Tick

They were on a runaway train heading toward an abyss. And neither one of them knew how to stop it. They just didn’t know how much track was left. One thing was certain –to him, at least: every argument moved them one step closer to the cliff.

With the arrival of spring, Brian found unexpected refuge in nature. He was never much of an outdoorsman, nor, was he one to take walks. But for the sake of his own sanity, he had grown accustomed to leaving for a walk after – or even during – an argument. It was only a matter of time before he would walk out the door for good. He was hopeful his wooded sojourns would provide the clarity he needed to move on with his life.

Of course, taking walks was so uncharacteristic of him, it wasn’t long before Christine became suspicious of his increasingly long walks. He went so far as to take pictures as proof if it ever got to the point where he needed to provide it. In fact, one time it did.

“But how do I know you weren’t there with someone?” she continued to ask.

He had no way to prove otherwise.

And though he realized that turning his back on an argument was rooted in selfishness, he justified it when he realized it was just as much for his kid’s sake as his. Perhaps, even more so. In fact, the potential damage their arguments were having on the kids was a primary reason he wanted out. He had a litany of other, more selfish reasons, of course. But once he realized just how much his kids were impacted, he decided to get serious about formulating his exit strategy. Or, at least thinking about formulating one. He just had to get out his own damn way. And ultimately learn to live without guilt.

Then again, was that even possible?

Though he had his go-to trails, he decided to take advantage of living in a town that had no shortage of parks and trails to seek out different paths.

As he drove toward his favorite trail, he found himself once again mired in regret about for not hugging his kids goodbye. The again, what choice did he have in the midst of an argument? He tried to assuage his guilt by reminding himself that he wouldn’t be gone for long. The guilt was deafening. It was finally put on pause when what appeared to be an unmarked trailhead caught his attention just off the side of the road. He found it odd that he had never noticed it before. Then again, it was pretty well-hidden.

Under ordinary circumstances, he wasn’t one to take the road less traveled, but if there were ever a time to break the mold, it was now.

In typical fashion, he initially passed on the opportunity and kept on driving, but then slowed down and parked on the side of the road. No other car was in sight. In fact, no other cars even passed by, which was unusual for such a perfect, sunny spring day. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. And the temperature was approaching 70. Though he typically enjoyed the solitude, he didn’t mind the occasional passerby. It reminded him that he wasn’t completely alone. It gave him hope for a future he was trying to get to. As much as he wanted out of his situation, he sometimes feared being alone even more.

But taking the road less traveled, meant facing it alone.

He entered the narrow trail head. Though there was a path, it was partially obscured by

undergrowth. His inability to identity poison ivy lack certainly demonstrated his lack of nature expertise. So, he treaded carefully. He was also mindful of the possibility of ticks. He regretted wearing shots.

The deeper he got into the woods, the narrower and less worn the path became. And the more alone he felt. Before long, there was no path at all. He was forging his own path until he happened upon an intersecting trail. And every intersecting trail begat a fork in the road. It wasn’t before he realized he was lost. And he had no idea if he was getting further away from the point of entry, or if he was just going around in circles. Sometimes, things looked familiar. Other times, it did not.

He had no internal compass, so this was nothing new. He reached into his pocket to grab his phone to use as a compass would help. But then he realized he left his phone in the car. J

Just his luck.

He tried not to panic, figuring he would eventually figure out his way back. Or, at least come out on some road – if not the one he parked on.

He continued to wander aimlessly. He had lost all sense of time. If only he had his phone. Every time he thought he had it figured out, he reached another fork in the road. Before long, everything looked familiar no matter which path he chose.

In fact, the only thing that changed was the sky. It had gone from cloudless blue to a dark grey. At first, he thought he was just in a densely-shaded part of the woods. After all, there were no clouds in the forecast.  But then he looked up.

Two wrong turns later, he felt the first drop. Then a steady drizzle. Then a downpour. At least, there was no lightning.

But then there was.

Panic set in. Of being lost. And of the eventual hell to pay when he returned home. Then again, maybe she would be worried enough not to be mad. And his poor kids. The last thing he wanted to do was make them more stressed and worried then they probably already were.

He realized he had no idea how much time had passed. He would have been no less surprised if it were 45 min or two hours.

He took shelter until the storm stopped, leaving behind just a steady drizzle. By that point, he was already soaked.

Sheltering in place wasn’t going to get him anywhere, so he set out, determined to find his way out of the unexpected labyrinth he found himself lost in.

He thought he finally found his exit, only to lead to a dead end. So, he turned around and kept on his journey, remembering with every step of the way that every journey must come to an end.

He considered cutting through woods, but was worried that might get him even more lost. He would stick to the trail – for now, at least.  There were a couple of times he thought he happened upon the way out, only to reach another dead end.

Just when he thought he traversed through every possible inch of the forest, he came across a new sight: train tracks! Though they were clearly abandoned, he decided to follow them. Surely, the would lead him out of the woods. They didn’t. They, too, came to a dead end.

He had just about abandoned all hope when he noticed a patch of sunlight at the end of the trail, despite the rain that was still falling overhead. He walked toward the light and lo and behold, he made it out of the woods.

Not only was the sun back out, but there was no sign of rain at all. The ground was bone dry. And there was not a single cloud in the sky.

He headed back to his car and quickly checked his phone. He had no missed calls or texts from home, which was surprising considering that she would ordinally begin to bombard him if he was gone a minute longer than expected. He looked at the time. 2:45. He could have sworn that was the time he had arrived. He must have been wrong.

He sent a text to say he was on his way. But it bounced back as “undeliverable.” He tried again. Sane result. The natural assumption to make would have been that there was no signal. But his phone indicated otherwise.

Just before he drove off he noticed a black dot on his leg. He examined it more closely.

A tick!

It hadn’t had a chance to burrow deep at all, so he was able to pluck it off with ease, relying on his childhood memories of the occasional tick during family vacations up north.

As he headed home, he continued to see no sign of rain, except for the fact that he was completely drenched.

He tried calling home. But his wife’s number was “no longer in service.”

He pulled into the driveway. The garage was open and something seemed off, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Did she clean out the garage while he was gone?

He entered. Christine stood at the counter, chopping vegetables like any other day.  She stopped mid-chop and looked at him with an expression he never quite noticed before. A look that could only be described as confused fear. She appeared “off” in other ways, too. She looked… younger. Like when he first met her.

“You won’t believe what happened—” Brian began.

Then a man’s voice he didn’t recognize:

“May I help you?”

Brian turned to look in the direction of the voice.

“What is going on?” Brian asked. “Where are the kids?”

“Get out,” the man demanded. “Or, I’ll call the police.”

“Christine…”

“Do you know him?” the stranger asked.

“I never saw this man before in my life,” Christine said to the man who clearly wasn’t a stranger to her.

He walked backwards out the door and quickly headed to his car once he got outside. As he drove off, he realized he recognized the man from somewhere. And old FB post. Her ex – years before their first born.

He kept driving, with no idea where he was heading.

Really no different than any other day.