Part One

            When you come face to face with Death, it is then when you understand how immensely thrilled he is to welcome you! His cast-iron-hued irises cling to every detail of you as they toil in the surrounding gray clouds of nothingness. His lopsided grin curls up higher on the right side of his ashen face as he hugs you closely to his hollow chest. Your flesh feels cushiony in contrast to his bony ribs, yet that is the least of your concerns. Because now that he has you in his withered arms, he is loathe to let you go! He’s excited to show you his world; caverns as black as the robe he uses to cloak his lack of firm muscles or goose-bumped flesh. He is the ruler of the darkened deserts, where vegetation is a memory and water is a luxury.

            It would truly take a miracle to pull you out of his determined grip!

            As he drags you beside him, he points out his favorite landmarks with a gnarled finger, which reminds you of a naked winter branch back home. The scorched land ahead blends with the horizon, creating a vast darkness as far as the eyes can see. You wonder how he can take such pride in the bleakness he commands.

            The only two sounds you hear are your shuffling steps and the ominous, continuous whisper of his robe. And then…his laughter when he sees your mouth agape and your eyes bugged wide with abject denial. It’s primal instinct to fight him at this point. Indeed, no soul wants to dwell in his treasured wasteland!

            You see, his masterful devastation is what awaits you upon your last breath. So, cling to that last breath, `lest he seizes you and takes you into the endless night of nothing. That’s when you become his.

However, in order to rule you, he must first catch you. And once he catches you, he will surely smother your last wisps of hope with that first possessive hug.

***

I slid my pen into the binding on my notebook and stared out the window. Writing about death had me feeling a bit gloomy. The last thing I needed right now was gloom and doom! I forced a smile and tapped into my creative side while I took in the scenery.

The Kancamagus Highway stretched out ahead of the car as if it was a prehistoric anaconda trampled by a herd of brontosaurus. I was pretending the black asphalt was scaled and the double yellow stripe was an orange pattern along the snake’s back.

When the car hugged a steep curve, my imagination continued to sail. The mountains to our left were giant, undiscovered snails, sleeping until they were motivated enough to move. Their heads were tucked inside their shells because the air was hot and stifling; hardly conducive for a long nap.

            “Hello! Anybody home?” Missy hollered at me. She was waving her perfectly manicured hand in front of my face as if I’d packed my mental bags and checked out of my head.

            So maybe I do have a tendency to daydream, and maybe my imagination is a tad out of control. You try telling your imagination to quit when it’s clearly taken over most of your waking thoughts! “I’m here,” I told her sullenly, snapping out of my reverie.

            “We’re going to stop at the next lookout to stretch our legs and eat,” she informed me with an eye roll. “You weren’t thinking about him again, were you?” Missy’s blue-grey eyes were scrutinizing my face for any telltale signs of guilt.

I gave her a shrug and commented, “Not a chance. Actually, I was enjoying the scenery. Maybe you should do the same instead of babysitting my mood.”

            “You have been pretty quiet, Leah,” Jason quipped from the front seat. He gave me a smirk, and then he turned his attention back to the snaking road.

            “Only trying to help,” Missy singsonged with a shake of her head. She bent over and flipped her shoulder-length brown hair towards her lap so she could wrestle the strands into a barrette.

            Jason turned on his blinker and waited for a row of cars to pass. We were in his Mazda, traveling one of the most scenic highways New Hampshire has to offer. People drove for miles just to see the leaves turn brilliant shades of red, yellow, and orange. There was a backsplash of green as far as the eye could see. The Kancamagus Highway was roughly thirty-five miles of intimidating, yet breathtaking, mountain views connecting Lincoln and Conway.

            A parade of motorcycles roared its way up the curve on the other side of the road. All we heard was engines revving wildly and the riders catcalling to each other while they sped up the slope. Devon, Jason’s best friend and the winner of the shotgun-call when our drive began, crawled halfway out of the front passenger window to give the riders two thumbs up.

Jason seized the opportunity to turn into the lookout area as soon as the last rider passed. Unprepared for the move, Devon nearly fell out the window when the car jerked off the road. His desperate double-palmed grasp on the car roof made a thump and the rest of us laughed. Devon and clumsy are synonyms, if you ask me!

We could still hear the echo of motorcycle traffic reverberating from the canyon when we got out of the car. Devon and Jason immediately raced for the guardrail that separated safety from danger. Missy and I stretched leisurely as we took in the view. We were lucky enough to have the lookout to ourselves for the moment.

“So what were you thinking about, then?” Missy asked with her hands on her hips. She’d just finished stretching her five-foot-six frame as if she was preparing to run the final downhill miles of the Kancamagus Highway.

“You know me,” I said, leaning through the Mazda’s window for my water bottle. I eased out the window and unscrewed the cap so I wouldn’t have to look Missy in the eyes. “My mind was off and wandering again. The view up here really makes you feel small, doesn’t it?”

Missy nodded knowingly before telling me, “Smooth, Leah. You don’t think I’m buying your change of subject, do you? Am I your best friend or not?”

“Of course you are!” I assured her, glancing at her for a brief moment. Suddenly my water bottle was fascinating again. “I just don’t want to talk about him. That’s all.” I raked my short, dark hair with a shaky hand, hoping Missy would leave the topic alone. The last thing I wanted to do was think about Brad, the guy who’d just dumped me.

“He broke up with you and never gave you a reason,” Missy argued. She was using her softest, most understanding tone. “You should talk about him. Otherwise you could go crazy with all the what-ifs.”

“I’m not about to go crazy over a guy I only dated for three months!” I said defensively. I took a swig of water and screwed on the cap. Then I gazed across the canyon to appreciate the mountain view. The sleeping snails were brown, grey, and blue. Their shells punched the sky, slowing the roving clouds. “Seriously, Missy, I wasn’t thinking about him. I just want the four of us to have a good time this week. I’m at that point where I don’t care why he broke up with me anymore. It obviously wasn’t meant to be. Besides, I barely had time to write when I was dating him.”

“Is that what you were doing in the car on the way up here? Writing in your head after you put the notebook away?” she asked, wearing a hopeful expression.

“You caught me,” I admitted, giving her arm a playful tap.

“How can you girls gossip at a time like this?” Devon joked from his perch on the guardrail. “Are you blind?” he asked, jutting a thumb over his shoulder at the mountains.

“Should you be sitting on that guardrail, Devon?” Missy teased as we joined the guys. “No way am I going into that canyon to retrieve your broken body!”

“I’m not that clumsy, Missy!” Devon protested with a less-than-kind finger gesture.

“You girls grab a seat on either side of Devon,” Jason ordered while walking back to the Mazda. “I’m going to set up my camera on the hood so we can get a group shot.” Jason angled his nearly-six-foot frame through the driver’s side window to snatch his camera. He set up a miniature tripod on the hood of the car, and then he set the timer on the camera. He raked his short blond hair out of his eyes after he sat down beside me. “The adventure begins!” he shouted with his face pointed at the blanket of blue and white above us. He dropped his face seconds before the camera captured our scenic beginning.

It was great to enjoy the moment. Jason and I seemed to be getting along better now that Brad was out of my life. If I wasn’t mistaken, we were developing stronger feelings for each other.

I knew I was right about the change in our relationship when Jason leaned in to kiss me. Unfortunately, Devon chose that moment to lose his balance. Suddenly, he gave a fearful whoop and sank over the guardrail!

***

Jason grabbed Devon’s pant leg a second before Devon was lost to the canyon for good. Devon’s head smacked against the rocky incline and his back slammed into the other side of the guardrail.

“Quick! Grab his other leg!” Jason blurted in a panic.

I jumped off the guardrail and planted one of my clogs firmly against one of the wooden support rails. Then I reached over the top of the guardrail to grasp Devon’s right ankle. Missy scrambled in between Jason and me so she could lean over the railing for Devon’s hands. She couldn’t reach his hands because he was flailing them wildly over his head. She had to settle for the loops on his jeans.

Jason took a risk when he released Devon’s left ankle to make a grab for Devon’s hand. Finally, we pulled Devon over the top. Thank God Devon was so slim! He probably weighed as much as I did; a hundred thirty. We were about the same height, too, five-foot-eight.

Devon fell to his hands and knees in front of us, gasping for breath. “That was a close one!” he wheezed, glancing over his shoulder at us. He rubbed at the back of his head.

“Let me take a look at your head,” I offered, stepping up to sift through his dirty-blond strands. He had a small cut on his scalp. I kept his hair parted and told Missy to bring me the first aid kit.

“Lucky for you Jason has such quick reflexes,” Missy said with a sigh, handing me the kit.

I dribbled some first aid liquid over the cut, and then I pressed a wad of cotton balls against his scalp. I held the cotton balls in place while Jason paced the parking lot nervously. Missy peered over my shoulder, attempting to see the extent of Devon’s injury.

We were all a little stunned by what had just happened. It probably wasn’t the best way to start our vacation together. The plan was to spend the week at one of the many campgrounds along the Kancamagus Highway.

Camping was one of Jason’s loves. He was all about nature; the ultimate tree-hugger. In the fall, he’d begin training to become a Fish and Game officer. For the last few summers, he’d been a lifeguard at Clough State Park in Weare, New Hampshire. He had the perfect sinewy build to spend his days chasing down illegal hunters and fishers. He wore his short blond hair in a sexy, mussed style. His tan was deep and his teeth were as white as the puffy clouds currently cluttering the azure sky above our heads.

Missy and I weren’t exactly camping types. We’d only agreed to the trip because it was a brilliant distraction from the college courses looming in our futures. Missy was a wiz with numbers. She’d logically chosen a career in accounting. I was going to be taking creative writing and paralegal classes; two majors that would stretch my mind thin. We’d be going to the same college. Thank God for that! We’d been friends since we were toddlers, and we didn’t relish the idea of being separated.

Devon was undecided. He was torn between law enforcement and the Army. His parents had given him the summer to decide. If he didn’t make up his mind by the end of this week, his parents were going to choose for him. It was hard for me to have faith in either of his choices. I pictured him shooting himself in the foot while in pursuit of a perp. If he chose the Army, he’d probably get tangled in a parachute while training for a drop.

“You’ll live,” I informed Devon. I tossed the soiled cotton balls in a trash receptacle and chanced a glance at Jason. He seemed unusually unnerved by Devon’s fall.

“Thanks, Leah,” Devon said with a sincere tone. One of his hands shot up to gently touch his wound.

“Don’t stick your germy hand all over it!” Missy warned him. “You’ll get it infected, for cripes sake!”

I’d moved over to Jason. He was staring out at the mountains as if he was trying to memorize them. “You okay?” I whispered. It really wasn’t like Jason to be so quiet.

“Do you believe in premonitions?” he asked, without taking his eyes off the mountains.

“I don’t know,” I replied with a shrug that was wasted on him. “I guess some people have them. Personally, I’ve never had one. Not that I can remember, anyway. Why? What’s up?”

“Last night,” he began, finally glancing sideways at me, “I dreamt that Devon fell. He just did.”

“Devon is clumsy,” I reminded him with a smirk. “He almost fell out of the car window, too. Big deal.”

“In my dream, after Devon fell, Missy was killed,” he whispered.

It took me a minute to digest his words. I gulped involuntarily. “How was she killed?”

“She was shot.” He’d said the words so softly they were nearly lost in the breeze. “That’s not going to happen, right? We’re on the Kancamagus Highway in boring, old New Hampshire. Nothing ever happens in New Hampshire. Right, Leah?” His blues were piercing and dead-serious when they captured my brown eyes.

“No,” I murmured. “Nothing ever happens in New Hampshire.” I rubbed my hand down his back reassuringly. “Who would have a reason to shoot Missy? She’s one of the sweetest people I know.” I paused before adding, “It was just a dream, Jason.”

Though I was telling him one thing, my writer’s mind was conjuring a whole other scenario. I immediately dismissed the crazy thoughts I’d begun to think. It was impossible to hide the shiver that followed! Jason had successfully given me the creeps. I was now terrified that Missy would accidently get shot by a hunter at the campsite we were headed to. I intended to watch her like a hawk!

***

            The guys successfully pitched both tents while Missy and I unloaded the car. Just behind the space we’d rented was a path that led directly to the Kancamagus River. The sound of rushing water was a relaxing backdrop to the wild setting around us.

            “This is awesome!” Jason called over his shoulder. He was setting up two sleeping bags in the boys’ tent. “I’m looking forward to nightfall, when we have a fire going. We’ll be able to hear the river when we’re in our tents, too.”

            “How are we supposed to sleep with the river making all that noise?” Missy asked. She jutted her thumb in the direction of the river and gave me a cross-eyed look.

            “It’ll be fine,” I assured her. I dropped to my hands and knees to crawl inside the girls’ tent with the last two sleeping bags.

            “I’m going to the river to fill the water jug!” Devon announced. He had a collapsible water jug under his arm, and he was headed for the path behind our spot.

            “Wait up!” Missy called over to Devon. “I’ll go with you!”

            “Uuh, no, you won’t,” I told Missy, crawling out of the tent. I had my hands on my hips and I was trying to think of a reasonable explanation for telling her she couldn’t go. No way was I going to let Missy traipse through the woods with only the clumsy Devon by her side! “I…uumm…need your help getting dinner ready,” I lied as smoothly as possible.

            “Whatever,” Missy said with a shrug. “Go without me, Devon!” she called with a thumb up. “I just wanted to get a look at the river,” she explained, moving toward the picnic table. She searched a bag until she found the paper plates, napkins, plastic silverware, and plastic cups.

            Jason ducked out of the boys’ tent and threw me a grateful smile. “I’ll unload the wood for the fire,” he offered, opening the trunk of his car.

            I finished setting up the sleeping bags, and then I joined Missy at the picnic table. She already had a small grill burning, and she was trying to butter some burger buns. I busied myself with seasoning the pre-made burger patties. I gently set the patties on the grill, and then I looked around for a way to clean my hands. Where was Devon with the water?

            It was then when we heard a muffled cry for help from the path behind our campsite. Jason dumped the bundle of wood he was carrying and sped for the path. Missy and I exchanged panic-stricken expressions, and then we ran to catch up with Jason.

            Missy and I were slipping and sliding down the slope toward the river when we spotted Jason. He was on his knees, thirty feet ahead of us, hovering over Devon’s prone body.

            “What happened?” I exclaimed when we got to the guys. I peered over Jason’s shoulder. Devon was blinking his eyes. He seemed bewildered.

            “Is he okay?” Missy worried aloud. She passed Jason and stepped over Devon’s legs. She bent down beside Devon and repeated her question.

            “A bear,” Devon said with a cough. Apparently, he’d had the wind knocked out of him. “Where is it?” he asked, attempting to sit up.

            “Whoa!” Jason cautioned Devon, pushing Devon back down with a firm palm. “Did it attack you? What happened?”

            Devon rolled his head to the right and then the left, glancing about nervously. “Is it gone?”

            “You saw a bear?” I asked, looking around anxiously to see if it was still in the vicinity.

There were postings about black bears at the entrance to the campground. The signs warned against leaving food outside of vehicles. Beverages could also attract them. There was a picture on the main board, showcasing an empty gallon of milk with teeth marks in it.

            Jason was checking Devon for injuries. Devon answered with a shaky tone, “It was there when I turned around.” Jason’s hand moved to Devon’s ribs, and we heard a croak. Devon admitted, “That hurt. I think I have a cracked rib or something.” Jason lifted Devon’s T-shirt to inspect Devon’s chest and stomach. Meanwhile, Devon continued, “I’d just filled the jug. A big, black bear stared straight into my eyes and growled! I remembered you’re not supposed to look them in the eyes, so I put my head down and dropped the jug. I’m not sure what happened next. I feel like I was hit by a car! I think the bear ran over me!”

            “Only you could get run over by a bear,” Missy teased with an apprehensive giggle.

            “Okay, let’s help him up,” Jason directed, grasping Devon under the shoulder.

            Missy grabbed Devon under his other shoulder and warned, “Easy, Devon. Take it slow!” Together, they got Devon to his feet and steadied him.

            They moved with Devon, up the incline, while I followed closely behind with the water jug. Thankfully, the water jug had faired better than Devon had! The clear plastic was intact; no teeth marks. Hopefully, the four of us could get through the week without teeth marks, too!

            When we got back to our campsite, I ran to the picnic table and slammed the water jug down on the bench. The burger patties were burnt!

            Jason and Missy led Devon to the boys’ tent to lay him down until dinner was ready. Devon had his hand pressed against his ribs, and he was wearing a pained expression when he ducked inside the tent.

Copyright 2008 – Sheila Roy