The Big Tree by Rick Hautala

Author:Rick Hautala [Hautala, Rick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Supernatural
Goodreads: 23110046
Publisher: Nightscape Press
Published: 2014-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

Eight

Somehow—I have no idea how—I made it back to the house with the wind and rain punching and slashing at me. My sneakers, jeans, and shirt were as wet as if I had taken a dive into the ocean. The lawn was so saturated with rainwater I kept slipping and sliding as if I were walking on grease. With every other step, I stopped and, shielding my face with both hands, looked back to the tree, hoping to see Sylvia, but there was no sign of her. The roaring howl of the storm rose all around me, but as I stared into the darkness, I was sure I could hear her heart-rending sobs and her voice, calling to me… asking… begging for me to help her.

The screen door blew out of my hands and almost flew away when I opened it. I held onto it and opened the inside door with my other hand. I slipped into the house, and try as I might, I could not manage to close both doors behind me without letting go of the screen door. A blast of wind blew it shut behind me. It sounded like a cannon shot in the dark, and I held my breath, straining my eyes in the darkness, watching for the yellow shaft of a flashlight beam that would mean my father was awake and I was going to get it for real this time.

But nothing happened. They slept on.

I tiptoed up the stairs, uncharacteristically taking them one at a time. The house was creaking and thumping as the storm drove its full force against it. I went into the bathroom and shucked off my wet clothes, leaving them in a pile on the bathroom floor. Naked and shivering, I toweled myself off and then went back to the bedroom and slid on some clean, dry underwear.

I didn’t lie down and go to sleep right away, though. Instead, I perched myself with my arms braced on the windowsill and stared out at the storm and the black, swaying mass of what was left of the Big Tree. I turned my flashlight on and tried shining the beam down at it, but the light reflected off the glass, making it impossible to see outside. Still, I thought it was a good way to signal to Sylvia that I hadn’t forgotten about her even though I hadn’t done a darned thing to help, I clicked the light off and on, and swung it back and forth several times, hoping she’d see my signal.

Finally, though, in spite of all the excitement, I got sleepy and lay down. I had trouble falling asleep with the wind and rain slamming against the house. That would have been enough to keep me up, but I was also worried about Sylvia, wondering where she was and what she was doing. It didn’t matter to me if she was real or something I had imagined. Either way, thinking about her made it almost impossible to drift off.

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