Swing Low: Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

If you're new to this, start atThe Beginning. And thanks for sharing my stories with all your friends.
Installment #12 of:Sing Low: The Hangman of the WoodsBy B.C. Crow (Download audio podcast here) (Chapter 11Utopian society is often envisioned as a hub of wealth and prosperity. It is a place where neighbors come together in the best interests of one another. It is a place unburdened by crime, social injustice, and disease. After my brief stay with the children of the woods, I am compelled to amend my vision of utopia. They had no monetary wealth, but they were wealthy in friendship. Mothers and fathers were the only stations held that offered any degree of respect. They all looked out for one another. The better traits of childlike innocence never seemed to leave them and the hangman was at their head, inspiring them to follow the higher path. They were of one heart and one mind.I never saw disease, though I’m sure they experienced it. I have a feeling that even when hard times hit, this band of children would only come together in unity to help one another even more. Their culture was one of kindness and caring. Every single one of them had been abandoned as either an infant or a toddler, rejected by those who should have loved them unconditionally. Yet they had developed a culture of their own, separate from the whole world. A world we should be so lucky to find.Streaks of morning sun curtained through the misty trees at angles that revealed the sun’s rising position. I trudged on, setting course by this natural compass before the day burned it away. Northeast for only a few hundred yards and already the incredible community of orphans was hidden from both sight and sound. If the sun was up higher, or if I looked very closely, I might have been able to spot an old footprint in the ground. I suspected that by the time the sun was blazing overhead, I’d be far enough away that even those impressions would be rare.I was glad to be on my way, but even the tune of the early-rising songbirds did little to lift my soul. I knew that I was doing the right thing. I couldn’t afford to delay my journey. I needed a real job, so that I could stay in school.Lack of sleep wasn’t the only reason my feet dragged. In the last sixteen hours or so, I’d found a sense of happiness that I’d never known. There were people my own age who didn’t judge me by my appearance or social skills. Then there was Midnight. My first impression of her hadn't been all that remarkable, but as I remembered her last good-bye, I saw the most beautiful girl I’d ever known. That beautiful image with the long black ponytail and genuine smile replaced all other impressions from the day before.She was kind, gentle, and perfect. I would be a fool to take her with me, but I’d also be a fool to stay. As I walked my feet kept pausing. Part because I was tired, part, I might as well admit, was because of Midnight. Why was it so difficult to resist the urge to turn around and sweep her into my arms and carry her off with me? I'd never do it, of course. That was just a foolish imagination of a daydreaming boy. I can’t even image what she really thought of me. I was pretty sure I didn’t want to know. Instead, I just kept pushing my way through the woods.Even if my head wasn't just caught up in the clouds, I was never one to be so bold, and nothing I knew could change that in me. Besides, deep down, I knew that I wasn’t in love with her. I’d only known her for a matter of hours. True love is something of fairy tales, not practical in the real world. But she didn’t live in the real world. Maybe she'd see nothing wrong with it, or with me. But I would. I did live in the real world. A few hours in Neverland could never change that for me.The farther I hiked under the canopy of trees, the more I knew that I'd never see her or the others again. I didn’t know how the hangman could do it; there were no landmarks to find one’s way. You'd have to know every single tree, shrub, and rock of these woods to navigate. Oh, to have a GPS device that I could mark their location with! Something to help me find my way back someday. As it was, I didn’t even know where I would pop out of the woods. I knew that if I kept walking to the northeast, I’d eventually find my way out. If I came out where I hoped, I'd only be about twenty kilometers from the city where my schooling would take place. But that was only if I exited the woods at the perfect spot. Before I’d left, I would have considered myself lucky if I came out within forty kilometers of my destination.I clawed at my memory, trying to remember the aerial image I'd seen of this place on my last day of school. I couldn’t recall ever seeing the small lake that the hangman camped by. But it had been over a month since I'd seen that fuzzy layout of the land from who knows how many kilometers above the sky. When I was following him yesterday, I was only aware that I was going deeper into the woods. In my stupor, I didn’t pay enough attention to the direction we’d gone. It had felt like the right direction, but for all I knew, I was so far off course that I’d have to walk an extra hundred kilometers once I emerged.So much green. It even hid most of the brown trunks of trees, either by moss, vine, or simply by overwhelming it with so many shades of the one color. The foliage above and in front hid everything in my path. Occasionally I’d crest a hill, but it was never tall enough to survey the land beyond. I pressed on anyway. With no real trails to follow and only the rare clearing to illuminate the position of the sun for reference, I wondered if I might just be going in circles. I’d heard of this happening before. Nighttime was only a few hours away. Maybe I’d find myself back in the orphans’ camp after all.Two more hours of hiking put the sun clearly at my back. I’d been successful in keeping a steady direction, but I thought I should be nearing the edge of the woods by now. Then again, how would I know until I actually emerged. As dense as this jungle was, I could be less than a hundred meters from civilization and not even realize it.Stopping, I listened hard, hoping to hear any signs of a city just beyond the looming trees. I could hear a faint whistle coming from my throat and some invisible rodents as they scurried through the underbrush around me. A large colorful bird ruffled its feathers above my head, oblivious to my presence. There were no sounds of cars or people, though.After one more hour of blistered walking, I gave up and set up camp. I wanted to start a fire, but I’d pushed myself too far for the day. Once I’d slumped down onto my butt, I couldn’t bring myself to stand again. I reached into my backpack and pulled out a water bottle and a bag of what was now stale Spanish rolls. The bread was dry but satisfying. I rationed the last of my food. I could have easily devoured everything I’d brought. This hike had famished me, but I wanted to put something in my belly when morning came, before I continued my walk. Hopefully this would be my last night out here. I wasn’t like Chirp-chirp. Even Grub might know how to find food in the forest, but I’d likely poison myself with the first berry or fruit I came across.Without a blanket or a tent, I fell asleep with my head on my bundle of clothing. I woke once with a shiver. I'd only slept for an hour or two. I was cold, something I rarely felt in this perpetually hot and humid climate, and I had to pee. Relieved, I unpacked my clothing and layered it on myself to keep warm.I lay down again, but sleep came slower this time. After having slept so little the night before, followed by my muscle-draining hike earlier today, I knew I should sleep soundly. But there was something about being alone, unsure of exactly where I was. The noises were disturbing. The silences were more so. The extra layers of clothing didn’t help much against the cold, either. Uncomfortably I curled into the fetal position and tried not to let my fears wring me out.I was afraid. Afraid that I might never find my way out of these woods. Afraid that I would starve to death only a hundred feet from the edge of the town. Yes, I did think it would be nice to snuggle up to Midnight for warmth, but that was a foolish and fleeting thought. Fear was the caffeine that kept my mind alert this night. Every snap of twig or rustle of leaves, even the nighttime insects, cast an eerie mood on my waxing paranoia. Few stars were visible under the broad-leaved canopy above my head, but where I hadn’t noticed any shadows during the day, now I was surrounded by what seemed like dancing phantoms of black; evil fairies playing back and forth all around me.Sometime before sunrise I fell asleep. The green shade of morning light woke me up. I just curled into myself tighter like a pill bug in a toddler’s grip. Two horrible nights of sleep, and I wanted to rest all day. High in the sky overhead, though I couldn’t see it, I heard the familiar thunder of a commercial jet ripping across the sky. It could have thousands of kilometers to go before landing, but it reminded me that I should find civilization sometime today.I finished the last of my bread and washed it down with some water. I would need to keep an eye out for more water to refill my bottle this morning. Food I could likely do without for a meal or more, but I would need water. About two hours into my hike, I was rewarded with water. Granted, it was a bittersweet bounty. While I did need the wet stuff, what I found was more of a curse.After resting for half an hour, funneling the torrent of rainwater through a leaf into my water bottle, I realized that the deluge would not be letting up anytime soon, and neither should I. Water was already pooling at my feet as I stepped out from under the shelter of a fallen tree. I don’t know how, but even though the sun failed to penetrate the treetops before, the rain was unhindered by the umbrella of foliage. Within seconds I couldn’t have been wetter than if I’d jumped into a lake.The rain pounded more steadily against the ground than did my feet. By midday, amid the drowning white noise, the first hints of civilization tickled my nose. The blanket of water drowned all sound and almost all smell, baptizing the polluted atmosphere, washing it nearly clean. That faintest of smells that stubbornly clung below the treetops, defying all nature could cast against it, was the scent of a lingering wood-burning cook fire.My mind took too long to register what my nose was begging me to notice. I was on the outskirts of civilization. I was nearing New Tum, or at least I hope that's where I was emerging. I'd finally reached the other side. I quickened my pace. Through the pouring veil, as if from heaven, I saw the fuzzy shapes of homes. Please don't let them be my own hometown I thought. I'd go crazy if I'd just walked in a complete circle. Almost falling over myself, I raced closer, hoping to find a compassionate family, one willing to accept a dripping sponge under their roof."What town is this?" Were my first words as a rickety old man greeted me at the door of his equally rickety old house."Id youw jous come from da woods?" He asked with a toothless accent, slowly, as if his old lips struggled to form the words. Or maybe it was because he was so old that English wasn’t his first language."Please, just tell me what town this is?""Why dis int no town a’all. Dis’s New Tum Disdirk. A’youw okay? Youw loo’like youw been hikin in da wrain fur a ho’week. Cum in, fore youw cach'a coughin."I just nodded my head. "Thank you."End of Chapter 11Thanks for reading. Remember to comment on anything you liked or that you think should be fixed.Click here to read Chapter 12Copyright 2017: While I encourage you to share this link with your friends and family, please keep in mind that this is copyrighted material. Under no circumstances do you have the right to re-publish any or part of this content without specific written permission from BC Crow and Blue House Publishing.