Big Sky Chronicles

Chapter 9: Big Mountain Appalachian

Paul stomped through the leaves of the forest as day slowly ticked by. He had no way of identifying what time it was but judging by the position of the sun, he guessed it was early afternoon. To his left was Juniper, whose eyes were set forward, focusing on his surroundings. Paul's eyes were nervously darting around, as if he was anticipating the worst to happen. Wild fantasies of bipedal deer flashed through his mind. It didn't help that Kristoff had caught up to them and was constantly barking orders to walk faster.

Paul used this opportunity to talk to Juniper, hoping that it would alleviate some of his anxiety of the situation.

"Juniper. Why did you join the Patriots." Juniper answered immediately.

"Because it was the right thing to do at the time." This answer puzzled Paul.

"What do you mean by "at the time?"" Paul said back.

"That night at the pits, when Ramsey gave his speech, it inspired me. His weird telekinesis powers also inspired me. I wanted to be more than what I was, represent something bigger than myself. It was a feeling that gripped me that night. So I went with it and here I am."

"Don't you worry that you could be killed?" Paul responded.

"No. Why would anyone worry about that? It makes no sense to me."

"Well—" Juniper cut Paul off.

"We all die, Paul. Eventually, we all die. It would be pathetic to live your life worrying about whether or not you're going to die..." A brief pause followed Juniper's words. Paul understood what Juniper meant, but it didn't seem to change his anxious mindset.

"So, what do you think happens after that?" Paul said back.

"Who knows... I don't think about it a lot, but if I had to guess, we go to heaven." Juniper said with a dismissive chuckle. "I guess since there's so much evil in this world, it would make sense that such a place exists." Paul was confused by Juniper's response.

"You sure ask a lot of questions, Paul. My turn. Why did you join the Patriots?" Paul was shocked by this question, he never thought someone would ask him.

"I want to not be controlled by our government, and I want to be happy." Paul responded, but he felt unsure about his answer.

"Are you happy now, Paul?" Juniper said back. Paul didn't feel happy, he just felt hunted.

"No, I guess I don't feel happy. I feel scared." As soon as Paul said this, he felt embarrassed. He had never been that vulnerable with someone before. But Juniper seemed like the type of guy who would know if someone was lying, so Paul told the truth.

"I can tell... I'm pretty good at reading body language. Here's the thing Paul, you said you wanted to be happy, but I bet if you're honest with yourself, you don't even know what it means to be happy." Paul had a puzzled look on his face from this response. Of course he knew what it meant to be happy. He's been happy before. "Think back to the last time you were happy." Juniper said with a look of intent. Paul instantly thought back to when he was a small child, building a shelter out of sticks in his backyard with his father. Paul could remember the warm breeze and the golden rays of sun on his back. He was certainly happy then. Juniper glanced at Paul while he was pondering his childhood.

"When I was a kid, before we were forced indoors, I played in the backyard with my father all the time. Back when my mother wasn't an unresponsive ghost, she would make sun tea and all three of us would drink it on our picnic table and watch the sunset. I was happy then." Juniper smiled at his response.

"That sounds like a dream, doesn't it. Do you think that when you were that age, you constantly thought to yourself, "I'm happy." Paul pondered on this for a long time. He almost wanted to travel back in time to verify it for himself. After deciding he didn't want to accidentally activate the fourth dimension, he came to the indisputable conclusion that he did not think that when he was a kid. He was just a kid. "No. You didn't think that, Paul. You most likely didn't have a care in the world as to whether you were happy or not, you just existed. And it took many years later to truly appreciate just how happy you were." Paul finally understood why Juniper didn't care about the smiling stag, or the constant threat of death. Paul tried his best, for a moment to feel the same way, but his anxiety was sharp and constant. Juniper spoke up again.