The One About The Forest - Part #3

He remembered the first time he'd seen the tree. It was when he turned 12.

Maiden Valley California, where he lived was surrounded by forested foothills that led to tree packed mountains that climbed a mere thousand feet above the town.

Tom and his family had made the short hike from their house into this forest dozens of times before. They had made it a Sunday tradition to picnic there in the lush green carpet of grass beneath the twisted live oaks, and eaten ham sandwiches and deviled eggs. Tom was the youngest and Kevin and Brandon his two older brothers would run off into the woods, and climb the rock formations and skip stones across the near by pond. Two of his sisters April and Laney would string simple white flowers together into wreaths and lay them on top of the water. It was idyllic in the most cliche' way, and if his father hadn't been in the army, voted for Regan twice and owned a slew of firearms, Tom would swear they were hippies.

Tom wouldn't run off into the woods after lunch though. He was only 7 then and sat with Megan, as she read under an impressive oak that shot at least a hundred feet into the sky. It's branches looked like the tentacles of a giant squid reaching out for some unknown prey. She was the oldest, and though at that age Tom never read himself he liked to watch Megan read. She didn't mind him at all and had said that it was comforting to have him there.

"If a beast ever comes to pull me into the forest you can pick up a stick and beat him away" she once said.

At the time, Tom had often day dreamed of what the beast would look like, but pictured only an animal like a bear or a wolf, even a rhino and he wasn't afraid.

Then one day Megan disappeared.

Tom remembered the night the police came. His family had sat in a crumpled pile on the living room carpet crying for what seemed like 15 hours, and he'd gone to bed without totally grasping the impact of it all.

Laying there he had dreamed of the beast again, but it had became something horrible, and disgusting. It was shrouded now in the shadows of the forest, black and shiny with many arms that sprung out from every inch of its body. The teeth looked like jagged rocks, and blood poured from its mouth. Its eyes were large and white and red veins formed stars for its pupils. Sometimes he still had the dream and it still frightened him. If this beast came out of the forest to take Megan, there was no way he could stop it.

The image had kept Tom away from the forest for 5 years. His family stopped their picnics after that and of course there was no more reading. The deluge of mourning gradually subsided however, and Tom had been surprised how well his family had kept things together. His mother eventually loosened the leash, and Tom was allowed to walk by himself to his friends house, or play in the park after school.

It was during this period of new found freedom that he felt the forest calling to him.

Now 15 years later, Tom came over the crest of a small hill and there at the end of a clearing stood the tree. "Old Man Giver" That was what he'd called it, and in remembering this he felt silly. At the time it was clever for a 12 year old to think of. It looked like an old man, and his father use to sing "Old Man River" in an ironic fashion when he worked in the yard. As well of course the tree had given him things.

He walked closer to the old man, and suddenly felt a sensation he hadn't felt in years. He stopped. He stared at the center of the tree with that gray flat stumpy scar of a lost limb. He moved forward, and ran his fingers across it, but there was no writing on it this time, not like there was the first time he saw it.

That year, when he was 12, the first time he had discovered this odd looking tree, he'd stood in this same spot.

There carved into the missing branches' stump were the words "Dig" and beneath it, an arrow had been etched pointing to to the ground. The letters and arrow looked like they had been there for years, and Tom turned his head to the ground and thought to himself that whatever had been buried there would probably be long gone, dug up years ago. Maybe there was nothing there to begin with, and the writer had simply wanted young boy explorers to look stupid, year after year. Tom wondered how many idiots had fallen for it. Still, he was intrigued. At last his knees hit the ground at the base of the tree. He moved away a pile of dead leaves and plunged his small hands into what was soft earth. Tom didn't dig for long, maybe 6 inches before he found it. It was a tin box about 8 by 10. It was yellow and aged, and rust had begun to eat away at the edges. It looked like it had once held fancy cookies or chocolates and there was an illustration of a large Victorian looking building, that reminded Tom of the old library in town. Beneath it he could tell there had been letters that had been sanded or scraped away.

"What are the odds" he thought? "This is right out of a movie".

He brushed as much dirt away as he could and began to pry at the lid. It was hard going and Tom began to think that maybe he would have to take it home and put it in his father's vise and work at it with screwdrivers and hammers to open it. Just then the lid popped off.

Tom put the box flat on the ground. Inside there were two pieces of paper, and a small book. He picked up the book first and began to thumb through it. The pages were dingy white and empty. This disappointed Tom who at first believed he had discovered something of value. Perhaps the journal of a conquistador or a miner. Maiden Valley had been a major mining town after all. There was nothing in the book however, until the last page. There, handwritten in cursive ink was one sentence.

"I didn't arrive in time. Someone else will have to get to her at a later date. Whoever you are I wish you luck."

These words gave young Tom a shiver, as if they were written to him.

Tom turned the book over to find more writing on the back cover. Just five words written in large letters.

"Put back in the box".

He picked up one of the papers next. He turned it over to reveal a photograph It was a class picture of a girl close to his age, maybe 13 years old. It looked like it had been taken in the last 10 years. Tom had never seen her before, but he thought it very odd. Written at the bottom of the photo in white letters were more words.

"This is for you."

Tom thought about all of this for almost a whole minute. Then he put the picture in his shirt pocket, and peeled the last piece of paper out of the bottom of the box. He turned it over.

"Bury the box where you found it" was all that was written.