Paw Prints

Chapter Two: Crazy Is My Favorite Drug

(A.N. So, it's kind of obvious these chapters may be short, but I'm trying to make them vary. If you read Holes you know that the chapters can be short or massive, and that's what I'm going for. If I don't update for a while, it's gonna be a big chapter or school is in the way. My goal is to make this chapter around 4,000 words. This is gonna take a while. Also, I finally made a cover for the story. ^^ ~ Xander)

I had to walk home everyday after school. If I had work, I'd run, but otherwise I had to walk. And walk. And walk.

The old dirt roads weren't busy. I just didn't like them. I had this short cut through the woods that I always took.

The trail was thin and you'd have to keep an eye out, or you'd probably get chased by something. Bears, wolves, rabbits, you name it. The only reason the state of Texas realized we were there is because we had one of the most out of hand animal populations in the southern part of the USA. 

Did we care, though? No. It was actually pretty fun to walk out in the woods at night. Your heart's racing, you're dead silent. But the thrill for me is the chase. When a Water Moccasin is hissing and snapping at you, running through the forest for your life, it's awesome.

Of course, I was always careful for the more extreme animals. If I saw a wolf or a bear, obviously I'm not gonna put on some boxing gloves and punch it -- even though that sounded fun. Plus, the wolves around here were record breaking for their speed and strength. A couple years ago, some kid got killed outside his house by one.

He was about 13 and was playing outside. They said the wolf had chased him from one end of his yard to the other for a few minutes, like it was fun, before it killed the poor guy. Lots of people got guns and tried to hunt it down, but they were unsuccessful.

Anyway, I was naturally a trouble maker. The best was the fog. It made it hard to see, so you would have to rely on your other senses. It was so cool. My mother told me I was crazy though. I guess that's true.

As I walked down that trail, the fog came up to my ankles. I had missed the best part, but it was good enough. My old, tattered, book bag was the only thing making the slightest of noise. I'd learned to quiet my footsteps. Sometimes there'd be moonshiners in the woods, smuggling stuff. If they caught you, you'd most likely get killed.

Sheriff Kenzie was big on finding moonshiners. One time, she found me in the woods and threw me in the holding cell for two days. My mom almost had a heart attack when I called her. My brother, on the other hand, laughed his ass off.

The air was cold and moist. The only time it gets cold is in December or if it rains. I personally liked the cold. One day, I want to move up north. Money and family is in the way though.

I kept moving. It took a while before I realized something. It was quiet. Real quiet. I'm not used to that. Usually there was the chirp of crickets, or the sound of mice scurrying along. All I could hear was the sound of the river though.

I breathed out, watching the white cloud disperse after a few seconds. It was fun watching it drift up, then an invisible force just steal it. I had quite an imagination.

The river had eaten at the land, making a tiny cliff-like thing. If you wanted to cross, there was this huge tree trunk that had fallen years ago. Otherwise, you'd have to walk for about 9 miles to the county bridge.

I gently stepped on the trunk, and started to slowly move across. The river was only a few feet below, and who knows how many rocks or animals would kill you down there. I hummed softly. I didn't really think it through that it had just rained. And it was slippery. This is why I'm not in advanced classes.