The coast was warm.
That was really the only thing I could think about. I had an empty mind. Exactly what I needed after all of that.
There was nothing to worry or think about besides the waves slapping the sand and the birds gliding overhead. Everything was so… slow. Slow. That’s the word for that place. Slow. There was no one around to accuse me of anything. I could just dig a hole in the beach and curl up in it. Sleep for the first time in weeks. There were still blood stains on my pants. The sun was so refreshing. The warmth made me jump and skip around the pond. The pine trees sang. They sang to me. No one around for miles. I could relax…
***
The mud was thicker than I had anticipated. My boots weren’t going to last me much longer. I didn’t know what was down there, nor did I intend to find out. I marched on. The mosquitoes were relentless. I couldn’t stand being alone. But, then again, I couldn’t stand being with others. The trees were huge. I imagined that a man was up there, planting moss on the north side of the trees to show me where I needed to go. I saw light.
***
The air was so refreshing. My hole now had a roof of leaves and branches. I had found a bear cub in the forest. I barely got away with it. I named him Jeremy. Jeremy was my friend.
Jeremy and I swam into the pond and caught fish. We cooked the fish on a fire I made with some stones. Jeremy ate and went to bed. I stayed up and sang to the pine trees. They listened.
***
I woke up with a weird feeling. It was like regret, but it wasn’t. It was weird. I forgot about it later and went to work. Jeremy wouldn’t get off my back about the spreadsheets. I can’t do them without a computer, you idiot! God, how I hate him. Anyway, the day went perfectly normally.
Then that feeling returned.
***
Jeremy and I went into the forest today. We were going to plant an orchard of pine trees. Then, I could sing to them any time I wanted. I found a pine cone. It was from a sequoia. Sequoias are very wise. They sing songs of ancient times to me. I enjoy their songs very much. Jeremy found a fir cone. Firs listen very well. They like to listen to my songs about the world outside the woods. I enjoy their company very much. Jeremy and I returned to my hole and planted our first 3 trees across the pond from our home. I can’t wait to sing to them.
***
Oil depleted today. I knew I was screwed the minute I woke up. The gas in my car was probably the last 100 gallons in the entire county. That’s probably why everyone was on me about it today. Of course, I didn’t give anything to anyone. It was mine, after all.
I drove down the 5 as far as I could. I needed to find out what was really going on.
***
Jeremy and I went to our garden to check on the saplings. They were already 2 feet tall! I sang a song to them about the lives of adults in the world outside the woods. They swayed with happiness. Jeremy sang his first song to them, too. He did a good job. I gave him some extra fish for dinner as a reward. I loved Jeremy.
***
Every town was empty. Every single one. The weeds overgrew each yard and each yard was filled with huge animals. Dogs that were 5 feet tall, rats as big as TVs, all that crazy stuff. I locked my doors and kept driving.
Two people were hiding in a shack on the outskirts of the city. They wouldn’t answer to me, and I got them so annoyed they started shooting at me with shotguns. I ran to my car and continued into the desert.
***
Jeremy helped me find flowers to plant in the orchard. We found some tiger lilies in a clearing. They were pretty. They enjoy songs about children from the world outside the woods. I sang them a song and took them with me. Jeremy found some mule ears. They looked like sunflowers. I let Jeremy sing them a song about the other bears in the woods. Jeremy told me that I would get to meet them someday. I was excited.
Jeremy helped me plant the flowers. We sang them a goodbye song and left. It was a blue moon.
***
The farther I went, the fewer people I found. Of course, there aren’t many people out there, but there were much fewer than usual. I stopped to get water from an abandoned well and kept driving.
I found a patch of cacti. I thought it was better than nothing, so I took some pears and left. Some animals looked like they were watching me.
***
Jeremy helped me make friends with the deer. Jeremy said that they were the peaceful race of the forest, who made peace with the bears long ago. Jeremy sang them a song of welcoming and I sang the story of the humans. They were very pleased with my song, so they agreed to protect me in the forest from the wolves, the disquiet race of the forest. They were the opposers of the peace. I sang a friendship song to the deer. Jeremy said we were going to see the bears soon. I was excited.
***
Those goddamn birds wouldn’t stop staring at me. It was like they thought I have a secret that I wasn’t telling them. I didn’t have any secrets. I didn’t have any reason to keep any any more. What am I saying? They don’t think, they’re birds!
I think I went crazy.
***
Jeremy brought me far out into the woods where the bears lived. I sang a song of greeting to the bears. The bears smiled and hugged me. We were happy. I brought fish for all of us to eat for dinner. They liked it. We sang songs together about our races. It was a happy time. I didn’t want to leave. Jeremy and I went home when the moon shone. The bears were sad to see us leave. We waved goodbye and went home to our hole.
***
I didn’t know anything any more. I turned around and headed north when I started seeing buildings catch fire on their own. For the first time in this entire thing, I was genuinely afraid. I thought I had a plan. I thought I had a chance. I was officially screwed. And more wrong than I ever was.
***
Jeremy was grown up. He was big and very wise. Jeremy said that now that he was a real bear, he had to leave me and join the others. I was sad, but he said he would visit me every day. I sang him a goodbye song as he left. The tiger lilies drooped lower than usual. I cried when I went to sleep that night.
***
I’ve reached Yosemite. I don’t know how I got this far on the amount of gas I had, but I did. Everything was clean and beautiful. I didn’t know what to think when I stepped out of my car and took a gulp of fresh air for the first time in months. I got clean drinking water and killed some deer. I was finally going to get some sleep.
***
I visited the deer today. They said that I had destroyed the peace. I didn’t know what they meant. They explained that some deer were missing and they never found them. They thought I took them. I told them that I had no reason to take them. They didn’t believe me. They said that if I hadn’t taken them, I would at least know who did. They said that for their forgiveness, I had to kill whoever took the deer. I agreed.
I gathered food and water for my search for the kidnapper. Then, I made a spear out of stone, vines, and a stick. I sang a song of good luck and then left. The pond was frozen over.
I had walked a very long way before I found a strange metal box. It looked very familiar, like something I had seen before long ago, but I couldn’t remember what it was. I tried opening it. I found many weird, useless items in there. I left all of them except a stick which emitted light when I pushed a black stone on it. I was going to continue until I noticed a man in the back of the box. I was horrified when I saw him sleeping under the skins of deer. The deer had been killed by this man. He woke up and started talking quickly in a language of the world outside the woods. I had forgotten this language a long time ago, so I did not understand him. I thought he was pleading for his life, so I told him that if he left the forest forever, he would be spared. He did not understand this, so I spoke as well as I could remember in the tongue of the world outside the woods. “Leave now, never return, I let live you,” I said to him. He seemed to understand. He said “Yes,” and ran away from the forest. As I watched him run, I threw my spear at him. He was struck with it in the back. He fell and did not get up. I had promised to the deer peace, and so I gave it to them.
***
The next day, Jeremy died. I visited the bears when they told me the news. I cried. They comforted me. We sang his favorite songs, and when the moon rose, I returned to the pond. I placed his body under earth in the center of the orchard. I sang the news to the plants in the orchard, as well as the story of the deer killer. They looked sad. I left to my hole and stayed there. I did not sleep.
***
POLICE FIND MAN DEAD IN YOSEMITE
Today, at approximately 10:00 AM in Yosemite National Park, a body was encountered by a camper near a pond. The body was clothed in a crudely knitted robe of vines and leaves. “I was walking back to my car, and I just found it lying there in a little hole in the sand,” the witness recounted. An autopsy is currently being conducted for cause of death, with an inference being starvation. Anyone with information on the body’s identity should contact the Police Department.
A Stitch in Nine 