you do that in the afternoon when it's a bit cooler but..."
"I've got nothing better to do."
"Suit yourself."
He packed his hiking bag with a spare change of clothes, a towel, a bottle and some soap, before walking down his tower. The grass clearing that his summer home was planted on had grown quite a bit, almost up to his knees, but there was a dirt trail in front of him that forked in two diagonal directions. He took the one directly in front of him, the one that went downwards into the rocks, towards Thunder Canyon.
All was quiet, except for the constant chirping of cicadas and the howling of the wind as he hiked down and up and down through the rocky canyon. Down there, he saw a rope that coming down from the top of the canyon- it must've been the way out and into Mule Point, he thought. He climbed it. Turning around, he could now see both his lookout tower as well as the lake. But he didn't stop to savor the view for longer than he had to. It was boiling hot, after all, and he had a job to do. He hiked further into Mule Point, a slightly taller forest than all the rest, with his mind in the clouds. Until a voice on the radio brought him back.
"It says here you were a piano teacher?," she breathed, almost like she was talking to herself.
"Yeah."
"Wow. What uh...made you come all the way out here?"
"Just needed a change of pace."
"Oh. Yeah, I get it. I come out here all the time. Even during the winters. It's peaceful, right?"
"Definitely. But exhausting."
"Ha, I remember when I first got the job I-" She paused. "Sorry, I've got a call coming in."
"Sure."
"...uh huh...Mule Point? Well that's convenient. Roger that. I'll have him check it out."
"What's going on?," Moonoo asked.
She sighed. "There's a man injured near Mule Point. I don't know where. Where are you?"
"Mule Point."
"I need you to hike around and find him, okay?"
He looked around. It seemed impossible.
"How exactly am I gonna do that?," he said, exasperated. "There's three trails in front of me, each going in different directions."
"Just pick one and look around," she replied. "I'm gonna see if I can get any more details. Some landmarks or anything like that okay? Hold tight."
"Got it."
He clipped the walkie onto the strap of his backpack and continued moving forward. It was the widest dirt trail he could see, and it lead deeper into the center of the landmark. Which he thought, would make it easier to spot the injured hiker. But despite him looking around and calling out every now and again, the forest was still as indifferent as ever. Like he never showed up in the first place. He radioed Aurora, letting her know that he was heading back to one of the other two trails, so that he could circle around the landmark.
"Roger that. Make it quick though, it's gonna get dark soon," she warned.
Moonoo's eyes widened. "Wait...I think I hear something."
"What is it?"
He was frozen. "Whatever it is...it's not natural." He made a beeline towards the high pitch noise, which got louder the deeper into the trail he went. He could hear it clearly. "It's a whistle."
"Go."
The trail led him to a steep rocky hillside, the kind with tree roots sprouting off the walls. It looked like a dried up waterfall. And at the bottom of it, a rock bed creek, he could see the colors of his shirt. His heart sank with each frantic step towards the injured man. Because there was blood. Not just any blood, too much blood, staining the entirety of his left leg and his hands and arms.
"Sir? Sir?! Are you alright?!," he called. "Aurora, I found him."
"What happened? Where are you?," she replied.
He flattened the brush that was blocking his view and scrambled down on a knee next to him. "Oh fuck!," Moonoo screamed with horror. Now he understood why there was so much blood. Because caught in his left leg, was a large iron bear trap.
"Hey...are you okay?," Aurora asked slowly.
He hadn't realized it, but his hands were gripping the blood stained walkie-talkie as if he were trying to crush it. "Yeah," he sighed. "Just a little shaken up."
"I'm sorry you had to see that," she mumbled.
"Don't be," he sighed.
"I should've asked what his injury was. It's always a twisted ankle so I- God...I'm sorry. I just didn't expect..."
"...a...bear trap...?"
"Yeah. A bear trap."
He walked up the stairs of his lookout. His hands were still covered in blood. When he got to the balcony, he stopped and stared at the one place in the forest that had light. And he felt her watching him too.
"I can't believe someone would do this," she strained. "I worry about bears and fires and now I gotta worry about...about people planting bear traps in the middle of trails?"
"What now? We don't know if there's more traps out there."
She let out a long sigh. "That's the thing." But it didn't seem like she wanted to talk about it. "I need you to feel safe out here, Moonoo."
She continued.
"Your safety, hikers, the other lookouts...it's all on me."
"Don't worry about it."
"Maybe you can protect yourself. But if you end up getting injured or worse...it's my fault."
Moonoo lingered outside long after the lights in his bosses tower went out. "Get some sleep," she whispered. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Goodnight," he breathed. "See you tomorrow."