My Side of the Mountain

Reasons and the Beginning of the Story

Sam lived in a small apartment with his parents and eight siblings, sisters and brothers in an overcrowded New York City. Once he found out about the farm that belonged to his Grandfather and decided to get to know more about his ancestry. So, he went to the library to get some help and more insight into the history of his family and its treasures. The farm, as he found out, was located in the wilderness of the Catskill Mountains and was not inhabited for nearly a century. Sam was depressed by his living in New York, so he started thinking about moving into the wild, where his Grandfather used to live. Sam started preparations for his great adventure. He did not keep his plans in secret, although they were not taken seriously by anyone of his family. Sam read different books about survival in the wilderness.

Let the Journey Begin

Sam Gibley tried hitch hiking to make his way to the farm. A knife, forty bucks in his pocket, steel and flint, and a ball of cord – was all he had with him on this initial trip. In the farm of his ancestor, Sam started his struggle for survival. He made fire, constructed hooks to catch fish on his own. With a few failures and obstacles, he won all these small battles. After Sam realized the need for a shelter, he built a small house hidden in the trees: a door of a deerskin, a fireplace, and a bed. As for the food, Sam had to gather wild fruits and vegetables or to catch the animals or birds in handmade traps. He also made clothes and blankets from the skin of the animals killed by the hunters.

Sam’s Falcon

Sam decided to catch and train a falcon that he had spotted. He spent many days watching him, and then survived in the battle with the mother falcon attacked him. He named his new pet Frightful, and it took him many days to train the young falcon. Afterwards, the bird helped Sam to hunt and get food.

The Wild Boy Revelation

Sam made friends with a man he called Bando, who was a professor from England. This person arrived in the woods to explore the land. They spent the whole summer together, and afterwards, Bando left. Since that time, new people started appearing in Sam’s life: at first, the journalist Matt Spell who arrived in the woods to find Sam and write about him. Eventually, they ended their acquaintance with a deal. Later, another friend Aaron appeared. Sam spent many hours in debates with himself, hesitating whether he needed to live away from the people and his desire for a human company and unwillingness to be alone away from the people he loved.

The story ended with the arrival of his parents and family. All were so proud of young Sam and his adventure, as well as that he found the farm and that he managed to survive alone in the wilderness.