WHAT LIES IN THE WOODS- Part One- The Storm--AKUA TUTA

Garret fumbled with his car keys, gripping his books tightly to his chest, as wind ripped unmercifully at his body. He turned his back to the wind, blinking his eyes furiously he attempted to clear the rain from his vision so he could focus on the icy ring of keys in his hand. His eyes immediately found the right key, grasping it firmly with his numb fingers, he quickly unlocked the drivers door of his late model Honda Accord and slid into the comfort of it’s worn interior. He slammed the door, shutting out the fierce storm, and was able to finally release a sigh of relief.

Peering through the rain pelted windshield, he shook his head in wonder. It was late October and instead of the weather getting cooler, the intense summer had turned into a wicked Indian summer. The entire week before the temperatures in Walsh, Garret’s small high desert town, had been horridly humid, peaking in the high 90's. It was Thursday and since Monday, Garret had felt as though he were baking alive sitting day after day in the stifling confines of Arthur Washington high school classroom’s. Then, during lunch earlier that afternoon, Garret had noticed wicked thunder heads forming overhead, darkening the heat-saturated blue sky. After lunch and during his Calculus class, the thunder’s booming voice had begun to reverberate repeatedly verbalizing it’s displeasure. Garret had watched with fascination when the sky had begun to dance with the immense streaks of lightening. A hidden darkness tried to creep into his thoughts with the coming of the storm. The wild squall was remnant of another furious storm that had taken place a year before. The flashes of unruly lightening had begun to remind Garret of that terrible, delicate deep-seated memory. He shook his head gently, carefully chasing away the haunted memories before they could pounce on his thoughts and consume him whole. He spent the remainder of the class period watching in awe as the untamed fury of the thunder heads had continued to release their wrath in into the blazing sky. Garret loved lightning storms. They seemed to make the entire atmosphere thrum with a hidden, savage power. He appreciated how the air seemed to be alive with electricity and wished he could have been in a better location to witness the splendor and not stuck in school. During his next class, English, he had watched as the clouds had swallowed the graceful lightening and then released a curtain of torrential rain. Garret longed to smell the air, to taste the burnt ozone essence which typically perfumes the air during a storm. Then as though his English teacher could read his mind, she interrupted class momentarily and opened the windows to the classroom announcing “Ah, class we must revel in this break from this horrid heat but try not to let it distract you to much, you need to know as much as you can about the test coming up next week, it covers a lot of subject matter”. He listened to this quietly and then proceeded to ignore the rest of her announcement so he could continue to watch the waterlogged world outside the classroom window. At first, the rain had been blissful and tame, he had watched as the parched earth drank up the rain like mothers milk. The smell of the electricity was still thick in the desert air but a cool refreshing overtone of the shower had sweetened the air. He could almost feel the dreadful heat dissipating, the cool fingers of the wind softly wafted into the tiny classroom and caressed his cheek soothingly. The earth though, had just begun to release it’s fury, the soothing cool wind soon became a raging roar, blowing it’s icy breath fiercely into the tiny classroom. Loose sheets of paper became airborne and it rained paper as the teacher hurried to the close the window.

By the time school was over, the soothing summer storm had turned into a mini hurricane, and the heat that had earlier saturated every pore of his body had been replaced by the chilly fingers of the cold pelting rain. Now sitting in his car he continued to watch the storm torn world through the blurred windshield. The little car shook with the sudden bursts of wind. As his fascination with the storm began to tire, he began to wonder where his sister and James were. At lunch that day Garret, James, and Cally, Garret’s little sister, had agreed to meet their friend Adam at their favorite after school hangout at four, Garret glanced at his watch and found it to be a quarter after four.

Garret had stalled within the school for a half an hour, taking his time to complete a homework assignment in the library. He knew that either James nor Cally were ever on time. He and Adam had come to expect tardiness from both of them. Garret caught his reflection in the rear view mirror and found that he had been soaked to the bone by the rain during the short run to the car . His dirty blond hair was plastered to his skull. Rain droplets clung to his narrow face and strong jaw. He rubbed the water from his faded green eyes and switched the radio on. After a few moments of searching the bands for a station a small, amused smile played upon his lips. He knew the search for a decent radio station was futile. He lived in a very remote portion of the Oregon high desert and the only radio stations available in the area were country, talk, and religious. He gave up the search up promptly and began searching for a cassette tape. He popped cassette of No Doubt in and Gwen Stefani’s amazing voice began to belt out lyrics. Garret turned the sound up and laid back into the tattered but comfortable bucket seat. He began to doze his mind wandering. As sleep fuzzed the edges of reality, he began to dream of that night. That fateful stormy night that Garret wanted to wipe from his mind forever.

As soon as the memory began to replay within is mind, Garret’s heart ached with anguish. The cops had said there was nothing that they could of done, but that didn’t erase the screams that had echoed within Garret’s head every night since. The horrible memories flooded into his mind and he became lost within them, reliving every second of the encounter all over again. It had been a chilly evening in November of the year before that, Garret, Cally, and James’s had decided after school to drive to the city of Bend, 40 miles north of their little desert town. Later that night after eating and catching a movie at the mall, they had headed back during the heart of a thunderstorm that had been brewing the entire day before. Garret had slowed, his white knuckles gripping the steering wheel tightly. His senses were heightened as he drove. The storm raged savagely throwing debris and tumble weeds into the path of Garret’s car. The windshield wipers couldn’t keep up with the pelting rain and Garret peered through the blurred windshield struggleing to see the road before him. The road they were on was all Winding and curvy. Suddenly after Garret negotiated a curve he was blinded, by blazing headlights in his lane. He jerked the wheel towards the ditch to the side of the road, opting to crash into the ditch instead of the incoming car. Time slowed to a crawl as the events unraveled. Screeching metal and screaming tires filled the air. There was a tremendous jolt to the back driver’s side of the car and Garret’s car was spun around 180 degrees. Garret realized that the other car had smacked into the back driver’s side of the car and had put it into a spin. Garret could hear James cussing and Cally shrieking as he struggled to regain control of the car as it spun down the middle of the road way. The world spun merrily as the car reeled. Then as suddenly as it had started the world stopped it’s spinning as the car slammed into the ditch he’d already tried to hit. Garret’s face and chest slammed hard into the steering wheel. The chaos was then replaced with silence as pain blossomed upon his face. He felt a warm, sticky liquid covering his face, disorientated he raised a hand to his face and his fingers came back scarlet. He shook his head lightly and looked to the passenger seat. James was slumped over his head resting on the dashboard. Garret gingerly reached out and pushed James’s hair out of his face. He groaned and fell back into the seat his head lolling. After a few moments of muttering, he opened his eyes wide and met Garret’s dazed gaze. They looked at each other for a long moment. The hot engine ticked as the rain pelted the roof of the car. Garret then spun in his seat and looked to the backseat. Cally was sitting behind James in the back passenger seat. Her eyes were wide with shock as she gasp for air. Garret cleared his throat, “Is everyone all right?” “What the heck happened, Garret?” Cally asked in a trembling voice. Garret shook his head, “I don’t know, I think there was a car in our lane and it hit us.” That was the first moment Garret had thought of the other car since the beginning of the accident. Without saying a word, Garret flung open his car door and had emerged from the battered body of his car. Peering around in the darkness, Garret tried to locate the other car which had hit them.

Suddenly, flames lit up the darkness, erupting from a late model luxury car located 100 ft down the highway. The car was perched precariously on it’s side and it’s battered body was quickly being engulfed by the ravenous fire. The blood in Garret’s heart suddenly turned to ice when he heard the unthinkable. Screams. From the fiery depths of the car, he could faintly hear people shrieking. A wretched sob burst from his lips and he began sprinting down the middle of the roadway towards the rapidly burning car. He could hear James behind him, also running towards the wreck when suddenly the world exploded. Eerily, Garret felt himself picked up and flung backwards as though he were nothing more than a tinker toy. Slamming back to the wet asphalt 15 feet from where he originated, he felt pain course through his nerve endings. Serenaded by the ringing in his ears, Garret rested upon the roadway and allowed the rain to trickle off his body like tears. With dread in his heart, he begrudgingly realized that the car’s gas tank had just exploded and whoever had been trapped within the car was now beyond help.

Later that night, while he lay upon a stark hospital bed, a police officer informed him that there had been a mother and two children within the car. Their memory had haunted Garret throughout the past year and he had privately struggled with the despair of trying to deal with what had occurred.

Suddenly, the passenger side door was flung open and his cocoon of peace was rudely shattered.

James’s dripping, grinning face appeared “Waiting Long?” He inquired mischievously as he slid into the seat next to Garret. After adjusting his long legs he turned to Garret with a angelic look upon his Native American features. Water droplets clung to his long black hair and streamed down his high cheekbones. His dark eyes gleamed with amusement as a small smile hinted at the corner of his mouth.

Garret rolled his eyes and smiled, “Naw man, what’s your excuse this time?”

James straitened mockingly, placing his hand on his chin “ Hmmm lemme think....There were these aliens and they wanted to study me, you know cause I’m such a fine specimen.”

Garret struggled with pent up laughter.

James paused for a moment and chuckled, “No really, Coach Williams wanted to talk to me about the season. He was wondering how my left knee was doing after I biffed it yesterday during practice. It aches a little but I told him I can play when the season starts.”

Garret raised an eyebrow, “If it’s hurt, don’t screw it up more than it already is, I know you’ve knocked it around a lot over the years.”

James nodded, “Yeah, I know, but I’m no Einstein and my GPA isn’t the greatest. We’re Seniors man, we gotta boogie this year and get ready to start our own lives. But your lucky, your smart and you have a chance of getting an academic scholarship. If I want to get out of this nothing town, I need to get a Athletic scholarship.” he nudged Garret and grinned, “Besides bro, basketball is my life.”

Garret smiled and nodded. James had been playing basketball as soon as he could pick up one of the orange balls. Over the years, he and James had played countless games of one on one. James trained every year for the season and it payed off. He was named MVP his Sophomore and Junior years. James peered out the passenger window intently studying something and then quickly locked the car door. Garret studied him quizzically, wondering what James was up to. Suddenly a fist began to pound the window and a voice cut through the howling wind. “Dang you James, let me in!”

Garret could see the blurred shape of a angry, rain soaked Cally through the foggy windows. He smacked James lightly in the shoulder and said, “C’mon James, let my lil sis in before she blows away.”

James flung open the door and leaned forward, letting Cally to get into the back seat. The furious wind ripped through the car and tore at Garret as Calley squeezed into the back. After slamming the door and restoring the peace, a grinning James turned in the seat to study the younger girl. Adjusting the rear view mirror, Garret could see Cally glaring at James.

“That was not funny, I was freezing out there!” Cally informed James.

James snorted with laughter,”Aw come on, I was just messing with you” Garret watched as the scowl melted from Cally’s face.

The anger left her hazel eyes as she swept back her rain soaked earth colored hair. With a smirk upon her features she remarked to James ,“I owe you one” and calmly turned her eyes to meet Garret’s in the rear view mirror.

“Sorry I was late Garret, we were putting some finishing touches on the paper layout before we sent it off to the press.” Garret nodded, Cally was the assistant editor for the school paper. Garret admired his little sister for her excellent writing ability. Although she was only sixteen, her writing awoke the imagination and set it afire.

“No problem Cally, I know you and James well enough to know that your never on time and I stalled for a while after school” Garret said with a grin as he started the car. “But think about Adam, we were supposed to meet him a half an hour ago at the Pizza Palace.”

As Garret put the car into gear and began to exit the school parking lot, James squirmed in his seat and whined in a girly voice, “Oh no, poor Adam, stuck chowing down an entire pizza by himself in a nice cozy booth.” Garret chuckled quietly as he headed towards the pizza joint.

The driving conditions were terrible, rain pounded it’s angry fists upon the windshield, making visibility poor, while wind tore at the car and debris littered the road.

At the Pizza Palace, they found Adam with his mouth crammed full and a greasy pepperoni pizza, less four pieces, sitting in front of him. James nudged Cally and grinned, “See, I told you. Do I know him or what?”

When Adam saw them he hurriedly swallowed and took a quick sip off his soda, “What took you guys so long?” He paused for moment, “Oh never mind, I know you James.”

Adam smiled quietly up at the three of them. Garrett noticed that Adam had a hint of purple bruising beneath his earth colored eyes, probably due to the fact that Adam suffered from chronic insomnia. Garrett had known James since Kindergarten but he’d only just met Adam during this past year. Garret had shared Chemisty with Adam and they had been paired together as lab partners. It hadn’t took them long at all to become friends. Adam was the quiet sort. Unfortunately, he had not had an easy life, his parents had died when he was an infant and his aunt had raised him until she had died from cancer the previous year. Following her death, he had come to live with his grandmother, which is when Garret first met him.

They made a bizarre group of friends, Garret was realistic and composed, Cally intelligent and lively, James an easy going, jokester and Adam although quiet, was a star athlete with his forte being football. He had a wicked throwing arm and was the best quarterback that Arthur Washington high school had seen in twenty years. Last year, he had led the team to victory in the championships and the student body loved him for it.

“So,” Adam said through a mouth full of pizza, “I was thinking, I love hiking but I haven’t gotten to do much lately. How ‘bout we all go on a camping trip this weekend?”

“Hey, right on! That’s sounds awesome, I love getting out for a good romp in the woods” James commented, wearing a smile.

“Ohhh” Cally’s eyes lit up, “Garret, can we? We haven’t been camping in ages!”

Garret shrugged, “ Hey, I don’t have any plans, sounds good to me. How bout we hike up to Angel falls, spend the night there, and then head back home?”

Angel falls could only be reached by hiking in. The winding, fifteen mile trail that led into the scenic falls, wound through some gorgeous landscape and it was a relatively smooth hike.

All heads at the table, eagerly nodded in agreement.

“All right then,” Adam burped and sat back grinning, “we’ll leave Saturday morning, bright and early, make sure to pack light.”

*****************LOOK FOR PART TWO OF "WHAT LIES IN THE WOODS"- THE WOODS

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