Tales of the Lost and Found

[Apollo]

Warning:
The following are not only accounts of things I have seen but of writings found. . .old ones and some new. I have found those that are the most spectacular or horrifying. . .and touching. . .Please read at your own risk!

[Apollo]

“Come on! Keep up!� The guide screamed as he was walking at an even pace. After three miles uphill you would think the guy would be tired, but no. . . he was like some kind of super human. “Come on, come on! At your pace I could be back here after climbing to the end of the trail.� He laughed.
“We’ll just need to stop and let me catch my breath again.� I breathed.
“You just had a break half an hour ago Jason.� He said in disbelief.
“For you that’s a short time, me, that’s as long as a T.V. show.� I croaked again. At the beginning of this hike I was psyched going to the spot some called the most beautiful in all of New England. All of my life here in Maine and I hadn’t heard of ‘God’s Vacation Spot’.

[Apollo]

Jacob, the guide, came down a little ways, further for me to go. He had done this every time. I kept going until I reached the new campsite and layed down on a soft moss covered rock. I sat up with a question forming in my head when Jacob answered it before I could say it. “So you want to hear what happened to your mother?� Jacob asked staring at the ground. I was surprised at the fact that he had known what was on my mind. My mind was slow because of how tired I was, I had forgotten that I had the man who had known my mother and what happened to her. I nodded my head slowly. “Your mother was one of the sweetest, kindest and strong willed woman ever to walk these paths.� He stopped seeming as if he was going to cry.
“You alright?� I whispered. He brought his head up and his eyes were a little red and puffy.
“Yeah-yeah I’m fine.� He stammered. “Uh. . . Well, she came up this trail as usual, she did so every morning to make sure there was nothing in the way. She-she got up to. . .uh. . . God’s Vacation Spot and uh. . . Never came down.� He uttered gravely.
I looked at my boots, muddy from what the spring had done to the trail. Jacob’s boots, beard and some parts of his hair seemed to have it too. But, also. . .sweat?. . . He was nervous. . . but of what?

[Apollo]

We took an extra five minutes in silence to have a small snack and kept going. As we walked further I decided to ask a question. “So how close were you two?�
“I don’t think I had a better friend� he answered. He didn’t even turn around.
It was another good half hour until we reached God’s Vacation Spot. I have no words to describe such a beautiful place except that it fits its name perfectly. I took out my camera and took a picture and a small video of the landscape. I backed up a little ways so I could get a picture of Mt. Katahdin and the lake as the sunrise started when I tripped over what I thought to be a log. My camera flashed as it hit the ground and I saw bones with teeth marks on them, they seemed to be six months old, and that had been how long my mother had been missing.

[Apollo]

“Oh my god� I yelled trying not to gag, my voice echoing loudly. Jacob turns around and takes a rope and ties my hands behind my back.
“Shut up you twerp. Your mother thought she was to good for me. She thought that I needed a hobby, o I found just a hobby but a lifestyle.� he growled at me. She came up and never came down alright. She even tasted a little like turkey.�
“Don’t you mean chicken?� I ask.
“No, she actually tasted like turkey� he replied.

[Apollo]

He sat on a log, the space between us he started to build a fire and I prayed to god it was for warmth and not for me. Once the fire was started I could partially see that he was getting herbs out of his bag.
I’m gonna die, I thought. I started to think of how I could escape. My back pack! My guide hadn’t taken my bag off me, stupid mistake. Anytime I went camping my mother always told me to be prepared for anything, so that meant I had to take things like a cell phone, matches and my hunting knife my dad had given me for Christmas.
Making sure Jacob couldn’t seem I reached into my bottom pocket of my bag. I got out my knife, cell phone and a flashlight. I took my knife, unsheathing it, cut my knot holding my hands in half. But, I kept still, knowing that if I moved my arms from where they were, Jacob would know I had gotten free.

[Apollo]

Part of the rope was still in my hands so I put it in my pocket just in case I could use it later. Now he had turned back around so it was a good thing I hadn’t booked it yet. As soon as he turned back around I let the straps go on my bag and ran as fast as I could through the trees.
“Jason get back here.� Jacob yells behind me. I have been running and hiding in the woods since this morning when I had been tied up. Still running I take a look behind me and see no one. I stop, my breathing heavy, my hair wet, I hear nothing. I turn. . .there he is!
Scared I try to run but he has me tight. I try to free myself but it doesn’t wok. He drags me somewhere but I have my eyes shut. He stands me up and I hear him and say “Anything to say?�. a gun is cocked and ready.
“I hope to see my mother.� I answer, opening my eyes I see the mountain again and it fades. . .

[Apollo]

My vision blurry, bloody, and infront of my face. Can't see to well, my hands are shaking. Everything is defend, the water stings my open eyes. I can't breath, water rushes up my nose and into my lungs. Now all that was blurry goes dark. I can't . . darkness, nothing but water. . .
"Death do I part. . ." A whisper. . .

[Apollo]

Life flows through me once more. Air that seems intoxicating but now I gulp it in. Every breath is painful and sharp, I don't care about the pain, all I want is to live. Fate has given me a second chance and I will take it with grateful hands and greedy eyes to take it all in. I'll start all over from everything I had done. Life, this is mine. My own, precious as time was. To me it is now eternal. . .

[Apollo]

((*these are edits from a journal found in an abandoned house along a dirt road, they are what I believe to be good description))

My house lay still in the night and I couldn't help but be giddy with joy. Not only was it my favorite time of day (the dark dismal night) but it also was raining, and to me it was never about how 'god was crying' as some said. Or 'mother nature is sad', I think of it as 'the world needs healing'.
So I walked out of my house before dawn as the rain stopped down pouring and was slowly drawing away. I pulled on my sandals and walked outside.
The rain was slowly dribbling to nothing, and mist lay low on the ground as if tired to move back into the sky. The heat was still there and I could feel the moisture in the air, it sticking to my skin. I moved forward a few steps and could feel the dew start to sink into my socks. I headed inside more happy then when I went out so I started to read. "You're up already?" my mother asked me. I only nodded thinking to myself. Up and about and still not tired. . .A shame.