After getting dressed, we got into Max’s car and took off. Some pop songs were playing on the radio, but that didn’t do anything to lift my spirit.
When I got out of the hospital, I didn’t know what music was, and the radio was a foreign concept to me. I didn’t understand how it worked, or how the music was coming to the car. It took Max several attempts to teach me for me to finally understand the origin of the sound and how it moves as sound waves through the air and is picked up by the car.
As Max drove, I looked out at the scenery. Majority of the ride was filled with house after house after house and so on; it was ugly. I preferred looking at trees and flowers, but here they were few.
Forests held so much more than the city did. The forest had vibrant colors and something new to look at wherever I gazed. Nature had a beautiful way of swaying with the movements of life, creating its own rhythms. Sometimes if I listened closely, I could hear it talking to me. Although I had not crossed paths with many, each forest I traveled past had its own personality.
During the ride, Max didn’t talk to me, but that didn’t bother me. I wasn’t much of a talker at that point in my new life anyway, and I think he knew that. Although, every now and then, Max would sing a song with the radio. He had one of those voices that wasn’t really meant for singing, but at least, he could carry a tune. The birds sang so much better, but I wasn’t going to tell him this opinion.
It was a long ride, and I wasn’t expecting it to be so long. The longer it took, the worse I felt. Then, we hit country roads: trees, bushes, grasses, flowers, mosses, hills, and so much more. It was amazing, but something felt wrong. I could feel something telling me to leave and to stay away.
Suddenly, a deer came out of the woods and ran straight across the road, and Max almost hit it. He slammed on his brakes, causing the both of us to be jolted from the force of the previously moving vehicle.
“Are you okay?” He asked me.
I nodded my head and told him what I was feeling at the time, “the forest doesn’t want us here.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. Something just doesn’t feel right. I want to go home.”
“Felix, calm down. It was just a deer; deer run out into the road all the time.” He put his foot back on the accelerator and continued the drive down the road.
Even after he continued to drive, I could still feel it. We weren’t supposed to be here, and I think that deer was trying to warn us. My uneasiness only got worse the further we drove into the forest; I didn’t want to be there.
“We’re almost there.” Max announced as we took a bend in the road. “Well, will you look at that?”
There was a huge pine tree laying across the road, leaving no way for us to drive around it. This was definitely a warning!
The tree was perfectly healthy; all of its needles were still green, meaning it fell recently, but there hadn’t been a storm strong enough to have knocked it down within the last few months. I got out of the car and began heading towards the thick part of the tree to see if something had cut it down. The roots of the tree were uprooted, leaving no viable option as to why the tree had fallen.
“I don’t like this, Max. We need to leave; we can’t be here.” I tried to convey the emergency through my voice.
“Nonsense,” he said, “The tree probably grew at an angle and got too big to support itself.”
If I had been gullible, I might have believed him, but this tree showed no signs of an abnormal growth. It's tap root and supports lined up perfectly to the base of the tree. This tree had grown straight, yet somehow, it was inexplicably laying across the road now.
“Come on, it's not much further, we can walk there.” he said.
“I don’t want to. Something is telling us to leave, and I think we should listen.” I was scared, and I didn’t know how to make Max understand.
He began to walk without me, and I hesitated to follow, but I didn’t want to be left on my own. I had to jog to catch back up to him by the time I decided to go after him. This was strange; when I was at Max’s house, the forest called me, yet now that I was in one, it wanted me to leave.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“I’m not allowed to tell you yet.”
We walked in complete silence. Not even the forest was making a sound. There was no wind blowing to rustle the leaves, and the birds seemed to be song-less. Eventually, we came to a clearing with a singular tree. There was someone under the tree, and I strained my eyes to make out who it was. When we got closer, I could see that it was Detective Karl, one of the main investigators on my case.
As we approached, he greeted us, “Hey, boys, how are y’all doing today?”
“As good as we can be.” Max responded before asking, “Was that tree in the road when you got here?”
“What tree?” He asked.
“There is a pine tree laying across the road about half a mile away from where we needed to enter the woods to get here.”
“No, it must have just fallen. Man, I guess I’ll have to call someone to remove it or else I won’t be able to get home.”
Without thinking I spoke, “it wants us to leave.”
Detective Karl looked at me funny, “what wants us to leave?”
“The forest, it doesn’t want us here.”
Detective Karl gave Max a concerned yet inquisitive look. Max then piped in, “I think he may be a little shaken up. We almost hit a deer on the way here, and then, there was that tree.”
Detective Karl laughed, “I guess anyone would think the forest wants them to leave if they encountered that. Did you keep your promise not to tell him where we are?”
“Yeah, other than knowing we are in the middle of nowhere in a clearing somewhere in the forest, he has no clue where we are.”
“Good,” he turned to look at me, “So have you remembered anything?”
He should have known the answer to this. If I had, I think I would have told someone. Since I didn’t have the answer he was hoping for, I gave a cocky response, “I remembered that I don’t want to be here.”
“Smart one, aren’t ya?” he shook his head with a smile on his face. “In any case, you should relax a lil’ bit and enjoy the view. I brought a picnic, so we’re just here to enjoy ourselves. We thought you could use a little break, and Max keeps talking about how you really like nature. This should be up your alley.”
I began to look around and really study the area around me. It was beautiful, and slowly, my nerves began to cool down. Detective Karl and Max continued to talk as they set up a blanket to sit on. I walked around a little bit and even came across a little spider. I picked it up and let it run across my hands one after the other.
When I was done looking at the spider, I put it back where I found it and went over to Detective Karl and Max. They were talking about my case and trying to decide where to go with it next.
Out of curiosity, I asked a question, “What happens if we never solve my case?”
Detective Karl answered me, “Well, nothing. We will all go without answers and have no choice but to move on with our lives.”
“But that doesn’t sound nice.” I complained.
Max commented, “Police and detectives have already spent over a year on your case, with no new leads. If we don’t find anything soon, we will have to drop your case.”
“But I want to know what happened.” I sulked.
“We know. We all wanna know. Even if we drop your case, it doesn’t mean that we won’t ever figure out what happened. We may come across something new that ties into your case or you may even remember something.” Detective Karl explained.
“Besides, since we have no clue where you came from, you will still stay with me, meaning I can continue studying you, and I may figure something out. Even if we drop your case, it doesn’t mean we can’t pick it back up in the future. We just need to make room for new, more pressing cases that can be solved.”
“Hey, don’t look so sad. Cheer up and have a sandwich or two.” Detective Karl attempted to change the mood as he handed me and Max some nicely made sandwiches. They were turkey sandwiches with cheese, tomato, lettuce, and pickles. “There’s ketchup and mustard in the basket if you two want some.” He said as he handed us some soda-pops.
I didn’t really feel hungry, but I ate one anyway. The uneasiness that I felt about being there had faded away, and I began to genuinely enjoy myself out there.
While we relaxed, Detective Karl called someone to remove the tree that was blocking his path home. During our little picnic, we talked about trivial things like Detective Karl’s kids, ex-wife, last night's football game, and so on. I sat there and listened to their conversations without putting much of my own input into them. Talking wasn’t really my thing, nor did I have a desire to talk about random things with them. Besides, I didn’t know much about the world outside of my own little bubble.
They continued to talk well throughout the day, and it was a quarter ‘till 2 before they ended their conversation. Detective Karl offered to drive us to Max’s car, so we wouldn’t have to walk all the way back to the car. He drove a nice, white Ford Sedan with a black leather interior. This was the first time I had ever been in his car, and I got a really good impression of it.
“It was nice having a little outing. Thanks Karl.” Max said as he exited the car and headed towards his own.
I got out of Detective Karl’s amazing vehicle and got into Max’s crappy, by comparison, car. They had basically the same job, so why did Detective Karl have nicer things than Max? After being in such a nice ride, I felt less impressed by this moving piece of metal that I was headed home in.
Don’t get me wrong, Max had a decent car, but it wasn’t as flawless. Max owed a silver Kia Sportage that was littered with scratches and small dents.
“What’s with that look?” Max asked me as he started up the car.
“Why doesn’t your car smell like Detective Karl’s?”
He laughed at me, “I didn’t realize you thought my car smelled bad.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“No, but that’s what it sounds like you meant.”
“Can your car smell like that?”
“Probably not exactly like his does, but if you’d like, I can get some vent fresheners.”
“What’s that?”
“Little scented things you put on the part of the car that blows air.”
“Oh, Okay, but can you get ones to make it smell like Detective Karl’s”
He laughed at me again, “Sure, I’ll try. Just remind me to message him later to ask what his car scent is.”
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