Into the Woods

A Chapter by Eric Cavazos and Lauren Thompson

Chapter 5

I wanted nothing more than to go straight home and put an end to the day by falling asleep. Sure it was a bit early still, the sun was only just beginning to make its descent towards the horizon, but my day was more than a little strange, and my mind was full of unanswered questions that I knew would keep rolling around in my head as long as I stayed awake. But I couldn’t go home right away, I knew I had to stop by Bea’s place to drop off Franny and try to explain why I took off on her mid-sentence. I followed the route Franny and I had taken no more than half an hour ago in reverse, where the trees on either side of the street were tall and the fresh, green leaves acted like a roof over my head.

As I approached Bea’s place things started looking different, dingier, and rougher than I remembered. Maybe it was the time of day, I had never walked around her neighborhood at twilight before. When a scraggly man pushing a shopping cart nearly collided with me, I knew something was off. I went down a few more blocks, took two lefts, then a right. I was at Bea’s, but Bea’s house wasn’t there. In its place was a different house, an ornate two story house that looked identical to the one Lee dropped me off outside of earlier. I wondered how I could have walked nearly a mile and ended up in the exact place I started walking away from. I checked the street signs to make sure I hadn’t made a wrong turn. I circled the block another time, but I kept coming back to where I started.

My mind snapped, I was certain of it, and suddenly nothing made sense. I always had a suspicion this day might come, even though I had lived a fairly normal life up until now. I tried quickly thinking up a plan of action, I figured I should call my mom first, let her know straight up that I lost my mind and was in need of medical intervention. Sure, she’d be worried, and probably take the first bus, train, or flight to come get me. I’d explain it all to her on the way to the treatment center, Patrick, Lyn, Joel, and Lee, even how Bea may have never existed but somehow I ended up with this dopey dog named Franny. I came back to it. I was being irrational. I figured it must be the fatigue that was taking over my body and mind. It felt like gravity intensified and even thinking made me tired. I decided to give Bea a call, let her know I wasn’t feeling well and would drop Franny off at her place tomorrow. But when I called, there was no answer, just a high pitched dial tone and a soothing voice telling me that the number wasn’t in service. I decided to deal with whatever was going on later, focusing on getting to my place, and making sure it still existed.

The sun dipped behind the trees and as I turned into my apartment complex the sky turned a deep purple and a light fog hung in the air. I had never seen a sky like it, and stopped to make out the first signs of the stars in the almost night sky. The air was starting to feel lighter and fresher, a slight breeze moved throughout my lungs, causing as sensation that felt almost like I was drinking the air. I felt refreshed and my mind began to clear. Franny yelped and ran to the stairs leading up to my place, even though she had never been there before. The narrow parking lot outside was empty except for Patrick’s big brown van, and there, lying on the roof of the van, was Patrick with one leg crossed over another. He was looking at the sky, daydreaming like he’d been there all day and the events that took place in that backyard earlier today never occurred. Franny ran up the stairs and waited for me outside my apartment door, I tried to make my way over to the stairs without a sound, but the scuffle of the loose gravel pavement sent Patrick’s head in my direction. He looked at me, his eyes wide and wild, bit his upper lip with his teeth, and quickly sat up. “What the f**k are you doing here?”

I raised my eyebrows and pointed a finger to myself. “Me?” Was he really talking to me? “I’m just going home,” I said, making it seem as if I was asking a question, and pointing to my apartment door just up the stairs.

Patrick jumped down to the ground and looked around, breathing in a deep breath before opening up the back door to his van. “Not so fast, kid,” he said, avoiding eye contact and tapping his foot. “First you’re going to have to get in the van.” A silence grew between the two of us and Franny jumped into my arms.

“Why?” Patrick took a couple of steps forward and reached out an arm for me, but two barks and a growl from Franny caused him to retreat.

“Jesus Christ,” Patrick said. “Did you talk to Lyn? You talked to Lyn. Not only did you talk to Lyn, but you went into the back of my van earlier. What in God’s name in wrong with you?” I looked towards the small little balcony of the second story of the complex and Lee was leaning against the rail overlooking the two of us, a stoic look on his face. “Just get in,” Patrick grunted.

I shook my head, and that’s when out of my peripheral vision, I noticed the mountain in the sky. A tall and seemingly impossible mountain in the sky, with clouds that must have been covering it’s snow capped peak. It looked remarkably similar to the Mt. Fuji of my dreams, although I couldn’t be sure it looked like the real life Mt. Fuji since I had never seen it. Patrick turned his head to take in the same view that captured my attention. He put his hand to his forehead. “You were never supposed to see any of this. Now come on, just get in the van,” he begged.

Patrick took another step forward, I took one back.

He sighed and headed off in the direction of the forest on the other side of the parking lot. “Fine, might as well come along then,” he said. Patrick walked slowly with his shoulders slouched. I looked back towards the complex to see if Lee was still watching, but he was gone. I took a deep breathe, drinking in the crisp mountain air, and Franny and I followed Patrick into the forest.

Pinecones and leaves crunched beneath my shoes. There was a natural pathway of wet dirt and rock that was large enough for Patrick and I to walk side by side, and as we ducked in and out of the tree branches the night grew dark. In the distance I could make out small, glimmering lights which I presumed to be fireflies. As we continued down the trail, I noticed that they weren’t fireflies but a trail of hanging light bulbs, guiding the two of us deeper into the woods. I knew better than to ask where exactly we were going, since Patrick already wasn’t in a good mood and was mumbling swear words to himself every time he had to duck under a branch. The path started to widen and the trees were slowly replaced with white flowers. In the middle of the clearing was a white couch, ratty and torn, and on the center cushion a man crookedly sat with one arm over the back and one leg propped up at a strange angle. His skin was a dark copper, his clothes looked brand new, a blazer with no shirt on underneath, stiff pants, and dress boots. Blurry tattoos covered his chest and neck. He didn’t acknowledge our presence and didn’t even readjust his position on the couch as we approached.

“I dug right where you told me too,” Patrick said. “I found nothing.”

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