Previous installment: The Wheel: Part 14, Chapel Rock
Start at the beginning: The Wheel: Part 1, Jack Colby
Where we left off: On their Chapel Rock hike, Justin finally expressed missing his mom and sister. He and Jack talked about moving forward and honoring their memory. On the drive home, Jack learned that Justin had a nightmare last night, and it was very similar to the dream Jack had had of Justin in the woods with a sasquatch. His anxiety about what could be in the cave under the rock formation in the woods reached a fever pitch.
Voiceover narration: Andrew Thomas
Art: Jenelle Thomas https://alovelygiraffe.com
The Cave
After they had gotten some food in them and cooled off in the lake, Justin regained the energy that was strictly reserved for and liberally doled out to young boys. He begged for a fire and s’mores, but Jack had refused, citing their need for sleep. Justin didn’t fight it, and it was a minor miracle that he also seemed to have forgotten his nightmare. Bedtime went quickly, and for that, Jack was thankful.
Now it was a little after ten, and Jack was finally convinced that Justin was in a deep sleep. He probably had been since about five minutes after his head hit the pillow, but Jack wanted to be sure. He stood in the kitchenette, leaning against the counter with a glass of bourbon in hand and a flashlight nearby. It was dim in the cabin with only the small stove hood light casting stark shadows around him. Up to this point in the night, he had avoided alcohol, believing a sober mind was most advisable for his situation. Now, in need of courage, he swallowed his whiskey in one gulp, fully aware that it would provide nothing of the sort.
Throughout the whole evening, Jack had debated the best course of action. The footprint, the scratching, the seemingly parallel dreams…he had to investigate this cave and rock formation, even if just for his own peace of mind. He didn’t want to do it in the dark, but he didn’t dare do it during the day. There was no way he could keep Justin away without revealing his suspicions, and, while he may have been crazy enough to think a Sasquatch might be stalking them, there was no way in hell he was going to say that to his son. So now, with Justin asleep relatively early, he would take his chance.
Mind made up, Jack set the empty tumbler down, grabbed the flashlight, and got moving. The screen door wailed as usual, so he waited just outside for a few moments to make sure it didn’t wake Justin. Convinced, he turned to the growing darkness and set off.
The first obstacle encountered was the question of the flashlight. He could see ok, considering it wasn’t fully dark yet, but knew that without it, it was only a matter of time before he tripped on an unseen log or branch. However, turning on the light meant announcing himself to anything that might be in the area and potentially seeing something that he wasn’t certain he was ready to see yet. In the end, logic won out, and the light was employed.
It was slow going at first; he was making an effort to be as silent as possible, but it didn’t take long to become clear that this effort was futile. There was no path, and the years of discarded leaves and sticks made for a noisy carpet. He may as well have been jumping on bubble wrap. There was also the issue of leaving Justin alone in the house. He didn’t like that, even though he was only mere minutes away, so he picked up the pace despite the extra noise and continued his methodical 180-degree flashlight scan of the woods in front of him.
Soon enough, the soft babble of the little creek caught his attention. At any other time, this would have been a calming, beautiful sound. Right now, it meant he was closer, and it clicked his level of apprehension up another notch. He came upon it moments later and began searching left and right for a safe place to cross, eyes peeled for footprints. The muddy banks were littered with squished indentations, but, at least from what he could see, nothing resembled an actual foot. Eventually, he found the fallen log and crossed.
Jack continued on, picking his path carefully. A small inner voice warned him about sweeping his flashlight far and wide, and, for better or worse, he heeded it. Instead, he shined it at about a forty-five-degree angle at the ground in front of him, just enough to watch his footing and get a good idea of what was coming. Every thirty feet or so, he risked an upward flash to check his position against the rocky outcropping.
He continued this way for a few minutes. The closer he got to his destination, the slower he went. When he deemed he was halfway between the creek and the rock formation, he paused and leaned against a nearby cedar. He kept the light low and listened intently. In the distance, a twig cracked. The sound was so slight that he knew it could have been anything. Then, for the first time, he realized there was a bullfrog croaking off to his left, near the lake. The abrasive borrrrkkkk seemed to echo through the woods until it shattered against his eardrums, opening them up to sounds previously unheard. So focused on the steps ahead of him, Jack had blocked off all other senses. Hot on the heels of this auditory battering ram came armies of other frogs, peeping to the stars. Much nearer, a cricket chirped. Farther away, an owl of some sort inquired after his name. The smell of pine needles, cedar bark, and moist loamy soil wafted upwards. Revelling in this sensory tsunami, Jack briefly let his guard down.
“What the fuck am I doing out here?” he sighed.
The sound of his voice, though quiet, was startling and alien amongst the unseen beauty of the wood around him. Still, he closed his eyes and thought of Justin asleep by himself in the cabin. In that moment, Jack almost turned around and let the whole idea go.
Then, it stood up.
An image of Justin, eyes wide yet dead asleep, scratching the wainscotting, washed over Jack’s mind’s eye.
His eyes shot open, and he winced at the reflected brilliance of the flashlight. Suddenly, he felt a very pressing need to get back to the cabin, but he had come this far already, and it was silly to turn around. The light no longer seemed wise, so he turned it off. The total darkness sank its tendrils into him, and he shivered, despite the warm humidity of the night. If he had been asked at any other time if he was afraid of the dark, he would’ve confidently said that he wasn’t, but tonight was certainly an exception. He waited for his night vision to take over and tried to control his breathing. Then, he began to pick his way forward, weaving through the cedars.
He soon drew near to his destination. It was hard to judge distance in this light, but the trees were thinner in a sort of ring around the stony outcropping, and a modest amount of moonlight shone down around it. He paused under a tree at the edge of the clearing to listen again and get his bearings. The sounds of the forest droned on, and while he assumed the frogs were quieter at this distance, he also felt like they could be heard the next county over.
Jack slowly scanned the amorphous ring in front of him, looking for movement of any sort. His heart hammered against his ribcage as if, like Justin, it too couldn’t wait to leap forward and scale the rocks. Convinced he was as alone as he was going to be, he finally focused on the formation in front of him. It was the first time he was seeing it up close, and it was quite beautiful regardless of the reputation he had formed for it in his head. One oblong rock jutted to the left at a slight, upright angle. Maybe ten feet to the right was a smaller rock, pushing up towards the sky. A cedar tree jutted up crazily from between these and leaned slightly backward. The entire formation presented a sort of obtuse angle, like a giant “L” tilted to the left, with the tree coming up from the middle. It was bathed in moonlight, and it seemed to radiate from within, pale and corpse-like, like the tainted city of Minas Morgul.
Breathing deeply, Jack decided it was now or never and stepped out from under the trees. He crept closer, his heart continued to thump in his chest, and he sorely wished it would calm the hell down so he could focus. The formation was slightly elevated, and standing on tip-toe to try and see the so-called cave wasn’t going to work. Ready to get this over with, he held his breath, stepped up onto the little hill that the tree roots covered, and stared directly ahead, trying to control his nerves and pounding heart. At last, Jack looked downward and flicked his flashlight on.
His breath and adrenaline escaped outward shakily as he squinted against the bright light. A small, airy chuckle escaped him as he recognized the “cave” in question. He climbed down into the depression between the rocks, which was maybe three feet deep and six across. On the far side, another massive cedar had fallen outwards, ripping its roots up and dragging them out from under one of the rocks. Heck, maybe the rock had fallen outwards at the same time. He could see why Justin had called it a cave, but really, it was narrow and maybe six feet deep at its lowest point underneath the fallen rock. He knelt down and peered closely at the dirt within, searching the area with his flashlight. No footprints or signs of habitation could be found, nor would he have expected to find anything based on the size of the opening. What he did see was a few long scrapes in the upper portion, which were very likely created by Justin’s tennis shoes. Jack stood back up, leaned on the tree behind him, and shook his head.
“God dammit…”
Part of him was furious, but another part couldn’t help but laugh at himself. Did he really think a Sasquatch lived in the area? Would it have made its lair here, so relatively close to an occasionally occupied cabin, even if there was a cave? He stood there for some minutes, running his eyes over the entire natural jungle gym. He wasn’t surprised that Justin was so drawn to the place. Had he been a kid himself, he would have played in and around this thing for hours.
Five minutes later, Jack was on the way back to the cabin, and he no longer feared every step, every shadow, every sound of the wood. The flashlight was on, and he was again oblivious to every sense. He plodded through the woods, only aware of where he placed each footstep and of his son sleeping in the cabin all alone.
His uneventful adventure over with, Jack stepped into the cabin and locked the door behind him. The first order of business was to check on Justin. The cabin was as silent as a morgue, which he considered a good thing. No more of that eerie scratching. He stopped briefly outside the bedroom door and then entered. Soft light from the kitchen spilled across the back of Justin’s head, which faced the wall, as usual, but his eyes were closed, and he slept deeply. Jack sat carefully on the side of the bed. He slowly inspected every feature of his son’s profile in the dim light. Never had he seen something so familiar, so inviting, as his son’s face. He reached out and softly caressed Justin’s light brown hair. Justin stirred under his hand but did not wake. Jack smiled and rose, never taking his eyes off him. He retreated from the room, carefully closed the door, and crossed to the kitchen. There, he found his bourbon glass with a small drip lingering at the bottom. Still coming down off his adrenaline high, he poured a little more, sat in the recliner, and sipped it while he read his book.
At some point, he retreated to his bed.
What do you mean it’s almost over????? The last chapter better be 900 pages
“Hot on the heels of this auditory battering ram came armies of other frogs, peeping to the stars. Much nearer, a cricket chirped. Farther away, an owl of some sort inquired after his name. The smell of pine needles, cedar bark, and moist loamy soil wafted upwards. Revelling in this sensory tsunami, Jack briefly let his guard down”. Love these descriptors! As I read this I realized that I was holding my own breath for a few seconds as if it would help me “listen” to the sounds of the forest with Jack.