It was the night of September 27th just south of South Arm Rd. in Maine. Six Appalachian Trail thru-hikers, Magnet, Mickey, Mallory, Blackfoot, Burnie, and Flava Flav were camped out along the banks of Black Brook. Sitting around the fire, the hikers heard a car stop along the nearby road. Then, slamming car doors.
Soon, in a ominous redneck accent, "Hey Earl! Come quick! We got us some hikers here! Get out the something something and something like that...." (If anyone remembers more please let me know)
Some of the hikers considered running, all wore concerned expressions. There was no time to flee, before the hikers could react two intruders had already appeared on the short side trail to the campsite. It did not take long for the hikers to realize that two fellow hikers, Wideload and Butterfingers, were playing a prank on them. They were out using the truck from "The Cabin," a hostel in nearby Andover. Wideload and Butterfingers came bearing gifts as consolation for their behavior. Mmm... Hamburgers and beer. Little did the hikers know, it was the last they would see their good friends, until Monson that is. It was only the first of the intrusions that night.
Sitting around the campfire drinking their beers and butter shots, the hikers listened to Magnet tell a scary story. Flava had gone to hide in her tent before the story and Burnie wished she had. It was after dark, way after "hikers' midnight," so everyone decided to retire for the night. In a half dream state, Magnet stirred. Flava was saying something.
"Must be talking in her sleep," Magnet thought, not fully awake. It took a few seconds for his sleeping brain to process the information. What was it she said?
"'Hey Magnet! Magnet! Are you awake?' Is that what she said?" Magnet wondered. He mumbled a positive response.
"There's a MOOSE outside my tent!!" exclaimed Flava.
"HUH?" Magnet replied in bewilderment.
Again, "There is a BULL Moose sniffing my tent!!! What should I do?!? I can see the silloette of his rack on my tent!" It was a full moon and the shadow of the bull's rack showed clearly on Flava's tent wall.
Before Magnet could reply, the moose had run off into the woods in fear of Flava's voice.
"Wow!" Magnet said, then, "Great..... One night we're gonna be trampled to death in Maine...." "We're never gonna make it...." , he sighed. It was not a very reassuring responce, though he was genuinely concerned.
Some time passed and Magnet was once again drifting off to sleep. Flava was up reading one of her romance novels. In the same half dream state he had been roused from ealier, Magnet heard some noises near the brook. They did not phase him at first. A short time passed before Magnet's semi-concious brain placed the sounds. They were the same sounds he had heard but not registered before Flava's cries had woken him earlier that night. It was the sound of something big sloshing through water several feet deep.
"Great... That's not another moose is it?" whispered Magnet in the direction of Flava's tent.
A timid reply came from her tent, "I think so, what do we do now??"
"Uhhh.... I have no idea, what do YOU think we should do?" Magnet whispered back uncertainly.
"I don't know. Do you think we should yell at it?"
"Hmm.. maybe..." Then, "Wait, I want to sneak out and get look at it!" Magnet figured he may as well see a moose before he got trampled to death by one.
It turns out that the brooks in Maine also serve as highways for moose. By now the moose was quite near, about 10 or 15 feet. It was about to take the exit from the brook that led right up to Magnet's tent. Magnet tried his best to unzip his tent door quietly as not to disturb the moose. But alas the moose detected him and went charging through the the brook. From upstream came a cry. It was Burnie. She had been sleeping only a few feet from the river's bank. The moose had decided to head for land and was on a collision course with her tent, her tent that she was inside. The moose got spooked and took back to the water. Everyone but Blackfoot listened to it run upstream for what seemed to be a very long time. Eventually it took to land and could be heard crashing through the woods. Blackfoot slept through everything.
"We really are going to get trampled before the end of this trip aren't we... Hmm..." Magnet said, then he went back to sleep.
More late night moose encounters were had after that night, though none were ever seen. Magnet slept through these following encounters and no one ever got trampled.