FOREST OF THE LOST

PART SIX

8.

The summer post turning sixteen years of age, Terrence Williams purposely kept himself busy. It was a summer to change his life, a summer to guide so much of his life to come. His family by no means were strapped for cash, more the opposite really. Both his parents worked out of want and not out necessity and there always was plenty to go around though at that they never really splurged, whatever they had they looked after.

Mum and dad were career orientated. They both loved and excelled at what they did though not so much where family time did not exist, it did exist, and it rocked. Separate careers, not working together and doing something they loved easily played a part in ensuring that family time would be well looked forward to.

At sixteen, Terrence had no idea what he wanted to do when school would come to a permanent end in a couple years' time so this particular summer would play a big part in how that future would pan out and move forward.

Three summer jobs are what he took on. One worked daytime weekday hours running from Monday right through Friday, one worked weekday evenings three times a week and the other worked weekends. Each of these jobs varied, from training and learning within a family butchers to working in a tavern then weekends in retail.

Putting in the shifts, the hours, the work, and the effort was never a problem; he worked the three months solid with gusto and took in as much as he could. Come September, he had a bank account with more money in it that he knew what to do with. Since having next to no time off for three months solid, the money accumulated as did the knowledge he gained with the various employments. With the influence his parent has had on him, Terrence would not squander his summertime earnings.

Surprisingly enough, a lot of what he learnt that summer he began to apply to his everyday life without even thinking about it and he only realized this fact when it was pointed out to him, not just the actual skills but the ethics too. The ethics have remained with him to this very day. It could be said he grew up a lot that summer. As the years went by, he put the same effort into school and college and worked some evenings and weekends as his friends, who mostly were no more than acquaintances, partied, done drugs and wasted their time away.

Money continued to accumulate faster than what it was spent, not that Terrence himself ever splurged on anything. Now at twenty-six Terrence could take a time out, take time to himself, move away for a while at least and relax. He is more than splurging now but not wasteful splurging, with the vehicle and new house he got himself ... though of course, his time away is not panning out as he may have wanted.

For him, all this park business has begun to happen, and it needs to come complete before a time can come to return to normality, and this is if a return to normality can ever possibly come. If it can come for anyone it will come for him. Thing is, did he stumble into all of this or had circumstance dictated that he would come right to it?

9.

He kind of knew of where it was that he was going to and he did know why he was going there, despite that however, he was caught off guard by a number of things. It was a little over an hour's drive to get to their destination and it was Mary who drove. Just as well she did too for Terrence was lost in a daydream for the whole duration of the trip.

From the moment they got together on this day, it was clear to Mary that Terrance was more than a little per-occupied so she simply left him be. Even upon arrival to the day's first destination, Terrence was locked in a daydream. Well, it was less a daydream, and more being lost to nothing in particular for Terrance was not dreaming of anything. His gaze locked on nothing and his mind blank for the whole journey. The car coming to a halt even failed to bring him out of his empty trance.