The Giant Forest - COMPLETED - True to life adventures of preteens.

I Killed It, but It Saved Us

Day after day eventually became week after week, month after month.

Bart and his friends had tirelessly scoured the woods for some sign of Artie. Sadly, the more time passed, the more they became afraid of what they might actually find. One by one, Artie's friends gave up the hunt until there was just Bart and his loyal friend, Zeke. Then ... just Bart.

In time Bart didn't spend every waking minute of every day looking for Artie. Bart, however, never gave up wanting to know what became of his first son. He never stopped hoping, even he knew in his core there was no hope to be had. Too much time had passed.

Still, Bart spent what idle time he allowed himself to have sitting on his front porch in his handmade rocking chair looking out in the distance wishing Artie would just appear.

Twelve years is a long time to wait for anything. It's an even longer wait when you receive no encouragement. No encouragement whatsoever.

Bart gave himself a day off sometimes from the business of building Mt Hermon and caring for the tribe that had come to live with him and Prissie. All of the rooms Bart had built were filled with kids, aged one to 17 or so. The older kids made valuable contributions to the building of the camp. The older boys pitched in where Bart needed them, the girls where needed by Prissie. Still, none filled the void completely left when Artie went missing.

Bart used his days off to explore ... again ... various sections of the forest. He had mapped out the area and drawn it on a sheet of paper that he protected carefully. He had grids on a sheet of paper to keep track of areas he had searched and how many times he had combed through them.

Bart walked out the front door of his home, stretched his arms wide and bent over to tie the strings on his boots. There was a piece of cloth on the doorstep. The cloth was unmistakably a piece of cloth that Prissie had weaved ... and ... used to make a cap for Artie! The clump of cloth was from Artie's cap. The scrap was not there before, but it was there now. Somebody, something had delivered it there.

Not wanting to give false hope to Prissie, even though he could hardly contain the enthusiasm that welled up inside him, "Priss! I am going for a walk. I am going to go through grids ... " Prissie couldn't make out what he said next as his voice trailed off when he took off running.

Bart headed to a clearing where he often ran into his friend, Zeke. Happilly he found Zeke was there!

"Zeke! Zeke! Look what was left on my doorstep this morning!"

"It's a piece of old cloth. What's the big deal?"

"It's from a cap that Prissie made for Artie! I know it is! I remember!'

"Hang on. Hang on. Are you saying this piece of cloth was from a cap your son was wearing? What? More than 12 years ago? And you remember?"

"Yes! Yes!"

"And it showed up on your doorstep this morning?"

"Yes. That's right!"

"You don't have to shout all your answers, Bart. I am standing right here."

"Don't you see? This is evidence that Artie or ..." Bart didn't want to finish his sentence for fear he might have to say out loud for the first time, "some remains of Artie." Bart knew that his son was gone. He had just never said it out loud before. "It's something that was Artie's. And it showed up just today. I want to find out how it got to my doorstep. Maybe I will be able to find more of ..." Bart didn't finish his sentence this time.

"Alright my old friend. I am happy to help pick up the search again. But I am not sure we want to get the others involved. Okay? I am not even sure that I want to find anything." He said the last sentence softly.