The Restorer's Son Bonus Scene -
in which Jake peeks into Susan's journal and finds more than he was expecting.
-->
After Chapter 5
Jake:
Good
grief. What was the big deal? It wasn’t like the attic held state secrets, or
that I’d mess up some fancy rug clumping around in my dirty tennis shoes. Mom
and Dad weren’t even around, so it wouldn’t hurt anyone if I popped upstairs to
see the new room. I might even find my baseball-card shoebox that had
disappeared after one of Mom’s cleaning binges.
Throwing
a quick glance over my shoulder, I scrambled up the ladder. I got the whole
deal about how she needed some privacy once in awhile. Jon and Anne were into
everything. I had to barricade my door to keep them out of my stuff. I’d only
take a quick look around and she’d never know.
The
reality was more boring than I’d expected. A few bins and boxes and a dusty old
chair. The notebook looked new, though. Probably a journal. Mom had talked
about starting one.
I
stepped closer. Had she written about me? I’d overheard her once on the phone
complaining to a friend about how hard it was to be a parent. The words had
startled me. Sure, my three younger siblings were a handful, but did she really
see me as a burden? Those years of
doctors and hospitals . . . I’d never really thought about how it felt from her
side. I was busy dealing with the experience from my end. And now that I was
getting ready for college, what was she thinking of me? Did she believe I was
ready? Did she think I’d be a success?
I
picked up the book. Just one quick peek and I’d put it right back. If she had
written something about me, I had a right to know, right?
Instead
of juicy info, I found some boring notes about her Bible study. I turned a page
and grinned. She’d drawn a pencil sketch. Cool. I didn’t know she could draw.
On a whim, I scrawled a little note inside. Sure, it gave away my trespassing,
but she’d laugh when she saw it. She had a good sense of humor . . . most days.
I
dropped the journal and ducked to search deeper under the eaves. My missing
shoebox could be tucked back in the shadows.
A
prickle danced across my skin, an uncomfortable sensation like an electric
razor. The hum built and vibrated inside my skull. Maybe Dad had made a mistake
wiring the lights. I glanced down to be sure I wasn’t standing on any metal
ductwork. Something electrical was buzzing, but I couldn’t figure out why it
resonated so powerfully in my body. I shook my head a few times and stumbled
forward, wincing against the rising ache behind my eyeballs. I grabbed my head
as if to keep it from exploding and squeezed my eyes shut. Lightning sparkled
across the insides of my eyelids. Was I having a stroke or something?
A
sudden whoosh of air engulfed me, along with a small pop of pressure releasing,
as if I’d pushed my way through a particularly stubborn revolving door. I
pulled my hands away from my face but saw only darkness. Flailing my arms in
all directions, I couldn’t find the rafters or boxes or my way back to the
ladder. Did strokes cause blindness? I stumbled a few steps and finally found a
hard surface. Something solid and round, like a twisting beam, spiraled upward
beyond what I could touch. Impossible. The attic roof wasn’t that high. My legs
went rubbery, and I stumbled a few steps. Come
on, Jake, keep breathing.
Panic
built with each gasp. I tried for a slow deep breath, and inhaled an unfamiliar
spicy scent, a combination of pine and cinnamon and fresh-cut grass. “Help?” My
voice carried in thin, open air. I couldn’t ignore the evidence any longer. I
wasn’t in the attic.
I
moaned and clung to the beam that felt like a tree trunk. I couldn’t be too far
from home. Maybe the nature reserve near our house? Someone would find me
eventually. With the decision to hold on and wait for help, the rushing pulse
of my heartbeat steadied.
A
snuffling noise to my left threw my heart into a gallop again. Wolf? Coyote?
Bobcat? Whatever outdoor wilderness I’d found myself in, did it hold predators?
I couldn’t just stand here, blind, disoriented, waiting to be attacked. A
gravelly growl to my right raised the hairs on my neck. I pushed off from the
trunk and moved away from the sounds. The uneven ground underfoot further
convinced me that I was outside somewhere. For hours I stumbled aimlessly, in
total blackness, terrified that the world had disappeared and I was completely
and forever alone. Each time I’d sink to the ground to rest, some strange sound
would propel me forward again.
After what seemed like years, my straining
eyes caught the contour of hills. Was my vision returning? A few minutes later,
I stared at the sky and realized dawn was breaking. I wasn’t blind. I’d just
been stumbling around in the night—but a night like I’d never seen before. No
moon or stars, no distant city lights.
With
the relief of being able to see, a hint of wonder swelled under my ribs. A
smooth, rolling, gray-green golf course stretched out from the clump of trees.
In the distance, tall white towers rose above a strange curvy wall with a gray,
featureless sky overhead. I choked back a laugh. It looked just like a scene
from one of my video games. I glanced up nervously, expecting some animated
dragon to swoop toward me.
Man,
oh, man. Back when I had chemo, they’d warned me of some strange side effects,
but could hallucinations show up all these years later? Where was I? And more
importantly, what was I supposed to do next?
After
swallowing hard, I coaxed my lungs to work again. I took a few more steps,
cautiously testing a small circle of earth around me. Would lava creatures
burst through the nearby rocks and attack? If I stepped in the wrong place,
would quicksand swallow me into the ground?
I
was thinking like a video game again. My gaze trailed to the city in the
distance. If this were a video game, the logical next step would be to head
toward the city, collecting coins and tokens to boost my score. Unfortunately,
I didn’t see either. But if I stood near the empty grove much longer, I’d
probably grow roots and turn into one of the weird twisty-trunked trees.
Gingerly testing each step, I finally decided the odd, mossy ground would
remain firm, so I broke into a jog toward the city. I only hoped this
hallucination didn’t mean the cancer was back, or that it had spread to my
brain.
---
The rest of Jake's adventure is found in The Restorer's Son.
Blessings!
No comments:
Post a Comment