Willow Man by John Inman

Author:John Inman [Inman, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-12-09T05:00:00+00:00

BOBBY LISTENED to a night bird kicking up a fuss in the branches above his head. Perhaps the fire disturbed its sleep. But for the bird, the only sounds Bobby heard in this little world of flickering light that the campfire afforded him and Woody, was the peaceful breathing of his sleeping friends. They were safely tucked into their sleeping bags with the horror of the bats forgotten for the moment, thank God. They did not hear the vague rustle of willow branches swaying softly in the gentle night breeze. Neither did Bobby, but he knew its story nonetheless. That breeze wafted down through the canyon, wending its way toward the ocean, where it would travel on to unknown destinations, to faraway places Bobby could only imagine. The air that rustled the willows here and stirred the scent of sage might one day sway the palms in Honolulu, or ripple green rice paddies in Cambodia, or whip red flags of power atop a building in Beijing. It might one day lift the hair on the back of a tawny tiger creeping through a dappled sea of bamboo somewhere in the jungles of India as the great cat silently stalked some unsuspecting native who was about to become dinner. And even in the aftermath of the terrors this night had brought to him and his friends, that thought made Bobby smile. Not for the fate of the poor unwary native, but for the beauty of the thought. The whimsy of the notion.

Did he envy the wind and all the wondrous things it would see? No. Bobby was content to be exactly where he was. Next to Woody. Feeling Woody’s leg against his own. Feeling the heat of Woody’s body mixing with the heat of the fire, making him feel all toasty and warm and hungry for more of the boy next to him. Making him feel safe.

A feeling he suspected was about as far from the truth as it could be. There was no safety for any of them here in this canyon. Not tonight. Maybe not ever. Perhaps only the wind could move safely through this place. Perhaps only air was beyond the powers of Willow Man to harm.

Woody was speaking softly to him of the injuries on Cathy’s back. He seemed to feel the need to rehash the whole episode over and over again, as if only in that way could he come to grips with what it all meant. Bobby let him talk, offering himself up as a comforting presence, nothing more, and while Woody rambled quietly on, trying not to disturb the others but needing to get the words out, Bobby felt his mind being carried off into the trees, into the very shadows where all the terror was waiting.

Waiting for him. Waiting for Woody. He knew now it waited for no one else. It hungered for no one else. Bobby didn’t know why the creature, whatever it was, had centered its malevolence on the two of

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