Fallen Wings (Chapter IV) So What's The Story???
I am the last one to show up at the field. Well field wasn't really the best name for it. It was an opening in the woods that had grass, and wasn't really big enough to be called a field, but that is the name we gave it. From where I was at the opening of the trail, I could see everything. Directly across from me were bushes and shrub trees that were thick enough to hide the ditch behind it. Dennis and Jennifer were standing near the crawl opening in the bushes that we would take to get back to the ditch and a small trail that ran through the bushes. To my right was the stump from an old pine tree that had been cut down long before I even thought about walking in these woods. It was about three feet wide so we used it as a table sometimes to play cards on and eat at. Speaking of playing cards, that is exactly what Joe, Rusty, and Paul were doing. Joe always seemed to have a deck of cards on him. Just a few feet from them was an elm tree that we would camp under every once in a while, if we only had sleeping bags with us. On the left side of the field was really not much of anything except a barracade of palms, but just a few feet behind them, and well hidden I might add, was the beginnings of a log cabin that John and myself had tried to build. I could see John's head poking above te brush as he was over looking at the monumental failure of ours. We always said we would finish it someday.
"John you going to spend all day looking at that useless frame or what?" I said in my normal "I know exactly what he was going to say" voice.
" Yeah, you know I think since we are out here, we ought to cut a few more trees down and add them to it. It might get us in the right direction again to finish it."
"Come on John, if we do that we will never get around to the reason we are out her in the first place."
"Hey, John and Ron, what is the story behind this feather any ways, I mean did old man Parkins say anything about it?" Asked Dennis.
I kinda wanted to know the story behind it as well. John had told me the stories about strange sightings back here, but he didn't tell me anything about this feather and why it was so important for us to be back her tonight. He was adamant about us being her on this day, said it was the only day we had otherwise we would have to wait another few months.
"Well lets set up the tent first and store our things and then I will tell you what the old man had to say." John said with a proud expression on his face. It was the one he always got right before he would tell one of his tales that were always hard to believe as truth.
This time however he had something to back up his story, that large feather he was carrying in his backpack. I was looking forward to this one. Usually he would tell me every story as soon has he knew it, but this time he said I had to wait to hear it with everyone.
***
With the tent up and our things tucked away inside, we all sat under the large elm tree for shade from the sun to hear John's tale of the feather.
"Here is what the old man told me. The feather that I have is not one that he found, but one that he stole." John said.
"Stole, what do you mean stole?" Asked Rusty.
"Well he said that he was out here in these woods near the quarry. That by the way is where we are headed first." The quarry was about a half a mile from where we were. It was a small lake that was man made. It had an island in the center of it that we would swim out to in the summer, we had to be fast though, cause there was a gator that patroled the water. The trick was to look for to soda cans on the water very close to each other. Those soda cans weren't soda cans at all, they were the eyes of the gator. From a distance his eyes looked like two soda cans floating in the water, so whenever we went out there you would always hear the cry of "look for the soda cans". " As he was walking out there one day doing his normal frogleg search with his gig in hand, he heard something in the underbrush near the water. So he snuck up on the location he thought it had come from." John said with a bit of an evil grin on his face knowing what was going to happen next and leaving everyone a little in suspense.
"What did he find?" Jennifer asked, bouncing up and down in excitement.
"Yeah John, what did he find, a big fat frog with a feather in his cap?" I asked in my normal smartaleck tone. This brought a bit of laughter from the rest of the gang, but it was cut short be a pure nervousness when everyone saw the serious look on John's face.
"HA HA HA, very funny", John boldly said, "you smartass."
"Sorry I just wanted to liven up the story a bit." I said a bit sheepishly.
"Yeah, trust me when you hear what he found you won't have to liven the story up." John said with his ussual irritated tone. " Where was I, oh yeah, he pulled aside a palm fron to see a half naked figure with two large gaping wounds on it's back."
"Whoa, what the, are you kidding me." Said Joe fully excited and involved in the story now.
"No, I am not kidding, he said he nearly fell over backwards when he saw it. When he regained his senses he saw what had caused the wound. On the ground about a foot from the figure were two very large wings, full of the these." John said holding up the feather in a way that must of been exactly like Old Man Parkins must have done. "He said he tried not to make a sound and he took his gig and slowly pushed it forward towards the wings desperatly trying to pull a feather back with it. When he adjusted his feet he stepped on a stick, he said the crack was louder than anything he had ever heard before in his life. The figure jumped up and turned in one motion. Parkins fell back and he pushed the gig upwards as fast as he could. He said the last thing he saw was the cold eyes of the devil standing in front of him and then all he heard was an animal like wail full of unbearable pain. He said he managed to some how stick the gig in the figure and it ran off. Parkins got up and grabbed one of the feathers and ran off as fast as he could. He said you could still hear the cries of pain all the way to the front of the woods, he didn't stop running until he got to his house."
"John, seriously, do you believe that? I mean Old Man Parkins running that distance and seeing a strange figure in the woods crouched near the water with wings laying behind it? I asked alarmed that even Johncould believe a story like this. It was just too unreal.
"Yes I believe it, or have you forgotten about this" John said franticly waving the feather in my face.
"No I haven't forgotten about the feather, but come on man this is just to cheezy to be real."
"Well I believe it, so when everyone is ready we are going to walk to the quarry. He told me exactly where he was when he found the feather." John said with a seriousness I had never before seen on his face. "That is where we are going to start our investigation.
John always liked to call these little adventures of ours "investigations". We never found anything so I don't understand why he thought we would find anything this time. I do have to admit though, the feather does kind of change things.
I am the last one to show up at the field. Well field wasn't really the best name for it. It was an opening in the woods that had grass, and wasn't really big enough to be called a field, but that is the name we gave it. From where I was at the opening of the trail, I could see everything. Directly across from me were bushes and shrub trees that were thick enough to hide the ditch behind it. Dennis and Jennifer were standing near the crawl opening in the bushes that we would take to get back to the ditch and a small trail that ran through the bushes. To my right was the stump from an old pine tree that had been cut down long before I even thought about walking in these woods. It was about three feet wide so we used it as a table sometimes to play cards on and eat at. Speaking of playing cards, that is exactly what Joe, Rusty, and Paul were doing. Joe always seemed to have a deck of cards on him. Just a few feet from them was an elm tree that we would camp under every once in a while, if we only had sleeping bags with us. On the left side of the field was really not much of anything except a barracade of palms, but just a few feet behind them, and well hidden I might add, was the beginnings of a log cabin that John and myself had tried to build. I could see John's head poking above te brush as he was over looking at the monumental failure of ours. We always said we would finish it someday.
"John you going to spend all day looking at that useless frame or what?" I said in my normal "I know exactly what he was going to say" voice.
" Yeah, you know I think since we are out here, we ought to cut a few more trees down and add them to it. It might get us in the right direction again to finish it."
"Come on John, if we do that we will never get around to the reason we are out her in the first place."
"Hey, John and Ron, what is the story behind this feather any ways, I mean did old man Parkins say anything about it?" Asked Dennis.
I kinda wanted to know the story behind it as well. John had told me the stories about strange sightings back here, but he didn't tell me anything about this feather and why it was so important for us to be back her tonight. He was adamant about us being her on this day, said it was the only day we had otherwise we would have to wait another few months.
"Well lets set up the tent first and store our things and then I will tell you what the old man had to say." John said with a proud expression on his face. It was the one he always got right before he would tell one of his tales that were always hard to believe as truth.
This time however he had something to back up his story, that large feather he was carrying in his backpack. I was looking forward to this one. Usually he would tell me every story as soon has he knew it, but this time he said I had to wait to hear it with everyone.
***
With the tent up and our things tucked away inside, we all sat under the large elm tree for shade from the sun to hear John's tale of the feather.
"Here is what the old man told me. The feather that I have is not one that he found, but one that he stole." John said.
"Stole, what do you mean stole?" Asked Rusty.
"Well he said that he was out here in these woods near the quarry. That by the way is where we are headed first." The quarry was about a half a mile from where we were. It was a small lake that was man made. It had an island in the center of it that we would swim out to in the summer, we had to be fast though, cause there was a gator that patroled the water. The trick was to look for to soda cans on the water very close to each other. Those soda cans weren't soda cans at all, they were the eyes of the gator. From a distance his eyes looked like two soda cans floating in the water, so whenever we went out there you would always hear the cry of "look for the soda cans". " As he was walking out there one day doing his normal frogleg search with his gig in hand, he heard something in the underbrush near the water. So he snuck up on the location he thought it had come from." John said with a bit of an evil grin on his face knowing what was going to happen next and leaving everyone a little in suspense.
"What did he find?" Jennifer asked, bouncing up and down in excitement.
"Yeah John, what did he find, a big fat frog with a feather in his cap?" I asked in my normal smartaleck tone. This brought a bit of laughter from the rest of the gang, but it was cut short be a pure nervousness when everyone saw the serious look on John's face.
"HA HA HA, very funny", John boldly said, "you smartass."
"Sorry I just wanted to liven up the story a bit." I said a bit sheepishly.
"Yeah, trust me when you hear what he found you won't have to liven the story up." John said with his ussual irritated tone. " Where was I, oh yeah, he pulled aside a palm fron to see a half naked figure with two large gaping wounds on it's back."
"Whoa, what the, are you kidding me." Said Joe fully excited and involved in the story now.
"No, I am not kidding, he said he nearly fell over backwards when he saw it. When he regained his senses he saw what had caused the wound. On the ground about a foot from the figure were two very large wings, full of the these." John said holding up the feather in a way that must of been exactly like Old Man Parkins must have done. "He said he tried not to make a sound and he took his gig and slowly pushed it forward towards the wings desperatly trying to pull a feather back with it. When he adjusted his feet he stepped on a stick, he said the crack was louder than anything he had ever heard before in his life. The figure jumped up and turned in one motion. Parkins fell back and he pushed the gig upwards as fast as he could. He said the last thing he saw was the cold eyes of the devil standing in front of him and then all he heard was an animal like wail full of unbearable pain. He said he managed to some how stick the gig in the figure and it ran off. Parkins got up and grabbed one of the feathers and ran off as fast as he could. He said you could still hear the cries of pain all the way to the front of the woods, he didn't stop running until he got to his house."
"John, seriously, do you believe that? I mean Old Man Parkins running that distance and seeing a strange figure in the woods crouched near the water with wings laying behind it? I asked alarmed that even Johncould believe a story like this. It was just too unreal.
"Yes I believe it, or have you forgotten about this" John said franticly waving the feather in my face.
"No I haven't forgotten about the feather, but come on man this is just to cheezy to be real."
"Well I believe it, so when everyone is ready we are going to walk to the quarry. He told me exactly where he was when he found the feather." John said with a seriousness I had never before seen on his face. "That is where we are going to start our investigation.
John always liked to call these little adventures of ours "investigations". We never found anything so I don't understand why he thought we would find anything this time. I do have to admit though, the feather does kind of change things.
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