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Mom cooked dinner that night. We had lasagna with eggplant instead of noodles. And spinach salad with low-fat dressing. It was actually pretty good. Except the salad.
Mom and Dad were pretty excited because they had gotten confirmation that the moving truck was coming tomorrow. “Finally, we’ll get our washing machine,” said Mom, taking a sip of water. “Hopefully that means we won’t have any putrid clothing getting moldy on the laundry room floor.” She gave me a look.
I had no idea what she was talking about.
“Washing machine, shmoshing machine, who cares!” said Dad, “We’ll finally get the TV up!”
Mom stared at him a second. “Really?”
“What?” said Dad. “I gotta catch up on my Soap Operas!”
Mom pointed her fork at Dad and said to me, “Your dad thinks he’s funny.”
“He is pretty funny,” I said. “Funny looking!”
“Ha ha!” said Dad triumphantly. “This man-child we raised, he understands the fine art of humor!”
“You guys are both hilarious,” said Mom with a sarcastic tone, but she smiled as she took another bite of spinach salad. “Seriously though,” she said, “when will they get here?”
“Who?” asked Dad with a puzzled look.
“The movers! Oh, never mind,” said Mom, giving up.
I laughed. Dad was on one tonight.
“So how was school today?” asked Mom.
“Fine,” I replied, taking another bite of lasagna. “Make any new friends?” she asked. “Did you hang out with the kids from the neighborhood?”
I looked at my plate. There was no way I could tell her what happened. She’d have a fit and probably call my teacher or something.
“It was good,” I said. “I hung out with a bunch of kids.”
Mom looked at me.
I hate it when she does that. It’s like she can see into my brain. I took a bite of salad to try and throw her off.
Spinach salad tastes so weird. But I chewed.
“Well, I’m glad,” she said. She took a big bite of eggplant and checked a text on her phone.
“So Scott,” Dad chimed in, pushing his empty paper plate away from him, “You all ready for the big night?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, I think so.”
Mom glanced up from her phone. “What’s the big night?”
Dad looked surprised and said, “What, you didn’t hear?” Then he looked at me. “You didn’t tell your own mother about tonight? Scott, I’m shocked.”
He was being funny again. I was gonna be in trouble with Mom.
Mom smiled, but looked confused. “What’s tonight?”
Dad put his hand on my shoulder. “Tonight our son becomes a man!”
Mom still looked confused. “Awesome,” she said with a laugh. “What does that mean? You’ll have to be more specific.”
Dad looked at me expectantly. I guess he wanted me to tell her. I finally gulped my spinach down.
“I’m gonna camp out tonight.”
“Oh,” said Mom, nodding. “In the backyard?”
“No, out in the woods,” I said.
“The woods?” she asked, surprised.
“Out in the wilderness!” chimed in Dad. “All by himself.” His bushy beard couldn’t hide the toothy grin he had. Dad was really excited about this.
Mom lowered her fork. “Like how far out in the woods are we talking about here?”
“Oh, I dunno,” said Dad, “Ten or twenty miles...”
“Not that far,” I said. “Just out near the creek.”
Mom looked at Dad. She had her serious face on. “And you’re totally okay with this?”
Dad nodded. “Yeah. It’s gonna be sweet!”
Mom just stared at Dad for a minute.
Finally, Dad toned it down. “He’s just sleeping in the tent — which is already set up?” He looked at me.
I nodded back.
“Which is already set up,” he continued. “He’ll be fine.”
I could tell by the look on Mom’s face she wasn’t entirely happy about this.
“C’mon,” said Dad, “It’s not like there’s anything dangerous out there.”
Mom tapped her fork on her plate.
Finally, she nodded. “Okay, that should be fine.”
“Alright!” cheered Dad. He held out his hand to me for a high-five.
Seriously, Dad? You are weirdly into this.
But I gave him the high-five anyway. After all, he had saved me from Mom.
It was just before 9:30pm when I brushed my teeth. I grabbed a jacket, the flashlight, and my flip phone. I didn’t bother changing into pajamas; I always slept in my clothes camping anyway.
Mom and Dad were playing a card game on the fold-out table in the dining room.
“Just call me if you need anything,” said Mom. “I will,” I said.
I decided not to tell her reception was spotty in the woods.
Sliding the door open, I stepped out onto the back porch bathed in the single yellow porch light. I glanced up at the night sky. Silvery clouds had returned, but the moon was still peeking through. I turned around to slide the door shut.
“Good night, Mom,” I said. “‘Night, Dad.”
“Love you,” said Mom from the table. “Be safe.”
Dad glanced up from his cards and gave me a big thumbs up. “Go get ‘em!”
I wasn’t sure who Dad wanted me to go get, but I nodded anyway.
Then I slid the door shut.
I walked across the lawn toward the woods. The tall trees loomed threateningly, and a breeze sent the tangled branches above bouncing, like hands reaching down for me.
Stopping at the edge of the lawn, I paused and pulled out the halogen flashlight from my jacket pocket. Clicking it on, I shined it into the dark trees. The beam lit up the grey branches and green leaves, and cast strange shadows as I moved the light from left to right.
Except for the sound of a few crickets, the woods were quiet.
I glanced back toward the house and saw my parents inside through the sliding door window, playing their card game and silently laughing.
I turned back to the trees and took a deep breath. Then I stepped into the dark woods.
Walking carefully over the soft soil and grass, I made my way inside. The air was thick and chill, and smelled of decaying leaves and soil. Small branches creaked as I pushed them aside from my path.
I swatted a bug that landed on my neck. “Ow,” I said.
The sound of my own voice startled me. I paused for a second and took a few deep breaths of the night air.
“Okay, Scott, keep it together,” I told myself. “Don’t be a wimp.”
I walked deeper into the woods. Everything looked stranger and more sinister in the dark. The trees looked like tall figures hiding behind sheets of leafy vines. The branches looked like skeletal hands; the bushes like crouched creatures, lurking in the dark. Waiting...
A shrill sound to my left made me start, and I turned, shining the bright, narrow beam into the thicket there. I searched.
Nothing. It must have been a bird, I told myself. An owl or something.
Turning back to the path, I continued.
I’d been walking for a while. The clearing had to be just ahead of me.
The thought crossed my mind that I could have missed it. It was small enough. What if I’d been walking in slightly the wrong direction? I turned around, but couldn’t see the house lights anymore.
I could feel panic starting to set in again.
No! I told myself, and searched the ground with the light for the path. I was still standing on it.
I’m fine.
I deliberately walked faster, pushing the fear from my mind. The clearing was probably just ahead.
Sure enough, I broke through the brush and found myself standing in it. The sky above seemed even more cloudy, revealing only a few stars. I shined the flashlight around.
The kudzu roots looked like a gnarled ball of tentacles sprouting from the ground. They kind of terrified me for a moment. I had forgotten how much I don’t like the dark space under my bed, and this had more than one. Anything could be hiding in them.
I dumbly shined the light at them for a while, checking all the nooks and crannies. Seemingly empty. I breathed a sigh of relief.
I slowly moved the flashlight in a circle around the dark clearing. I could hear the sound of the creek ahead.
Then my light fell on the place where the tent had been set up and my mouth dropped open.
The tent was lying on the ground, completely collapsed.
Someone had torn the tent down! Someone — or something.
