Previous installment: The Wheel: Part 12, Scratching
Start at the beginning: The Wheel: Part 1, Jack Colby
Where we left off: The Colby boys remained obsessed with the rock formation in the woods and the cave underneath it, both for different reasons. Justin kept wanting to go play in it again, and Jack dealt with growing anxiety over the footprint he saw along the creek and what might be in that cave. At night, Jack heard scratching near Justin’s room again. After a quick investigation outside, Jack returned to find Justin clawing at the wall next to his bed in his sleep.
Voiceover narration: Andrew Thomas
Art: Jenelle Thomas https://alovelygiraffe.com
Then, It Stood Up
The next morning, Jack woke slowly, blinking at the sun pouring through the window. It was already fairly high in the sky, it seemed. At some point in the morning, Justin had relocated to his bed and was fast asleep next to him. He rolled onto his side and snuggled up to his son, burying his face in Justin’s soft hair. Sleep was still awfully tempting, and he dozed in and out of consciousness for some time until Justin inevitably woke and dragged him out of bed.
A quick search of the few cabinets in the house revealed no painkillers to quell Jack’s burgeoning hangover. Unmotivated, he poured bowls of cereal for each of them.
“How’s your hand, buddy?” Jack asked.
“My hand? Which one?”
The edges of Jack’s memory were fuzzy. “Um, your right one, I believe.”
Perplexed, Justin studied his hand briefly, not knowing what he was looking for. “It’s fine, I think.”
Jack nodded, and they continued to eat, jaws crunching like dead leaves underfoot.
Eventually, Justin’s curiosity ran its full course through his brain. “Dad, why did you ask about my hand?”
“You don’t remember me waking you up last night?” Jack stopped eating and looked at his son, amused.
“No.”
Jack laughed. “We had a whole conversation!”
“We did? Why?”
Jack’s smile died a little on his lips. “Um, you were scratching the wall in your sleep, and it was…keeping me up.” Jack decided he didn’t need to make this seem like a big deal. Maybe it wasn’t.
“Oh.”
Eager to change the subject, Jack asked, “What do you want to do today?”
Justin lit up, and Jack instantly realized he had asked the wrong question. “Can we go back over to the big rocks?”
“No, I was thinking we would go on a hike today. A real one. Up at the Pictured Rocks or something.”
Justin grunted and continued eating.
“Does that sound fun?”
“I guess,” Justin mumbled into his bowl of cereal.
Jack watched him for a moment, feeling bad to be disappointing him for no real reason.
“Tell you what. I just need to get out of this place for a bit. Let’s get out of here today and do something different, and then tonight, I’ll go check out those rocks and the so-called cave to make sure it’s all safe. Then you can go play over there tomorrow. How does that sound?”
“Why wouldn’t it be safe?”
“I don’t know, you could fall off the rocks, and you didn’t really get a good look down into it, right?”
“No.”
“Well, maybe an animal lives there, or you could slide down in and get stuck. I just want to check it out, ok?”
“And I can go tomorrow?”
“Yeah, if it all looks good.”
“Yay!”
Jack smiled at this verbal declaration of delight and ruffled Justin’s hair. “Alright, keep eating, and then we’ll get on the road.”
“You wanna grab some snacks after I fill up?” Jack asked as he pulled into the only gas station between them and the Lake Superior shoreline later that morning. The signs of humanity, however slight, came as somewhat of a relief to Jack, who was feeling desperate for some semblance of civilization.
“Can I have a Mountain Dew?”
Jack thought for a minute. “Sure,” he shrugged, “we’re on vacation.”
When he was done with the gas, they headed inside the Melstrand Union General Store and found that it truly was a general store in name and reality. There were groceries, snacks, baking ingredients, an equal mix of random kitschy merch and stuff that was U.P. branded, and, of course, brown paper-bagged Trenary Toast, bug repellent, and liquor. The three sisters of the Yoop, if there ever were any, Jack thought.
Indecision led to a mound of various snacks ranging from sweet to savory, chewy to crunchy, piled in front of the clerk. Jack also grabbed a six-pack for the cabin.
“Is that all for ya?” The clerk sounded about as rough as he looked. His week’s worth of greying stubble was yellow around the mouth from a lifetime of nicotine.
“Yeah, that’s it.”
“No gas?”
“Oh yeah, should be twenty-five.”
“Yuh,” the clerk said and began scanning the items one by one. “You’re not from around here, eh?”
“No, we live down in the lower peninsula. Just enjoying a little vacation at a friend’s cabin.”
“Never been down below the bridge, if you can believe it.”
“Hmm, that’s something.” Jack didn’t care for this small talk, but it gave him an idea, and something told him this guy would play along. “Hey Justin, can you head out to the car?”
“Can I take my Mountain Dew?”
“Yep.” Jack cracked the cap out of habit and handed it to him. He watched as the door closed and turned back to the clerk. “Hey, I have a question for you.”
“Fire away.”
“Is there anything in the woods around here? Anything…big?”
“Well, o’ course. Lots of deer and such, but I’m guessing that’s not what yer after. A couple of bears nearby. They’re quick to make a mess of my parking lot if I forget to lock the garbage bin at night.”
“Gotcha.” Jack cleared his throat. “Any local legends? Bigfoot, lake monsters, that kind of thing?” The clerk paused and looked up from his task. Jack flushed and pushed ahead. “The kid loves that stuff. A town about a half hour from our house has its own Bigfoot legend. Figured an area like this would be ripe for something like that, and I could use it to mess with him around the fire tonight.”
The clerk stared back at him with searching eyes and blinked a few times before looking down to scan the last item. “That’ll be forry-aiht thir-two.”
Jack offered him his card. The clerk scanned it, watched the reader for a moment, and then handed it back. When he finally met Jack’s gaze again, he said, “When I was a kid, there were some reported sightings and such. Think I even saw a footprint once. Called it the Seney Sasquatch. My dad said it was just a bear, but I always wondered. You want a bag?”
“Yes, thanks.” Jack tried to sound normal, but in reality, his nerves were popping off like Black Cat firecrackers.
The clerk began filling the bag automatically. Jack thought that was the end of it and wanted to dig deeper, but held back. Bagging completed, the clerk handed him the handles and looked him in the eye again.
“A couple o’ years ago, I was hunting for deer nearby. Wasn’t trying too hard at it. Brought a bottle along and was a bit pickled by the time the sun began to set. Figured I probably shouldn’t try to shoot anything, even if it was right in front o’ me. Bill still doesn’t believe me, given my state of mind at the time, but I swear to Christ I saw something that night and it spooked me half sober.”
A muddy truck pulled up to a pump outside. A brash beeping from a console near the window shattered the silence, making Jack jump more than he cared to admit. The clerk activated the pump, silencing the beep, and stared blankly at the parking lot as he continued.
“I was on the edge of a clearing. Saw something move along the fringe on the other side. At first, I thought it was a deer, with the light failing and all”—the clerk hesitated—“Then, it stood up.” He turned back to Jack when he said this, eyes wide as if he was seeing it for the first time all over again. “I about shit myself and I tell ya what, whatever it was, it looked at me. I couldn’t see eyes, but they were there all the same.”
Jack was beginning to wish he hadn’t asked. He started to speak, but the clerk cut him off. “I didn’t know what to do, but I did know I didn’t like that thing looking at me. Fumbled with my gun a bit, trying not to take my eyes off it, and shot. Not at it. If it was a bear, I didn’t want to kill it. If it was a human, I really didn’t want to kill it, but I was pretty certain that wasn’t the case. Anyway, that thing got to boogying right quick. Only saw it take a few steps before I lost it to the shadow of the woods.”
Both men took a breath and must have telepathically agreed no more needed to be said on the subject. Jack spoke first. “Well, thanks. I suppose the kid is wondering where I am. You have a good day.”
“You, too. Enjoy your vacation.”
"His week’s worth of greying stubble was yellow around the mouth from a lifetime of nicotine." Great description. I've always been curious about the Upper Peninsula (though I've never even been to Michigan lol). I'm digging the vibes