from The Vampyr (1932) by Carl Dreyer I was at my Grandparents’ house (although it was as if it were a cross between being at my Grandparents’ house and somewhere else [obviously influenced by the subconsciousness of imagination]) and there was a film that being “worked on” in the area, although I wasn’t aware of exactly “where,” I just knew that it was close-by. I was in the living room, sitting on the couch, and the milkman that would often come into the store that I used to work at was standing directly above me, holding a manual-lighting candle (similar to a long-nozzled lighter). I was looking up at him, and suddenly he strikes the lighter and then holds the flame to my mouth, inches away from my lips, and says, “Blow it out.” So, I blow the flame out as he says. It is at this time that I have quite a peculiar feeling that he is the director of the film that is being made somewhere in the area, and then I began wondering if perhaps I am going to be involved in this film somehow.
CUT.
I follow the milkman into the kitchen. As he walks along, I continue to follow his lead until we make our way onto the back porch. As I walk out onto the back porch, I see my Grandmother standing in the kitchen watching me as I leave the vicinity. It is at this time when I think to myself that she is probably thinking to herself where I am going and what the milkman and I are up to. Alas, I continue out of the back door.
CUT.
I’m standing in the backyard with the milkman, facing towards the house. He is still holding the long-nozzled lighter (in his right hand). I continue to stand there silently in awe, watching as he strikes the lighter several times. As I continue to watch, I realize that he is now motioning for me to come closer to where he is (as if I weren’t already beside him). He says, “look over there” while pointing towards the right-side of the house where a hill is obscuring the body of an animal so that I can only see the animal’s tail (which appears to be a cat’s tail). He then blurts, “that’s the tail of a black bear.” Confused, I ponder it for a moment and then realize that it couldn’t be a bear’s tail, in which, at that time, a sudden fear washes over me; a wave of horrific emotions flooding my entire being. I kept thinking about how strange the situation was, considering the fact that black bears wouldn’t ever been seen in “these parts.” I really didn’t know what to do, but I was definitely certain that I had to see if indeed there was a black bear lurking about the front yard. At this time, the milkman had metamorphed into a yellow cat and was acting completely paranoid, his body low to the ground. I watched him as he bolted towards the left-side of the house, disappearing from my viewpoint. I then decided that I also needed to go into that same direction, while thinking that the bear would perhaps be walking towards that direction. With fear and desperation upon me, I began walking around towards the left-side of the house, and began making my way closer to the front yard. I slowed down as soon as I got to the corner of the house, in which I stopped and then peaked around into the front yard. Not to my amazement, there was indeed a large, black bear walking across the front yard and into my direction. At this time, I became even more horrified and I quickly turned around and ran back towards the opposite direction and back into the back yard. I thought to myself that I needed to get inside of the house as quickly as possible. As I entered the back yard, I quickly turned and ran up the stairs. As I made my way up the stairs, I noticed that the door was open and my Grandmother was sitting on the very top step, while a child was standing behind her saying something to her. When I made my way up to the top step where she was located, I told her what was going on, and at first she seemed perplexed by the way that I was acting, but I told her that there was absolutely no time to talk about anything because there was a large black bear in the area and we needed to get inside the house as soon as possible before the bear made its way into the back yard. As I was telling her all of this information, I kept imagining what would happen if the bear eventually got a hold of us, and the many horrible scenarios that would cost us our lives.
American Black Bear
CUT.
I follow the milkman into the kitchen. As he walks along, I continue to follow his lead until we make our way onto the back porch. As I walk out onto the back porch, I see my Grandmother standing in the kitchen watching me as I leave the vicinity. It is at this time when I think to myself that she is probably thinking to herself where I am going and what the milkman and I are up to. Alas, I continue out of the back door.
CUT.
I’m standing in the backyard with the milkman, facing towards the house. He is still holding the long-nozzled lighter (in his right hand). I continue to stand there silently in awe, watching as he strikes the lighter several times. As I continue to watch, I realize that he is now motioning for me to come closer to where he is (as if I weren’t already beside him). He says, “look over there” while pointing towards the right-side of the house where a hill is obscuring the body of an animal so that I can only see the animal’s tail (which appears to be a cat’s tail). He then blurts, “that’s the tail of a black bear.” Confused, I ponder it for a moment and then realize that it couldn’t be a bear’s tail, in which, at that time, a sudden fear washes over me; a wave of horrific emotions flooding my entire being. I kept thinking about how strange the situation was, considering the fact that black bears wouldn’t ever been seen in “these parts.” I really didn’t know what to do, but I was definitely certain that I had to see if indeed there was a black bear lurking about the front yard. At this time, the milkman had metamorphed into a yellow cat and was acting completely paranoid, his body low to the ground. I watched him as he bolted towards the left-side of the house, disappearing from my viewpoint. I then decided that I also needed to go into that same direction, while thinking that the bear would perhaps be walking towards that direction. With fear and desperation upon me, I began walking around towards the left-side of the house, and began making my way closer to the front yard. I slowed down as soon as I got to the corner of the house, in which I stopped and then peaked around into the front yard. Not to my amazement, there was indeed a large, black bear walking across the front yard and into my direction. At this time, I became even more horrified and I quickly turned around and ran back towards the opposite direction and back into the back yard. I thought to myself that I needed to get inside of the house as quickly as possible. As I entered the back yard, I quickly turned and ran up the stairs. As I made my way up the stairs, I noticed that the door was open and my Grandmother was sitting on the very top step, while a child was standing behind her saying something to her. When I made my way up to the top step where she was located, I told her what was going on, and at first she seemed perplexed by the way that I was acting, but I told her that there was absolutely no time to talk about anything because there was a large black bear in the area and we needed to get inside the house as soon as possible before the bear made its way into the back yard. As I was telling her all of this information, I kept imagining what would happen if the bear eventually got a hold of us, and the many horrible scenarios that would cost us our lives.
American Black Bear
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