Chasing the Sun

The grandson was looking out of the window, down at the woods that ran through his wildest imaginations.

"Hey!" a voice shouts from behind him.

He turns to see his grandpa standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing up this late at night?" Grandpa questioned.

"I can't fall asleep, can you tell me a story?" the grandson asked.

“There once was a great shining knight…” Grandpa started before being interrupted by his grandson.

“I’ve already heard this story before, can you tell a different one this time, Grandpa?” the grandson pleaded with beading eyes. 

“Alright,” Grandpa said before putting down the book, “I have a special story for you.”

“Where’s the book?” the grandson questioned, sitting up from his bed to look at Grandpa’s hands.

“There is no book for this one, this is from the heart.”

“But how will I read this story again?” the boy continuing with his everlasting questions.

“Whenever you’re sitting in your bed, just like now, and you need something to entertain yourself, just think to yourself, and the story will come to you,” Grandpa explained.

“But…” the grandson began before Grandpa coaxed him to pull up his covers and get comfortable.

“This story is about a kid, just like you,” Grandpa pointed to the grandson, “and how he and his friend went on an adventure in the wilderness, just them two, no adults, no supervision.”

Grandpa continued, “Are you ready?”

The grandson replied with a simple nod.

Sam was walking down the streets of Decatur, Tennessee, a small town of two hundred people right outside Knoxville. He walked into the small convenience store, picked out a Coke, put a nickel on the counter, and left. He continued his stroll through the town, passing by his school, which filled all the kids of the town, including his best friend, Dew. Sam has known Dew since before they could even remember anything. 10 years later, they were still as close as anyone could be. 

Sam, now remembering about Dew, ran like a gazelle to his house. He leaped over fences, ran through bushes, and eventually arrived at Dew’s house. Dew’s family lived in a simple, 1-story house that you could tell they’ve tried keeping up, but have let go over the last few years. They had a large field in their backyard that led to the woods where Sam and Dewey would spend their adventures. However, they had never gone past the creek that marked the boundary between Dew’s backyard and the unknown, respectively called “The Damned Creek”. They’ve always dared each other to go over the creek, but the farthest anyone’s made it was a simple hop, and then a hop back- 

“Wait, they were scared of the woods?” the grandson interrupted.

“Yes, and they had a very good reason to,” Grandpa cheerfully replied.

The grandson sat in silence for a minute, pondering. 

“Well I wouldn’t be scared of no woods, even if I was just a baby,” the grandson finally stated.

“Oh grandson, you still are just a baby. Now settle down and let’s finish this story.”

Summer had just started, so Sam had a plan in mind for the boys. Sam knocked on the wooden door and promptly opened it and entered the room. Dew’s family had treated Sam as one of their own, so they didn’t mind. Sam ran through the dusty, ragged house, each stomp feeling it might pummel through the creaking floorboards. He saw Dew in the old rocking chair in the living room.

“Hey Dew!” Sam blurted out the second he entered the room.

“Hey Sam!” Dew ecstatically responded. 

“I have an idea,” Sam left Dew wondering.

“What’s the idea?” Dew questioned.

Sam took the old walking stick by the front door and pointed towards the backyard with it, “We’re going to where no man has ever gone before!” he exclaimed. 

“We- We’re going to th- the woods?” Dew stuttered. 

“We are going to fully explore the other side of The Damned Creek, and there is nothing and no one who is going to stop us,” Sam proudly said with his fists on his hips.

“But how will we ever get back?” Dew nervously responded.

Sam sensed Dew’s apprehensiveness, and comforted him, “Don’t worry Dew, we’re just gonna go over to the other side, look around, and then come back.”

“That’s it?” Dew, still nervous, but feeling slightly better.

“That’s it, now let’s pack our essentials and leave after the sun dips below the tip of that tree,” Sam pointed to the large apple tree residing in the backyard. 

Dew nodded and went into his bedroom to pack.

The boys walked with their backpacks full of food and tools such as knives, apples, and even hammers. They were unsure of the frontier, but Sam was ready to enter and Dew was still apprehensive, but was mostly ready. They encountered the fresh-water creek that divided the two lands from each other. The two boys looked at each other, giving each other the go-ahead signal to enter the unexplored territory, and suddenly, they jumped together.

Birds flew out of the area, heading towards the heavens as the boys trekked along the frontier. They hacked and slashed through the shrubbery which crowded the forest floor with Sam’s homemade pocket-knife. Dew had his father’s binoculars out, hoping to see a rare species of birds fluttering about. The sun shone through the forest top, breaking through pockets of space, revealing the numerous leaves around. 

Sam took out his compass and asked Dew, “Do you remember what direction your house is in?”

Dew looked around, but was confused as all the directions looked the same, “I’m not sure…” Dew said apprehensively. 

Sam looked down at the compass, in which the needle was pointing west.

“It says that we are going west, so I guess your house is in the East,” Sam concluded.

“No… no, that can’t be right because the forest is to the right of my house,” Dew worriedly cried.

“Well then how are we going towards your house if we’ve been traveling in the same direction for the past 30 minutes?” Sam questioned.

“I don’t know, but I think we should go back--”

Right on cue, as if God was watching from above, clouds surrounded the sky, and lightning struck, sending the boys into panic. They frantically ran in a direction, much less worried about being lost, and more worried about the imminent threat of weather. The boys jumped and ducked and weaved their way through branches, shrubs, and trees. Out of breath, they stopped to catch their breath, panting like a dog who had been running for hours. 

“Hey, what direction did we run in now?” Dew asked Sam.

Sam put his hands in his pockets when he didn’t feel anything. He then put his hand in his backpack to locate the compass. He didn’t feel anything either. A sudden sense of fear and panic struck Sam like a train and he didn’t feel too good.

“Dew, I… I think I need to--” 

Sam woke up in a rush.

“Woah, woah, woah, you need to stay down there buddy,” Dew coaxed Sam, “You were out a little while, it’s almost sunfall, we need to get out of here now.”

Sam looked around to see the orange reflection of the sun bounce off the leaves of the trees. He got himself up and studied the area once again. He noticed the way the shadows were casted. 

“Look,” Sam pointed to the base of the trees, “See how the shadow is pointing that way (he pointed towards the right of the tree).” 

Dew nodded.

“That means the sun must be in the opposite direction of the shadows,” Sam exclaimed, “And since the sun always sets in the West, we must follow it to your house.

The boys excitedly picked up their stuff to head back home when they suddenly heard a growl from nearby. Dew and Sam simultaneously turned their heads in the direction of the noise and saw a large gray wolf. Its beady yellow eyes stared into the flesh of the boys, giving its signal that it wants to have dinner.

“Um, Sam, we should... you know… run” Dew mentioned to Sam.

Sam motioned his finger to his mouth as a way of telling Dew to shut up. Sam picked up a rock from next to his foot.

“The second this rock hits that tree, we run,” Sam told Dew, who nodded in agreement.

Sam wound up his arm, and looked at Dew for a second, and launched the rock. It made a large cracking sound as it hit the bark. The wolf turned its attention to the noise as the boys took off. They ran and ran, harder than ever before. They felt like cheetahs as the trees and grounds whipped past them as they chased the sun. The sun was glowing through the sky, giving Earth its goodbye, as the boys hurried towards the house. They did not look back to see if the wolf was chasing them or not. They just ran. Sam looked ahead and saw a tiny dip in the land, it must have been the creek he thought. Sam took off faster now. Dew, though, could not see the creek and was almost depleted of any energy. Sam took one graceful leap across the creek, and made it safely to homeland. Dew staggered behind, panting. Sam also panted, but from the safety of the known land. Sam laughed and turned around to head home when he heard a shrilling scream. He looked back at Dew to see the wolf had, indeed, caught up to them and was mere feets away from Dew.

Dew’s back was to Sam, and Sam could not do anything to disturb the wolf. He simply must spectate his friend’s situation. The sun had fallen from the sky, giving way to darkness in the world. Dew slowly stepped back away from the wolf, inching closer and closer to the creek. The wolf’s fangs were glaring, even to the point where Sam could see its whiteness cut through the dark. Sam knew that Dew must act fast, or else it would not be good news. He had one solution. He took his backpack off and started running towards the wolf. Dew heard rapid footsteps approaching behind him and yelled. Sam jumped and threw his backpack at the wolf, knocking it down and grabbed Dew with him. They ran back, through the field, and finally, into the house.

“Geez boys, I haven’t seen you all day and you just run into my house like that?” Dew’s mama exclaimed.

“Oh you wouldn’t know the half of it Mama,” Dew sighed.

“Alrighty then, get y’allselves cleaned, I have supper ready for you,” Dew’s mama smirked.

The boys looked at each other one last time, and headed to the bathroom laughing about the events that had unfolded that day.

“The End.” Grandpa sighed.

“So that’s it?” the grandson questioned.

“That’s it.”

“But what about--” Grandpa cut him off before he could finish the sentence.

“I think it’s time for bed now, not time for buts and what ifs,” Grandpa said as he tucked his grandson to bed.