Walk With Tom Lowell
Raitt Black
Walk With Tom Lowell
Raitt Black
Copyright © 2014 Raitt Black
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters,
places, and events are either used fictitiously or are
products of the author's imagination. Any
resemblance to actual events, locations, or persons, is
entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 1311128904
ISBN-13: 978-1311128904
Also Available
by
Raitt Black
The Dain Princess
Walk With Tom Lowell
Wednesdays became a treat for Tom Lowell when the factory where he worked cut overtime. Since he worked Saturdays, Wednesday became his second day off, other than Sunday. Having a day off in the middle of the week was nice. Most other people were at work, which made running errands quicker. Tom could go to the supermarket and not wait in long lines. Traffic was minimal. Overall, the day had much less stress. But the best thing about Wednesdays was time with his daughter.
Alexis was five years old, a precocious age full of questions and amazing new discoveries. Tom appreciated life and all of its wonder through her sense of awe. Even more so when they went for hikes on their special days.
There was a lake near her school with a trail around the perimeter. The sign at the entrance named it Hollins Lake and the maps indicated it was a three mile hiking trail all the way around. The trail was lined by a wooden post fence along the outside edge. Every fifty feet or thereabouts a sign was posted on the fence: Wildlife Reclamation Area. Please do not cross the fence.
"Daddy, what does the sign say?"
"It says there's animals resting on the other side of the fence and we shouldn't go over it."
"Can we go under it?"
Tom laughed. "No, baby, we can't go under it either."
Alexis accepted the answer and they continued their hike. The trail went from the parking lot to a bridge over a small river, then around an ampitheatre, and continued around the lake. Halfway around the lake the trail split. To the right, the trail followed a narrow peninsula out into the lake."Do you want to keep going?" Tom asked.
Alexis nodded.
They continued, and Tom noticed there was a wooden post fence on the lake side of the trail, too. It started after the peninsula and also had the Wildlife Reclamation Area signs posted on it.
"There must be special animals here for someone to put up those fences," Tom said.
"Like unicorns?" Alexis asked.
"Maybe."
"Or a pesagis?"
"No, not a pegasus."
"Why not?"
"A pegasus would fly away."
"Oh, and go where there's no people?"
"And go where there's no people. Right, baby."
They walked along the trail until a chain link fence blocked their path. It was at least ten feet high, and there was a metal sign bolted to it. In bold black letters it read: No Trespassing. Endangered Wildlife Reclamation Area.
"What does it say, Daddy?"
"It says we can't go that way," Tom answered.
"Why?"
"Well, I guess there are some really special animals over there. Ones that don't want people to see them."
"Must be unicorns."
"Must be." Tom peered through the chain link fence. The trail continued on the other side, lined on both sides by the wooden post fence, but the trail was overgrown with bushes. They could skirt around the chain link fence and continue their hike, but that would show Alexis it was acceptable to break rules. Tom decided not to.
"Daddy look. A coon." Alexis pointed toward a grove of trees along the outside of the post fence.
Tom didn't see anything. "Do you mean a raccoon?"
"Yeah, a coon."
"Baby," Tom crouched beside her. "Let's not use that word, okay?"
"Why not?"
"Because it's a raccoon."
"Oh." Alexis thought about the answer and accepted it.
Tom smiled and looked toward the trees, searched for the racoon. He was grateful for Alexis' innocence and trust, and wanted to hold onto it for as long as he could. She had grown so fast in her first five years. He did not want to erode her innocence with a talk about how a word could be bad. She didn't need to learn about hate. Not yet.
"I don't see anything," he said.
"I think its gone."
"Oh. Let's go back."
"No, I don't want to."
"Well, we can't go around the fence so let's go check out the peninsula."
"Okay."
He led Alexis back to the peninsula. Trees obscured the lake on either side of the trail and created an odd, isolated feeling. But there was one spot, about twenty yards onto the peninsula, with a bench on one side of the path and a clear spot between the trees. It was a nice spot to sit and watch the lake.
Another thirty yards out, after the path turned, the peninsula ended at the lake. Trees hung over the water's edge, brushed against the tall reeds that grew out of the lakebed. Minnows and other small fish swam in the shallow water. Insects flitted among the reeds, and bullfrogs called to each other.
Tom thought this was a little slice of heaven, a serene place to relax and be at one with nature. Overjoyed, Alexis watched the cute little bugs and wildlife. Either way, it was a special place the two of them could hike to and share as their own for their special Wednesdays.
Again the next week Tom dropped Alexis off at pre-kindergarten, ran a few errands, and picked her up a few hours later for another hike. They stopped at the bridge. Tom went to the upstream side and dropped a stick into the water. They hurried to the other side of the bridge and watched the stick float along the river. It slowed in a small pond and came to rest against a fallen tree. A duck swam to the stick and pecked at it, looking for something to eat.
"That's a cute duck," Alexis said.
"Look at his family." Tom pointed downstream at a few other ducks.
"Aw, it's a cute Mommy and Daddy duck."
Tom chuckled. "Yes they are, baby." They had nowhere else to go, so he let her explore the riverbank at her own pace. When Alexis thought she had seen every duck, bug, stick, and little fish she could see, they walked to the trail and continued to the peninsula.
"Daddy, I want to go that way." Alexis pointed at the chain link fence and pulled on Tom's hand.
"We can't go that way, remember?"
"Oh, but I want to," Alexis whined.
"I know you do, and I want to see where the trail goes, too. But the fence is there for a reason, baby. Let's go out on the peninsula again."
"Where the bench is?"
"We can stop there, too."
"Okay."
They hiked to the bench on the peninsula. Tom pulled a chocolate chip trail bar from the pocket of his cargo shorts and sat on the bench. He opened the bar and broke a piece off, handed it to Alexis.
"Thank you, Daddy."
"You're welcome, baby."
The chocolate was soft on that warm day. Tom gave Alexis the last piece of the bar, still in the wrapper. She peeled it back, ate the piece, and dropped the wrapper to the ground.
"Alexis," Tom scolded. "Pick that up."
"But there's no trash can."
"I'll put it in my pocket and throw it away at home."
She picked up the wrapper and handed it to her father.
"Thank you," Tom said.
"Welcome. Can we go?"
"You want to see the fish?"
"Yeah." Alexis hopped off the bench. Tom laughed and followed her to the end of the peninsula. She crouched by the water's edge and watched the little black fish
chase bubbles and each other. Two ducks landed on the lake and swam to a small sandbar island covered in reeds. A small path of stepping stones, partially submerged under the water, connected the sandbar to the peninsula.
"Alexis, look at the stones going out to the island." Tom pointed at the stones.
"Can we go out there?"
"No, some of the rocks are underwater. We'll get wet."
A rustling noise erupted from the reeds on the sandbar. The ducks sounded a startled cry, but only one emerged from the reeds and flew away.
"Alexis, let's go."
"But Daddy..."
"I forgot to stop at the bank and I have to go before they close. Come on, we can come back next week."
"Alright."
They hiked along the peninsula, toward the main trail. Tom noticed a blue plastic cylinder hanging from a tree. It had a white top and a white mesh bag hung from the bottom. A yellow sticker on the cylinder read: Wildlife Study. Do Not Disturb.
Tom wondered which wildlife were being studied, but did not want to stop. They arrived at the main trail and Alexis tugged at his hand.
"Daddy look, another coon."
"Baby, I told you not to use that word."
"But look." She pointed toward the chain link fence.
Tom looked but did not see any racoons. "There's nothing there."
"It walked away but I saw it. It was a cute little racoon with big, hairy, black spider legs."
Tom looked at her, surprised. "Do you know about the boy who cried wolf?"
"No."
"I'll tell you while we walk." They followed the trail toward the parking lot. "A long time ago in a little village, there was a boy. His job was to watch the village flocks at night."
"That's a bad word."
"What word?"
"I don't want to say it."
"Flock? That's a herd of sheep." Tom looked down at Alexis and wondered if she already knew the curse that sounded like flock.
"Oh. Why did he watch the sheep?"
"Because the people in the