Survive! Part 6
Just Out of Reach
The headlights fell on the old cabin, right where it ought to be. Willie was glad his dad kept this old place on the New River. The family used it for hunting and fishing, but Willie liked to come up here and escape the world. It was a long drive up, and he figured on getting some rest and then taking the Jeep up into the hills. Maybe do a little exploring around one of the old abandoned mining towns. He grabbed his bag from the back and went inside. He lit an oil lamp and made his way to the fireplace. He had plenty of fire wood and everything looked clean and ready to go.
"Pops been here lately," he thought to himself. His dad loved the old place and insisted that anyone who used it kept it up, and he was here at least once a month so no one dared not follow orders. If you didn't do your share of the cleaning and upkeep, you didn't use the cabin. Period. Willie reasoned that was only fair, why should dad be responsible for cleaning and restocking the cabin for everyone else? Everything was extra clean though, so that meant Pop was the last person here.
Willie settled in and tried to relax in front of the fire place. He just couldn't manage to do it though. His mind kept drifting, drifting back to why he was there in the first place. Judy loved Willie. He knew she did, she told him all the time. But, she couldn't live that way, from check to check. She needed security, for herself and the kids. She tried to stay with him, she really did, and he appreciated her for staying as long as she did. But after he was fired from the airfield, well, she had to go. He completely understood, but that didn't make it hurt any less. He tried to keep the bills under control but made too many bad decisions and had to big an attitude to hold onto a decent job. Had being the important word there. He sat there, a truly humbled man. He'd been trying to change for a long time, controlling himself, working hard to make ends meet, but it was too little, too late.
"At least I can live off the land here, get my head together,...try to get a grip on the bills..." He settled back in the old chair, he needed to close his eyes...he needed to think. "Got to be some way to get Judy and the kids back..." Sleep came, but not easily. He eventually nodded off, with visions of his wife in his head. She was just out of reach...
Allen lay near Jeff by the fire. Jess and Randy completed the circle. Everyone was as close to the campfire as the could possibly stand, and until Jess and Randy nodded off, had been silently staring into the fire. Allen tried to sleep, but just couldn't. His mind raced with every sound in the forest. It was pitch black beyond the friendly boundaries of the fire, and though Allen strained to see in the direction of every breaking twig, he could see nothing. He worried about bears. He knew at any moment one would bound up and eat them all,... "HA! You need to get a grip on yourself, and fast!" He thought. "If the guys heard me thinking that sort of stuff I'd be laughed out of the Woodsmen Society!" Allen remembered thinking they had been "roughing it" when the went to camp and had camp outs in tents and went on leisurely canoe rides.
"Jeez, I wish I had a canoe right now." Allen felt embarrassed as soon as the words fell from his lips and across his ears.
He hadn't meant to say that out loud and now his face was as hot and red with regret. Neither Jess nor Randy moved though, they must not have heard it...he felt a little better now. He just wished he could sleep, like they are. He closed his eyes, and eventually nodded off in a fitful, uneasy slumber.
Jess sat up and looked at Allen, snoring. He looked across at Randy and noticed his eyes were open too. "I wish I could fall asleep like that" he whispered.
Randy sighed and whispered back, "Me too. What the hell is he going to do with a canoe up here?"
"Beats me..." Jess said quietly.
They turned their attentions back to the fire. It was lonely on that hill. How long would they have to stay here? Jess silently prayed that it wasn't much longer...
