I’m going to be honest with you, I’m pretty sure I’m going to die in a log cabin in the middle of the woods, in a bed with a brown stain on the sheets, that is growing surprisingly fast as I look down at it. To be fair the stain was there before I got the large gashe in my stomach, with pieces of branches and dirt in my hair. And branches through my stomach..Hole?
I’m going to say hole. Though my stomach is the worst injury I have, it’s far from my only. I’m pretty sure my left leg is broken along with my right arm. There goes my night of fun for a few weeks. Well it might just be the rest of my life if things don’t get any better. Maddie is telling John to keep pressure on my stomach while Liz tries to comfort Ken.. His freckled face is being covered by his hands while his brown hair comes down just above his ear… I don’t like seeing his cry, somehow that makes me feel worse than the already life taking pain I’m in right now.
John tried to take my phone out of my last good hand but I weakly moved it out of the way making the amazing sound of my best airplane noises. The wrinkles on his face from years of a life not lived so well. His nose moved as his green eyes rolled bad he shook his head. Then he gave me a look that could only be.
“Really kid?” Or “You’re a dumbass” knowing John. It was both.
Maddie reached over to grab a bottle of alcohol. Unfortunately it was the burning the shit out of your cut kind and not the “I forgot what it’s like to be human” kind. You’re probably wondering why the hell am I spending time making this when I’m basically bleeding to death and to be honest..
I don’t know..
The urge Just kinda came over me as Ken placed me in the bed. I’m rambling, but in my defense the pain is.. How do I put this.. Fucking awful. Like the worst type of pain that a person can feel without passing out. And the only reason I’m not passing out is because if I do I just might not wake up..
I should probably start from before I got this whole in my chest and before I woke up to the sound of my alarm going off in my ear over and over. I thought about tossing the damn thing across the room when I remembered that I actually wanted to get up this morning. Because I started my new job today. It was a rather new experience for me.
I’m the newest member of the Canny Valley National Park, a place full of a bunch of weird and messed up stuff. Canny is a place both in the middle of nowhere and also full with more people then you would realize. Canny is named after the explorer and first manor of the town. Nathan J. Canny ``discovered” this place nestled between a mountain range with two being on opposite sides of each other with the valley in the middle. Thick woods circle the town to the point where you can walk 10ft without running into a tree. Hell, one day Mr.Willson had a whole redwood fall on his shed. The damn thing shocked the whole town when it fell. It took them a full week to move the thing, but at least now Mr.Willson is enjoying the new all wood Workshop in the back of his yard. The river Stic flows through part of the town until it all runs together in Lake Aster.
I started working here after I graduated from highschool about 4 months ago. College was an opinion but I lost all motivation for anything that had to do with school after the pandemic made us all couch potatoes. Now I’m not from Canny myself. Originally I’m from the city but there’s only so many buildings you can look at, draw and count before you go insane. Writing helped a lot for a bit, just random things that come to my mind and working on that great American novel every housewife swears she’s on the verge of.
Things didn’t get much better until business started opening back up. On my way around applying to every job in a 5 mile radius via a mix of walking, biking and a very socially distancing bus ride, I stop for lunch at a coffee shop a few blocks down from my place. I walked inside passing a table with a man and a woman both giving the “we’re trying not to make a scene” face. One obviously came here to break up with the other.
I hated the tension that came in waves from them so I quickly made my way to the front counter. I was in line with a number of overly normal looking people. A couple of college students that looked like they were straight out of a night of red bull, over-thinking and a mess of late papers. There was a woman with a stare that gave out the, “This line better move before I get the manager” vibe. And I didn’t want to be around that nightmare.
When I got to the front of the line I just ordered a mocha and took a seat on the side of the restaurant near a window. I was enjoying my cup of coffee while I reflected on the shear about rejection letters I would get over the next few days, when I saw something that caught my eye. It was a help wanted sign. I walked over to the bulletin board that had a number of different posters on it. A few lost dog posters, a flier for something that called The way of Tytis ,which was probably a clut; promotional advertisements for new drinks coming with the change of the season (No doubt reeking of pumpkin), and one of those 1-800 numbers that is no doubt a scam.
It took me longer than I felt comfortable emitting to actually find the help wanted sign I saw but I finally did, with a little help from them..
What was I talking about again? It’s very hard to remember what I saw while Maddie pulls a branch from my leg. Now that’s I sight you never see every day, and the most fucked up part about it that I can’t feel a fucking thing down there. So just image you’re pulling out a little splinter only to pull out a fucking log. That’s the face I imagine I’m making right now. Hopefully I’m just too much in shock to feel it but the alternative is VERY VERY bad. Yeah I don’t want to think about that.
Fuck, I got a little off track there. Anyway the sign was for a new ranger for Canny Valley National Park. Now I’ve been a city boy for most of my life. Hell, I barely know how to make a smoker let alone pitch a tent, but I have always wanted to be out in the great outdoors. The feeling of being discontinued from what country is doing what, who’s cheating on who and whatever the hell Twitter is. So I took the flier.
After a couple of hours I made my way home passing a few street performers, and nearly got hit by a bus. In my defense I have a big problem with going in and out of autopilot. When I was younger I wasn’t exactly the best kid but to be fair my classmates were little assholes. Yes I was bullied but I did fight back. I once saw a group of girls throw our class hamsters out of a window.
I really liked that little guy..
Anyway when I got home I talked to my mom about it, and gotta tell ya. That it was an uphill battle and you’re being stabbed over and over again in the shins, while on fire. I understand all of her concerns, I really do. Being one of the only children my mom had. My little sister and I were all she had left in the world after my father passed a few years ago. And it was honestly one of my main reasons for wanting the job in the first place. I wanted to make a lot of money by just making sure a few campers don’t get lost in the woods. It doesn’t sound too bad. Of course I knew there was more to it than that, but I never expected this..
Anyway let’s just skip the part where I had to explain everything to my mom and my little sister. Trust me we’ll save a lot of time plus the meds are starting to kick in and I really want to at least get to my first day here. When I actually took the time to look up where it was, of course not telling my mom I didn’t look into the place before, but I couldn’t find a location.
I scrolled through the website for over an hour but didn’t see any. All the regular information and requirements were there. Name, age, social security, background, and a section that said now pier experience is not needed but basic first aid and search & recurve skills will give you a higher chance of being hired. Under this it was a number to call the Ranger station for more information.
I called the number list on the website and after not even one ring someone picked up.
“This is Madison with Canny Valley National Park Service, how may I help you?” A kind female voice came from the phone along the side of papers moving.
“HI, I’m calling about one of your fliers. I wanted to apply for a park ranger position. “ I said with a bit more nervousness than I wanted.
“That’s wonderful to hear. We’ve had the position out for a while now. We’d love to have you a part of our team here. May I have your email so I can send you the paperwork?”
“Oh sure it’s.”
Not telling you my email.
She went silent for a moment then I heard a notification sound from my phone.
“I just sent the email to you all the paperwork you need to fill out along with our employment requirements. I hope to hear from you again if you have any questions. You have a good day Michael. “
“I’ll make sure to call if I have any. You had a good day- wait, how did you?”
It kind of freaked me out that she knew my name without me saying it and honestly it freaked me out even more when I sent in my application and got hired immediately. It turns out that Canny was just a state over, plus the city I lived in was right on the board of the two so It was only a few hours of driving. I told them I could probably just take a bus or plane ticket there but they inserted one of their rangers to come get me. Madison told me that they’d send John (one of their senior Rangers) to get me and that he’d be here next week.
A week later I was sitting in my living room with my mom giving me my hundredth hug. When we heard a knock on the door. I walked over and opened to see a tall middle aged man with salt and pepper hair. Now to say he was in good shape for his age would be an understatement because he was in good shape for any age. Imagine one of those old Greece statue and you will have close to an idea of how ripped with guy was. He wore a button up shirt with two pockets on the chest area, a lot with dark green pants and some wore looking hiking boots.
“Excuse me, are you Michael?”
“Yeah that’s me. John, right?”
He reached his hand out to shake. I reached out my hand to return the gesture and reserved a handshake that was more gentle than I thought it would be. I invited John inside to receive the same interrogation that I received from my mom for the past week. She walked over to him and reached out her hand to shake his hand and pulled him down on the couch to sit next to her. It was really funny to see the look on his face as my small and petite mother pulled him down with no effort.
“So, Mr?”
“Baker, but you can just call me John.”
“Well it’s nice to meet you John. I’m Katharine but you can call me Kat. Now I just have a few questions for you.”
Now when I say that my mom got this Man life story, I mean I now know exactly where he used to sit in the fourth Grade and how he still to this day doesn’t like the crust on his sandwiches, or pizza. Plus the names of his three daughters, Susan (who was the oldest), Jessica (who was a sheriff’s Deputy in Canny) and Mary (was actually my age, but was in Virginia for school.)
After another hour of hugs from my mom, John and I were finally in his red 2019 Ford F-150 on the road headed out to Canny.
I watched as the city fading away into open fields, summer in the Midwest was always nice to see. Back when I was younger my dad would take us out here for picnics. It was one of the memories that I hold on to tightly when I think of him.
We passed the field after a few for about an hour when I finally pulled my consciousness from wherever it goes when I space out and I sat up my seat and yawned.
“You’re finally awake? I thought you’d sleep the whole trip to be honest with you. Most new people stay up all night nervous and end up passing out in that very seat you’re in right now.”
John looked. Over for a second then hand me an energy drink.
“Flavour Blash X? I have never seen this brand before. What flavor is X even supposed to be grape?”
“It’s Cherry actually.” He said with a smile that reminded me of the one my dad would get when showing him the art I used to make in school. I pushed the thought away as I drank some of the drink and it wasn’t bad actually. It was actually really good and I felt a lot less sleepy.
“Oh. It actually is cherry.”
After about five more minutes, passing fields and listening to country music (that I hated but didn’t say not to be rude) I decided to strike up another conversation to avoid the awkwardness of being in a car with someone you don’t know.
“So, how long have you lived in Canny?”
“I’ve lived in the Valley for most life. My family’s been there since the town was founded and I never found a reason to leave for long. Well, except for a vacation with my family. “
“Have you ever been to any other countries? I bet the culture shock can be a bit much for someone who’s only lived in one place their whole life.”
“Just because I’m from The Valley doesn’t mean I didn’t travel when I was younger. I’ve been to a number of countries in Europe and Asia and a few in the Pacific.”
“I am not asking you to be a couch potato or anything but I didn’t take the travel type. “ I said with genuine surprise in my voice. This guy has been all over the world and probably knows a couple different languages and decided to be a boring old park ranger. And I was going to comment on it when he beat me to it.
He let out a long sigh, one that held the air of someone tired beyond belief. He turned to look at me and as he did it looked as if he aged 10 years in a matter of a few seconds.
“Look Michael, you are a good kid and usually newcomers get cold feet around this time. This is the part where I tell you that this job isn’t going to be easy..You have to give a hundred percent, hundred percent of the time. You never know when you will get the call to help look for someone who’s gone missing in the woods. Of course it’s not a big deal at first. Probably just a camper who got a little turned around on their way back from making friends with a tree. “
The sun hit the sides of my eye as the earlier morning faded to noon and I started to sweat from both the heat and the nervousness from the dramatic shift in the conversation.
“You look around for them for a bit; an hour turns into two, then three, then four, when you look up it’s been a day and now things need to get serious. The family gets more and more worried and now you have half of the sheriff’s department and most of the town looking for them. Day after day, little by little people lose hope and so do you. At a certain point your mind switches from looking for a person, to a body. Even then there are times where you don’t find anything; no person, no body, no clothes, no shoes, just nothing..”
The weight of his words fill the car and my mind with equal quietness and value.
“Now I’m not trying to scare you off, well maybe some little part of me is subconsciously but those are just the facts of it. If that’s too much for you and you want to head back now there is no shame in that.”
I stayed quiet for a moment honestly thinking how to respond. I knew the job won’t be easy and I planned to take it as seriously as a person could but even after hearing that, I did consider giving up.
The four-laned highway slowly turned into two as the sprinkle of passing trees started to pour over into a thick forest that surrounded the car on both sides of the road. The forest stretched as far as the horizon, as two mountains guarded opposite sides of the valley. The sun hung longer in the sky just above the trunk leaving no shadows in its wake. I looked out the window still pondering his words until an idea came to mind.
“How about this? Give me one month to learn and get used to the swing of things and if both of us feel like I can’t handle it then I’ll be on the first bus back to the city. Deal?”
John made a face that was a mix of contemplation and maybe constipation? Anyway he took a turn that seemed to come out of nowhere and we headed down making the whole trunk bounce, which made me jump a little in my seat. And i’m not afraid to admit i might have yelp a like a lost puppy but you didn’t feel how fast he made that turn to you can respectfully fuck off. John laughed for a minute. Before wiping the tears from his eyes and focusing more on the road.
“I’m glad you’re getting a kick out of my fear.” I said, pulling myself back into my seat in my more comfortable pistons.
“It’s not that, I just forget how that turn can take out of towners by surprise. I swear I could have one hell of a photo album of all the different faces and positions people have learned in after that turn. Then that yelp was just downright adorable. ”
“That yelp was just downright adorable! Can you just focus on driving please??”
John laughed again and continued down the road for another few minutes as the dirt slowly turned from back to pavement. We continued down the road to see a building coming to view along with a sign that read “Welcome To CannyValley, Population” . Now I might have been seeing things well, not really what I saw but more of what I didn’t rather could see. For some reason I couldn’t read the population number and the weirdest part about that is even though i couldn’t read it; I knew it went up.