LOST in the WOODS

Eddie, 12, sits on the couch watching a flowery couch that his mother obviously picked out for the family. In a lounge chair next to him is Tommy, 10, enthralled in the golf tournament on tv. Eddie, obviously bored out of his mind stares out at the pouring rain outside. Annoyed, Eddie finally breaks the uncomfortable silence, well at least to him, "do we have to watch this?" Thomas, not phased by his brothers comments munches on a Ritz crackers, replies with a stuffed mouth, "What, Phil Mickelson is about to have an eagle!" Eddie has had enough. With frustration igniting in him Eddie takes the remote Thomas has been holding gently in his hand and turns the tv off.

"Turn that back on!", Tommy says, the first time he's even looked at his brother all afternoon.

Suddenly the rain stops to a complete halt. Eddie turns to the window grins, and grins even bigger back at Tommy, "Now do you want to watch someone else have fun or do you want to actually do something?"

Tommy curious, remarks, "well, there is nothing to do in this dinky little town. That's why we're watching tv."

They both hated the small Vermont town. It's not so much the town that made them hate it but rather the move itself. The year before their parents up and moved them from the hustle and bustle of New York City to the backwoods of Vermont in a last ditch effort to keep their sons away from the most undesirable teen elements and temptations that boys their ages were getting dangerously closer to sinking in to.

"Wanna race?", Eddie point blankedly said to his brother without much of a thought to it. Thomas didn't even have to say a word back but instead gave his brother a knowing grin. He knew what he was talking about. The brothers, although different, had one thing they liked to do together race their bicycles up a nearby hill. Of course it was the state highway, surrounded by a dark green forest, but they didn't care. They didn't exactly fit in just yet, no one really knew them and being slow to make friends didn't help much either. It wasn't so much the other kids fault as it was the fact that they both had similar social personalities.

Yes, they were different. Eddie was more athletic than his brother, protective of him and a know it all. Although quiet, he wasn't shy, he wasn't afraid of speaking up when he had to. Thomas, on the other hand, was the different kind of quiet, he was shy but unnaturally shy. He was in his "shell" so to speak. And he was far from athletic, so much so that Eddie once even tore up his summer baseball team application. And Tommy didn't like that one bit. Tommy took it as his brother being mean, not wanting him to one up him in baseball being that Eddie was already on that same team. Eddie, although he was competitive with a penchant of wanting to be the best at what he had a talent for, painting and baseball, was simply trying to save his brother the embarrassment of playing bad. He knew Eddie would not only get laughed off the team for his lack of batting and catching ability, but also was trying to save his brother from getting the living daylights beaten out of him.

It didn't take a genius for both to realize that there was one thing that both brothers could compete at: bicycling. They got it from father, a famous Tour de France winner turned political consultant. It was in their blood. In New York City, they'd race each other to Rockefeller Center and back. It was an after school ritual for them, like watching GoBots would be for other kids.

Tommy and Eddie pulled out of their parents driveway in their different colored Schwinn Bicycles, Eddie's blue and white and Tommy's red and black. They hauled up the hill with deep determination and competition, each trying to prove his worth. The road was gravelly though, unlike the paved cement streets of their home town, and it was narrow. As they made a turn around the bend they noticed a strange creeping feeling come over them. That same feeling that an adult driver would get when going down this lonely stretch of road at night. Loneliness. It's not the same kind of loneliness as say not having any friends. No, this was a loneliness that was more scary, more horrific because at this very moment they both realized something that Tommy just happened to blurt out,

"Are we lost?"

Another knowing glance as same as in the house, but nothing further need to be said because not only did they not know where they were or what time it was but they had this sneaking suspicion of something around them...something different.

"What's that?", Tommy snapped as he heard what sounded like twigs breaking or something.

"What?", Eddie wondered.

Again, the sound of twigs breaking.

"Let's get out of here."

Suddenly a deer runs across the road as they try to turn back and race down the road with all their might. But in an effort to dodge the animal they both crash into the thick forest. They both tumble and fall down the moderately down forested hill, their bikes wobbling out of control behind them. Finally, they hit the ground, Eddie on his back, Tommy on his side.

"I forgot about the deer", Eddie remarked as he stares up at the darkening sky.

"At least it wasn't a herd like last time", Tommy remembering the time they nearly got trampled to death.

"Don't remind me."

They landed on very green leaves. The kind that you'd only see in upper New England. Despite their anger at this move the one thing they could admire was the foliage, especially on this cool, crisp and freshly dewy October day.

Eddie, takes a look at his watch. "Uh oh", he says, remembering the cafeteria story from last Friday.

Tommy, confused, looks at Eddie's watch. "What's wrong?"

Eddie thinks, trying to remember, "Do you remember what Sylvia Jennings told us, about strange things at dawn?"

Tommy shrugs, practically dismissing his brother, "Yeah, so?"

"Well", barely wanting to say it, "she said around six things get weird."

Tommy laughs at his brother, trying to hold a straight face, "Oh come on, she's just trying to scare you."

They both laugh. Eddie, always the practical one, knew when his brother was right even when he wanted to prove him wrong. "You're probably right, she's probably laughing her butt off right now."

"And kissing Neil Dukowsky", Tommy teased his brother to which Eddie took a swing at his brothers arm.

"Ow", said Tommy as he grabbed his temporarily injured shoulder. "I was just kidding for crying out loud!"

"I know", grinned Eddie as he offered an open lunch bag to Tommy, "Trail mix."

Suddenly a grumble. The silence is deafening. No trees whispering, no crickets chirping, no deers chasing.

"I sure hope that was your stomach", Tommy fearfully wondered.

Suddenly a rip is heard, like paper being torn, as a moose slams against the huge pine tree in front of them. The deer quickly hits the ground. Tommy can't stop looking at the poor deers ripped neck and torso. Eddie's eyes fixated on the deep red blood dripping down from the tree. Then Eddie notices Tommy's glance and looks down at the mauled animal. They both would've thrown up if it wasn't for the fact that this was the most gruesome thing they've ever seen. Nothing that their home towns detective programs produced prepared them for this. This wasn't fiction, this was happening in front of their eyes, and worst of all what ever just killed the beast wasn't most of all...not human.

Suddenly a sound. Tommy, ever the movie watcher, recalled Jurassic Park as he nearly whispered, "I sure hope that's not a T-Rex." The sound and vibrations get louder and louder. It wasn't an earthquake, it wasn't T-Rex, it wasn't even two F-14's flying by, it was, to their astonishment a yeti. But not just any bigfoot, this thing was massive. It's feet were at least fifteen feet long. It's chest, that was fuller than most people's cars, seemed to beat a heart that could be heard without a heart monitor. Worst of all was its face, shear hate seemed to animate from his being...or at least so to the brothers.

They spoke not a word as they got up and ran. The thing, after taking a quick bite into the deers stomach, chased them with increasing speed. The boys, running out of breath slowly with each yard, seemed to not make any traction. The hill was too high to climb, they were going to have to find an opening to a state highway somewhere. But the further away the exit seemed to be the closer the huge bigfoot got. This thing didn't saunter, it didn't stroll, heck, it didn't even run, it made leaps and bounds. With every running leap this creature made it seemed to make ten feet for Tommy and Eddie's two. As Eddie turned back to see how close in range the brown furry thing was, and it was less than a quarter of a mile a way, Tommy slips over a log and falls to the ground. Eddie, ever the protective brother, rushes to pick him up.

"Where is he?", Tommy says, as he vainly looks for the man-animal. Eddie scans the forest, nowhere, he's gone. They smile a grin of relief, and take a big breath. "That was really close", Eddie says, as he eyes sunlight only fifteen feet away. Tommy sees it too. "Can we go home now?", Tommy pleads. "Gladly", his brother said but that smile turns to worry as they come face to face with a giant black grizzly bear. Its claws were fifteen inches long, it's paw as big as their faces, not to mention its massive body. With one thrash of his paw he knocks Eddie to the ground, knocked almost lifeless. Tommy scared faces the thing, not scared but instead defiant. Sure he was scared but he wasn't about to let his brother's apparent killer destroy him. For a change HE was going to be his brothers keeper. Pay back for all the times Eddie saved his butt. But it was no good as the giant bear made his offensive stance of about twelve feet in the air on his two feet. And as it lets out this great deafening roar, Tommy's fear is broken by a shadow. It's the bigfoot. Just as the bear charges him the bigfoot grabs the bear by the throat, and throws him halfway across the forest. Tommy passes out.

Sarah, their mother, with a tan gardening hat on, passes her husband as she approaches the back door. "I think I'll do some gardening today." "Okay", replied her husband, still looking at the paper, "don't forget the sunblock. She admires him as he has tunnel vision on his newspaper. "I've got some gardenias I think you'll like", she replied. "That's nice, hun", he blurts without saying. As soon as she opens the door she trips and falls onto the back porch. The thud grabs her husband Jake's attention, who rushes to the scene, the door still open. It's their two boys, Tommy and Eddie, wrapped up in leaves, precious as newborns. Are they dead? Are they alive?

Jake grabs the phone, calls 911.

Tommy's eye flutter, and he becomes fully aware. He lays in a hospital bed. The ceiling white, with a doctor standing over him. But he doesn't recognize this doctor, it's a small town. Suddenly, he hears sirens. Cars honking, big trucks moving. He turns and he sees the busy streets of Manhattan. He's back home. "Thank God", he thought, but blurted, "Just a nightmare, just a nightmare." The giddy doctor, kind of muscular, healthy for a man with greying sideburns. "Welcome back, Tommy", the doctor said, as if he actually had gone somewhere. "Back?", Tommy said with confusion. "Yes", the doctor replied, "we've been waiting a long time."

Tommy looks around, his parents aren't there to greet him. Neither is his brother. "What happened?", he said. What else could he say, no one to greet him. After all, he's in the hospital. "You have been in a coma for some time now", the doctor said, with over a dozen interns watching him as they stand around the doctor. Scared, a creeping feeling comes over him.

"Excuse me, but what year is it?", he said as he realizes somehow his voice is different, it sounds older, more like his father's or his uncle's than his own. "2042", one of the interns blurts out. Then it hits him, he's not ten anymore. He's 65 years old. His parents are dead. His grandparents dead. They're all dead.

"Where's Eddie?", he pleads to the doctors. Anything, good or bad. He didn't care. Just as long as Eddie was alive. A look of pity comes across their faces. Tommy turns, it's Eddie, in his own coma.

"I'm afraid he's more serious. We were hoping you'd both wake up", the doctor said with an unhopeful look in his eyes. Tommy can't believe it, he totally skipped puberty, college, career, a wife, even children. He was all alone, except for Eddie.

"How long has he been like this?", Tommy fearfully asked.

"Same as you. Fifty years."

"Why didn't you ever pull the plug then?"

"Your parents wouldn't have it."

"Leave me alone".

The doctors and interns solomnely leave.

A few hours pass. Tommy gets tired staring at the lifeless body of his brother being held together by life saving equipment. He reluctantly turns on the tv. A golf tournament, indoors, 3D graphics on the walls and ceiling. Despite the technology it's obvious that this isn't outdoors. He turns the volume up. It's actually a little comforting.

"Do we have to watch this?", a voice says to his left. Tommy, joyful, gets up, and approaches his brother.

He grabs Eddie's hand as Eddie says, "Dad, what, are you sick?"

"Dad's dead"

It hits Eddie. His eyes widen. A sudden calm hits him.

"Wow, what a way to screw up."

"Yeah.", replied Tommy, not knowing what else to say.

"You sure look old", said Eddie, trying to bring humor to the situation.

"Take a look in the mirror."

Eddie turns at the not so far off bathroom mirror and catches a glimpse of himself.

"Well, what do you know, I'm gramps."