FOREST OF THE LOST

PART THIRTEEN

21.

If someone finds you within the land of the lost, does that make you found again, even if escape from which is something that may not be entirely possible? And what if you feel you are not lost to begin with, even if everyone else believes that you are?

It is not quite the way Terrence expected things to go right off the mark. If he were honest with himself, he had no idea what to expect. There was and is no game plan. He only has ideas, and perhaps feelings, of what it is that is going on. There are only a few things he knows for sure, a lack of time being one such thing, a number of those who are confirmed missing is another, and then there a life force presence though this is something that can only be at this time ... unconfirmed.

Custody of a seven-year-old boy in a place such as this, the little lost brother of someone Terrence wants to be with, is a heck of a thing in its own right too. He has a quest to deal with first before his life can move forwards with any kind of regularity. What makes things all the more difficult is the fact a quest has been taken on without fully knowing what exactly that quest is. So much is missing, still Terrence is determined, if it were not to be him to do this then who? And now too, is he lost? He may have awareness, to a degree, but can that count for anything?

Surely having Todd by his side is a step forward, the first piece of a large puzzle. Perhaps the puzzle wants to be solved. He has seen another piece of this puzzle before, and he knows of a place he might just find this piece again. So, hand in hand with a young boy who is now his ward, Terrence moves forwards in search of a young lady and her dog.

The bridge, he could so stand next to it and not on it, surely, she will be running by once more at some point and if she does, when she does, he will be waiting, to prevent her from running in circles if in fact this is what she is doing, so in a way ... he does kind of have a game plan. First step is to try and prevent a young lady, and her dog, from moving on in an apparent continuous and endless loop.

'Before we go home' Terrence tells Todd, '... we have a job to do, a game to play. Would you like to help me?'

Liking what it is he hears, Todd answers straight away. 'Yes.'

Not having any idea of what is going on and being a child of only seven years of age, Todd has a question with which possibly only a child could ask in a moment like this. 'Can we get an ice-cream on the way home?'

Terrence is struck by how trusting the boy seems to be. He wonders as to whether the park is connecting to something within the boy, giving way for the boy to feel at ease with what would otherwise be a stranger. There could also be a little something with the fact that since Terrence cares about the adult version of the boy's sister, does an awareness exist leading Todd into taking a liking to him? Maybe ... maybe not.

'Sure, we can' Terrence answers. 'What flavours do you like?'

'I like strawberry and toffee ice-cream too.'

'What? No vanilla?'

Yeah, there definitely must be some sort of connection going on with the boy. Strawberry and toffee, the scents of the two smaller candles that Terrence had burning during the worst of the storm, happening to be the two flavours of ice-cream that Todd would like to have. Todd is about to speak again when Terrence asks him to be quiet for a minute. There is a noise up ahead.

The bridge is not so far away and the sound that Terrence can hear comes from his right. He peers past a couple of trees and sees a stone skipping across the water. He can also see the bridge, or at least part of it, from where he is. There is no one there upon it or anywhere else nearby.

Another stone skips across the waters and Terrence cannot make out how or why this is happening. Stones don't skip over water all by themselves. As far as Terrence can see, it is just himself and Todd in the immediate vicinity. No big deal he supposes, so on he goes.