The Northwoods Chronicles by Elizabeth Engstrom

Author:Elizabeth Engstrom
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: romance, love, horror, literary, fantasy, paranormal, short, supernatural, novel, dark, stories, weird, unique, strange, regional, chronicles, elizabeth, wonderful, northwoods, engstrom, cratty
Publisher: Imagination Fully Dilated Publishing

A Totem for a Time

The day that Recon John lost his lucky jawbone was the first time since Vietnam that he was afraid for his life. It was the jawbone from a monkey that took a bullet for him by jumping on his back as he stood on top of his tank just as a sniper fired from the outside limit of his rifle’s range. The monkey hit John hard and just as he grabbed at it to toss it off of him, he felt the slug, heard the monkey’s “oomph,” as the breath was knocked out of it, then it went slack. A moment later, it fell from him, eyes wide with wonder, arms and fingers working weakly, grasping at nothing. The bullet had stopped in its spine. A buddy stepped on it and finished the job the sniper started, and John had cut out its jawbone to take as a souvenir.

Those were rougher days.

But in the thirty years that followed, he’d taken that small polished piece of jawbone with him everywhere, and he had always got along well in life. It was as much a part of his gear as his toothbrush, dental cleanliness being the only aspect of his personal hygiene that John was truly fastidious about.

Accordingly, he hung the jawbone on the birch branch where he kept his toothbrush, and he kissed it every morning after his breath was minty fresh, and said his thanks to the god who made that monkey act in such a strange manner at such a crucial moment. It started his day out right, thinking about the curious drift of things and how little control mortals had over their lives.

John lived in the woods and fended for himself, denying the government and bureaucracy any illusion of control over him. His one nod to civilization was dental floss, toothpaste, and a fresh toothbrush every year on his birthday.

So when his jawbone went missing, John went through what he later considered quite a strategic series of emotions.

First, he got mad. Who came to his place and messed in his stuff?

Then he got scared. He must be letting his guard down. If somebody could find his place, they could find him, and being found was not one of his favorite things. The last time he was found, there was trouble in town, and he didn’t want any part of anything like that, ever again.

After anger and fear came the feeling of vulnerability, and that both scared him and made him mad. If he didn’t have his lucky jawbone, he wasn’t invincible.

But of course that was crap. It was just a bone. It had no power. No real power.

And after that series of emotions came the question, the most important part of the process. What did the universe want to tell him, teach him or prove to him? Taking that important memento, that piece of bone that was nothing in and of itself, was a radical act, and only the universe knew what it meant to him.

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