Chapter 4

“Get up!!!” Drew barged into Caleb’s room, “Man you have been asleep for over an hour.” Mom said not to wake him but Drew wasn’t going to let Caleb miss dinner.

Caleb didn’t even open his eyes “Shut up and go the hell away.”

“Okay then” and with that Drew sat on Caleb’s bed and right on top of him. Caleb groaned and tried to get up but Drew was too heavy.

“Get your ass off of me and I might be able to get up” he told Drew. Drew just laughed but got off his cousin. He didn’t need to sleep so late anyway, he might miss dinner.

Caleb sat up and punched his cousin in the arm, Drew laughed again and stood up, “What is so important that you had to come in here, sit on me and wake me up?” Caleb asked him.

Drew gave him a lopsided grin “Dinner.”

“I’m up,” he said “I’ll be downstairs in a minute, I just need to wash up.” As Drew left the room and went downstairs Caleb thought about the dream that he was having. It was about the girls that he seen in the woods, he had wondered who they could be.

He was back in the woods and the dark-haired girl had walked up to him and taken his hand, they were running through the woods, faster than he had ever been able to run before. She tossed her hair and laughed, they were having so much fun. He took her hand and pulled her close to him, he had just been about to kiss her when Drew interrupted.

He was thinking about trying to find where he had seen her but when he looked out the window the sun was low in the sky. Tomorrow, he thought, he would go back tomorrow. Although he wasn’t sure that he would be able to find it again. He had just been wandering aimlessly and had no idea which way to go.

I could leave early and make sure I pack a lunch and something to drink to carry with me, he told himself. That would be the smart thing to do, and to bring the compass that Drew had given him. He walked downstairs and into the kitchen, his aunt was putting food on the table while Colin and Drew were putting the plates on it. He picked up a bowl of macaroni and cheese and put it on the table.

Once the table had been set, they all sat around and bowed their heads while William said grace. Dinner was always Caleb’s favorite meal, each night his aunt tried to make at least one of everyone’s favorites. It was also the biggest meal of the day. He didn’t mention going back into the woods to anyone, they wouldn’t think it was a good idea and tell him not to go, or for Colin or Drew to go with him. He really just wanted to go alone. He helped clean up the kitchen after dinner was over and he went outside to lie down on the grass and look up at the stars.

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” Caleb didn’t even know Colin was outside. He looked over at him. Colin was sitting in one of the lawn chairs they had. “Yes, they are.” Caleb said.

They sat in silence just looking at the stars until Caleb started to doze off. He saw her face, her pale complexion, that long, wavy, dark hair, her eyes though, were blank, no color, and she was staring right at him. He couldn’t move, he just stood there staring at her. Say something, he kept telling himself, but he just stood there mesmerized. She started towards him and she stopped in front of him, “Caleb,” she said “Caleb!” He just stood there looking at her, unable to move or speak. It wasn’t the voice he imagined her having, but more like his cousin Madelyn. “Caleb!!!” He opened his eyes and Madelyn was kneeling beside him. “You need to come inside and go to your room if you want to go to sleep, you will catch a cold out here with this wind so chilly.”

He leaned up and gave her a kiss on her cheek, “Thank you. You should be getting in bed as well.” He told her.

“I was on my way when I looked out my window and seen you laying out here. I could hear you snoring all the way up there so I knew you were sleeping.”

“I don’t snore,” he told her, she just laughed and stood up and walked back into the house. He sat up and looked around, no beautiful girl, just the darkness of the woods and the sky. He got up and went inside, he could hear Katherine telling everyone goodnight. As he made his way back to his room he thought about his plans for tomorrow, he would wait until nobody was around and he would pack a lunch and then head out. He wanted to leave as early as possible, which was going to be hard because someone is always around. He walked through the door of his room and shut it behind him. He changed into his sweats that he always slept in and crawled into bed. He laid there for a while thinking about his plans and making sure he thought of everything when he finally drifted off to sleep.

He waited until everyone was gone, which he thought was going to be difficult. Luckily for him, his aunt took the girls to the store to get some groceries. Colin and Drew went fishing and his uncle was in his shop working on his latest project, and wouldn’t notice him leave. He had some sandwiches, the compass, and something drinks loaded up in a backpack. He left a note to his aunt and uncle so they wouldn’t worry. It was a little before ten o’clock when he finally got to leave. He even brought a topographical map that he downloaded. He set out from the same starting point and just walked straight. He kept an eye on the compass and wrote down his heading every time he changed course and how long he followed that course. He estimated that he had walked for almost three hours last time he was out here, so far it had only been one.

He started noticing things that looked a little familiar. Around twelve he decided to stop and eat some of the sandwiches he packed. While he was eating, he looked at the map and the compass to try to figure out where he was on the map. He wasn’t very good at reading the map but he wasn’t a complete idiot about it either. He was heading northwest towards the river. As he sat on the rock eating his lunch, he watched a couple of squirrels jumping from limb to limb. He watched them for a few minutes before he packed up the rest of the sandwiches and continued on his way. 

It was quarter before one when he heard the footsteps. It sounding like someone was running really fast. But then they were gone, probably just a deer or something. He thought about seeing if he could find the tracks but decided against it. He was too interested in trying to find the girl. He wondered who she could be and why he had never seen her in town.

A cloud passed overhead and covered the sun and sent the woods into shadows. That’s when he heard the footsteps again, he looked around but didn’t see anything. Maybe I’m just hearing things, he told himself. He was just about to start walking again when he saw the movement in the corner of his eye. He turned and there she was. Long, dark, curly hair that flowed down her back, she was wearing jeans that looked a little worn in some spots and had a light green shirt that was just tight enough to show her curves. Her face was brilliant, she was so beautiful.

All he could do was just stand there and stare at her. He told himself to say something, to move, just do something besides standing there gawking at her. She started to walk towards him. He felt like he was about to faint. Keep it together Caleb, he told himself. She was close enough to see that her eyes were brown. The first time he seen her he couldn’t see her eyes. In his dreams her eyes had always been kind of blank. He could never really get a good look at them. Now he could. They were a dark, chocolate brown, they matched her dark hair. He couldn’t move, no matter how hard he tried. He was paralyzed.