by Milo Abrams
"Morning," he said setting the newspaper down. "How're you feeling? You look like you didn't sleep well."
Surprisingly, James didn't feel tired at all. "I feel pretty good.”
Nolan didn't believe that James's sudden onset of fear and paranoia had disappeared so quickly. He also didn't know the sense of security that the game camera brought to his son. For him, it was like having eyes in the back of his head—eyes with night vision.
"You sure?" his father asked, "you were pretty shaken up last night.”
"Dad, I'm fine. Really." James wasn't a morning person and his dad's insistence that something was wrong was wearing on him. He decided to change the subject. "Do they deliver papers this far out?"
Nolan laughed, "No, this is yesterday's paper. I'm always about a day behind. I picked it up last night on the way home."
James laughed and went to the cupboard to grab some cereal.
"Don't bother. I was thinking we should start early and get breakfast. We could get some more feed, then head into the city to get the game camera. You know, get lunch, and make a day of it."
James smiled, “Sure!” It sounded like a fun idea. He loved spending time with his dad, at least when they were doing things that weren't "dad things" or work related.
"Well let's get going. I'm on call again tonight."
James's head sunk. "I hardly see you out here, either."
Nolan got up from the table and messed up his son's hair. "I know. But I'm taking some time off. This is the last day. Plus, I have a big surprise planned for this weekend.”
As much as James could remember, it was very uncharacteristic for his dad to plan surprises. He thought that this new change in his dad might be good after all. "What is it?" he asked.
"I'm not going to ruin the surprise yet!" Nolan slyly smiled. He started to walk back to his bedroom and stopped. "Hey, could you do your old man a favor?"
"Sure," James said, "what is it?"
He put his hand on the small of his back and mimicked an old man with a cane. "Would you mind grabbing the phone out of the barn? You know, in case anyone decides to call."
"Oh yeah," James smacked his forehead. "Forgot about that. Yeah, I'll grab it."
"Okay, hurry so we can get going. Oh, and could you throw that red gas can in the back of the truck? Running low and not sure if we'll make it to the gas station without a little boost."
James nodded then ran out the door and down the porch. The barn looked a lot less menacing in the daytime. He looked out into the field toward the woods and everything looked like an oil painting of the countryside. It was so easy for him to forget his troubles out there. Things seemed light and airy, unable to bury him beneath the weight of worry. It amazed him how all the space gave him more room to breathe. That extra breath gave him the stability to walk into the barn and jump over the fallen tool chest without hesitation or fear. Swiftly, he scaled the ladder and pushed himself up into an ocean of warm air. It was hot and soon the whole countryside would be sweltering in the same heat.
As mercury was filling thermometers, James’s mind was filling to the brim with thoughts of the game camera. He could spy with the binoculars from the comfort of the air-conditioned kitchen window instead of sweating to death in the hayloft. And the greatest benefit of all: he could watch out for the monster while he slept.
Sweat dripped down the sides of his face as he did nothing but stand there. He wouldn’t find himself hanging out up there that day. He swam through the thick air to the hay door then grabbed his binoculars, the phone, and the cooler. "Crap, I completely forgot about this,” he said as he opened the cooler lid. Inside, a few bottles of water sat warmer than bath water.
He dragged everything to the ladder and slowly made his way down. Once he got to the barn door he saw his dad sitting in the truck.
"C'mon James! I'm hungry!" He playfully beeped the horn.
James threw up his index finger as he ran inside and dumped the phone and binoculars on the table. His stomach growled as the cooler hit the floor. He was hungry too. The smile plastered across his face triggered a bigger smile from his dad as he jumped into the truck. A nervous excitement rose within him. He couldn't wait to finally see what was staring back at him from the woods. His dad had no idea.
The rusty Red Rocket blasted through the countryside leaving the creepy woods and any monsters deep inside it behind. Nolan was back to mouthing along to classic rock songs while James stared out the window, watching the world fly by. There wasn't a soul on the road but them, and they resisted the wind like lords of the asphalt. Their first stop would be Cray's Hardware to pick up another bag of feed. Nolan was efficient and planned everything out ahead of time.
After a couple miles, though, the Red Rocket began to sputter and slowly coasted to a stop. Nolan put both of his hands-on top of the steering wheel and turned his head sideways toward James. "I knew that would happen." He chuckled a bit then said, "Well, I better go get that gas can and fill her up a little." He exited the truck, playfully running his hand against the burning black snap-on cover that enclosed the bed.
James’s heart dropped and his mouth went dry. In his wandering ways in the hayloft, he had completely forgotten to grab the gas can and put it in the back of the truck. "Shit," he whispered, "what am I going to do?" He sat there looking at the floor completely still for a minute until he heard his dad open the tailgate.
"Uh, James? Did you forget to put the gas can back here?"
James leaned his head out the window and squeaked, "I'm sorry Dad, I completely forgot! I just got the stuff from the barn when you were already in the truck."
Nolan came up to the window and rested his arms on the hole in the door frame. He looked at the sun, wiped his forehead and smiled at James. "Preteen brain. Well, looks like we're walking. Maybe old man Cray can help."
His dad wasn't mad but James was. Walking for miles in over ninety-degree heat with no shade was hellish. James hated the heat as it was.
They started off down the road and slowly the truck sank into the hazy horizon behind them. James handled the first mile well enough, but by the time they got through the second mile they didn't even bother trying to talk. All energy was used to walk, sweat and breathe.
"Man," Nolan said, "there is just no shade to rest in, huh?"
James looked back at him, beet red and pouring with sweat. He was too tired to talk. He had heard news stories about people dying in the summer heat but he never took them seriously. Cray's Hardware was only about five miles from the truck, but it was a long way to walk in such extreme heat.
The thought had crossed Nolan's mind that maybe this had been a bad idea, but he really didn't have any other choice. They were closer to Cray's than to home and while they had walked past a couple of houses on their way, he was too embarrassed to stop and ask to use someone's phone or ask them for a ride. There was no one he could call but Margaret, and he wasn't about to look like a weenie in front of his wife.
James knew none of this, of course, because Nolan wasn't about to show him such weakness. He already blamed himself for James's dependency on technology and his apparent lack of independence. James was a sweet boy and he just wanted to toughen him a little bit. Nolan knew that the world could be a cold place and sometimes you needed thick skin. But the world wasn't cold during their walk to Cray's, and seeing his baby boy suffer in the heat so much broke his heart. He waved James to the side of the road where they sat down to rest.
James tried to cover his eyes from the sun. "How much to go?" he asked.
"Not too much further," Nolan lied. He knew they had only gone about two and half miles. "We'll be there before you know it." He wished he had brought some water or something for his son. Their fun day was turning out to be terrible, if not dangerous.
"You hear that?" James said suddenly.
"Hear what?"
James looked around. "That humming. A car maybe?"
They looked down the road and sure enough there was a car he
ading their way. A truck to be precise.
"Should we try and stop them?" James asked.
Nolan's pride conflicted with his common sense. "They might just keep going. People don't like hitch hikers."
"Oh," James said. He really wasn't up for walking the rest of the way.
Nolan struggled with his pride over whether to try and stop the stranger and ask for a ride. They were headed in the right direction. By the time he finished compiling a list of pros and cons in his head, the truck rolled up to a stop in front of them. It was white and real beat up with a faded decal of Richard Petty's racing number on the side. The window rolled down and a voice rolled out with it.
"You aren't going to walk any further, are you?"
Nolan looked up to see Charlie, the clerk from Cray's hardware sitting happily in the air-conditioned truck.
"Charlie!" Nolan said jumping to his feet.
"Hey Doc. I saw your truck back there. Break down?"
"Nah, just out of gas. Can you give us a lift to Cray's?" He waved to James to get up.
"Hop in!" Charlie said smiling.
There isn't much that compares to hopping into cool water or an air-conditioned room when you're on the verge of heat exhaustion. The temperature difference was so drastic that Nolan and James felt a chill upon stepping into the truck as the icy air blasted across their sweating bodies.
"Lucky seeing you," Nolan said resting his head against the back of the seat.
"Glad to share the luck today," Charlie said, "was on my way back from Kellogsville to pick up parts and just back there I almost hit a bunch of deer."
"Oh yeah?" James looked at Charlie.
"It was crazy. A whole flock of ‘em came running out of the trees and just flew across the field. The brakes might be good on this thing but it takes a bit to stop and I was going about fifty. Almost plowed into them. Had to be like a dozen or more."
"You were lucky," Nolan said. "Sounds like they were spooked."
Spooked. James didn't know how far from his house this had happened, but he wondered if the monster in the woods had anything to do with it. It made him nervous thinking that it might not just stay behind the house but maybe went all over. The more he thought about it the more frightened he was. If the monster that lived in the woods only stayed behind his house then that meant it was always there, but if did leave then it could be anywhere.
They pulled into Cray's parking lot and went inside. "Look who I found walking," Charlie said to old man Sam, who was counting the money in the cash register.
"Nolan! James! It's an awful hot day to be walking?"
Nolan played it cool, "Truck ran out of gas before I could get it into town. Do you have any, or maybe a can I can buy?"
"Of course," Sam said walking out from behind the counter. "Charlie, we have any gas in the mower can?"
"Sure do, just filled it up yesterday."
Sam’s smile hinted at pain. He walked behind the counter to close the register when Nolan picked up on it.
“Hey Sam, everything okay?” he asked.
“Oh yes,” he said. He put his hand up as Nolan pulled out his wallet. “Please, it's just a little gas.”
Charlie came back carrying a large bright yellow can that had the word DIESEL etched into the side. "Don't worry, Dr. Callum, it's unleaded. I just use this one because it's the biggest can we've got."
"Great," Nolan said pulling out his wallet, "I need another bag of deer feed if you would, please."
Charlie nodded then disappeared again. It was then that Nolan looked around and noticed more empty spaces along the shelves and walls than he had ever seen before. He turned back to Sam, once again withdrawing his wallet.
“Selling a lot? Looking pretty bare in here.”
Sam sighed. “Actually, we had a break-in last night.”
The concern covered Nolan’s face the way India Ink bleeds into a bright white cloth. “Jesus, Sam, what happened?”
Sam sighed and rubbed his forehead as if he were having trouble remembering the details. “I had to come back here last night to pick up a few things for some projects at home. It was late but I'm old and stubborn and I wanted to get it done. It drives me nuts to try and carry something into the next day. Anyway, when I pulled up something just didn't feel right. I got inside and the place was as you see it now.” He walked out from behind the counter and pointed at the walls as he talked.
“There were all sorts of things missing. Chains, tow straps, and tools. That's why I had to send Charlie down to Kellogsville this morning to pick up some stuff.”
Nolan frowned. “I'm really sorry.”
“It’s okay,” he said as he reached underneath the counter and pulled a rifle up onto the counter. He patted it gently. “I'm going to be spending the night here tonight and let’s just say I hope whoever it was doesn't come back—for their sake.”
Nolan looked at his son and chuckled to lighten the mood. “That's country justice for you.”
Sam put the gun away and dabbed the sweat from his forehead with a rag. “You know, at first I thought old Dell was just a drunk, but after last night I think he's a drunk who had his tractor stolen.”
“Do you think it was the same guy?” Nolan asked.
Sam shrugged.
James felt bad for what happened as much as a kid could. His mind was still laser focused on the game camera and he was restless standing around in the old hardware store. After a few more minutes Charlie emerged from the back with another bag of deer feed and put it in the back of the hardware store’s truck. They bid their goodbyes to Sam and were off again with Charlie, back to Nolan’s empty truck.
The day hadn't been ruined after all. With deer feed in the back and an air-conditioned ride back to the rusty Red Rocket, James was again excited about the day ahead. Saying goodbye to Charlie was bittersweet for James because, unlike his dad’s truck, Charlie had air conditioning.
They would have just enough gas to get them to a truck stop just outside Bugby. James spent the ride thinking about what happened to Charlie and hoped the monster wasn't following him.
It obviously isn't afraid of the daylight, he thought. The more he thought about it the more unreal it seemed. Maybe it isn't even there at all and I'm just crazy.
Nolan finally turned down the radio as he pulled into the truck stop’s gas station sputtering. "The food's pretty good, plus I can fill up the truck while we're here," he said.
James thought the place was sort of strange. The truck stop had a whole mishmash of things all in one elongated building. There was a buffet restaurant next to a small arcade, next to a half convenience store, next to a gas station. They ate first, and while the food was questionable in quality, they served breakfast, lunch, and dinner food all day, no matter the time. They stuffed their faces and then walked the length of the building.
"Is this like a gift shop?" James asked.
Nolan laughed, "Yeah! This place has been around forever. I used to come here as a kid and look through all the junk. The food was a lot better then, too." He picked up a black and white magazine with a UFO on the front. "Look at this. The Daily Spill. I used to read crap like this, too." He handed it to James who flipped through it seeing headlines like, BIRTH OF A CENTAUR, and GOVERNMENT REPTILE ALIENS.
"These aren't real, are they?" James asked squinting at some of the black and white pictures.
"Nah, it's all made up funny stuff. Entertainment."
After filling up the truck, they were back on the road. James hadn't been back in the city for the better part of a week and the first thing he noticed was the smell.
"Wow, what is that?" he asked plugging his nose.
"That's city living," Nolan replied.
James tried unplugging his nose and breathing deeply, allowing the stink to swim up his nostrils and desensitize his olfactory receptors.
Nolan laughed at this and for the first time in a good long while he saw his son as the little boy that he was. He had forgotten in his absence how s
mall he still was and the way his hair behind his head curled like a baby’s when it was wet. This realization allowed his mind a good clear conscious moment, and he thought that maybe the fake news magazines about monsters and aliens might have stirred up some fear in his son. "Say, I have an idea. I'm pretty sure I'll have to work tonight, so how about we swing by and grab Duffy to stay with you?"
This caught James off guard. “Really?"
"Yeah, Duffy deserves to experience good country living too, I'd say."
James wondered why he hadn't thought of that sooner. No one really had. Maybe his dad was just afraid that Duffy would ruin his new house.
"Just don't forget to take him outside."
"Dad," James said with sass, "I've had that dog as long as I can remember. I think I know how to take care of him."
"I know, I just think about the gas can," Nolan joked.
As they pulled into the driveway of James's house, he noticed how much different his dad's house was to those in the city. The first thing he noticed was all of the wires. There were cable and electrical lines everywhere as if all the houses were hooked up to life support. For a lot of city folks, that's how it was, too. The city and its electricity was their lifeline and without their modern-day conveniences they would just stand around like dead leaves at the mercy of the wind. Some people, like James's friend Jack, couldn't imagine a day without their cell phones.
James was surprised to see his mom's car in the driveway. "Weird, Mom's home," he said.
"Yeah, she's taking vacation from work, you knew that right?" his dad said.
James hadn't paid attention to much around him, especially not his parents, but they obviously were telling each other a lot more than they were telling him. Thinking about his mom taking vacation while he was gone for the summer made him sad. His dad was moving on with a big house in the country, with dates and work, and his mom preferred to take vacation without him there. He felt that if he just up and disappeared then they wouldn't even go looking for him.
"Does she know that we're coming?" James asked his father bitterly.
Nolan didn't pick up on the layers of dissatisfaction in his voice. As far as he was concerned, there wasn't some secret communication loop that James was out of. "Nah, this was kind of a…last minute idea."
