FOREST OF THE LOST

PART NINE

15.

Five days, five whole days, gone in an instant more or less, Terrance's wander down to the town park for him took no more than three quarters of an hour, there and back. For Mary, she hadn't seen him in five days and with how they had been getting on with each other since their first meeting, she feared the worst to the extent that police broke into his home to ensure something bad hadn't happened to him within that new home of his.

Boarding, dead bolts and police tape unfortunately replace his front door. That can be fixed so that is not a problem. Not just missing two or three hours but five days, this is a big jump, a big leap in time, and yeah, it is a problem. Terrence can however be glad of the fact that he has someone to look out for him, still the events of what is only a few days for him and a week and a few days in actuality, is worrying to say the least.

Since police were called out, they require a statement from Terrence regarding his whereabouts and as to why he was 'missing' for five days. What could he tell them other than the truth while stating that his mental health could be behind what is happening to him? In all honesty, he more than feels that what he is experiencing is real. Sure, he doesn't feel any kind of wear and tear that being missing for five days would bring. He isn't tired, isn't hurt, so what the hell?

A suggestion is made that he should seek out professional help and a caution is also offered as Terrence is informed that a severe storm is forecast to occur over the next couple of days. Once details are sorted with police and so on, Terrence invites Mary for coffee down at the town café. She readies herself as he organizes repair work to his door.

'So' she says as Mary and Terence take the same seats in the café that they had the last time they were there. 'You only went to the park, and you were gone five days?'

'Yeah, if anyone other than me knows that there is something not right with that place that would be you. I left you after returning from our excursions then went for a walk and what was forty-five minutes for me was five days for you.'

'Yeah well, it is crazy, and I am the queen of crazy. I believe you, so what now?'

'Prepare for this storm I guess.'

'If I were to go and spend the next couple of days with family, see out the storm with them, will you be alright?'

'Of course, I will. I won't do anything silly; I promise.'

'Good ...'

'I'll be fine and don't worry if phone networks go down and we aren't able to reach each other. I'll will be home waiting until the storm passes, and I'll be there until you arrive back.'

'Are things alright with us ... as in what we got up to on our way home the other day?'

'Yeah, I hope so. Things are good my end apart from going missing that is' Terrence reaches for and holds one of Mary's hands knowing what the word 'missing' means to her and half thinking that their get together may not have been a wise move.

'My brother ... could he be missing to ... time? What could that mean for here on in?'

'We don't know ... for right now, it'll have to be safety first ...'

Coffee is downed; 'see you soon' and 'goodbyes' are swapped. Mary then begins to make her way to stay with family and Terrence goes storm prep shopping. It is safe to say that for the rest of the day, Terrence finds it more than a little difficult to think of anything else other than the Park, Mary, and the storm probably all in that order too.

Evening comes, a light rain has begun to fall, and the winds have begun to pick up. Terrence thoughts have him thinking as to having seen the trees down by the park sway when he could feel no breeze at all, was the park in a way telling him that a storm is coming. He also can't help but thinks has to how a storm might affect that park. The forecast has the worst of the storm hitting the following day so he will leave locking anything down that can and will need to be locked down until after getting himself a good night of rest.

Almost as if it occurs far too quickly, morning comes, and Terrence does make a start on getting his new home storm ready. The rain falls a lot heavier now than what it had been, and the winds blow stronger. The storm has arrived. It is half past one in the afternoon when a power outage hits. His phone is fully charged though, as he more than half expected, the network is down. There is more than enough cooked food at the ready that being fed over the next while will not be a problem.

With the storm hitting, the day is dark but not so dark that Terrence cannot see. It is bright enough that he can survive a while without power. It isn't until after half past six that a nighttime darkness comes dark enough to hamper sight, so it is at this time that he lights three candles, leaving them upon a stool in his bedroom before boarding up the bedroom window.

He can hear the sea doing battle with the storm and this actually relaxes him some rather than having an opposite effect. The scent coming from the three burning candles also relaxes him. One large and two smaller candles in the center of the room, the large candle scented vanilla with the two smaller candles scented strawberry and toffee.

Sitting on a wooden chair with his back to the boarded-up window, Terrence is amazed as to how the candles flicker or don't in the case of one candle in particular. He has a pen and paper at hand to write down his thoughts, something to keep him occupied more than anything else. Finding it difficult to write by the light of three candles he only writes long enough to get off his chest what he feels he needs to get off his chest.

The one thing he feels he needs to put down on paper more than anything else is the fact that he plans to head back to the park as soon as weather allows him to do so and despite what it is he has told Mary, he will go back down there. He wants to get to its secrets as soon as he can and if it is a battle with which he may be walking into ... then he plans to come out of such as the victor. What makes him think he can do this? For him the answer is simple ... belief, belief will see him through.

16.

On the morning of Saturday the sixteenth of September 2017, Terrence Williams got up out of bed at approximately half past nine. From the sounds of things outside, the worst of the storm had well and truly passed. He wouldn't know this for sure until he would have a decent look outside. All the windows in the house have been boarded up to protect them from the storm and Terrence had no plans on taking down any of that protection before heading outside.

Power is still out. Terrence expects it to be a few days at least before that is sorted out. There will be no shower taken on this particular day and this is something that does not bother him in any way. There will be no hot breakfast this morning either and that is alright too, there is cereal. With there being no power, the fridge would have taken a while to come up to room temperature, so Terrence is happy enough that the milk within it is still fit for consumption.

Mary had given him a rough estimate as to when she would be returning home and that return would at least be a few days away. Terrence briefly considers leaving her a note or even leaving her what he had written the evening before but decides against this. With going to where he is planning on going to there is no way of knowing of exactly when it will be until he returns.

He does expect to return home, as far as the amount of time that will go 'missing' for, well how much time that will actually pass could be anyone's guess. Unfortunately, Terrence is the only one who can hazard a guess at that, and he has no way of being in any way accurate.

His phone had been powered off since the signal had been lost. He turns it on to see how that is going. Still no signal, battery is at ninety percent, so it is once again turned off. It will however come with him on his trip.

Terrence readies himself at a leisurely pace and as soon as he is ready, he puts on a jacket and a cap which he will tightly wear so any breeze still outside hopefully won't be strong enough to catch it and blow it off from his head. So, being as ready as he is ever going to be, Terrence Williams heads outside.

The worst of the storm has definitely passed. A light rain is falling, and the breeze is too strong to be considered a breeze, still it is nowhere near as strong as it had been the day before. There doesn't appear to be much damage in the immediate vicinity. This particular estate is of course uphill so if waters from the sea had made its way inland and into the town it would have always been highly unlikely to reach this high up.

The park is lower down that hill and Terrence is more than sure that it will, that it has, survived damage and easily so too. It is time to get the show on the road. He is as ready for the park as he is ever going to be, and he is sure the park is ready for him. As for the show itself, it will be a heck of a spectacle, unfortunately or fortunately it will not be viewed by the masses if by anyone at all.