“Okay, bitch, can you admit that this is so much better than running around the woods catching some stanky Bigfoot?” asked Melissa.

“Who you calling a ‘bitch,’ bitch?” joked Grace, before letting out a moan. The man was working her. He was working her hard. He was doing things to her body she didn’t think were possible. He was showing her brand news worlds of physical sensation, the likes she’d never felt before. After this, Grace would be a changed woman, a new woman.

“There you go, miss,” said the sixty-year-old man, who was stronger than he looked. “Your Swedish massage is done.”

“Thanks a ton, Gene!” said Grace.

Melissa got up and stretched with Grace.

“See? Nothing like a nice massage, with that view, to help you get into the Camp Bear Buns swing of things,” said Melissa, pointing a thumb over her shoulders. “Thanks for the massage, Mary! You and Gene are the cutest couple here.”

“Well, me and Gene...and Mike, the mask guy, and Jean, the one on foot massages,” said Mary shyly.

“And me!” shouted an old man, who was handling pedicures.

“I was getting to you, Larry,” said Mary. “I swear, this ménage...sometimes, I don’t know if it keeps me young or it’s aged me twenty years!”

Melissa giggled. “I know what you mean.”

Melissa and Grace slipped on their flip-flops and walked to the beach, where the guests were playing in the water with the bear shifters, who were all wearing swimsuits, custom made by the team back at Bear Buns.

“I can’t believe it,” said Grace.

“Can’t believe what?” asked Melissa.

“That everything’s so calm,” said Grace. “I was expecting...I don’t know.”

“Rioting? Looting? Absolute panda-monium? A post-apocalyptic society where we, as two of the only twenty women left in the world, have to keep reverse harems in order to keep the peace and perhaps, just perhaps, build a better future for our children?” asked Melissa.

“Well, basically,” said Grace. “They handled the news that Bigfoot is real, and stalking our camp, really, really well.”

“Maybe five people believed me,” said Melissa with a shrug. “Luckily, nobody wants to leave their cabins or the houses anyway. The staff is too pooped at the end of the day, and, well, we planned a ton of fun activities for the ladies. They have all the comforts of home here...and all the comforts you can’t find at home and can only find at Bear Buns.”

Melissa and Grace took off their cover-ups and hung them up on a tree. They waded into the water, which was very cold. The beach was clean and clear of debris. There weren’t any slimy things living around the beach. It was like a manmade beach at a waterpark.

“I have to admit, I was expecting more pond scum,” said Grace, running her hands through the water. She and Melissa had waded about twenty feet from shore. The water was pretty shallow.

“Cannonball!” shouted a voice.

Grace and Melissa turned. A giant frikkin’ Himalayan brown bear was barreling toward them, through the air. They didn’t have time to move, but apparently, the bear had great aim, as it landed about five feet away from them and sprayed them with water.

Grace tried blinking the water out of her eyes. By the time she was done wiping her eyes with her hands, the bear had already turned back into a human man.

“Chad, you jerk,” said Melissa, splashing her lover with water. “You got me soaking wet!”

“Sorry, babe, but, that’s a hazard of swimming in a lake with two bear shifters,” said Barrett, swimming over to Melissa and Chad.

Sensing that the trio wanted to have some fun time alone, Grace swam around on her own. She watched the guests have fun with beach balls and other swim toys. They looked happy, thrilled. How could they be so glad when danger lurked in the woods?

And, apparently, also lurked in the lake.

Something grabbed Grace from behind, its four slimy tentacles wrapping around her waist and carrying her up into the air. It was going to pull her down into the water, to drown her, to make her into its meal!

Grace screamed, and everyone looked...and started to laugh.

Grace frowned. She turned.

“Are you two frikkin’ serious?” said Grace in a high-pitched voice. Apollo and Surya had both wrapped their arms around her, Apollo standing behind Surya, Apollo’s chest to Surya’s back, Surya’s chest to Grace’s back.

“Gotcha,” said Surya.

“That wasn’t funny,” said Grace, crossing her arms.

“Okay, you have to admit, it was a little funny,” said Apollo.

“No, it wasn’t!” squeaked Grace, her face turning bright red, and not from the sun. “I thought that the frikkin’ Kraken had come to eat me!”

“Babe, you know the Kraken’s not real, just Bigfoot,” said Apollo.

Before Grace could call them out for using the word ‘babe’ with her, someone shouted, “Let’s see those bear buns!”

“Those bare buns?” asked the spirit bears, slapping their asses.

“No, bear buns,” said another woman. “Let the fur fly!”

“Well, you heard the ladies,” said Apollo.

Apollo and Surya got on all fours.

“Oh, no,” said Grace, when she saw what they were wearing – brand new pairs of bright gold sequin swim trunks, meant for a pool-themed stage show, not for swimming. “No, no, no, you two, that fabric –”

Before she could finish her sentence, Apollo and Surya shifted, breaking their swimsuits into smithereens. Where once, there were men, now, there were sun bears, and they were bare naked.

“Are you frikkin’ serious?” shouted Grace, grabbing every scrap of the fabric she could grab. “Not only do you two destroy my costumes, you pollute the lake?”

“Here!” shouted Christiana, waving a tool in the air. It was a big butterfly net.

“Really? We have a net for this?” asked Grace. “I guess that makes sense.”

“Melissa thought of everything,” said Christiana, swimming over to Grace to give her the net. “Except...I guess Melissa forgot to pack the Bigfoot repellant.”

“Ha-ha, really funny,” said Grace, taking the tool and running it through the water to collect all the broken swimsuit bits before they floated away into the depths of the lake.

“It was supposed to be funny – it was a joke,” Christiana sassed back. “For what it’s worth – I believe you.”

“You do?” asked Christiana.

“Every other pair of bears was accounted for, except the yeti bears,” said Christiana. “I think they’ve been pranking you.”

“What do you mean?” asked Grace. “Why would they do that?”

“I don’t know, but it would make sense,” said Christiana. “They were the only bears that were gone when we saw that Bigfoot. The mountain and moon bears were the ones that spooked the ladies. I knew where my glaciers were. The spirit bears and the sun bears were hanging with the ladies. That only leaves one set of culprits – the yeti bears.”

“Why would they do that, though?” asked Grace. “What’s the motive?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” asked Christiana. “Look, I’m a chef, and I can tell what those two are cooking up. They’re trying to claim you as their mate. That has to be it. That’s the only reason any bears would go to this much trouble, buying an obviously fake Bigfoot suit to get the attention of one BBW, bringing it out here, trampling about.”

“But there’s only one Bigfoot, and there’re two yeti bears,” said Grace. “There’s a lot of holes in this theory. Plus, I swore I saw them at the campfire. I guess I could’ve miscounted the bears…”

“Look, don’t shoot the messenger,” said Christiana. “This is just my theory.”

“It sounds like one of those online conspiracy theory videos,” said Grace, crossing her arms. “But...at least you believe me, right?”

“I believe you believe you saw a monster,” said Christiana.

“Well, that’s something,” admitted Grace.

Two nude men came up to Christiana and Grace. Christiana swam back to where the action was happening – a Bear Buns wet t-shirt contest featuring the ladies against the gents. Two bears were missing – the ones that had swum up to Grace.

“Hey,” said Surya. “Are you really mad about...”

“Yeah,” said Grace, crossing her arms. “You two have no idea how hard it is for me to not only design costumes, but, manage a team of tailors, handle inventory, and get everything laundered. With you two, at least I don’t have to worry about the laundry part because you break everything before it can get washed.”

“What’s the difference between that and what happened last night, when Surya shifted by the campfire, to catch the monster?” asked Apollo.

“Necessity,” said Grace. “Time was of the essence.”

“The ladies expect a show,” said Apollo.

“There’s a time and place for busting through your costumes,” said Grace. “In the middle of a lake? Not that time. How come nobody else shifted through their costumes? Self-control.”

“It’s just –” started Surya, but Apollo put a hand on his shoulder, and Surya stopped.

“What?” asked Grace, crossing her arms.

“We’ll try to be better,” said Surya.

“Don’t try,” said Grace. “Just be better.”

“Look, that’s not the real reason we came up to you, so if we can move on to that, that’d be great,” said Apollo. “Remember our plan? For tonight?”

“Right,” said Grace. “I actually forgot. Do we have a plan?”

“After dinner, act normal. Say you need to go back to your cabin to do inventory or something. The two of us are going to pretend we’re sick,” said Apollo. “Thirty minutes later, we’re going to meet up by the campfire. From there, we’ll go out and stalk the beast. We’re going to hunt the hunter.”

“Oh, and, uh, we left a bag in your room,” said Surya. “It’s got hunting supplies.”

“What, like a gun?” asked Grace. “I’m a good shot.”

“Well, we don’t exactly have a Bigfoot hunting permit, so no,” said Apollo.

“We got you some tactical clothing and night-vision goggles at the store this morning,” said Surya. “Get changed into that tonight.”

“Boys! You’re missing the action!” called one of the guests.

“Duty calls,” said Apollo, and he and Surya swam off.

“Are you sure you have to do it?” asked Melissa. “Can’t it wait?”

“I don’t want to let myself get behind on it,” said Grace. “After all, with all the costumes the sun bears have been tearing up, I really need to make sure the inventory sheet is up to date.”

For once, their bad habit has actually been a blessing, thought Grace. I guess Fate does work in weird ways.

“Oh, okay,” said Melissa. “Well, we’ll miss you, but...if you have to work, you have to work.”

“Have fun playing strip poker!” said Grace, heading outside and going back to her cabin.

Grace got changed into the clothes in the bag. There was a pair of camouflage cargo pants, a teeny but powerful flashlight, a black long-sleeve shirt, and a pair of hiking socks, along with instructions to wear her sneakers, use the flashlight in short bursts instead of using her lantern, and to pack her phone in case she got lost. She only grabbed the most basic tools in the bag because she decided that, once she talked to the bears, they could come back to her cabin and she could get whatever other tools they thought were really necessary. Night vision goggles seemed a little…excessive.

Grace walked out of the cabin and toward the campfire, staying out of the line of sight of the people inside the cabins and houses. She was walking up to the campfire pit itself, where she was supposed to meet Apollo and Surya when she heard a rustling.

“You can go out without me,” said Apollo from the bathroom. “I...am going to need a minute.”

“That’s nasty, bro,” said Surya. “I can’t believe people think you’re the cool one.”

“Talking to me won’t make it happen any faster,” said Apollo. “Just go.”

“You just ‘go,’” muttered Surya.

Surya disrobed entirely and headed out. He got on the ground and shifted. He stayed in the shadows as he walked toward the campfire.

Surya got to the campfire. Grace wasn’t there yet. He scented that she’d been there recently, as in minutes ago recently. He sniffed out her trail. Had she gone into the house, abandoning their hunt? No. The scent led into the woods.

Surya looked toward his cabin and then toward the woods. Apollo could take care of himself. He had to go after Grace. If she had gone into the woods, something had gone terribly wrong.

“What was in last night’s dinner?” Apollo said aloud. “When did I have corn?”

Apollo went to the bedroom and changed into his tactical outfit. He was the one who’d be escorting Grace that night, in his human form. His heart pounded. He hoped she hadn’t been waiting too long. At least she was with Surya.

Apollo grabbed his hunting kit and went outside, sneaking over to the campfire pit...which was entirely empty.

“Great,” said Apollo. “Just my luck.”

Apollo scented the air. He could smell Grace and Surya. He followed their scent...but then, the scent diverged after about twenty feet.

“Are you kidding me?” said Apollo. “Fate, why? Why?”

Fated didn’t answer. Instead, Apollo heard a roar. Without taking off his backpack, Apollo shifted and ran. Given his luck that night, he was sure Grace had managed to get herself into some danger.

Grace was lost. That much was sure. She had used the tiny flashlight to light her way in bursts, but she just seemed to be walking in circles...well, in a loop that didn’t include the Bear Buns campsite.

“Why did I have to follow that frikkin’ sound?” said Grace. “I’m sure it was just a rabbit or something.”

Grace reached into her cargo pocket to grab her phone. She’d had surprisingly good service in the woods.

Grace couldn’t find her phone. She went to another pocket and came up empty-handed. Grace broke out into a cold sweat.

“No, no, no!” said Grace. “Really? Really? It must’ve fallen out when I...reached for this frikkin’ flashlight.”

Grace wanted to chuck the dang flashlight into the woods but knew that was a dumb idea.

“Okay, Grace, you’re a smart, capable woman,” said Grace, giving herself a pep talk and swinging the flashlight around. “You just have to...”

That’s when Grace saw it, although it had already seen Grace.

“Oh, shit,” said Grace, and then, she clicked off the flashlight and broke off into a run.

Surya heard something running toward him. He sniffed. It was Grace. Surya broke off into a sprint, running to catch up to her, but then, Grace changed directions, and Surya lost her.

Grace had heard the beast chase after her. She wove in and out of the trees running from the lumbering monster.

Apollo couldn’t scent out Grace or Surya. He did scent out something else. It was an unfamiliar scent. It wasn’t like anything he’d ever smelled in the woods. He followed the smell. If he could stalk down the beast, he could find Grace.

Apollo stalked through the night. That’s when he finally saw it, up close – the beast. The beast took one look at Apollo and ran.

Apollo took chase, but then, he heard a scream – a woman’s scream. He looked to the beast, and then, in the direction of the scream. The sun bear knew what he had to do.

“Calm down,” said Surya. “It’s me, Grace. It’s Surya.”

“Surya? You were the one chasing after me?” asked Grace, peeking out from behind the boulder where she was hidden, where Surya was standing in the moonlight, buck naked. “I thought it was that frikkin’ Bigfoot!”

“That...makes a lot of sense,” admitted Surya.

“Hey!” shouted a voice. “Grace? Is that you?”

“Ah, shit,” cursed Surya.

Two bears lumbered toward them – big, brown bears, big mountain bears. Where there were mountain bears, there was Melissa, and behind them, with a giant flashlight, was Melissa.

“What did I fucking say about these woods?” asked Melissa, as her bears shifted back into men.

“I think you said that it was off limits,” said Chad, one of Melissa’s lovers.

“That nobody, and you were clear, nobody, should go into those woods,” said Barrett, Melissa’s other lover.

“That’s right,” said Melissa. “I see you two managed to lose Apollo.”

“We, uh...only just met up,” admitted Grace.

Another bear came into the clearing – a sun bear. The bear shifted, and in the animal’s place, Apollo appeared.

“My ears were burning,” said Apollo.

“That’s because you don’t wash them,” sassed Melissa. “You three not only went into the woods, but you went in alone?”

“You three are here,” said Apollo.

“Because you three were missing,” said Melissa. “Grace, you’re lucky I wanted to talk to you about that wine glass activity you had planned. I went to your cabin. It was empty. I tried calling you, and you didn’t answer. When we came out into the woods to look for you, I gave you another call, and we heard your phone ring. That’s how we caught your scent. We heard a scream, and well, I guess that’s what brought everyone here.”

“I saw it,” said Apollo. “I saw the beast. The Bigfoot. It’s real.”

“I saw it too,” said Grace. “Wait. You weren’t anywhere near me, were you, Apollo?”

“No,” said Apollo. “This is the closest I’ve been to you tonight.”

“I guess the monster travels fast,” said Melissa. “You three are lucky nobody got hurt. I’m letting you off with a warning this time.”

“Melissa, we have to catch the beast,” said Grace. “What if...well, what if we all worked together to catch it?”

“You’re really pushing your luck, Grace,” said Melissa. “Unfortunately, against my better judgment, I want to hear this plan out, but not out here. Let’s head back to camp. At this rate, the mosquitos will eat us alive before Bigfoot can even drag us back to his cave.”