 buy prints of select halfsquatch photographs at etsy or dawanda. (prints of all photographs are available upon request) |
day 47
The day after Rebecca left for Vancouver, the front-page headline of the Reporter screamed HALFSQUATCH HIDEOUT! The accompanying photo (bought from a wire service for a nominal fee) showed a blurry, black-clad figure walking into a non-descript brick building. The day after Rebecca left for Vancouver was also the day Tucky Thompson opened the Sasquatch Circus, complete with the now-stuffed Lady Sasquatch, to a horde of tourists and true Sasquatch believers (identified, of course, by their forty-dollar I BELIEVED AT THE SOLID GOLD SASQUATCH LODGE! T-shirts). Come fall, Tucky planned to move the Lady Sasquatch to her permanent display space in the lobby of the lodge, but for what remained of the summer tourist season she would be the star attraction of Tucky Thompson’s Sasquatch Circus. He erected a mammoth tent adjacent to the lodge and charged a twenty-dollar admission, no discounts for children, students or seniors, no exceptions. Individuals could, though, purchase a week-long admission pass for one hundred dollars and on opening day, for a few brief hours, parties of eight or more each received a complimentary Sasquatch-foot cinnamon bun. The latter incentive did not amuse Andrea Thompson – who felt her husband was degrading her achievement in baking by giving the buns away — and the deal was promptly yanked. Groups of eight or more would have to shell out ten dollars apiece for one of Andrea’s buns, just like everybody else.
Inside the tent, the Lady Sasquatch was the centre of attention. A swirl of burly guards kept overzealous Sasquatch fans at bay and regulated the flow of traffic. Carnival games for kids ran up one side of the tent – hit the target, win a stuffed Sasquatch! — while merchandise booths lined the other. At the back, next to Andrea’s pristine Bigfoot Cinnamon Bun and sandwich kiosk, Tucky set up a makeshift bar where visitors could do a Lady Sasquatch shot, then buy an I SHOT THE LADY SASQUATCH AT THE SOLID GOLD SASQUATCH LODGE! T-shirt to announce their achievement. And every hour, on the hour, for ten hours a day, Tucky would stand astride the Lady Sasquatch, microphone in hand, and gleefully recount how he hunted her down. The story, to Tucky, never got old. |
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