FREE PREVIEW of "We Play Hide & Seek (But Make It Westcoast Wild)" (Episode 8, Partners series - Big Bear)

Transcript

As you listen to this audio roleplay, I invite you to use headphones and imagine yourself as the main character of this story. Okay so according to the park trail map, the turn off to the ocean should be just up ahead. Yeah the guide was saying that this area has the calmest and warmest waters of the Canadian West Coast.

It should be an amazing swim. Yeah it's in a little bay further inside the channel. Apparently it's a bit of a scramble down to the ocean from the cliffside trail, but well worth the effort for a private beach on the Pacific Ocean.

Wow bear! These are some of the most breathtaking trails I have ever hiked. The Pacific North Coast is like no other place I have ever seen.

Lush old growth rainforest, temperamental sea. There's a wildness and an aliveness to this place that feels incredibly primal and tremendously powerful. Mother Nature is definitely the dominatrix of this place.

Oh oh hey here's the turn off to the beach. Oh wow check out the view from here. You can see the whole bay contained so perfectly down there.

It's like a little seaside playground. Look at all those streams and tidal pools, all the driftwood and rocks, all the nooks and crannies to hide in and make out in. What's that? Do I want to play? Bear, what do you mean? Hide and seek? Uh-huh, but make it West Coast wild? Okay oh oh you're gonna bring out your growly black bear? Well then okay yes uh-huh yeah for sure whatever you're about to propose yes yes I'm in.

Okay so I hide and you seek that's pretty standard I can do that oh but if you find me the stakes are a little higher than in typical hide and seek? How is that? Oh my, if you catch me you will tackle me and take one item of clothing off of me, huh? And then you'll give me one minute to hide again and then you'll chase me and track me and take another piece of clothing off of me.

Oh my god, well like what if other people end up coming down here? Oh shit, then I better get good at hiding. And what happens if you manage to take all of my clothes? Oh oh then you'll have your way with me? Well fuck, right right, fucking is the overall goal.

Uh yeah yeah that sounds like fun but um I think you're underestimating my ability to hide. I don't think you're gonna reach your goal. I'm an introvert at heart you know I know how to hide.

What? Are you mocking my stealth or hyping up your own tracking abilities? Well I think I can blend into my surroundings much better than you realize.

Why are you laughing so hard? Oh oh oh yeah my my hoodie is very bright but here there you go if I take it off I'm dressed in mostly black so there you have no chance of finding me. Why are you still laughing at me? Oh my god, yes I did just hand over the first item of clothing to you without even having to try.

I'm screwed aren't I? Again yes that's the overall goal. Okay then uh what are the rules? Okay right right so I can hide anywhere along the beach bay down there but not in the forest or along the trail so just in the rocky and sandy areas so basically I have to stay out in the open right right but use whatever natural elements are there to shield myself and blend in and avoid you catching me.

Huh starting right now you're giving me a five minute head start to go down the trail and hide? You really think I need five minutes? You have that little faith in my disappearing magic act? Well then I'm just glad I have a book in my backpack because I'm thinking it's gonna be a long afternoon all on my lonesome in my perfect hiding spot wearing all of my current clothing.

Oh yeah clock's ticking eh? All right all right well baby I guess I'll see you later tonight then bye. Oh my god bear's gonna win this game so fucking fast I don't stand a chance out in the open on a beach and how many pieces of clothing am I wearing anyway does my backpack count?

And what's bear gonna do to me to uh get my clothes off and what's bear gonna do to me once my clothes are all off? Oh fuck this is hot but oh my god potentially really fucking embarrassing yeah I don't know what would be more humiliating for bear to catch me super easily and strip me within seconds or for others walking by the viewpoint to catch me butt naked and report me for public indecency. But oh my god so hot I hope bear pounces on me and holds me down and ravages me oh fuck okay okay focus all right I gotta watch what I'm doing here or a bear will find me face planted on the trail and will mock me so bad for choosing such a terrible hiding place.

All right okay okay okay here we are all right I'm at the beach now let's scan real quick. Okay the trailhead comes out on the left end of the beach over here and with this side of the bay forested we can't even see most of the trail from the beach except where the path comes out here okay all right we've got tall grassy patches and some overhanging trees around here but I think bear might be able to see this spot from the trail on the way down yeah I'm not gonna chance it but you know what I can hide my backpack here wedged in behind this tree right there I'm sure I've got some good items in there that will come in handy later and I don't want bear to take it first. Okay backpack hidden now time to hide myself.

Okay the rest of the crescent wall containing this beach bay is a mass of giant unclimbable rocks that have tumbled from the cliff I just hiked down from. There's a few large boulders in the center of the beach with moss and ferns and new trees growing atop of it. There's some huge old driftwood logs by the sand and there's a kind of ditch over there by the stream and it seems to go around a bend over there and up to a couple of caves in the cliffside a little bit over there.

Jeez those are all prime spots for hornets nests and crabs and maybe even a real fucking bear. And I'm gonna be full-on naked faster than bear can say gotcha. And anyway I feel like all of these spots are obvious and bear's gonna go straight for those.

Okay I feel like my best bet is keeping my eye on bear and then just continuously moving to avoid them. So uh despite boasting about me kicking back and reading my book while I hide I think I will actually play to my strengths and keep dancing around. All right over here behind this one huge boulder in the middle of the beach and I'll stay on the ocean side of it and I'll keep a lookout on the trail end where bear will arrive out of the forest.

Yeah okay okay this is great I can see really well from here and then I can move around the boulder in the opposite direction of wherever bear decides to explore first. All right all right so I'll just wait right here and I wish I could see more of the trail. They're not up on the viewpoint so I know they must be on the trail by now.

Nope no sign of them yet. Man it's kind of been over five minutes by now. Bear should be down the trail by now.

Damn what's going on? I hope bear's not hurt or something. Shit where's that bear strategy? Make me worry and come find them.

Fuck. Or maybe they're just inside the trailways and totally spying on the beach right now and I don't even know it. Oh fuck.

Oh my god where are you bear? What the fuck? How in the hell did you do that? Predator's prerogative.

It's for you to know and for me to have no way to find out. Oh holy shit. Oh my god what are you doing? That's what you're taking off first? You want to see me hauling ass as you chase after me? And you want this ass on display while I do it? What? I'm lucky you're allowing me to keep my hiking boots on a little longer.

Because once I can't run on rocks anymore I'm done for. Well we'll see about that. You may have got one surprise pounce in but I learn and adapt quickly.

Oh shit. Okay you're not looking right? How do I know you're not peeking through your hands? Okay yeah you go back up into that trail there and count for a whole minute before coming out again.

Uh-huh yeah you can't see anything from the trail right? Yeah I'm trusting you. I should never trust a bear.

All right.