Forest Of The Dead

Chapter One

Jimmy sat on the tailgate of his old beat up, rusted, red 72 Chevy pickup while he waited for his co-worker, Nolan, to show up for their regular 6:30 a.m. shift. He had already retrieved the tools from the garden shed they would need to tend to the Forest of Memories and the tools leaned clumsily against the tailgate beside Jimmy. Although it was a fairly mild winter and all the snow had already melted, the early morning mid-April air still carried a bit of a bite and Jimmy’s breathe escaped in small puffs of steamy air. He looked down at his watch and saw it was now 6:40. “Good ole Nolan, late as usual.” He mumbled to himself with a small matter of fact chuckle as he looked up to see the sun making its way up over the horizon. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath letting the cool crisp air fill his lungs. Nolan was typically a little late and although Jimmy razzed him about it regularly, Jimmy never really minded and always punched Nolan’s time card along with his own. Truth be told, he enjoyed the extra time to himself so early in the morning with the fresh air accompanied by a fresh cup of coffee. The air always seemed refreshing at this time of day and, the quiet…. Oh, the peace and quiet, with nothing but the sounds of the forest, the birds chirping and the dry leaves rustling on the ground with the small bursts of wind. It was just what he needed before the start of what usually turned out to be a long, hard workday.

There came a sudden noise from the tree line of the forest that made Jimmy jump a little and snap out of his current state of relaxation. He turned around toward the nose of his truck, which was pointed at the forest, to see if he could see anything in the trees. It looked all clear so he turned back around to continue watching the sun make its gradual ascent upon the day. Another rustle just like the one before came from the same direction, only a little louder this time. Jimmy slid down off the back of the truck, carefully as to not aggravate the arthritis he had developed in his knees over the years. He walked around to the front of the truck to peer back and forth along the edge of the forest filled with American Sycamores and he spotted something peeking out from behind a large tree trunk. He squinted into the distance as he felt around for his eyeglasses in the front chest pocket of his brown and white plaid coat. He slid the glasses on his face and pushed them up the bridge of his nose but whatever it was peering out from behind that tree was still too far away for old Jimmy to quite make out clearly. He jutted his head forward and squinted as hard as he could, which caused his nose to crinkle and his top lip to curl slightly upward. Had his late wife, Maggie or Mag's as he had called her, been by his side at that moment, she would have giggled at him and teased about how he could manage to turn his rugged handsomeness into that of a blind old geezer, making himself look at least ten years older than he actually was.

Jimmy began to take a few steps forward in a futile attempt to get a little closer when he heard a car pull onto the lot. He turned briefly to see that Nolan had finally arrived. He turned his gaze back toward the forest but the figure that leered out at him was no longer there.

“Morning Jimmy, what are you looking at?” Nolan inquired as he placed his hand on Jimmy’s shoulder.

“There was something rustling around out there in the trees but I don’t see it anymore. I could have sworn it was a person. But I suppose It must have been a deer or something. I can’t see anyone coming out here so early on such a chilly morning. Besides, I don’t see any vehicles on the lot other than ours.” Jimmy responded while combing the forest with an intent gaze that made his brow furrow just a little.

“Yeah, it’s pretty chilly out here this morning. I imagine it was probably just an animal of some sort. There are a lot of deer in the area.” Nolan stood beside Jimmy combing the forest in the same way when he noticed Jimmy was now looking at him instead of the forest.

“Yeah, your probably right but enough chitter chatter. We need to get these tools into the back and head out to work. I don’t want to get too behind and have that little shit of a boss crawling up my ass again.”

“I’d like to see him come out here and get a little dirt under his fingernails for a change. See how much complaining he does then.” Nolan responded.

“Pfft, that’d be the day. Bet the little puke’s never put in a hard day’s work in his life.” Jimmy continued as they quickly loaded the tools into the back of the truck.

“Jeez, I don’t like the guy much either but you really hate him, don’t you Jimmy?”

“It’s not even so much that I don’t like taking orders from a younger fellow but an ignorant little prick like that….” Jimmy shook his head as he closed the tailgate.