Daniel thinks about his last statement: That was his dream. It hasn’t fully sunk in yet that he has lost his father. He cannot even remember the last full conversation he has had with his father. For a moment, he feels deeply saddened. He knows that his father is gone, yet he cannot come to terms and grasp the concept. “I thought he’d make it, he had some pretty interesting ideas.”
“Well, making it as a writer is hard enough,” Lavender says, trying to change the subject. Her main goal at this moment was to keep Daniel as happy as possible. She knows not what lies ahead, but she worried for what might be the worst possible scenario. After all, she remembers a part of the message from Jack that Daniel seems to have forgotten—the female voice in the background asking “Is this hell?”—a message that she dares not to impart to Daniel, especially after all he has gone through. “Pretty ironic, though, with your last name being Wolfe that he’d write about animals.”
“He had his name changed to his penname,” Daniel says as he attempts to shake away the negative thoughts. “Used to be Rien.”
“French, isn’t it?” Lavender asks—she had taken a few French lessons at her old school back in England. “I think it means… well… ‘of nothing’, or ‘nothing’.”
“I had no idea,” Daniel says.
“Sorry,” Lavender says, feeling slightly guilty at divulging the meaning behind the name. “It’s just names—I find them pretty interesting. Like the literal meanings, that’s all. It doesn’t mean a thing, really, like my last name Clay—just means a variation of either ‘from the earth’, or literally wet earth that is able to be formed.”
“No, it’s cool,” Daniel replies, “That’s actually really interesting.”
“Oh, now you’re just taking the piss out of me aren’t you?” Lavender adds with another laugh.
“No, really!” Daniel objects. “Most of the people I talk to don’t really possess the capacity to have that kind of information. I guess I’ve just been around my roommate Hen too much. All he talks about is, well… getting laid, and he crushes beer cans against his head. Empty ones, of course.”
“Sounds like the typical male college students I’ve run into in America and at home,” Lavender adds. “The au fait routine of banging, bragging, and leaving—that’s why I came for you. You showed me that people can be different—not all you blokes are the same.”
Daniel feels a tinge of guilt. After all, when he began his “chase” after Lavender, it was purely from a physical, sexual point of view. He wanted her slender body, her large breasts that teased him through her short shirts. Her cute face and sensual lips, and then there was that accent. That pushed it over the top. He didn’t want a relationship. At least, he did not think that he did. It was that morning, however, that convinced him otherwise. It was as if, in that moment, everything changed. He felt that it was best not to mention this. After all, he did have the chance to brag to Hen, yet he did not. It just didn’t feel right. It was almost as if she changed him in some small way. “I’m glad you saw something in me,” he says, “I just hope I never let you down.”
“You best not!” Lavender replies with a smile, “I’ve got two brothers back at home, you know? Big guys, too—one of them crushes beer cans on his forehead. Full ones, of course.”
“Then I promise I will never let you down,” Daniel replies with a genuine laugh. For a moment, his thoughts drift away from all the horrors that threaten to fill it.
Without warning, the road beneath them turns from cracked pavement to rock and gravel. Lavender slows down the car as rocks hit the bottom, causing loud pops and bangs from beneath the vehicle.
“Yeah,” Daniel adds, remembering the road that leads to home. “It’s all gravel from here.”
“No worries,” Lavender replies, “I got insurance on the car.”
“Welcome to Pine Hallow,” Daniel says as he looks ahead. Behind them dust clouds swirl up from the back of the car and twist in the sunlight like tiny tornadoes. They pass the old bait shop—it is still standing. The woods around them seem to be untouched by the devastation that has hit Springfield. The come to a fork in the road as Daniel points with his good arm to the right. The road narrows and curves around a tall tree. “Wish I had my camera….”
Lavender slowly stops the car. She reaches into the back seat and pulls out her digital SLR, handing it over to Daniel. “I came prepared.”
Daniel laughs as he powers on the camera. “You are perfect, you know that?”
“I’ve had my suspicions,” Lavender jokingly answers. “Not many people out here?”
“Really small place—off the map, these days,” Daniel answers. “That’s just how my dad wanted it. He wanted to be part of nature, see the animals that he wrote about in their natural habitat. He thought it would help him become in touch with their ways.”
As they continue on, the woods thin out. A clearing lies ahead of them—a wide open field surrounded by trees and bluffs, and a small valley.
“Whoa,” Daniel says as he spots a truck against a tree a short distance away from the road.
“Do you know that truck?” Lavender asks as she brings the car to a halt. She clicks her seatbelt off and opens the door. She rounds the car and helps Daniel out—he holds the camera with his good arm.
Together, they walk the short distance to the truck. The front end is smashed in, wrapped around the trunk of the tree. The door is open. There is some blood visible on the steering wheel.
“I think… I think this is Jack Olen and William Walker’s truck. I’m not sure, though,” Daniel says as he aims the camera with one hand toward the vehicle and snaps a picture. For a moment, the digital display shows not the truck, yet two men standing together, arm-in-arm. They are smiling happily. “What the hell?”
“What is it?” Lavender asks as she looks over to the camera.
Daniel hits the review button and the picture pops up. “This is… this is them.”
“How?” Lavender asks as she backs away a few steps, afraid of what has shown up on the camera. “How is that possible?”
“It isn’t,” Daniel replies as he points the camera at the truck once more. He snaps a few more photos in succession. He hits review, however, all these images are normal. “That was strange.”
“The other ones came out right?” Lavender asks as she allows herself to step forward, curious.
“Yeah, they came out perfectly normal,” Daniel says as he hits the back button a few times. The picture of Jack Olen and William Walker remains on the digital view. They are standing in a room. It almost looks like his brother’s room. They look happy, content. Behind them the window is broken, a bright light coming from it, illuminating them and causing a sort glow effect against their skin.
“We should keep going,” Lavender replies as she helps Daniel back to the car.
They continue on, Daniel at the ready with his camera. As they get closer, he spots the familiar ash tree in the field. He zooms in on the tree and snaps a quick photograph. Once again something unusual shows up on the display. “Check this out….”
Lavender slows down to a stop and looks over. Beneath the photograph of the tree rests a fox and a wolf, sleeping soundly. “They don’t normally do that, do they?”
“I wouldn’t think so,” Daniel adds as he points the camera in the direction of the tree once more. He depresses the trigger and fires off another photo; however, this one comes up empty. The tree remains, yet the sleeping animals are gone.
“Something is going wonky,” Lavender whispers as she stares off blankly at the wide ash tree. “I wouldn’t believe it if I weren’t seeing it.”
Daniel looks ahead—he cannot make out the house. As they continue on, he realizes that it is not there in the same way that it should be. Only the very top of the house, his father’s writing office, is visible. Daniel reaches over and opens the door, rushing out, horrified by what he is seeing.
“Daniel, wait up!” Lavender shouts as she brings the car to a proper sto
p.
The entire first two floors of the house are gone, swallowed up by the earth. There is no distinction between where the house begins and the ground ends. It is as though it has literally become part of the ground. The top floor is visible only through broken windows. The writing room is filled with earth and grass has begun to grow through the light of the many windows. There is no staircase, no sign of any furniture, and, worst of all, no sign of anyone else. Daniel falls to his knees. He has lost any hope of finding anyone alive here.
Lavender reaches down and places a hand to Daniel’s back, massaging it gently. She then reaches down and places her arms around him, careful not to squeeze him too tightly. “I’m so sorry, love.”
“What happened here?” Daniel asks, dumbfounded. “This doesn’t make any sense at all.”
“Try the camera,” Lavender whispers, as she helps Daniel steady a shot toward the house. With a click, a single photograph is taken. In seconds, it appears on the display. Daniel catches a glimpse of his brother, Jack, with a girl. He quickly hits the review button. Jack looks as though he has been through hell—his white shirt is stained red with blood. The girl beside him is tall, almost as tall as Jack; she has blond hair and is covered in a white sheet that almost appears to be fashioned into a dress. The girl has her arm around Jack as she kisses him on the cheek. Jack is smiling, looking straight ahead at the camera. The pair stand in a forest filled with autumn leaves. In the distance, Daniel makes out what looks to be an ocean.
“Jacky…,” Daniel whispers. He turns the camera back to photograph mode and snaps off about ten photographs, each one coming up normal. “Jack!”
“He’s not there,” Lavender whispers, sadly.
“Jack…,” Daniel whispers once more. A tear escapes his eye as Lavender wipes it away. She helps him back up to his feet.
“We should go,” Lavender says as she wraps her arms around Daniel once more, “I am so sorry, dear.”
“Hold on…,” Daniel says as he spots a glimmer in one of the windows ahead of them. It appears as though a single window pane remains unbroken. It shimmers in the mid-day sun, almost like flowing water. “Do you see that?”
“I do…,” Lavender answers slowly, filled with disbelief.
Together, they inch their way cautiously to the window. Daniel kneels down against the ground. He peeks into the window, seeing a room, his brother’s room. On the bed he can make out an object, something familiar.
“I’ve got to go in,” Daniel says as he nods to Lavender, “I’ve got to go in there and get something.”
Lavender nods silently. She knows that there is no talking Daniel out of doing this.
Daniel reaches for the bottom of the pane, attempting to pull it up and open with one hand. Lavender quickly comes to Daniel’s side and helps. With a loud sound like a thunderclap, the window comes open. The wind whistles and howls all about the open window.
“I’m scared,” Lavender shouts over the terrible sound of the tearing, brutal wind.
“I’ll be fine!” Daniel shouts back in reply. “Whatever happens, just stay here! I’ll be back, I promise!”
Lavender kisses Daniel, and then helps him down, careful of his broken arm. “You better keep that promise,” she mouths as Daniel disappears into darkness. The window shuts with a loud boom that echoes throughout the valley.
Daniel is overcome by the strange feeling of being as light as air. He feels with each step that he is merely trying to navigate the same way an astronaut would hop along the moon’s surface. He finds it hard to breathe—his broken ribs ache with each slow breath. He searches the room, feeling as though he is in one of those nightmares where he moves in slow-motion. Finally, he sees something glimmer on the bed; it is Jack’s cell phone. He reaches down with great effort, and the pain comes again as his fingertips come into contact with the cell phone and suddenly everything goes dark, as though someone has flipped off a light switch and he is now surrounded by complete darkness.
Daniel’s eyes slowly opened to a new light. A dull grey morning light filtered through the blinds of his bedroom window. He was in bed—had he been dreaming? He couldn’t be sure; however, it must have been quite a nightmare, as his body was covered in sweat.
He slowly got out of bed, letting out a loud yawn. A knock came upon his door. “Yeah?”
“Morning, Rabbit,” Daniel’s mother announced as she slowly opened the door, allowing the room to fill with the smell of fresh pancakes. “It’s breakfast time. Whenever you’re ready, come down.”
Daniel quickly dressed and ran down the stairs with the reckless abandon only a child could possess. He rushed into the kitchen, jumping into his chair, almost causing it to fall over to its side. Next to him, still looking tired and half-asleep, was Jack, his younger brother.
“Morning, Jacky,” Daniel said as he dug into his pancakes.
“Morning, Danny,” Jack answered back sleepily.
As the brothers finished their breakfast, they brought their plates into the kitchen. Their mother was already cleaning up from cooking.
“Can we go out and play?” Daniel asked as he placed his plate into the sink.
“Of course,” their mother replied, a happy smile on her face. “Just make sure to keep a watch on your brother.”
“Will do,” Daniel said as he opened up the door to the sunny new day. He looked back to his mother once more, not knowing for sure why, yet feeling sad for a moment. It was though he was looking at her for the last time. His mind quickly dismissed this as impossible; after all, what could go wrong?
Together, the brothers rushed out of the house. They ran toward the woods, taunting each other as they raced through the field. They stopped to catch their breath beneath a tall tree that twisted out in odd directions. Above, caught in a high branch, Jack spotted a large hawk feather.
“Let’s race to the top and see who can get that first,” Jack challenged, pointing to the hawk feather that was blowing in the soft wind.
“You know I don’t like heights,” Daniel said as he shook his head in refusal.
“Come on, Danny,” Jack goaded, “Don’t be such a pussy.”
“Hey!” Daniel shouted, and then laughed. “Where the hell did you hear that?”
“In school,” Jack meekly answered. “Stephen Mathis called Frank Blain a pussy for not telling Susan that he thought she had nice tits.”
“Jesus Christ…,” Daniel muttered as he laughed again. “What the hell is wrong with you? You’re ten! No one has nice tits at ten. If mom found out you were talking like this, she’d take a stick to you.”
“She wouldn’t do it, she’s too much of a pussy,” Jack repeated purposely, knowing that the word was making Daniel uncomfortable.
Daniel laughed again, and then his face grew serious. “Come on, now. I’m thirteen and I’m not even going around calling anyone pussies, and there are girls in my class that do have nice tits.”
Jack ignored Daniel’s statement and began to climb up the tree.
“You better be careful—if you fall, it’s me that mom’ll take the stick to,” Daniel protested.
“I’ve climbed this tree a billion times before, its fine,” Jack replied as he climbed up even higher. He leveraged his weight against a branch, and reached up for a higher one. He was now a good twenty-odd feet from the ground and the hawk’s feather was just out of reach. “I’ve almost got it.”
“Get it and come back down,” Daniel shouted.
Just as Jack’s fingertips came into contact with the feather he lost his balance, barely catching himself upon the closest branch.
“Oh, fuck!” Daniel shouted, as he watched his brother nearly fall.
“I’m slipping!” Jack shouted, “I can’t hold on much longer.”
Daniel ran beneath Jack, “Just let go, I’ll catch you!”
“You won’t!” Jack protested. “You’ll miss me!”
“Trust me!”
Jack’s fingertips slipped away from the branch and he l
et out a short scream as he fell down to the earth. Daniel braced himself and waited, arms outstretched—and caught Jack, causing them both to come crashing down into the dirt.
“Are you all right?” Daniel asked, his back screaming out in pain, but suffering no permanent or visible damage.
“Yeah,” Jack whispered, as he rolled off of Daniel. He got to his feet, helping his brother back up. “Thank you… I’m sorry. I shoulda listened to you.”
“It’s fine, Jacky,” Daniel said, smiling despite the pain in his back. “Let’s not tell mom about this—she’ll shit.”
Jack let out a laugh as he looked up to the feather in the tree. “I didn’t even get it.”
“Forget about it,” Daniel said as he felt an odd tug on his back, as though someone was standing behind him, pulling him back. Then his sight slowly began to fade, almost as though he was about to pass out. Eventually, darkness overtook everything.
He feels lost in the infinite black, until the strange tug pulls on his back once more. Without warning, he is flung backward at a sickeningly fast speed. He attempts to scream as he watches the top of the house disappear away from him. Soon he sees all of the earth beneath him—the trees, the bluffs, and surrounding area. He can even make out Springfield. It reminds him of the airplane accident, only in complete reverse. He wonders how high he can go up until he realizes that he is now seeing the earth the same way one would see it one of those shot-from-outer-space television shows. Below him, glowing like a brilliant blue gem is the Earth in all its glory.
Jack feels himself plummet back down to earth. Then, everything is black once more. He awakes outside the window, Lavender standing above him. She is trying to talk to him, but all he can hear is the deafening ringing in his ears. Slowly, his hearing returns and he is aware of his surroundings once more.
“Are you all right?” Lavender asks, concerned.
Daniel lets out a cough, and then nods. “I saw him… I saw Jack, and my mother.”
Window in the Earth Trilogy Page 43