Eric--Part Three

Splog # 16

Three

   He was standing at the top of a dune. Not an especially high dune, but then none of them around here were. Still, if not for the fog, he would have been able to see the little one-story house his family had for the summer and the scrubby bushes and small trees around it. But the fog had come in fairly quickly and there was nothing to be seen.

   Except the five stars. And they were brighter than ever. As he returned his gaze to the sky, Eric was sure that they were glowing brighter in the fog than they had been in the deep blue sky. They were so bright that it seemed as if they were getting bigger. He turned his left hand palm up to see what was visible by the light of the star above him. He could see the larger wrinkles on his palm as clearly as when he was washing his hands in the light of the bathroom at home. And when he bent his head over his hand, it cast a slight shadow. He could read the time on his watch, which had old fashioned hands instead of a number display. He could even see thin lines of dirt under his fingernails.

   He looked up again and had to squint his eyes a little against the glare from the star. He looked to the other stars and they all looked brighter and closer. But they couldn't be getting closer. Were they getting larger? Suddenly, it occurred to him that they possibly weren't stars at all. Planes or helicopters? Satellites, maybe? He shut his eyes and listened as hard as he could. There was a murmur from the waves back on the beach but no other sounds.

   Feeling confused and maybe just the slightest bit frightened, he decided not to try to puzzle these odd things out until he was comfortably at home with his parents. Opening his eyes, he found that all his turning around to survey the heavens had left him disoriented. But by checking both sides of the dune that he was on, he found his trail of footprints coming from the beach and knew the direction to home would be on the opposite side.

   So he headed off, as nearly as possible, straight away from the tracks that led up the dune. He felt like he was walking in a spotlight with that star above him shining straight down. The fog had become quite thick so he could see little in front of him except the sand he was walking on. He had thought there were a couple of smaller dunes between him and home but the sand stayed fairly level. There were no rises or dips, so he should be home at any minute.

   He started walking more carefully on the sand so as not to make any noise. He was listening for anything that would tell him he was near home. Wind around the house, insects in the bushes, or any of the familiar noises his mother or father would be making - the rattle of dishes, quiet conversation, feet on floorboards.

   But he found himself surrounded by complete silence. Except for the sounds he was making, feet moving through sand and his own breathing, there was nothing to tell him he wasn't totally alone out here. He stopped to listen but, when he held his breath, the silence was complete. He let out a sigh and, telling himself there was nothing to be afraid of, he started slowly walking again. Sand and mist and light. That was all that any of his senses could perceive around him. But he had been walking too long. There should be bushes and grass, even if he wasn't on the right track to his house. Unless he'd walked in a circle and was headed back for the ocean. Again he stopped and tried to listen. This time for the sea. But, no matter how he strained his ears, no sound of waves breaking on the shore reached him. He put the chair down, closed his eyes, held his breath and cupped one hand around his ear. Not a single sound. As if there were only a void surrounding him.

   He looked up. Five balls of bright white light. They couldn't possibly be stars. Moving as if to converge into one entity, as bright as the sun. He cupped both hands around his mouth and called, "Hello-o-o-o!" It sounded terribly loud in the awful silence. But he thought he might have heard a very faint answering hello. So he called, "Mom! Dad!”  But what he heard in return was just a murmur that sounded like "Dad" and he realized there must be some kind of echo.

   The lights above were becoming a glare that was beginning to be unpleasant. Eric took the covering off his chair but it was too thin to give any shade. So he opened the chair and held it over his head upside down with the legs sticking up and, by resting the seat on his head, he fashioned a not uncomfortable umbrella.

   Now, what was the next step? The only thing to do was keep walking until he arrived either at the beach or at the spot where his house stood. There wasn't much else around. He tried to take another bearing from his footprints but they didn't really tell him anything. But if he just turned around and followed them, they would lead him back to the beach and, even though that wasn't where he wanted to go, at least it was a known location from which he could find his way home.

   So once again he started walking. He was beginning to feel tired and hungry. The sand pulled at his feet and his breathing was becoming labored. The heavy pack on his back and the chair over his head didn't make walking any more enjoyable. "When I get to the beach, I'll sit for a while with my feet in the water before I head home."

   Now he was trudging, not walking and he was panting, not just breathing.