Jack

I met Jack on Vancouver Island.

So there I am, sitting on some rocks on the beautiful coast Ucluelet, just enjoying the incredible view, when this guy seems to be walking towards me. Now keep in mind I’m kind of off the main track in a section where you kind of have to climb over and across some large rocks to get to, and there’s no-one else around me, so having a stranger approaching me has me a bit on edge.

Regardless, the stranger approaches and says hello. I respond cautiously and we begin chatting. It turns out he’s an actual local, and he grew up in the area too. In fact, the rock I’m sitting on is actually where he used to come and do his homework as a kid.

Jack is a fairly short guy with a darker skin to mine. He speaks in quite a mellow tone, and seems pretty chilled out. He’s in a tank top, and he’s not particularly muscular or anything, but he’s not overweight either.

After learning that I’m there on holidays by myself and am just checking out the area, he offers to walk me around. “I’m not doing anything today,” he says. A part of me is wondering whether he’s some crazy person who is looking for an unsuspecting tourist to do who knows what to, but another part is keen to see what will happen, so I cautiously accept.

We start walking along the Wild Pacific Trail, and he pulls out a beer from his backpack and starts making some passing comments for what certain flowers or plants can be used for medicinally. I ask him how he knows about all these plants, and he tells me his family are first nations Canadians, and he has quite the lineage on Vancouver Island.

I begin asking him lots of questions about the first nations and his family, not know anything about American first nations. He tells me about his family’s history and what they used to do, and about the political situation in Canada and how the first nations people have been treated. He tells me about his immediate family, and his relations with his mum and dad and how they see him. My fascination with all of this leads me to be incredibly inquisitive, which he points out as something he likes about me.

We continue walking, and he drinks a couple more beers (he offers me one but I decline) until we stumble upon a hollowed out tree. He mentions that it was probably burnt from the inside to try and dry it out in order to be used as a boat, but it was too big or too wet or something so it was left standing. There’s a small entrance, and with a bit of difficulty Jack manages to step inside. He mentions it might be his new favourite spot to hang out, and after he steps out I jump in. There’s another small opening towards the top of the trunk, but besides that and the hole to enter, the rest of the trunk is pretty solid. He hops inside with me and we both just stand there for a bit. It’s quite a surreal experience.

We then decide to head back into town. On the way he mentions there’s a guy at his work that I remind him of, and that he kind of likes that guy at work and so he kind of likes me. Up until that point I didn’t know he was even interested in men, but I play it pretty cool – I’m not super into him in that way, but I do enjoy hanging out with him. I tell him I have an activity booked that evening, but if I can cancel it then we can hang out more. Turns out I can’t, so we part ways somewhere near town. He doesn’t have a smartphone but finds himself on Facebook, but I can’t add him because of his privacy settings so I send him a Facebook message and tell him to add me.

It turns out my cancellation ended up going through, so I message him on Facebook and let him know, but he doesn’t end up reading any of my messages, so I just head back to my hostel.

Jack, it was such a unique experience meeting you and getting to know you. I hope you’re doing well and I hope you, uh, find yourself.