A Broken Window

I always knew that Joey Franco was a rabble rouser. Of course I didn’t believe it because Joey and I were in kindergarten together. I had a secret crush on him, He was so cute with his golden blond hair spilling slightly over his forehead. He had baby blue eyes and a smile that would melt the soul of even the strictest of his teachers. For example, there was Ms. Moth, the reading teacher who the students dubbed her the teacher with the skeleton in a closet because she was as thin as a skeleton, and you could see the bones on her chest when she bent over a student’s desk. By the way, it was Joey who started that idea.

As the years went by, Joey became bolder and was known as the prankster of Lincoln Elementary School. One day, in math class he hid his alarm clock in his book bag and set an alarm for fifteen minutes into the hour. Classes began and ended with a loud shrill on the loudspeaker. It just so happened that Joey’s alarm clock sounded almost identical to the school bell. When Joey’s alarm clock went off, she dismissed the class and all of us had a free half hour to do anything we wanted. Of course the punishment for such a prank was the killer math test that was given the following week.

When I turned thirteen, my parents decided to send me to sleep away camp for the entire summer but when they discovered through the neighbors that Joey would be going to the same camp they warned me to stay away from Joey.  I am very friendly with his parents, and they have told me some stories that would raise the hair on your head. Believe me when I tell you that you can't trust him.

I quickly assured them that they had or to worry about; I knew how to take care of myself. The only thing is I still had a crush on Joey and thus, I paid no heed to my parents’ warnings. 

The camp was located in the mountain area of Denver, and was well known for miles and miles of hiking trails mapped out with various trail options. The trails were easy to follow and designed to follow all safety precautions along the way. As long as we stayed on the trail, we would be safe from any dangers.

My group included five other campers (Roxie, Joanne, Robby. Brett and Joey). We had chosen to follow the red trail because it was considered the most difficult to complete. We would follow a trail of porous rocks, tangled tree limbs and icy cold streams.

Our hike was proving to be as challenging as we expected until about an hour after we started, Roxie and I sat down to rest on the base of a tangled tree branch and making plans for our start of junior high school -- we were finally going to be losing our status as kiddies (in elementary school) to youngsters in training for life’s trials and tribulations.

Brett approached us with a look of deep concern on his face. “Have you seen Joey or Joanne?” They were supposed to meet us back here fifteen minutes ago.  

“No”. I answered. I haven’t seen them at all. They must be further up the trail.

“Well I don’t know. We really need to find them and get back to camp before it’s dark.

The three of us got up and made our way back to the trail. We had gotten about a half mile down the path when we noticed Joey’s backpack leaning against one of the rocks. But there was no sign of anything out of the ordinary until I saw a pair of footprints that had led off the trail.

“Okay, guys, follow those footsteps”. When I see Joey, I am going to strangle him.” I wouldn’t be surprised if this was his idea of a joke; to scare us and then laugh at us when we would find them, kissing under a weeping willow tree (if there was one around here at all)

But the footsteps soon disappeared and the trail grew darker. The sun was about to set and we had nothing with us to light the way. We were way off the marked trail but kept on walking.

We still found no sign of them and I was becoming more alarmed as the hours passed. When we were too tired to walk any further, we dropped our backpacks and gave into eating the provisions of water, snacks and fruit that the camp had given us.

We were hopelessly lost and decided to turn around. We would have to let the counselors know that Joey and Joanne were missing.

That is when I noticed a dark structure to the east of us. As we grew closer we realized that it was an abandoned shack. 

The shack had been built of wet sod, tree wood and in it's center was a small glass window; the window had a crack in the design of a spider web and any attempt to look through the window to the other side was covered over with thick smudges of dirt.  

There was just the window of that house...no front door, no rear entrance and not a soul was seen for miles around.  

I still lay awake at night thinking about that lonely window in the middle of the woods. It has been years and I never learned about the whereabouts of Joey Franco or Joanne Woodard.

I recently heard about a stranger who was spotted in town; he was a tall young man, with golden blond hair that slightly spilled over his forehead. He had the brightest blue eyes, and a smile that could warm the heart of any cold soul. I wondered, could they have met Joey Franco?

Maybe….!

I shudder to think what would have happened if Joey and I had walked together on that trail. I chose to walk with my best friend Roxie, instead of walking with Joey, a boy I had a crush on since kindergarten. It was true that Joey was indeed a rabble rouser and I suppose that is why I am here to tell you the tale.