Northwoods

Chapter 7

                                                    Sunday, April 22

            Frank's rest was fitful all night.  Now sleep abandoned him completely as the early morning sun began to glow beyond the trees to the east.  His mind was numb; he wanted to sleep, but somehow his exhausted body felt like moving about, and his bloodshot eyes had decided they would rather remain open.  There was no doubt in his mind that if the living dead were real, this is what they would feel like.  He figured it was somewhere between four and five in the morning. Though exhausted and desperately wishing to shut his eyes and rest, he wanted to make an early start and get back to camp as soon as possible, rather than try to sleep out on the cold, damp ground any longer.

            He looked over to his slumbering friends.  Jake was lying on his back now; his hair was flattened to his head on one side and he looked the worst for wear of all of them.  He was pale and there were deep bags under his eyes.  Frank was relieved to see that Jake was peaceful and unmoving now, a look of contentment on his ashen face.  It was no wonder.  Katie had shifted with him, and her head now rested on his chest, with her arm draped across him and her fingers entwined in his brown hair, the way she might cuddle a teddy bear in her sleep.  Her own hair lay across her shoulders and face.  Ben was snoring and had a string of drool running down his face.

            He’d have to wake them at some point or they would probably sleep until mid-afternoon.  It was quite a task to extricate himself from his friends without disturbing any of them.  He had managed it despite his rather large and ungraceful presence.  He decided that he would pray before waking them.  He wanted to be certain that it was Jesus Christ who was in the driver’s seat of life each day and not Frank Parker.  It didn't ensure a perfect, trouble-free day.  No, it only made the good and the bad easier to manage and choosing to do the right thing simpler because he was allowing himself to be guided by the Lord.

He walked over to the same tree they sat under last night, plopped himself down on the hard ground, and watched the sun begin to peek through the trees, flooding the forest with deep indigo light.  A faint metallic odor wafted to him on the breeze, and he looked around for the source.  It was a familiar odor, but he couldn't place it.  It only took him a moment to figure out what it was.  Blood.

A few yards behind his tree was a small pile of half-eaten rodents.  He stared at it for a long moment, wondering at all the death they'd seen out here in just a few days.  Sure, things died all the time, and the cycle of predator and prey continued on, but this seemed a bit extreme.  He finally turned away and put his worries behind him with the dead animals.

Frank bowed his head and began to talk to God aloud.  “Lord, please be with me and my friends today.  Help us find our way back to camp, and give us lots of rest when we get there.  I know this is a bad situation and we are all tired, but please help us stay in control of our tempers.  Thank you for this crazy situation; I know you are teaching me something.  What, I don't know yet, but I’m sure you’ll help me figure it out."

“Oh, and whatever you're working between Jake and Katie, I ask that you firmly place yourself in the middle of it.  I love them both; they are my friends and I ask that you take care of them, and nurture their relationship together.  Continue to strengthen and mature my best friend.  Use me until you can’t use me anymore, and then place someone else beside him to continue helping him along.  Thank you for putting him in my life and me in his.  I ask this in Jesus’ name.  Amen.”

            When he lifted his head, he found that Ben had turned over and was looking at him.  His face was squinched up in the early light and his hair was sticking out in several directions.  He rubbed his eyes and exclaimed, “What're ya doing, Frank?  Talking to yourself?”