Waking

WAKING

It feels like I’ve been running for hours. Surprisingly, my feet don’t hurt even though their covered in cuts and bruises. Stopping to check my left side where I hit the road after jumping from the moving vehicle, I see a large gash and some dried blood. Shock must be setting in because I feel nothing at all. Sliding down the side of a large maple tree beside a muddy swamp, I hold my head in my hands trying to put the pieces back together.

We had been arguing in the car; Jake was driving, swerving, drunk. He struck me in the jaw; I was rolling down a hill and into the woods. Jake wasn’t perfect. He drank a lot and sometimes he got loud, and sometimes I got hit. I knew when to keep my mouth shut. But this time was different, this time he seemed unable to control himself.

Staring into the swamp I see something move and distance myself less I be eaten. The wind gusts up a cyclone of leaves that surround me. Frightened, I walk fast in the opposite direction. A few minutes later I find myself back at the swamp.

“How on earth?”

“You can’t leave,” says a voice.

Spinning around I find a young man in his teens standing in front of me. His face is pale and lifeless. Darting as fast as I can in the other direction, I try to outrun him, just to find him standing in front of me.

“How did you do that?” I gasp

“I’m dead. I died here a few years ago. They still haven’t found my body, so they probably won’t find yours either.”

He points to a small area near the edge of the swamp where I see my hand jutting out of the leaves, my favorite bracelet dangling off the end of it.

“I don’t…”

“You don’t remember, but I saw the whole thing. That man beat you in the side of the head with a rock and buried you in the ground just a few inches from me. That’s why you can’t leave. You’re soul is tied to your body,” he said.

“Jake…killed me?”

“Jake! I can’t believe I forgot his name. I’ll never forget that face though,” he said.

“Did you know Jake?”

“Hah! Jake was my neighbor. He’d always harass my mom and one time I told my Dad and he laid Jake out with one punch! My dad was awesome! That pissed Jake off and he hated me after that. For months he wouldn’t come near our house, even look our way. Then one day he got drunk and kidnapped me as I was walking home from school. He took me out here and drowned me in this swamp,” he said.

“You’re that missing boy, Daniel?” I ask

“Yes, that’s my name, Daniel! I almost forgot,” he said.

“You’ve been out here this whole time?” I ask

“Yes. My body was never given a proper burial, so my soul is stuck here until they find me,” he said.

Walking over to the area where our bodies were buried I try to move the leaves but am unable to. Daniel walks over and puts his arm around me but it falls through not making contact.

“That’s impossible!” he says.

“What?”

“I can’t touch you. If something’s dead I can usually touch it, but you…are… fading!”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you’re still alive!”

“We need to wake me up! I have a cell phone in my pocket, I can call for help! Help me wake up Daniel!” I beg.

He starts walking in circles scratching his head.

“The animals! They can hear us, they can help!”

Running towards my body, Daniel sounds a loud battle cry. Creatures emerge from the swamp and surround my body making loud animal sounds. The sound eventually stirs me. My hand begins to move. My body lifts from the ground. Fading fast I find myself back in my body, but I can no longer see Daniel. Pulling my cell phone out of my pocket I dial and patiently wait as the phone rings. The pain is setting in fast. I don’t have much longer. Dizziness sets in and I fall back. What if I can’t get through? Blood pools around me. I might not survive this. But I have to hang on, for Daniel.

“Sherman County Police, what’s your emergency?”

“Daniel’s body… by the swamp…”

I can barely speak.

“Route 23… Jake Samson… mur-der-er…”

My hand releases the phone and I can hear talking on the other end as I fade away.

“They’ll find us now,” said Daniel, holding my hand.

Moments later the sound of an ambulance siren blares in the distance, and the animals sound their sound right back, calling out in our direction.