The Dead Forest

by Tom Raimbault

  And so Stan sat on the ground with back resting against the box, just listening to the surrounding forest; crickets chirping and animals rustling around. It was very peaceful. In these moments, Stan let his mind wander off to the night when he would finally have a hole dug in the ground and a coffin lowered in with Donna sealed shut beneath the Earth. Stan was so fortunate to have Donna to play this game with. She knew how to play dead so well, and could continue looking beautiful. Finally Stan's fantasy of unearthing a beautiful woman and brining her back from the dead could be experienced. Stan had been waiting for a moment like this for most of his life. Consider that when Lisa had been killed in that car crash; Stan's morbid fantasies had been so overwhelming, that he actually hopped the fence over to the cemetery late at night, to defile her grave in a moment of fantasy love making.

  This time, however, with Donna; it would be real. Again, Donna would play dead so very well. And Stan would physically make love to her as she lay in the coffin which had been unearthed. And in that moment, she would come back to life and belong to Stan one hundred percent, forever.

  Stan waited for about twenty minutes while sitting against the wooden box. From what he could determine, there didn't appear to be any problems for Donna. But then Stan actually began to worry. He worried that maybe Donna might have begun suffocating while falling asleep in the dark, wooden box. She wouldn't have been aware of what was happening and might have died in that box. Stan was so close to actually lifting the lid off that box to see if she was okay. But then something—maybe Donna’s spirit mother—urged Stan to wait; wait out the entire 45 minutes before lifting the lid. Part of the conditioning, after all, was for Stan to learn how to relax and not worry; just let everything happen.

  Fortunately, Stan brought with him a pack of cigarettes. He walked over to the running stream that once had Donna's blood flowing through it. He lit up a cigarette, took a few drags and relaxed. He stood there for some twenty minutes, and actually smoked a couple of cigarettes. When smoked down to the filters, Stan merely flicked them into the fresh running water stream. (Nice!)

  After smoking his last cigarette, Stan returned to the wooden box where he just stared at it in deep contemplation. It was then that his morbid fetishes began to get control of his worries. What if Donna really were dead? How would he react? Of course he would be devastated, but then he could live out the ultimate thrill of making love to real, live (actually dead) female corpse. He might even pass out from excitement overload; perhaps die of heart attack to join his precious Donna in the afterlife. It would be the ultimate ending to a happy love story.

  Stan could no longer control himself. With one minute remaining he figured Donna had been laying in that box long enough. Donna wouldn't have known the difference anyway if it were a minute early—that is if she were still alive. He lifted the lid and looked inside. Donna lay still and lifeless with eyes closed and hands resting on her chest. She hadn't moved from that position since Stan saw her last. Could she... could she possibly have been dead?

  With hands trembling and a mixture of emotions that ranged from horror, sadness, intrigue and sexual excitation; Stan felt Donna's cheek.

  It was warm to the touch.

  But what if the warmth merely remained from the several moments after her heart stopped beating? Still unsure, Stan place his finger under Donna's nose.

  Air moved in and out. Donna was still alive!

  Morbid fetishes along with the thrill of fantasy that nearly came true overcame Stan. He nearly leapt into the wooden box on top of his beloved Donna.

  Donna screamed in the darkness and then giggled as Stan kissed her.

  "This probably has to be the most exciting thing I've ever done!" declared Stan while momentarily pulling away from the kiss.

  And Donna had to admit, it was equally exciting for her. It was like something straight of out Sleeping Beauty; she lay in eternal sleep before her handsome prince kissed her back to life.

  ***

  This just so happened to be the weekend when Fredrick would finally come home from the war. And as you surely know by now, Fredrick was being honorably discharged because of his crippling injury. As mentioned before, his right leg had been blown off by a land mine.

  So on a Saturday morning in August he was escorted through town by a parade of police cars that trailed behind an ambulance. There were flags hung throughout town as well as banners that welcomed Fredrick home. Keep in mind that this was the early to mid 60s. Hippies and Vietnam War protesters weren't so prevalent at that time just yet, so Fredrick did get somewhat of a proper small town homecoming.

  Donna and her parents waited in the front of Fredrick's house with the rest of Fredrick’s family as they watched the small parade lead into the drive. And like mentioned before, it was an ambulance that first pulled into his driveway with Fredrick in the back.

  Now just as Stan's father had predicted, Donna's old feelings for Fredrick would quickly resurface. Upon initially seeing him being wheeled out of the ambulance, her heart was back to where it was a year ago before Fredrick left for the war. She was so happy to see him. She started to cry out of joy from finally being reunited as well as sadness due to his condition.

  It was Fredrick's mother and father, of course, who greeted their son first. "Welcome home son." said Father with tears in his eyes and hugging him. The remainder of his family rushed in to greet and welcome him as well. Then, finally, Donna had her turn. She was being proper and observed the fact that family had to come first. This is why she saw to it that she was last. After all, for the time being, Donna was simply a girlfriend.

  Donna approached the wheelchair; hugged and kissed him. "I'm so glad that you returned."

  Immediately, Mother and Father wheeled Fredrick into the house as the paramedics proceeded to unload medical supplies from the ambulance. Fredrick was brought into the family room where Donna would finally have a better chance to talk with him some more.

  But not much longer after Fredrick had been wheeled into the house, the paramedics entered with the medical supplies—IV bags, boxes of medicines, bandages, and the likes. There was plenty of pain medication along with morphine to be administered intravenously. This was one of the purposes of the IV. Fredrick was in so much pain, that he required regular doses of morphine. And he was on plenty of it at the moment.

  "So did you miss me?" asked Fredrick to Donna as the paramedic set up the nearby IV.

  “Of course I missed you. I missed you very much.”

  But then Fredrick was suddenly not the kind, young gentleman that Donna remembered. He nearly snapped, "Well then why the hell did you stop writing me?"

  Donna was taken aback. Deep down inside, she knew what he meant. The letters from her had gotten far and few between in frequency in recent months. But she never thought that Stan would go so far as to point this out when reuniting. It was, of course, the conflict of interest that Donna had with Stan. And this very moment was suddenly a very confusing moment for her. Donna was in love with Stan, but now Fredrick had come home and her old feelings for him had resurfaced. Those feelings soon included guilt for being unfaithful to Fredrick while he was away at war.

  Now Fredrick was beginning to ask questions. He wanted an explanation; wanted to know if there was some correlation between the rumor of Donna and Stan and her sudden reduction in frequency of letters. “Go ahead!” nearly demanded Fredrick. "How come you stopped writing?"

  "There-there, Fredrick." reassured Fredrick's father while patting him on the back. “The doctor said that the pain medications and morphine could cause your mind to act funny sometimes—maybe hallucinate. Donna is here with you, now. Doesn't that account for something?”

  But Fredrick said nothing; he just looked at Donna with an expression of bitterness and disgust. It was then that Donna suddenly noticed that Fredrick looked drastically different from the last time she saw him. Fredrick was a young man—soldier—who was going off to war some months ago. Now he had returned with a
long beard; his hair was somewhat longer and dirty-appearing. His face was worn. And of course he was missing a leg—confined to a wheelchair. And now he was very angry—almost resentful—towards Donna for not writing him as much while away at war; maybe almost hinting that she no longer loved him.

  "Ugh! This pain!" suddenly complained Fredrick to his father. "Could you give me some more medication; some more morphine?"

  One of the nearby paramedics reminded Fredrick's father, "There is a maximum amount of morphine that he should receive. Limited amounts are to be given to him. You are expected to abide by the recommended doses." Then the paramedic looked at Fredrick, "You really need to wait, Sir."

  Fredrick actually used profanity at that moment in front of his parents, family, Donna and her parents while challenging the paramedic. "How do you know how I feel right now? Do you have any idea how much pain I am in? My leg was blown-off by a land mine!"

  "I understand that, Sir." tried to reason the paramedic. "But there is only so much of this you can use for duration of time. This morphine is addicting, and you need to be careful." With that, the paramedic walked out of the house.

  Father nodded his head in agreement. "I think the paramedic is right.”

  Fredrick shook his head in disbelief. "I had no idea that it would get to this. Look at the state I'm in. I'm in terrible pain; not to mention I can't even mobilize myself. What kind of life do I have to look forward to?"

  Mother patted her son on his back, "Try not to worry. Things will get better. We have a rehabilitator scheduled to come to the house throughout the week so that you can finally start moving around. You'll probably be fitted with a prosthetic leg so that you can walk."

  After some moments, Donna’s father informed, “Donna has been very worried about you. Ever since she heard you were injured, she was very concerned whether or not you would be okay—whether or not you would come home alive.”

  Donna didn't appreciate the way Father had somewhat exaggerated her concern for Fredrick. She wasn’t that worried. But she understood that Father meant well. He meant it as a way to put Fredrick at ease, and reassure that Donna truly loved him.

  Fredrick, however, didn't seem to care at the moment. He yelped out in pain. "Gosh! I wish I could have some more morphine!

  "For the love of God!" exclaimed Father. "Just give him some more. Dump some more into that bag. Can't you see he's in pain?" While saying this, he opened a dosage of morphine and poured it into the IV bag.

  Within minutes, Fredrick began to appear sleepy; soon to dose off.

  "We should probably leave him alone for now." announced Donna's father. "Why don't we go; let him get his rest, and let his family properly re-unite. You'll have plenty of time later to be with Fredrick."

  Donna nodded and agreed. "Okay…” Funny thing: While leaving the house, Donna began to question whether or not she still loved Fredrick. A life with him in such a condition would be so miserable.

  ***

  And so late that Saturday night, Donna had another date with Stan. On this night, Stan had an even greater surprise in the forest than last time. Tonight, there large was a four-foot-deep hole dug in the ground with the coffin-like box sitting at the bottom. Stan announced as both he and Donna stood by the old tree that tonight would be the night that she would say farewell to the life she currently lived. Tonight would be the night that Donna would be buried underground, then to be unearthed and made reborn.

  Donna had to admit; in the previous times of playing the game, she was becoming increasingly devoted to the point of looking forward to the real thing. But tonight, Donna had a bad feeling. There just wasn’t something right. She felt as if something would go terribly wrong.

  "If you love me you would do this for me.” Insisted Stan. “I mean you would see how much I want this. Can't you do this one thing for me? It won't be as bad as you think."

  No man is that important; but Donna was young. She felt that it was time to fully surrender to Stan, and complete the game as a symbolic act of being 100% his. Still hesitant, Donna stepped down into the hole containing the wooden box that was large enough to accommodate her lying down. She assumed the restful position and gazed up into the dark forest, and the shadowy face of her twisted lover.

  "That's it; oh, you're beautiful lying there. Close your eyes and put your hands on your chest."

  She did as he asked.

  This time a collection of dried-up flowers were placed on her chest. In his morbid nature, Stan wished to make it seem like Donna had been dead for some time. Then he put cover was put on the box. Donna could hear the dirt thrown on top while Stan continued to take his fantasy to the extreme.

  "And we commit her body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust..."

  Donna was so close in that moment to changing her mind. She might still have had a chance to push the lid off, stand up and announce, "Game over!” But she wanted to please Stan who was certainly most deserving of fulfilling this desire of his. She would let him fill the hole with dirt, place a headstone at her mock grave and then wait for him to dig her out to make love. Donna had played the dead game a couple of times. She knew she could be in that box for some time before running out of air.

  Back above ground: Once the hole had been filled, Stan looked for a large stone to place at the head of the mock grave. He had considered purchasing a marble headstone, named and dated just for the occasion; but wasn't sure if it would have raised some red flags being that there were no funerals in town for a young woman named Donna.

  Before digging up Donna, Stan reached for a cigarette in shirt pocket. So proud of this moment, he figured he’d savor every moment of his fantasy by smoking a cigarette over Donna’s grave; pretend to contemplate whether or not to follow through with the shameful act of unearthing a corpse.

  But what was this?

  “Blast-it anyway!” Stan cried out while stomping his foot in annoyance. He forgot his cigarettes; probably left them in his car. But then Stan started thinking; why should he feel so stressed out? He had a corpse (a pretend one) buried under ground. This pretend corpse was Donna; and she had been trained in recent times to endure being sealed shut in the box for lengthy periods of time. Donna was well aware that it could be hours before running out of air so she was fine. Stan could now relax, and enjoy his fantasy. But first, he needed a cigarette. And to do this, Stan would leave the valley of Donna’s spirit mother; the place where Donna was now buried by the old tree.

  Stan hiked all the way back to the parking area. A couple of times he started to feel guilty that Donna was left underground longer than promised. Could she have heard what was taking place above ground and known that Stan walked away? But Stan quickly fought off those feelings of guilt while reassuring himself that Donna would be fine.

  Stan opened the car door."Now where are those cigarettes?" If Stan didn’t have his cigarettes and matches in his shirt pocket, he would most surely keep them on the dashboard. But they weren't there! Maybe they fell out of the car while exiting with Donna. He looked around his car and walked along the parking lot. It was then that he finally remembered that he actually left his cigarettes and matches on the dresser at home.

  Stan shrugged his shoulders and thought nothing of it while starting up the engine and backing out of the parking spot. The Texaco gas station where he worked in town was only 5 minutes from the Berry Bush Forest Preserve. He really deserved a cigarette!

  Upon reaching the gas station, Stan encountered some acquaintances, two old schoolmates who were out for the evening. And they just so happened to be people who were friends with Fredrick. They apparently had the same idea that Stan had; get some late night cigarettes from the vending machine.

  “So it looks like this is the only place in town for people to get cigarettes late at night.” cited Stan.

  “It looks like you’re right about that.” agreed one of the old schoolmates. Then he asked, “So I don’t know if you heard the news, but Fredrick is
back in town, now.”

  “Yeah?” answered Stan.

  “Oh, now, don’t try and pretend! You know all about it. You were with his girlfriend, Donna, all those months. Surely she told you that he was injured and home.”

  Stan shrugged his shoulders. “Okay, sure, I’ll admit. I’ve been with Donna all these months. It’s no big secret. But I don’t know if you realize that Donna and Fredrick are old news—ancient history. She’s mine now.”

  Both old classmates laughed. “How do you figure?”

  “You can believe whatever you want.” calmly answered Stan. “I tell you she’s all mine. Get this: I dug a 4 foot hole, made a wooden box and lowered it in. Donna agreed to play a game of dig up the grave! She's in the box and buried. Once I get my cigarettes, I’m going back to dig her up. It’s one of the greatest acts of devotion and subservience. What do you say about that?”

  “You’re crazy!” declared one of the old classmates. “You’ve always been crazy. And I don’t believe your story one bit. If I were you, I’d be worried right now—probably even leave town. Once Fredrick’s war buddies come around to visit, you’ll probably get beaten up really good.”

  Stan shook his head in disbelief and walked back to his car. He lit up a cigarette and drove off. Should he have worried about Fredrick’s war buddies coming to beat him up? Maybe he and Donna should start a new life together in a new city.

  The road that leads to Berry Bush Forest Preserve is on an incline. Once reaching the top of the incline, the entrance to Berry Bush Forest Preserve can be seen. On this particular night, however, there was something new that would be waiting for him before reaching the entrance. You see, there was a flat stretch of road that cut through the forested region with a rapidly approaching trucker who had been traveling many hours and feeling the effects of exhaustion. The semi truck drifted in and out of the opposite lane several times until the trucker could no longer hold consciousness. But the truck remained traveling close to 60 MPH in the opposite lane—the very lane that Stan was traveling uphill on. Since Stan was traveling up an incline, he couldn't see the danger that was rapidly approaching.