This was where the Gold Sasquatch of Bald Ridge had seen all those hairless sasquatches before, but now they were gone. Where did they go? Why did they leave?

Generally he didn't like to leave the woods. The world of the hairless sasquatches was frightening and unfamiliar to him. But when he saw them all gathered here his curiosity was piqued. His loneliness momentarily spoke louder than his instinct to stay hidden. Now he wished he hadn't come. He felt very exposed here without the cover of the trees to hide in.

“Hey man, great costume!”

The sasquatch whirled around, and was shocked at what he found himself face-to-face with. Another sasquatch! Although this one looked a little funny.

“Dude, where did you get that?” asked the Bald Ridge mascot. “It looks almost real!”

“Ooh ooh?” asked the sasquatch curiously.

“Hold on, let me get a better look, I can barely see in this thing.”

Then, the other sasquatch did something the Gold Sasquatch of Bald Ridge would have never expected. It pulled off its own head, revealing another furless head underneath.

“Ooh ooh! Ah ah ah ah!” shrieked the sasquatch, leaping back in shock.

“Wow, yeah, check out that craftsmanship,” said the mascot. “That had to be home made, right?”

The sasquatch's initial shock was replaced by curiosity. Ripping off its own head did not seem to cause this strange new sasquatch any distress. The sasquatch wondered just how many more heads this creature had.

It grabbed a hold of the boy's head and unceremoniously twisted and ripped. The boy had time to let out a terrible scream before his head was completely torn off.

A fountain of blood sprayed from his exposed neck, showering the sasquatch in crimson. “Ah! Ah! Ah!” screamed the sasquatch, hopping back as the headless body dropped to its costumed knees, then fell forward onto the pavement. Dropping the head in fright, the sasquatch turned and ran back into the forest.

.....

The cheerleaders, plus Flor, made their selections and left the rental shop. With their passes purchased and their skis slung over their shoulders, there was nothing keeping them from the mountain.

It was a beautiful clear day, cold, but the wind was gentle and the sun was shining brightly. A couple of non-threatening white clouds hung far off in the distance, giving a point of reference to just how far they could see, thanks to their lofty vantage point and the clarity of the mountain air.

Flor did not rent any skis. She brought her own equipment. The girl led them to where she was parked, popped the trunk on her little hatchback, and pulled out a snowboard. It was a thing of beauty, covered in vibrant, colorful, cartoony artwork and reflecting the sun from its glossy surface.

“Flor have one big ski!” exclaimed Chase.

“That's not a ski, Chase, that's a snowboard. One's all you need; see the two bindings for your feet?” asked Caitlin.

“Cool, Flor,” said Lindsey. “I like the art.”

“I was always too scared to try one of those,” said Alicia, impressed. “It's kind of freaky how your feet are locked in place and you can't move them by themselves...How do you slow down?”

“It's not that different from skiing, really,” said Flor. She grinned. “Go back in and trade those skis for a board and I'll teach you.”

To Alicia's credit, she did consider it. Ultimately, though, she gave the board a nervous look and shook her head. “Maybe next time.”

Since Chase had never skied before, the first stop was the bunny hill. They got her situated on top, with her skis safely positioned in a wedge shape, and gave her the rundown.

“Keep your knees bent, and lean forward a little. Like this,” said Lindsey. She demonstrated the correct posture.

“To go forward, keep your skis straight. NOT YET!” shouted Alicia. Chase abruptly stopped. “Okay. And to slow down, make a wedge shape, like you're doing now. I don't know how it works, but it does.”

“And to turn, just put weight on the foot opposite of where you want to go,” said Caitlin. “Like this. Watch my feet as I'm turning.”

She skied down the bunny hill, and made a neat, graceful turn to the right by carving her left foot against the snow. She stopped at the bottom and waved.

It was Chase's turn. The girl pushed off the top of the hill with her skis. She slowly moved down the hill. “WOOOOOOOO!” she shouted, exhilarated.

“Try a turn!” laughed Alicia.

Chase did. She turned like a natural. “AAAH!” she shouted, terrified. Then, when the turn was complete: “WOO! YES!” At the bottom of the hill, she called back up, “Ski much fun!”

She rode the bunny hill a few more times and learned very quickly. Being naturally athletic, Chase had an innate amount of grace, coordination and control over her body, but she was also a mountain girl at heart, and perhaps that was part of it too. In no time at all she wasn't using the wedge anymore. She was ready to ski a real trail. Or so she thought.

The ski lift was very noisy. It moved rather quickly. The way it scooped people up from behind, two at a time, and whisked them away was very sudden, and it seemed like someone could easily be knocked over by it. Chase didn't care for it. At all.

Alicia was standing next to her in line, a map of the mountain unfolded in her hands. She pointed at a green line. “Wanna do this one first, Chase? The trails marked with green circles are good for beginners. The ones with blue squares are a little harder. Black diamonds are for experts. And double black diamonds...I shudder to think!”

But Chase was barely listening. All she could do was watch as the ski lift scooped up person after person. She began to tremble.

Before she knew it, it was her turn. “Alright Chase, you're with me!” said Lindsey, standing next to her. The people in front of them were scooped up, and Lindsey skied forward into position. Very reluctantly, Chase joined her.

Chase watched the next chair come down. She listened with fearful anticipation as it clanked around the giant wheel, looping around behind her.

“AAAH!” she shouted, jumping out of the way at the last minute. Lindsey was scooped up and carried away.

“What, Chase? What is it?” asked Alicia, alarmed.

Chase had landed in a heap in the snow. Some people in line were laughing as she began to push herself up. “Not like fly chair!” shivered Chase.

“I guess she's scared of the lift?” suggested Flor.

“Aww, Chase...” said Alicia sympathetically.

“You can fight murderous psychos but you're scared of a ski lift?” asked Caitlin skeptically.

“Not like when thing sneak up on me.”

“It's okay, Chase. It's just a chair,” said Alicia in a kind voice. Another pair went up. Alicia skied into place and held out her hand. “Here. It'll be fine, trust me.”

Chase looked reluctant, but the next chair was coming. If she was going to find her nerves, she had to do it quickly.

Steeling herself, she made her choice. She skied up beside Alicia, and took her hand. With a whoosh the ski lift came up under her, and she was floating away.

Flor and Caitlin were left alone.

“Chase is so sweet,” said Flor.

“I know.”

Flor gave an eager grin and cast her eyes up the mountain as they skied into place. “But holy cow, did you see Lindsey's midriff? I'd eat french toast off of that any day.”

Caitlin cringed. “First of all, of course I saw it. How could I miss it? Second of all, ew. Third of all, why french toast?”

“I like french toast. What, did I make you jealous?” Flor teased.

“As if.”

The ski lift picked them up. Caitlin looked at her fellow passenger, and said, “Hey, Flor?”

“Yeah?”

“I'm really sorry again. That I kept our friendship a secret.” They were rapidly gaining altitude. Caitlin looked down at the snow. “I don't want you to think that this has anything to do with you on a personal level.”

“What, like how I'm a lesbian?”

“Well, that,” said Caitlin quickly, embarrassed, “And also how I'm a cheerleader and you're a scary kid, I mean, er, not a SCARY kid, but-”

“Conformity challenged?”

Caitlin smiled, and relaxed a little. “If that works for you.”

“You're sure it doesn't have anything to do with that? I thought you were being a bad girl, doing something cheerleaders aren't supposed to do.”

Caitlin turned red and wasn't sure why. “C'mon, I'm serious.”

A couple of kids skied past beneath them, going the opposite direction. One of them let out a laughing scream. “Dude, quit freaking out. You don't have to explain anything to me. I get it,” said Flor with a reassuring grin. “It's like you said, you don't want anybody to get the wrong idea. I'm out of the closet and everybody knows it. If I was a guy who was just a friend to you, and you were coming up here to spend the weekend skiing alone with me, yeah, they would probably get the wrong idea about that. You think I never had to deal with people thinking me and Willard were dating? I get it.”

“Thanks.”

“But you gotta admit...you're a little bit worried, in a way you wouldn't be if I was a guy.”

Caitlin hesitated. Then, she sighed and said by way of admission, “It's a small town.”

“Yeah,” agreed Flor. “It is. It's also 2015 though, things aren't as bad as they used to be.”

“That's fair...” said Caitlin. She looked at her. “Did you ever have any problems like that after you came out? If you don't mind me asking.”

“Not really. My parents weren't super thrilled. They're pretty old-school Catholics. But they didn't make a big deal about it. I think they still think it's a phase...As far as people around town, nobody really seems to care,” said Flor. She smiled. “But then again, I never tried to steal some farmer's daughter either.”

With a smirk, Caitlin asked, “Yeah? Why not?”

“Maybe I was waiting for a cop's daughter.”

Caitlin rolled her eyes at that. “Give me a break. Hey, level with me. Do you really like me, or do you just like messing with me?”

“Huh? Dude, I'm crazy about you.”

Caitlin felt a stirring of butterflies inside her, unbidden. “Why?” she asked, turning red. “We don't have anything in common.”

“Maybe that's why,” said Flor. “You're someone different, someone interesting. The kind of person I wouldn't usually think about dating. What about you, why do you hang out with me?”

Caitlin thought about it. “The same reason, I guess.”

....

Cautiously, the Gold Sasquatch of Bald Ridge poked his head out over the hood of the parked baby blue hatchback.

He looked around nervously, his dark eyes moving back and forth across the ski rental's parking lot.

He had never ventured this deep into the village of the hairless sasquatches before. Even though the coast was clear for the moment, he knew they were all around him. So far, he had not been seen, except by the unfortunate nested-headed sasquatch he had killed. He didn't like it here. He felt scared and agitated. But this was where THEIR scent led him. And somehow, he felt compelled to follow. Something about the smell, and the LOOK, of those particular sasquatches had intrigued him.

Quickly and quietly, he loped to the rental shop and went inside.

The bell above the door chimed as soon as the door opened. “EEE! EEE! EEE!” he screamed in surprise. He was spotted! He reached up, grabbed the bell in his strong hand, and yanked it off the wall. Rrunch!

Glancing around, he opened his fingers and looked down at the crumpled piece of brass. What was it? Some kind of alarm?

“Holy cow, Bald Ridge High has one hell of a mascot costume these days,” said the shop owner.

The sasquatch looked up in shock and saw him behind the counter. “Ours looked like shit when I went there,” the shop owner continued.

“Oo oo! Aah aah aah!” the sasquatch grunted, leaping behind the shelf of coffee mugs. He peeked out at the man, shaking in fear.

The shop owner laughed. “Dude, sasquatches don't go 'ooh ooh ah ah'. They're not monkeys.” He looked down at a sports magazine that was open on the counter and turned the page. “Let me know if you need anything, man.”