The Boy in the Woods (2014 Wattys Winner, Wattpad Version)

Finding Marty

This short story is the very first piece I wrote about Marty and Jess. It was written in the summer of 2013 and published in the anthology, Library of Dreams. Now that the rights have reverted back to me, I wanted to share it with all my readers here on Wattpad.

Writing Finding Marty was a great exercise. It allowed me to get a feel for Jess and Marty's personalities and helped me figure out the beginnings of their back stories. You'll see that some of the details I wrote here were repeated in The Boy in the Woods, but some were changed – a lot. Even I'm surprised at some of the things I'd written.  After two years of living with the Marty and Jess of The Boy in the Woods, I'd forgotten.

I really hope you like this early glimpse of Jess and Marty's characters! This is similar to chapter five when they first meet, but there are some major differences too.

Enjoy!

Finding Marty

by Katherine A. Ganzel

Marty lay perfectly still, drenched in his own sweat while he listened to the loud buzzing of cicadas outside his window. The faded blue curtains above his bed were lit by the morning sun, and he watched them, hoping for a breath of air that would cool him, but they didn't move.

What I wouldn't give for an electric fan, he thought with a sigh as he rolled away from the window, but he knew it was stupid. Even if he did have a fan, it's not like he'd be able to use it. The old man hadn't bothered to pay the electric bill in over a year. Unable to take the hot, humid air of his bedroom and aware of how long he'd been lying awake, he knew it was time to get up.

He took a quick bath in blissfully cold water, being as quiet as he could so he wouldn't wake his old man. Then he threw on a t-shirt, battered jeans, and finished by lacing up his worn brown leather boots. Already covered in fresh sweat, he ran his fingers through his still-damp dark hair, then reached under his bed and pulled out a small brown paper sack.

Uncomfortable about how late it was getting, he went to the kitchen and made three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, trying to be quick and quiet. Once he'd wrapped them in large squares of wax paper, he shoved them on top of items he'd purchased at the grocery store in his paper bag and left, easing the back door closed.

The heat wave had been relentless but it had provided him with a great opportunity. He'd spent most of the week in town, knocking on doors looking for work. It had been grueling with the hot sun beating down on him as he went from house to house, but he felt a deep satisfaction. There wasn't a single one he'd missed with an owner willing to pay a teen boy a few bits to mow a lawn, weed flower beds, or any other chore that had to be done outside in the stifling heat.

At the end of each day, he'd made his purchases and hid the goods under his bed. It wasn't wise to make a habit of bringing home money, not even if he hid it in his room. If the old man got wind of it, he'd be sure to make his life even more difficult.

Walking across the weed-filled yard past the rusting pick-up truck, Marty finally felt like he could breathe. He'd made it out before the old man woke up. Even though he was sweltering in the oppressive heat, he felt happy.

He headed down the dirt road, surrounded by the near-deafening sound of cicadas in the trees, dust rising up with each step and coating his boots and the cuffs of his jeans. When he reached the end of the road five miles from his house, he stopped and wiped the sweat off his face.

Stretching for miles in either direction was the two lane highway that led to town. Directly across it stood a high iron fence with spikes at the top, clusters of large trees on either side. He pushed his hair out of his eyes and looked up and down the highway, but there wasn't a car in sight.