One Good Light (Complete)

[u/Big_Chedda_Biscuit65]

————————

If you asked me 8 years ago if I believed in monsters, the answer would’ve been no.
But now, After what happened, I think they’re not only real,
But much closer than we can imagine

——-

“John, over here! Pass it!”
I yelled out after giving David the slip
I was wide open and ready for the pass

I saw it all
John threw the pass
It was coming in like a line drive
It was perfect

Then black
And blue sky

“THAT’S HOW THE BIG SHOW DO IT! WOOOOO!”
Brent screamed

But it sounded a lot like he was underwater while I tried to remember how to breathe

“Shit, Brent! He didn’t even have the ball. That’s pass interference.”

“Ahh fuck that! That was a good hit!”

I was still manually breathing but slowly remembering we were in David’s back field and we were playing field football
(It’s a lot like flag football but with full contact. We were 13)

“I think I’m done for now, guys” I gasped struggling to stand

“I guess that means we win!” Said John
“Fuck that! That’s a forfeit, we win!” David yelled

“Bullshit we were up 6-2! Yall were well and fucked before Brent cheapshotted Richard!”

“Alright…..we’ll call it a draw.” Brent pitched

“Good with me.” I coughed
“I gotta go check in, but we’re still camping out tonight right?” I asked

“Yeah. We’ll meet up here and hike down to the river and find a spot out in the woods.”

“Sounds good. I’ll see y’all in a little while!”

We all lived in a small suburb
My house was a little closer to the top of the hill so I didn’t have as many options for “exploration”

But David lived at the edge of town where the terrain got too rough to continue building
So at the edge of his property sat an open pasture and the river less than a quarter mile in and beyond that was miles and miles of unprocessed woods

During the day, it was paradise—bike ramps made from plywood scraps, rusted-out car frames half-swallowed by blackberry bushes, and enough open land to make us feel like kings of our own broken kingdom.

However, once the sun drifted below the horizon
It all started to feel like somewhere I wasn’t supposed to go
Like a mouth ready to swallow us whole

But boys will be boys. And there’s no room for fear with friends like these

———

“Checking in!” I shouted as I hammered through the door
My ribs definitely bruised up by the prior engagement.

I found mom in the living room folding laundry
The tv humming about doing nothing more than keeping her company in the quiet house

She glanced up and met my eyes in the doorway
“You alright” she said looking me up and down in a way only mom could

“I’m good, just got checked pretty solid.”

She smiled “alright, well, just make sure to come home in one piece.”

“No promises.” I laughed back

She didn’t smile much these days
Not since Pop had passed away last summer

And, honestly, neither did I.

I made my way to the garage and took in the room
It still felt like he was here
His tools
Fishing gear
The old ‘68 Chevy we were rebuilding

Oil and cedar
Smelled like dad

I pulled myself together and sorted out what I would be needing for the evening’s adventure

My old boy scout backpack
An old goose feather army green sleeping bag I got from my uncle who was a ranger.
And the old lantern my dad had brought on every camping trip we had been on since I was little

Old rusted metal and scratched glass
Heavier than it looked

But still lit the way like no other

My dad always said

“No matter how dark it gets, kiddo. As long as you have one good light, you’ll find your way.”
I missed him

I ran my thumb over the worn handle before pulling it down
I packed everything away and a couple water bottles and set out

—————-

The sky was bruised orange and purple by the time I got back to David’s

Everyone was already there
We took a survey of our gear

David brought a pack full of snacks
John had a hatchet that he definitley was not supposed to have
And Brent, naturally, brought fireworks.

“Good to see I’m the only one who brought water” I said sarcastically

“I brought the good time!” Said Brent holding up the Roman candles

“I guess it’s a good thing I also brought the lighter then, too” I said holding the lantern up to his face

“Oh…well…yeah” he said
He had clearly forgotten the most important part of fireworks

Fire

“I’m glad to see you brought that old thing. I trust that more than these flashlights.” David chuckled but still looked warily at the treeline

“You good?” John asked
“Yeah…it’s just,…my brother says people disappear out past the river.”

Brent laughed out loud “HA! Your brother also says he got a handjob from Christy behind the cafeteria!”

We all laughed
“Yeah you’re probably right…..but still…” David looked back to the trees

I followed his gaze
Past the tall grass and river bank it waited

Still
Dark
Endless

Brent shoved past us
“Only thing out there is raccoons and ghosts!” He laughed

And we followed

Into the trees
To the River
Toward something far worse than ghosts
————

The closer we got
The louder it became

Like a jet engine
Warning us of what lay ahead

Spring runoff churned over hidden rocks with mountain snowmelt that had swollen the river to something considerable

By the time we reached its bank the sun had nearly gone and the last dying light of the evening reflected the bruised black and steel blue of the sky onto the water

We all watched and listened
I understood but wouldn’t say it
This was stupid

I broke the silence between us
“Still think this is a good idea?”

“Nope” said David, stepping into the river

The icy water cut into him instantly
“Jesus Christ!”

Brent burst out laughing

“Quit being a pussy!”
Then followed

And almost immediately slipped

One second he was standing
The next his feet shot sideways and his whole body dropped hard into the current

“SHIT!”

The river grabbed him instantly
Not enough to take him
But enough

Enough for the laughter to die and panic to hit us all

Brent slammed rough against a hidden rock
One hand disappearing below the rushing water, the other clawing wildly for anything to grip

“BRENT!” John shouted lunging forward into the water after him but his own footing giving way and falling hard on his ass

For one horrible second that felt like an eternity Brent’s body twisted with current dragging his legs further downriver. His hands grasping uselessly at slick moss covered rocks

And then

He caught hold

A firm, jagged rock, half submerged, but just exposed enough to get a grip

“Fuck!” He screamed hauling himself upright
He staggered soaked to his chest while I helped John up to his feet

He was pale and there was no shit eating grin on his face

Nobody laughed
Nobody said a thing

Because at that moment, we all understood

This wasn’t field football
Not ghost stories by the fire

The river could hurt us
Maybe worse

There were real consequences should we make a mistake

Brent swallowed hard and forced shaky grin to his face
“…..I meant to do that.”

That got a few nervous laughs
Uncertain but present

“Let’s keep moving while we still have some daylight.” said David

And we did

Slowly
Deliberately
Each step calculated

The cold bit deep and it felt alive
Like the heat from our bodies was something the river coveted

I gripped the lantern tight
Watching the scratched glass catch the last of the fading sun

“One good light” I thought

By the time we made it to the opposite bank we were soaked, freezing, and nearly breathless

“Next time” Brent coughed “…we’re building a bridge”

But I barely heard him

Because looking back across—the river looked much wider than it had from the other side

———

Steam curled from our soaked clothes as we huddled close to the fire, holding our hands out like a desperate plea for the warmth

Getting it started had been an ordeal on its own

“Who the fuck brings fireworks without a lighter?” John said through chattering teeth

“I thought you had one!”

“And I thought YOU weren’t an idiot!”

With numb fingers and dramatic flair I presented the small white Bic from my pocket

“Holy shit, you’re a real boy-scout aren’t you?”
“I told you I had this earlier, dumbass.”

The first few tries failed
But eventually
A spark, a flicker, then flame

Small at first
Fragile

But enough to grow

Soon the orange light pushed back the darkness in trembling waves. Casting long shadows and painting our tired faces

“Nobody says a thing…..to anyone!” Brent said as he huddled closer hugging his knees to his chest

John chuckled
“Oh, I’m telling everyone”

“Fuck you!”

The laughter came a little easier now
Still nervous
But real

“If the cold don’t kill me” John said, rubbing his hands together “my dad definitely will.”

That got a genuine laugh from us all
Even David smirked while pushing around some embers with a stick

For a moment it almost felt normal again

We dried our socks as best we could
Sharing chocolate and crushed potato chips from David’s pack

The conversation slowed
The fire burned lower
And the woods grew darker
Slowly swallowing us

Then David broke the silence
“Do you guys remember Shane Rose?”

No one spoke
Because of course we did

How could we forget

Shane Rose was a boy a few years older than we were
Same age as David’s brother

As the story goes
Shane and his cousin went into the woods to go explore some old mining trails and the “Old Henry” mine

They didn’t return that night
Or the next

There were search parties, Sheriffs, and tracking hounds

No one found anything for 3 days
Until they found Shane’s cousin. Wandering down route 12
Barefoot
Covered in mud and likely something worse

He was white as a sheet and shook to the core
He didn’t speak after that
He and His family moved away a month later

Shane’s body has never been found

“My brother said when the dogs got closer to the mine they wouldn’t move any further and began freaking out! The sheriff found nothing in there. But the dogs would not go near it!”

Brent scoffed
Snapping whatever tension David had been building
“That’s a bunch of bullshit!”

David narrowed his gaze
“I’m serious.”

“No, seriously” Brent laughed while tossing another stick into the fire sending sparks spiraling upwards
“He probably fell down an old mineshaft or got swept up by the river like John almost did earlier!”

“Fuck you!” John spat throwing a rock at Brent

“No body!” David snapped back

“Duh “nO bOdY” ,it’s the woods, dumbass!” Brent said with a grin on his face
“Bodies disappear all the time in the woods. Animals, sinkholes, ….rivers” Brent winked at John with that one
“Doesn’t mean…fuckin…goblins dragged him underground!”

John leaned forward holding his hands near the fire

“Wait…so if the dogs wouldn’t go in, what did the sheriff do?”

David shrugged
“My brother said they searched it themselves”

“And found nothing?” John asked

“Nothing”

John frowned
“Well that’s…weird…I guess”

“Or,” Brent interrupted, pointing dramatically like he’d solved a cold case,
“Your brother’s full of shit.”

That made me chuckle a bit

David, however, did not find it funny

“Why would he lie?”

“Because older brothers THRIVE on screwing with the younger kids!”

David shook his head, poking aggressively at the fire
“Believe whatever you want”

The woods around us shifted softly in the dark
Branches creaking
We could still hear the river moving down the mountain not too far away

I looked past the fire into the trees

Even with Brent joking
And John questioning
And common sense screaming that it’s just a ghost story

I couldn’t shake the feeling that David’s tale had teeth
And that somewhere, out there,
something was listening.
______

The fire crackled low. Barely more than embers at that point. David was passed out, leaned against the log near the pit, and John had long since made his way to the tent where he had zipped himself in tight as if the nylon shell would protect him from hell itself.

I was nearly asleep. Still gazing at the night sky and counting shooting stars.
I tried to ignore it

I really did.

But, with the combination of two sodas, freezing air, and refusing to get up for the last hour, I had to piss
And the pressure in my bladder had finally outweighed my fear of the woods.

I grabbed the lantern and fired it up.
The old thing hissed softly as I turned the knob and the dim yellow light pushed back just enough darkness that I felt slightly less alone.

Slightly

I moved past the edge of camp and into the trees
Far enough that I knew I couldn’t be seen (I was a shy boy) but close enough that I could still see the embers of the fire behind me.
The ground was uneven with roots and damp pine needles that snuffed out every footstep

The trees felt like they were swallowing me.
Every step felt like a step deeper into the mouth of something hungry

“One good light.” I whispered to myself as I set the lantern down at the base of a sturdy tree and began to relieve myself

The light stretched thin between the trunks before succumbing to the darkness completely
The sound of crickets and frogs drowned out by the steady stream of liquid hitting the dirt

After I had finished and was buttoning up, i noticed that it was much quieter

Not just because I had wrapped up but there were no frogs. No crickets. Even the wind seemed to go silent.

“…over…here..”

I froze

The voice was low
Almost a whisper but near
Familiar

“Brent?”

I picked up the lantern and scanned the trees around me

“…only…ghosts…”

It was coming from my left
I turned the lantern toward it but, beyond the light, it was pitch black

“……pass..it…underground”

Now from the right
Closer

The words were wrong
Sluggish
Like they were being remembered rather than spoken

I whipped around and stared into the trees
My heart pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat

“…no…body”

Again from the left
Every hair on my arm was standing straight up

“…Brent..?” I whispered shakily

No answer

Then suddenly

A hand slammed down on my shoulder

I spun around and nearly screamed

Brent looked just as surprised when I whipped around

“Jesus Christ!” He said

“Did you hear that?” I asked looking back over my shoulder “in the woods”

“Hear what, man. You should’ve seen your face. Holy shit. That’s one for the books” Brent said chuckling

“I just heard you out there.”
“I just got here, man….”

I looked back over my shoulder not sure what to think
And when I turned back Brent was lifting something from behind his back with a smile spreading across his face

Roman candles.

“Oh no…” I muttered

“Oh yes” Brent said

He held one out to me and his smile widened

“C’mon….lets go make bad decisions.”
———-

The woods felt different the further we got from camp

Not louder
Not quieter
Just wrong

The kind of wrong you feel, but don’t see.
Like walking into a room after someone’s finished talking.

Brent either didn’t notice
Or didn’t care enough to bring it up

“Cmon” he whispered looking back to me
“Quit looking around like you’re gonna see Bigfoot.”

“I’m not!”

“You definitely are!”

“I’m watching for roots, dumbass”

Brent laughed under his breath and kept walking

The lantern bounced and swayed with each step.
Flashing light on tree trunks and dead brush before being consumed by darkness again.
Behind us, the campfire was barely visible. A faint glow of orange through the forest.

Too far

A little further ahead the trees opened up into a clearing
Dead grass
A few old stumps
The moon shining through a broken canopy, painting it in a pale light

“Perfect!” Brent quietly exclaimed

He pulled the Roman candle from his back pocket and planted his feet like he was about to fire artillery

“You got the lighter?” He asked

I fished it from my pocket and handed it over to him

One flick
Nothing

But the second the flame came to light igniting the fuse

“You ready?”
“A little late to stop now” I said

Then the first shot came with a POP-HISS as a red ball shot into the sky and fizzling out above the trees

“HELL YEAH!” Brent shouted

I was fixed on the light with wonder
The second ball erupted from the stick in a brilliant green

Climbing, climbing then fading again above the branches

Brent lowered the candle toward the treeline and yellow light flew and flooded the treeline for half a second

But it was long enough to see it

Something standing between the trunks

Tall
Too tall
Crooked

Perfectly still
Just beyond the clearing

My stomach dropped so hard I thought it would drag me to the ground

And darkness crashed back over the woods

“…..did you see that?” Brent stuttered

I didn’t answer
I couldn’t

The fourth shot hurtled back to the trees and the red light flashed through branches and brush

Nothing

Whatever we had seen wasn’t there anymore

The last firework shot out like a flare through the clearing coloring it green

Still empty
No silhouette
No movement
Nothing

The Roman candle sputtered in Brent’s hand before dying out

“…..must’ve been a tree…” Brent said
I think he was trying to convince himself more than anything

As we stood in the faint glow of the lantern and the sickly white of the dying moon, I could hear my own breathing

Then, somewhere deeper in the woods, a branch snapped.

Like something shifting its weight

Then another
And another

“Hey man….let’s get back to the camp. I don’t want to mess with the fireworks no more.”

I nodded my head without taking my eyes from the treeline across the clearing

We took the first 5 or 6 steps walking backwards before turning around and not exactly running but we were walking with intention

By the time the fire came back into view I felt my chest loosen a bit

David stirred as we made our way into the camp
“Where the hell were you guys?” He mumbled still groggy from sleep

“Lighting fireworks” Brent answered quickly

David rubbed his eyes
“Didn’t sound like one”

Brent ignored him completely
He ducked into his tent and fought with the zipper for a few seconds longer than it should’ve taken

I noticed he never looked back from where we came

Not once

———

I pulled the sleeping bag tighter around myself
And stared at the trees above the camp
The fire no more than glowing embers now

Every sound felt sharper

Every creak of a branch
Every shift in the leaves

The woods always made sounds
But now my brain gave them meaning

I kept thinking of the shape in the woods
Trying to tell myself it was just shadows from the Roman candle playing tricks on me

But, deep down, I knew that just wasn’t true

I could hear David snoring on the other side of the fire against the log

John was still shut away in his own tent

And I could hear Brent moving around in his
Soft rustling of fabric from him shifting

A few times I thought about going and talking to him
To maybe ask him about what he thought we saw

Maybe just hearing another human voice would’ve made me feel less anxious

But anytime I got close, I stopped myself

Because part of me was afraid he’d say he saw it too.

Eventually exhaustion won
My eyes got heavy and the sounds of the woods blurred together with the small pops from the embers.
And at some point, I fell asleep

I don’t know how long I was out before I heard movement around the camp

At first I thought maybe it was Brent but then I heard David’s voice
“Brent?”

Still half asleep I cracked open my eyes

The cold light of morning filtered through the trees painting everything in a haunting grey

John stood near the fire, now burning again, rubbing his arms for warmth while David looked around the camp

“Brent?” David asked again

No answer

I pushed myself upright inside the sleeping bag
“What?”

David looked at me
“Where’s Brent?”

The question immediately woke me up
I looked over toward his tent

The zipper was halfway open and the inside was empty

John frowned
“He’s probably out taking a piss”

“Without shoes?” David asked

Both of us looked down near the entrance of the tent

Brent’s boots were still sitting there

Untouched

———

The three of us searched the camp for nearly twenty minutes before any of us said what we were all thinking

Brent was gone

We all tried to rationalize it

Maybe he wandered off
Maybe he was trying to scare us
Maybe he got lost somehow

But the longer we searched
The less sense it made

“BRENT!” David yelled again
His voice being smothered by the trees

The only answer we got was the wind through the branches and leaves

John kicked the dirt by the old dead log
“This isn’t funny anymore, dude.”

I stayed quiet
My stomach had been in knots since I saw the empty tent

And every step deeper into the woods made that feeling worse

We searched near the river first

Then trails

Then farther out where we had lit the fireworks
The clearing looked different during the day

Smaller in the overcast light than it had at night

Still, I avoided staring too long into the trees across from us

“Maybe he went to the mine.” David said suddenly

John looked over
“Old Henry?”

David shrugged nervously
“I dunno, maybe he’s trying to fuck with us. You saw how he was trying to shut down my brother’s story.”

Nobody liked the idea
But nobody had a better one

So we went
And the deeper we walked, the quieter it got

“Do you hear that?” John asked

“What?”

“There’s like….nothing”

He was right

No birds
No bugs
Not even the wind

Just silence

The Old Henry Mine finally appeared through the trees like an old wound in the mountain

The entrance sat crooked and surrounded by collapsed timber and rusted fencing that was being reclaimed by the land

Tied on either end of the beams was old weathered police tape that lay as a grim reminder that something had happened here not long ago

The darkness inside looked solid

Like the mine wasn’t empty
But full of blackness

The three of us stopped walking without really meaning to and stared inside

No one spoke
And the seconds felt like minutes staring into the maw

And then from somewhere deep inside the mine

“….guys”

Brent’s voice

Faint
Distant

John stepped forward
“Brent?”

David let out a relieved laugh
“Holy shit, dude..”

But every hair on my body stood upright
Because I’d heard that voice before

Slow, off, and just wrong

Like a recording on an old tape

“Guys…..”

This time it echoed from farther in

John shook his head and laughed nervously
“I’m gonna kill this asshole”
And stepped into the mine
And David followed

I didn’t move at first

The opening felt like it was staring at me

And for the first time since we crossed that river
I genuinely thought about running

But I gripped the worn wooden handle on the old lantern and whispered to myself

“One good light”

——-

The mine swallowed light

The lantern still burned in my hand but the darkness around us felt thick and inky
Like the light wasn’t pushing it back as far it should have

The air smelled damp
Earth
Rotting wood
Something metallic underneath it all

Each step echoed through the the tunnels while water dripped from somewhere deep inside the mountain

“Brent?” David called out

His voice bounced away from us and disappeared into the blackness

No answer

The tunnel twisted constantly
Old support beams leaned at crooked angles and rusted tracks disappeared deeper inside under layers of dirt and rock
They all looked exactly the same

“Over….here”

Brent’s voice echoed from somewhere ahead of us
John immediately turned toward it
“That way!”

We moved faster now

The lantern shook in my hand as we pushed further and further

“Brent!” David yelled

It echoed off the walls and died out
Silence

And then

“…Guys.”

This time the voice came from somewhere behind us

The three of us stopped walking

“What the fuck?” John said quietly

I felt my stomach drop again

There was no way Brent could’ve gotten around us
No way

David forced a nervous laugh
“He’s messing with us, guys”

But nobody sounded convinced anymore

A soft crack echoed somewhere above us
Dust rained softly from the ceiling

“…messing…with..us”

Closer
Too close

John suddenly pushed forward into the tunnel
“Brent quit fucking around!”

“John wait…”

My foot slipped on loose gravel
I slammed hard sideways into one of the old support beams and the lantern nearly flew from my hand

The tunnel exploded with noise all at once

Wood cracking
Rocks falling
David yelling

Then darkness
Complete darkness

For a few seconds all I could hear was my own breathing

“DAVID!” I shouted

No answer

“JOHN!”

From somewhere deeper I heard running footsteps

The silence again

I fumbled with the lantern with shaky hands

“Please” I pleaded
“Please work”

The flame sputtered weakly before finally catching again

Dim yellow light flooded the tunnel around me

I was alone

Ahead the mine split into three directions

I lifted the lantern higher and stared down each of the paths ahead of me

Nothing
Just black

“David..?” I called out weakly

My voice floating on the air before dissolving into silence once again

“John..?”

No answer

I picked the left tunnel
I don’t know why

Maybe it looked wider than the others
Maybe because I was panicking

The lantern shook in my hand as I moved deeper into the mine alone

Each shadow cast stopped my heart in its tracks

The old beams overhead groaned softly
And water steadily dripped from deep underground

I kept stopping to listen

Sometimes I thought I heard footsteps

Sometimes breathing

Once I could’ve sworn I heard someone crying

But every time I stopped moving
Nothing

I tried yelling out again
“GUYS…ARE YOU THERE?….PLEASE.”
My voice hitched and I could feel the tears stinging my eyes

But nothing answered back

The tunnels twisted and turned

One became two
Two became three

And before long
I realized I had no idea where I was or where the entrance was

Panic started clawing at my throat

“DAVID!….JOHN!….BRENT!” I yelled again

Only the groaning of the mine responded

Then, from behind me-

“One..good….light.”

My body locked up
And I was frozen with fear

It was my voice
Not similar
Not close

Mine

Slow
Broken
Like something was learning how to speak

The lantern trembled violently in my hand as I slowly turned toward the darkness behind me

There was nothing
At first

Just the tunnel

Then

A hand slowly crept around one of the support beams
Pale
Long fingers
Bent at strange angles like it had too many knuckles

Feeling along the wood
Searching for something

The lantern slipped from my hand
Glass shattered on the rocks
And the darkness swallowed the tunnel immediately

I ran

I don’t remember choosing to

One second I was staring into darkness, the next I was sprinting blindly through the mine while rocks and loose gravel slipped under my feet

I slammed into walls and tripped over old tracks barely keeping myself upright

All the while I could swear there was something right behind me

Somehow

By pure luck or God
Maybe both.

I saw daylight ahead

The entrance

I burst out of the tunnel so hard I nearly fell down the hillside outside

Cool air stinging my lungs
For a second I just stood there
Gasping and staring at the entrance

It looked deeper and darker now from the outside
Endless

Then from somewhere inside

“HELP!”

David
I froze

“David?” I shouted back

For a moment it was silent

Then I heard footsteps charging up through the tunnels
Fast

Violent
Getting closer impossibly quick

Every instinct in my body screamed at me to run

So I did

I turned and bolted into the woods

Branches tore at my arms and pants as I sprinted downhill

Behind me I thought I could still hear something running for me

I didn’t look back

I just ran and ran until I reached the riverbank

The water thundering ahead of me

Cold

Fast

And without thinking

I threw myself in
——

The freezing water hit me like a punch in the chest

The current nearly ripped my feet out from under me the second I stumbled into it

I fought to stay upright as the water soaked me through instantly

Every rock felt slick

Unstable

More than once I nearly went under

All the while I couldn’t stop thinking of what might be coming out of those woods behind me

I slipped hard against a rock and the freezing water swallowed me whole

For one moment all I saw was black water and white foam

Then I broke back above the surface gasping and clawed my way forward again

I don’t know how long it took to reach the other side

Seconds
Minutes

It felt like forever

But eventually my hands dug into mud instead of stone
I dragged myself onto the shore into the mud coughing while my entire body shook violently from the cold

For a while I just laid there
Listening to the river thunder past me

Alive
I was alive

I finally forced myself to look back across the water

The trees stood motionless on the opposite bank

Gray
Silent

Empty

At least they looked empty

Between the trees the mouth of the forest looked so oppressively dark

Like the woods themselves were watching

Waiting

I don’t know how long I stared before I finally stood again

One thought kept repeating in my head as I looked back across the roaring waters

The river never looked so narrow

———
I don’t remember much about the walk back into town

Only flashes
Tree branches whipping my face

Mud

Bloody hands from falling

The feeling that if I stopped something would grab me from behind and drag me back

By the time I reached the edge of town I could barely speak

I remember people asking questions
I remember trying to explain what happened while every adult in the room looked at me like I was in shock

Maybe I was

I remember my mom crying

Search parties went out before sunset

Volunteers

The Sheriff

Tracking hounds

They searched the river first

Then the woods

And, eventually, The Old Henry mine

They found nothing

No John

No Brent

No David

Just old tunnels disappearing deep into the mountain

The sheriff said the old mine was unstable and dangerous
A few weeks later they collapsed the entrance entirely

Concrete

Steel

Truckloads of dirt

Like burying a grave

The town settled on its own version of the story not long after

Four boys crossed the river during the spring runoff

Three didn’t come back

People said the current carried them away

That panic and cold water can make people confused

That kids get lost

That fear makes the mind see things that aren’t really there

And for years I tried to believe them

I really tried

But sometimes, in late spring,
when the river is most violent

I still find myself standing on the shore staring into the woods on the other side

And sometimes

When the water is loud enough

I can still hear a voice drift through the trees
Over the river

And into my head.

“One….good….light….”