The Quarry - Hackett Woods

Cԋαρƚҽɾ 1 - Hαƈƙҽƚƚ ɯσσԃʂ

Characters

Darby: The protagonist. Lost her father a year prior. She just wants some quiet in her life. Too bad.

Ben: Darby's brother. Always kind and friendly, trying to make everyone happy.

Parker: Darby's best friend. Insecure but tries to hide it.

Liam: Ben's boyfriend. Introverted, quiet and reserved.

Tori: Darby's other best friend. Loud and says what she wants, no matter how much turmoil it will cause.

Tom: Parker's fiancé. Just a general douchebag.

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Brown oak, ladybugs on leaves and squirrels
climbing down trees are things I gazed upon while driving through Hackett woods. I like to make notes of things, just in case.

"When are we gonna be there? My best friend Parker said in an exaggerated whiny voice.

"Not long." I answer.

"Can't we just set up anywhere?" She persists.

"Nope. I know the best spot."

I've camped here twice before, once when I was 12 with my dad, again with my dad when I was 17, and now I'm 20, and my dad is dead. We always camped in this one spot, it was a patch of grass, surrounded by tall trees and logs, straight out of a Disney movie. It was around 10 minutes from where we were in the car. We always knew where it was because we always stop when we see a sign that says "HACKETT WOODS", then we followed the trail until we found the spot.

I was travelling up with Parker, my brother Ben, his boyfriend Liam, Parker's fiancé Tom and my other best friend, Tori, she has, as the kids say, "no filter".  Parker and I have been friends since we were 8. Shes very... enthusiastic, she can be a lot sometimes but that's why I love her, we met Tori in college, that's also where Ben met Liam. Parker met Tom 8 months ago and got engaged to him 3 months ago. She insists it's true love. Ben seemed to bounce back pretty quickly after our Dad's death. He has always been the guy who tries to keep the peace, tries to make everyone happy. I think he's more sad then he's letting on, keeping it in, but I'm not. I basically lived in my bed for 2 months after he died. It'll be a year tomorrow since he saw someone getting mugged and tried to intervene, only to get a knife to the chest. I came up with this to distract myself and Ben insisted I make it into a group activity. I don't know much about Liam, but he seems nice, Ben says he's just shy. Tom, on the other hand, is a massive prick. He has a massive god complex and he just generally acts like a dick.

"Darby, there's the sign!"

Ben snaps me out of my daydream. I pull over in front of the sign, I step out and look at the trail after 3 years as everyone grabs the bags out of the car.

"This lowkey looks like a shithole." Tori says without being asked.

Me and Parker always joke about why we're friends with her, it's starting not to be a joke anymore.

"Alright, let's get going." Ben says.

"Hell yeah!" Parker screams.

We walk into the woods and on the trail, and it feels like I'm walking back in time. Don't cry Darby, don't let them see you cry, Bens worked so hard at keeping you from crying, don't fuck it up. I don't know why I though this was a good idea.