B is for Things That Go Bump In The Night

"Ouch, that was my knee you big baboon," Betsy cried. The darkness was so dark that even if she held her hand in front of her face, she would not have seen it.
 
"Sorry, but I can't see anything," Ben said nervously. If he had rolled his eyes, no one would know.

"Where's my cell phone?" she complained.

"What the heck, we need a flashlight, not a cell phone." Ben stumbled into the tree that they had been sleeping under. "Where did the moon go?"

"It must be a new moon tonight," Betsy said.

"Great, that's a lot of help."

They both had fallen asleep under a big pine tree after a huge picnic. The sun had set hours earlier.

Betsy continued to search the blanket for her cell phone which would make a bright flashlight, and Ben began to gather their things by feeling for the basket where he had placed his keys. His knee landed on something hard, when a light blinded them both.

"There it is," she sighed. "Thanks for finding it."

"No problem," he said, rubbing his knee.

A low rumble sounded into the night.

"Stop growling, Ben. You sound like an ole bear."

"That wasn't me," Ben said warily.

Betsy clicked the flashlight icon on her phone and it whistled into a bright light. The brightness sliced the darkness like a knife. After her eyes adjusted, she slowly moved the light around the area they stood, searching the blackness where the sound had resonated from.

Betsy caught a of flash of movement as the light scanned the trees. A cracking sound like broken branches crunching under a very heavy foot echoed into the night.

"What was that?"

"Forget the blanket and basket, we'll come back for it tomorrow. We need to get out of here, like NOW," Ben whispered.

They headed in the direction of their car, when they both ran smack into the path of a big, black bear. It startled the bear as much as it had Ben and Betsy. The bear stood tall, and growled into the night, then turned and ran as fast as he could.

Betsy and Ben froze, slowly exhaled, and then took off running. By the time they'd reached the car, neither of them could utter a single word for lack of oxygen. Ben, luckily, had retrieved his keys from the basket before they ran. Because he was not going back into the woods with that huge black bear nearby.

"That was a close call," Ben sighed.

Betsy nodded.

Safe in their car, they drove in silence until they reached Burger King, and shared a big coke.

***

Had fun writing this story stocked full of b-words.  I counted 48 (some duplicates, but still 48) b-words.