Part 1
This would be the first attempt at investigative reporting or writing of any kind for that matter. His friend had got him the job for a smaller tabloids-type publishing. They specialized in the strange such as UFOs or ghosts. His first story would be from a story he had heard as a kid.
Everyone has heard of Bigfoot but during his time living on the reservation the Natives talked about it as if it was fact. The Sasquatch, as they called it, was considered to be real. The story was the medicine man knew the Bigfoot from the forest. The medicine man was a bit of a mystical creature himself. Meeting a friend from the Nooksack Tribe in the town of Deming North of Bellingham just south of the Canadian border.
Back in the school days a carload of people including himself and a friend had seen something run across the road between two corn fields out in the middle of nowhere outside a town called Acme. Nobody in the car said anything until about an hour later. Everyone thought they were seeing something until someone asked everyone else if they has seen the same thing. Could have been practical jokers but maybe not. First he would need to seek out the medicine man.
Finally, Jake's Native American friends had arrived at the casino and joined him for lunch. After some catching up Jake explained his new job and reminded Tom of the stories told by his aunts and uncles and about their encounter near the corn fields. He explained that he had only seen the medicine man once as a kid. His dad had died and his mom had poured out some alcohol on the ground in his memory. Apparently this was not a good thing in the Native American culture.
The medicine man had come down from the hills and had said that someone had poured alcohol to the dead. Tom's Grandmother who was still alive had grown up with the medicine man. The medicine man was chosen as a kid to become a shaman, live in the forest, and learn traditional medicine. The plan was through these connections Jake would get to interview the medicine man and potentially get a chance to look for the Sasquatch on Native land. If you have never been to this region of the world it is a thick forested area with clean, clear, streams. Watcom falls near the community college is a great place to get a glimpse of what is in the less travelled mountain area.
Tom thought it was funny that Jake would even try but being a good friend he would help him the best he could. They would go out to the grandmother's house after dinner and get the investigation started. After about a ten mile drive out onto the reservation they arrived. Jake had worked for her husband on the reservation mowing lawns when he was alive. His grandfather was from the Philippines and a master chef. Hanging out with Tom and his family was often a gourmet cuisine. Jake wished he had not eaten just in case there were leftovers. After catching up Jake began to reveal his other reasons for going out to the reservation. It turns out the medicine man had come down and visited her a few days before. He had told her that he was coming out and what to tell him.
This was odd because he just started the job and had not planned on visiting a few days ago. The instructions the medicine man had given her is that if Jake wanted to interview him to ask about Sasquatch he would need to give up technology and live in the forest for a month. He had just started this job so he wasn't sure how the people paying him would react to paying him to live in the woods to get the interview. The boss must have been in a great mood because he agreed to pay Jake for the month of time but he would have to write about the experience even if he didn't get to see Bigfoot.
There was one time that Tom had left Jake out on the Reservation at night and he had to walk down the road surrounded by the woods. He remembers something large enough to crack branches following him the entire time. He through a lighter on the ground to break it and make a large popping sound to scare whatever was stalking him. He needed to get a survival guide immediately. He needed to know what he could eat in the forest. A poison mushroom often looks identical to the edible ones. Jake knew some survival skills from Boy Scouts and survival shows he often watched.
He had often fantasized about moving to Alaska and living in the wild. If he could live in the more mild forest for a month with the shaman perhaps he would obtain the skills to take the next step. He wasn't sure how to mentally prepare for this adventure. He had almost forgotten that the objective was to find Bigfoot. It was a week before he was to meet the medicine man so for now he would catch up with his old friend.