Sarah Zismer crouched near her husband beside the San Gabriel River. She peered into her gold pan lit by the disappearing rays of the sun, then set it down on a nearby rock.
With the pandemic had come the loss of both their jobs and house. Now they had to survive in their cramped recreational vehicle. “Ken, after ten hours of grueling work, I only found a few specks.”
“Me too. What a disappointment. Well, at least we usually do better.”
Tears trickled down her cheeks. “We need to find more gold than what we’ve collected this month to make it worthwhile for our buyer to travel up the mountain.” She clenched her fists. “I hate our lives now.”
“Sarah, we’re still alive, and that’s what counts. When we both came down with Covid, we could have died like several of our friends did.”
She picked up a rock and threw it near a ground squirrel that had eaten a hole in her backpack to get into the peanuts inside. “Hey, leave my snack alone, you little thief.”
Ken laughed. “No dull moments around here. Never know what wildlife will show up.”
She shuddered. “Yeah, bears, mountain lions, and coyotes.” Her shoulders slumped. “I usually appreciate the way you look at the bright side of situations. But at times, your positive attitude annoys me.”
He put his gold pan down, picked up the bag of breadcrumbs beside him, and tossed a handful to three squawking stellar jays perched on a nearby pine branch.
They fluttered down and grabbed the tasty morsels.
She sniffled. “I miss our former home.”
“Me, too, but there are benefits living in our recreational vehicle in the mountains, such as not having to wear masks everywhere.”
“Who cares?”
“The air is clean compared to our old neighborhood. The views are breathtaking, and there are no more bills to worry about.”
“So what?” She pulled a tissue from her pocket and wiped perspiration from her forehead. “It’s too hot during the summer.”
“I know, darling, but every afternoon, a breeze comes up, providing relief from the heat of the day. And we’re closer as a married couple than we ever were before.”
Sarah paused to consider what he’d just said. It’s true they’d experienced an unusual intimacy without the distractions of daily life in the city with the demands of their employment. “Ken, you keep looking on the bright side of our disaster. It’s upsetting. Why don’t you just accept the reality of our situation?”
“Well, no more time spent on freeways driving to and from their work.”
Never mind that her migraines had disappeared from tight muscles she often experienced from all the stress she’d been under at her demanding administration position. She slept much better now. Working outside all day in the spectacular scenery did have its benefits, but she wasn’t about to admit anything positive to Ken. What would they do when winter came?
“Darling, please think of this as an adventure,” he said. “We’ve returned to the pioneer behavior of our ancestors, who crossed the country in covered wagons.” Ken wiped his perspiring brow. “After we eat dinner in our RV, let’s sleep in the tent tonight because it’s so warm.”
After eating, they climbed into the tent they’d set up days before and collapsed on top of their sleeping bags.
Sarah immediately fell asleep.
In the middle of the night, she felt what she assumed was Ken pushing her foot sideways—not just once, but again and again.
She awoke but didn’t open her eyes. “Stop pushing. You woke me up.”
“You’re imagining things. Go back to sleep.”
But the shoving continued.
“Please stop that.”
“I told you I’m not touching you.”
She opened her eyes. The full moon shining through an enormous hole revealed a black bear tugging on something under her sleeping bag.
She screamed. “There’s a bear in the tent!” She rolled as far away from it as possible.
With outstretched claws, he pulled a bag of pretzels from beneath her sleeping mat.
They yelled, “Get out of here!”
The pretzels between his jaws, the bear backed out through the hole he’d made and disappeared.
Sarah’s heart beat wildly. How dumb to have left food inside the tent. She breathed a sigh of relief. The dangerous animal could easily have harmed them but hadn’t.
She should enjoy what they had left and not spend too much time mourning what they’d lost.
Perhaps this would be one of the best chapters in their lives.
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