Thaddeus Minnow was a very curious child. He was of strong mind and was the smartest kid in his class, at least that’s what his parents told him. He lacked the physical strength of some of the boys, but he could grow into that later.
His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Minnow, were both teachers at the local college. They made sure young Thaddeus stayed up to date on his assignments—the ones from school and the ones they assigned themselves.
Thaddeus used to hate all the assignments, but when several kids around the neighborhood started picking on him he grew to like staying in all day and learning. He was often told that he would be their boss one day and they would have to work for him. That day couldn’t come soon enough.
The Minnow family lived in a slender house deep in a neighborhood filled with slender houses. They all looked almost the same. Some had brown shutters and some had yellow, but that was the extent of their differences.
It was a very pleasant summer morning when the Minnow’s left their slender house to drive to the meadow. Thaddeus sat in the back seat reading the book his parents had assigned him for the first part of the summer.
“How’s the reading coming?” Mr. Minnow asked as the car came to a stop at a traffic light.
“It’s good.” Thaddeus replied. He wasn’t really reading. He was staring at the pages and taking quick glances out the window.
“I remember when I read that book.” Mr. Minnow said. “Changed my life.”
“Really?” Thaddeus said, not really paying attention.
“Sure did.”
A few minutes later the car turned onto a road that ran through the woods. They came to a stop in a parking lot and got out. Thaddeus followed his parents onto a little path between the trees.
The Minnow’s went on family walks once a week. It broke the monotony of lessons and grading. Thaddeus enjoyed these excursions and secretly wished they happened more often. As much as he liked learning he liked going on mini adventures outside even more. Every time he walked amongst the trees he imagined that he was in a world completely separate from his own. Housing developments crushed in on all sides, but for those brief minutes in the center of the woods civilization was all but forgotten about.
The sun wasn’t as bright and the air a little cooler on the dirt path through the trees. Mr. Minnow quizzed Thaddeus on all the bird calls they heard. Mrs. Minnow asked Thaddeus to name all the types of trees they would encounter.
The boy ran ahead when he got the chance and snuck around the edge of the brush looking for animals. He found a large toad sitting on the edge of the path, a few squirrels running up and down trees, and even the end of a snake (or perhaps the tail of a lizard) slithering under a bush. He also saw many birds fluttering in the canopy above. They were singing their songs and gave the whole woods a very pleasant feel.
The dirt path ended and a wooden walkway began, curving off into the tall grass that replaced the trees. Thaddeus waited for his parents to catch up. They talked about this and that and didn’t seem at all to have the wonder that he always felt after his mind was swallowed by nature.
“Ah, we’ve come to the good part already.” Mrs. Minnow said.
“Yeah, come on.” Thaddeus pulled his mother’s arm in hopes she would go faster.
They started onto the wooden walkway and followed the curve around through the tall grass. The grass went off to the sides and they were now walking through a very pretty meadow. The walkway was several inches above the water. Little green plants poked up through the water every now and then. Cattails stood in clumps and swayed in the light breeze.
Thaddeus walked quickly, looking into the water at all times so he wouldn’t miss any animals. There were little fish and snails and maybe even a few tadpoles, though they might have just been fish. He saw a turtle and watched as it poked its head above the water and dove down again. Some of the turtles were small and some were very big. They clumped together on branches that lay half in the water.
“Did you see that one?” Thaddeus called out whenever he saw a turtle. “Oh look, there’s another one.”
“Thaddeus come here.” His mother said. “Be very quiet, do you see that?”
She pointed over to the edge of the meadow where the tall grass began again. A young deer was standing there, poking its head into the grass.
“Wow, it’s so close.” Thaddeus whispered.
“Let’s leave it alone, we don’t want to scare it off.” Mrs. Minnow advised.
They came to a part of the walkway that was raised higher than the rest. Signs showed the types of animals that might be found. There was a viewing tower out that way. They climbed up and could see all the way to the other end of the meadow, some three hundred yards away. The Minnow’s sat on a bench on top of the tower and relaxed while the world turned below them. It got late very suddenly and it was time to leave.
Thaddeus wished they could stay for the rest of the day, even longer if it was possible. His parents led the way back down. They walked along the walkway until the forest began again. The dirt trail returned.
The boy kept behind his parents this time. He looked all around hoping to find more animals hidden away out of sight. The meadow always had more animals than the woods.
“Can we come back tomorrow?” Thaddeus asked his parents when he noticed that they were quickly coming to the end of their walk. Houses could be seen through the trees in the distance. The thought of civilization made Thaddeus want to run back and hide amongst the trees.
“Not tomorrow, but maybe next week.” His father said.
“Are you sure we can’t come back?” Thaddeus asked hopefully.
“No, no, we can’t have too much of a good thing now can we? Our walks are once a week. That way we don’t get tired of them and yet still look forward to them.”
Thaddeus bowed his head and walked on. He looked up a minute later and saw that there was a much smaller path going off to the right. A sign stood a little ways in that direction. He glanced up at his parents to see that they were walking on ahead and talking, and then he ran over to the sign to see what it said.
Unofficial path, continue with caution
Another path? He had never seen that before. He looked back to see that his parents were still walking away. They had yet to turn around. Thaddeus made up his mind and decided take a quick jog down the new path just to see where it went. It would probably connect with the main path up ahead somewhere. It might even get him ahead of his parents. He walked very slowly until he thought his parents wouldn’t hear him, and then ran. Instead of curving to the left and connecting with the main path like he imagined, it kept going straight. Surely it would run into the houses if it continued like that.
He stopped when he saw that the little path was gone and he was running through bushes and over dead leaves. Thaddeus looked back but could no longer see the path at all. It didn’t seem like he had run that far. Surely it was around somewhere. He started back the way he came.
Up in the sky the colors began to change. The bright blue of midday seeped out and was replaced by gray. That too began to change. Very quickly the gray began to darken. Thaddeus suddenly realized this and looked up. It was growing dark. Nigh
t was approaching. But that can’t be right; his watch showed that it was only two in the afternoon. Within only a minute the sky had completed its turn from midday to midnight. The birds stopped chirping. Crickets and other insects took their place.
Thaddeus breathed very hard. He searched for some type of explanation. The day doesn’t just end whenever it wants to. That’s impossible. He drew himself in and held his arms tightly by his chest. His feet made small and careful steps through the dead leaves that crunched loudly with every footfall. He wanted to call out to his parents; surely they were frightened as well.
This wasn’t the fun type of night with storytelling and marshmallows, this was much different. This was one of those horrible nights with spooky sounds and penetrating darkness that never seems to let up no matter where you look. Thaddeus hated those nights, and he hated this one even more for being so sudden and unexplained.
It was very hard to see in the new darkness. Thaddeus held out his wrist that was wearing his watch and lit the screen. The light was bright in such a bleak blackness. It showed him the way, but only a few steps ahead. It flickered greatly; his hands were shaking so much he couldn’t keep a hold of the button.
He started back to where he thought the path would be. The light from his watch lit the ground but it never found the path. It must be around somewhere. He quietly called to his parents. There was no answer.
Leaves crunched nearby. Thaddeus took his hand from his watch and the light disappeared. He listened closely to hear more. Very quietly leaves were pressed down only a few feet away. He didn’t dare move. This wasn’t his parents, he could tell. They would be running and calling to him. This was something else. The sound continued, slowly getting farther away. Someone, or something, was trying to walk away from him. After a few seconds it crashed away through the woods. It was probably just an animal, but it scared Thaddeus badly.
As quietly as he could, which wasn’t very quiet, he began again to where he thought the path might be. He was still too scared to call out again for fear there really was someone up to no good out there with him.
Young Thaddeus walked on for a long time, never finding any trace of the path or his parents. He only let his watch stay lit for a second or two at a time, whatever it took to see that he wasn’t about to hit a tree. It was beginning to seem hopeless and he wished he never strayed away from his parents. If only he could reach them. They would know what to do. He listened hard for any sign of them calling to him but none came. They couldn’t be too far away.
Up ahead he noticed a small light. It appeared suddenly, it wasn’t there a few seconds before. He watched it to see what it would do. It never moved, it must be attached to something. It flickered like a flame. He started towards it.