Pressed Leaves

By Jack Forge

Diverse readers will find these tales interesting and involving. A miscellaneous collection, the varied narratives touch on the natural and supernatural with a flair for mystery and experimentation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jack Forge
• Release date: Jul 20, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466016606

Jack Forge

Born John Stephen Rohde in Los Angeles, California, I focused my academic study on the liberal arts and I have striven to create worthy art most of my life.

Book preview

PRESSED LEAVES

Short Stories

by

Jack Forge

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2011 John Stephen Rohde

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment. It may not be re-sold or given to others. If you want to share this book, please buy a copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book but did not buy it, please go to Smashwords.com and buy a copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

Stories

Chad 'n' Joey

Portraits

Lunar Vigil

The Old Man and the Blue Jay

Visitation

The Dying of Delores Price

Orion the Hunter

Bosch Garden

Meremade

The Shaft

Fade Out

Ex Libris

First Person Shooter

Bobby and His Bicycle

The Doll in the Garden

The Last Man on Earth

King of the Christmas Trees

Saving Monica

Spit

Universal Remote

RxAll

Retriever

Zombies

Last Confession

Purchasing Power

Castletown Quarry

Solo Fugue

Ground Zero

Waste Water

The Bus Driver

Woodwind

***

CHAD 'N' JOEY

Tobias led the hunt. His two brothers followed with the boys, Chad and Joey. Beneath a wall of towering granite, Tobias halted and scanned the slope. Not hide nor horn, he said. They gathered upon great boulders buttressed at the base of high cliffs.

Joey was sweating in his jacket despite the afternoon chill, and the wind blew his hair into a blaze. The thin mountain air burned his nose; his tongue was thick from thirst. Staring across the canyon toward the jagged horizon, he imagined the great ocean thousands of miles beyond the Rocky Mountains.

Beat already, kid? Tobias asked his son and laughed. Hafta perk up some, if you're gonna cut it in these mountains.

Joey shook his head. Shielding his eyes, he gazed down the slope to the old mine. From the decaying shacks, his eyes follow the gravel road uncoiling along Castle Creek through the forest and back toward the valley of the Roaring Fork.

Earlier that afternoon the jeeps had turned out of the ranch yard on the outskirts of Aspen and caravanned for miles up an unpaved road to the old bloodred buildings of the dilapidated mine. As the men and women unloaded iced boxes and kettles full of sodas, beer, and food, Joey and his cousins took off to explore the canyon.

Chad and Joey stuck together and avoided the girls gamboling after them. The boys strolled along a trail at the foot of a mountain and hurled stones into the creek far below, reveling in their tosses. When Joanie, the oldest, threw one far into the foaming rapids, the girls cheered. Her hair flashed in the sunlight, and her eyes mimicked the aspen leaf. Betcha I can make it more times than you, Joey, she shouted.

Shoot! he shouted back as he launched a rock down to the swirling stream. The small gray speck submerged soundless into the white water.

Wow! the girls yelled.

Yeah, Joey! Chad shouted and grinned impishly. Way to go, man!

Joanie smirked and threw another stone, arcing it into the water. There! Let's see you beat that. She turned her back on the boys and pranced back to the mine shacks, her long auburn hair whipping across her shoulders.

Shit! I can beat that easy-- Chad said, as he threw one.

Come on, girls, Joanie said. Let's see what's going on inside.

Hey! Chad shouted. You see that? Hey! Where ya goin'?

The girls waved and taunted them and then disappeared through a doorway into one of the old buildings.

Some of the older folks were sitting on barrels and crates or standing around a rusty stove. Others were setting bowls of salad, preserves, and bread on tables against bare walls. Kettles of ham and chicken lay on a large iron plate beneath the stove. Pearl, Tobias's wife, stuck her head out a window and hollered. Boys! Bring us some wood for the fire.

A few shredded beer cases lay scattered on the planked floor. Cans dangled from the men's thick fingers; their cigarette smoke drifted into the rafters. Behind them a door swung open, and the boys stomped into the building with armfuls of cones and branches.

Right there, boys-- Pearl said. Put 'em in that box by the stove.

When do we eat? Chad asked, his eyes glowing beneath dark brows and a thatch of black hair.

Oh, run along now and play for a while, one of the women said. We'll eat soon enough.

Hey, Chad-- Tobias said. Why doncha take Joey up the mountain?

Yeah! Chad shouted. Come on, Joey!

Nah-- Joey dropped onto one of the crates among the men.

Go on with Chad, Joey, Pearl said.

Joey passed his hand across his brow. I don't feel like it right now, mom.

You go on with Chad, boy, Tobias demanded. Do ya good.

Joey grimaced.

We'll go with you, the girls joined.

Aw, come on, Joey, Chad said as he jerked him to his feet and led him out the door.

They plodded up the trail to the base of a mountain, the girls running to catch up. "Wait for us--! They cried.

Why? Chad asked. You girls'll never make to the top anyways.

Betcha we can, Joanie said.

Betcha can't, Chad retorted.

Up the mountain the children crawled over stacks of granite that jutted mossy out of dense willows, currants, and ink berries. They climbed the rocky face of the slope and headed through trees toward timberline. Where the conifers dwindled, huge pink rocks arose like the ruins of an ancient temple. At the base of a steep bank the boys stopped and looked down the slope at the girls ascending. Joey saw the mine shacks as tiny boxes on the canyon floor, separated by the creek that ran like a vein of molten silver. Chad spied Joanie leading the girls up to their position and whispered to Joey, Watch this-- He hurled a stone over the girls' heads. Joey hesitated, grinned, and then tossed one himself. The small rocks crunched in brush behind the girls.

Hey, you guys-- the girls hollered, Watch out!

For what? Chad asked as he threw another one. I ain't gonna hit you scaredeecats. Again he whispered to Joey, Look at this one, man! And he struggled to dislodge a rock the size of a cannonball. Joey stood still and watched as the boy shoved and shoved and then rolled it over another rock. It tumbled down the mountain into some brush in front of the girls. Joey gasped.

You're gonna hit us, Chad Moody! Joanie screamed.

Bullshit! he hollered back. Watch this one, Joey-- Chad put his hands on a bigger boulder.

Maybe you better not, Chad-- Joey said.

Don't worry-- Chad heaved against the huge monolith. Help, me--Joey, he groaned.

But....

Help me, will ya?! I won't hurt 'em. You too scared?

No, but....

Then come on and help me get this boulder movin'. It'll scare the piss out of 'em. He chuckled wickedly.

Joey put his hands to the boulder. Together they shoved the big thing until it rolled over a block of granite, bounded off rocks, leaped low spots, pounded into the turf, smacked the ground, and screeched through brush as it tumbled down the mountainside like a wrecking ball. Just before reaching the girls' position, it hurtled off a ledge and wheeled over their heads before crashing into a thicket below them. The crackle of smashed sticks and the clatter of shattered rock all faded into a scream that dissolved into a swift cold wind off the high snow.

Joey shuddered. He could hear the girls sobbing. Hey, you girls okay? he shouted.

Silence for a few heartbeats became the alpine wind.

Darn you, Chad 'n' Joey! Joanie bellowed through tears. You nearly killed us! And I'm telling--

But I didn't mean.... Joey started to say.

Go ahead and tell, Chad shouted. We never hurt you, did we?

The wind started blasting off the mountain top. The children stood motionless as if awaiting the voice of God.

Come on, Joey, Chad said. Let's go to the top and get away from these scaredy girls. He led the way up the steep slope toward the summit, Joey following in his tracks.

Not far below the summit Chad disappeared around an outcropping of rock. Joey, not having noticed which way he had gone, headed straight into a slot of ragged granite resembling a crack in a pyramid. Looking down he saw the girls traversing on a more gradual ascent away from the steep face as they angled toward the top. Joey turned and started crawling up the narrow crevice. As he climbed, he glimpsed the sky through the rocks and strained to spot the summit. He blinked, and a shadow rippled over him. A dark wing. It came so close he could have grabbed a handful of feathers but he froze. Glancing down he felt in his stomach the steepness crashing to the rocks below. He braced himself between the towering rocks. His knees stung, his hands ached. He felt a chill streak through his body and he stopped cold as if chained to a prison wall.

Hey, Joey-- Chad called from atop the mountain. Where are ya?

Joey heard the girls' voices as they ascended on one side of the crevice. Soon they would see him frozen there. He could not move but clung to the great blocks on either side of him. When the girls appeared, he started to slide slowly down.

Oh, there you are-- Joanie said, studying him. What's the matter, Joey--can't you make it?

He flushed and said hoarsely, I made it--just before you girls got here. He was trembling.

Aw, you didn't neither make it, you fibber, one of the younger girls said. You're a chicken, Joey Rankin!

I am not! he snapped. I did make it to the top. You want--you want me to do it again and show you--right now?

Naw-- Chad said, looking down at him from the top of the crevice. I know ya did it. Come on--let's beat the girls back to the mine shack. Last one down's a sissy! He leaped off the crevice and started running down the mountain like a goat. The others scrambled after him. Joanie caught up to him at a patch of snow and skied across it on her shoes. All but Joey joined her.

Come on, Joey-- Joanie yelled, Try this! It's fun!

Yeah, Joey! the girls jeered.

Shoot, he said, anyone can do that.

Then go on and try it, Joanie said.

I don't feel like it now, he said.

Sliding off the snow, the other children leaped over the brush and were running through the trees, when a porcupine appeared in front of them. They all stopped short and stared at each other. Then Chad cheered, After 'im! And they took off on the chase.

The porcupine fled through the brush and over the rocks down to the mine road. His pursuers slid in a gravel fall to the road and chased the bristly bundle toward a grove of aspens. Get 'im! Chad hollered. Before he reaches the woods. He picked up a stone and hurled it, exploding in the dust right behind the animal. Joanie joined him and they hurled stone after stone at the terrified fugitive. Then Joey threw one that hit its haunches.

I hit him! he yelled. I.... He stumbled on a rock and sailed into the gravel, flopping in the dust like a sack of sand. The girls ran past him.

After him! Chad screamed. Git 'im! Get 'im! Get 'im!

Joanie threw another stone and yelled, I hit him too!

Chad bellowed with savage abandon. The porcupine had nearly reached the trees but could not run fast enough, and the children caught up to him on the side of the road. It was hobbling and thrashing it spiked tail. Joanie picked up a broken spruce branch to protect against the long needles, while Joey and the other girls gathered around her.

Hit 'im, Joanie! Chad whispered at her. Hit him in the head--but watch out for those quills.

Joanie looked at him, her eyes wide. Firing a critical look at her, Chad jerked the branch out of her hands and broke it into a smaller piece. Here--I'll finish 'im if you guys don't have the guts to do it. Without another thought he swung the club at the animal and smashed its skull with three heavy blows.

The children looked at the dark pile of quills, twitching on the road, its blood leaking into the gravel and dust. Its muscles stretched slowly, its needles spread as a strange black flower, and then it lay still.

Ugh! one of the girls uttered.

Another started to sob quietly.

Chad congratulated them on their capture and kill. Grabbing the corpse by the hind leg, he raised it up to eye level. Hey! he shouted and led the group back to the shack.

When they burst into the room and showed off the dripping carcass, Tobias said, What in hell you kids got there?

My heavens! one of the women said.

Is it dead? another asked.

Where'd you get that poor thing? Pearl asked.

Comin' down the mountain, Chad said breathless. Spotted him runnin' for dear life and....

We chased him, Joanie said, and hit him with a rock.

Joey hit it first, Chad said. If I'd had my rifle, I could've nailed 'im easy.

And you know? one of the girls said. Joey fell down right in the dirt. The girls giggled. Should've seen him, uncle Toby.

Tobias shook his head at Joey and clucked.

We wanna skin it, Chad said, his dark eyes sparkling. Show us how.

The men chuckled among themselves, and Tobias said, We can't tell you how to skin a porky, Chad. Leastways not without a very long knife. The men laughed.

You just better get shed of that thing, Pearl said, Before it stinks up this whole place. And please find something else to play with that ain't so messy.

Their enthusiasm deflated by the chuckling elders, the young band of hunters moved silently, slowly apart. Joey stepped over to the stove and scanned the containers of food. He was hungrier than ever.

Come on, Joey, Chad said as he carried the carcass to the door. Let's get rid of this thing.

Go on, Joey said.

You go on with Chad, Joey, Tobias said.

Aw, dad--

And no back talk, neither. Hear?

Joey nodded, but his cheeks were burning when he joined Chad at the door and went outside. Chad led the way down a path beside the shack to the creek, Joey dawdling after him. Chad stopped and cast the body into some willows, its slack body tumbling into the dense leaves, the brush rustling and shaking from the dead weight of the thing.

Inside the shack the girls gathered with the men and women. Joanie was watching the boys through a dirty window. When they had thrown away the dead animal, she let her gaze rise up the mountainside across Castle Creek. Spotting something, she narrowed her eyes to see better then opened them wide. Hey--looks like a couple of deer up there, uncle Toby. Look!

Tobias rose from his seat and stepped to the girl's side. What is it, sweetie? Whaddya see--a bear. He grinned and looked for himself.

No, really, uncle Toby. Isn't that deer or somethin' up there? She pointed.

Tobias followed her sight. Uh--yeah, deer or--no, by God! Them's elk. They's a couple of elk up there. Sure enough! Movin' slow too. And one looks like a bull. Yep. Definitely a big bull. He whirled and caught his three brothers' eyes. Well, whaddya say, fellas? They grinned and nodded to each other the way of boys before a ball game. Let's go get 'im!" Tobias said.

Now, you men stay here, Pearl said. We're gonna have supper soon, and we don't want you up on the mountain when it's time to....

Hold on, woman, Tobias said. We'll be back before supper, he said on his way out the door.

Hearing the men, Chad looked up from the creek and saw them pulling rifles out of the jeeps. Hey, what's goin' on? he hollered. Without answering him, the men marched across a small wooden bridge over the creek and headed up the mountain. Where ya goin'? Chad shouted as he ran after them.

After some elk, Tobias shouted back at him.

Wow! Can we come along? Tobias nodded and signaled for them to follow. Let's go, Joey! Chad ran to a jeep and pulled out his rifle, then ran up the road to catch the men. Joey trudged after him.

Come on, Joey-- Tobias hollered and waved his rifle. Get your ass in gear!

On top of a boulder high above the others, Tobias set the rifle butt on the rock and surveyed the mountainside. Damn! Musta missed 'im. He sighed and motioned for retreat. May as well head on back.

Aw-- Chad complained.

Sorry, boy-- Tobias said, ain't gonna catch that big guy today. Long gone.

Damn! Chad muttered.

So--let's to supper, Tobias said. Before the women start screamin'. His brothers heartily agreed.

Okay, Joey said and joined the men starting down the mountain.

Hey, Joey-- Chad said, how 'bout you 'n' me go back this way? He peaked his dark brow and motioned toward a spruce grove across the slope. Okay we go that way, uncle Toby?

But.... Joey said.

Sure, boys. Go ahead. Just be back before supper, or it'll be your hides. His brothers chuckled.

Oh, we will, Chad said. Come on, Joey. You 'n' me just might spot that ol' bull.

Joey hesitated a moment then, glancing at his father, slowly joined Chad in a descent into the dark forest. Tobias watched them walk on a moment, grinned, and then followed his brothers back down to the mine shack.

Before they reached the woods, Chad halted and looked at Joey. Here--you take the rifle. His dark eyes narrowed. I'm gonna take a short cut through those aspens there. Mebbe I can scare 'im toward ya.

Joey looked at the rifle. But I don't want....

Sure ya do, Joey. Chad grinned sardonically.

Besides--what if you spot him? It's your gun.

Go on, Joey. I think it's your lucky day. Chad started into the trees. Meet ya later--down below.

But....

Good luck! Chad waved.

Joey watched the dark shape of Chad clamber down over the gray rocks and disappear like a ghost into the dense trees, their leaves dancing in the sunlight. For a moment Joey simply stood still with the rifle dangling at his side. Shrugging with a sigh, he slowly stepped into the forest. Through a clump of small trees that bordered the woods, he entered into a deep cool shade.

Light played in mosaic patterns on the bark of the trees, ink berries leaves, and patches of grass. As the boy trod through the sylvan colonnade, the rifle hung club like from his arm. His hair, maroon in the shadows, flamed in filtered rays of light. The high conifers whispered in the wind and the soft loam crushed quietly under his feet, as he entered deeper and deeper into the heart of the forest. A vague sensation of voices flowed into his mind, but he was alone. His eyes, gray in the shadows, searched the hidden places in the foliage. As he meandered among the trees, his heart was pounding. Then he noticed something out the corner of his eye. He stopped and stared at it: a shape like a big inverted teardrop suspended among the flickering shadows. He peered into the deep green mass. An ear? Yes. And an eye gleaming just below it, bright as a tiny pool of water. Lifting the rifle slowly, without thinking, he rammed it against his shoulder and pointed at the eye. Straining to hold his breath, he sighted and jerked the trigger.

Crack!

His arm shuddered. The blast echoed among the trees and shockwaves of the explosion bounced between the canyon walls. The spruce needles seemed to quiver at the shot, and the dark leaves of the berry bushes fluttered like butterfly wings. The sound of the shot dissolved into a discordant wail that ripped through the air as if the cry of a banshee. A small, brown object was writhing and flopping within the brush. Joey murmured something to himself and to the wretched thing he had shot. His eyes glistered. He dropped the rifle butt and gawked at the wounded thing, as it tumbled out of the bush into the open forest. The little legs kicked the loam, the tiny hooves flashed in the broken light. Turf dust billowed up through shafts of light, and particles rained onto the hide, speckling the pale white spots and dulling the umber eyes. A small hole behind one eye oozed a trickle of red foam. Breathless, Joey started to shoot it again but waited and watched. The earth-laden body of the animal twitched a moment like a sapling struck by an axe then stopped moving. Joey noticed one ear pointing at the sky. A nauseating heat rose to his throat, as he stared at the corpse bleeding into the dirt. Suddenly the boy flung himself headlong through the trees and down the slope, the rifle in his hand, trailing as if a broken limb.

When he emerged from the woods at the creek bank, Joey swelled his chest to catch his breath then looked up and saw Chad waiting on the bridge, the sun setting behind him. Having heard the shot, Chad was looking for his cousin through the lengthening shadows that lay across the rippling water. Spotting him, he shouted, Hey, Joey! Did ya get 'im?

Joey looked down at the water and did not answer.

Joey!

Yeah?

Did you get a shot at the old elk?

I--I missed him.

Chad stared at him, a faint grin on his dark face. Huh. Well, come on. He continued across the bridge. Folks prob'ly waitin' supper.

Joey watched him walk toward the old shack, their walls deep red in the darkening shadow of the mountain. He caught the scent of pinion burning and saw smoke from a black, bent chimney pipe winding blue-white against the granite of the mountain. Around the peaks the glow of dusk was coloring the high snow yellow and pink. He looked down at the creek and searched it for flat stones. He noticed the violet of the water as it flowed around the rocks. He carefully stepped onto one. Then another. Halfway across, he leaped for the far bank. But his foot slipped off a rock and slid into the water. Shit! He yanked his foot out of the chilling stream and slammed the rifle butt into the dirt on the other side. Then, shaking his leg like a cat and using the rifle as a stick, he climbed the embankment to the shack.

Halleluya! Pearl shouted, when Joey appeared in the doorway. We was 'bout to send out a search party for you, Joe. She noticed his wet pant leg. Whatcha do--fall in the creek?"

The boy nodded sheepishly.

Tough ya missed that elk, Joseph, Tobias mumbled through a mouthful of food. He signaled for the lad to come to him and put his arm around the boy's shoulders. Well, don't feel bad, son. You tried. That's the important thing. You'll get 'im next time. He smiled at him with pride. "Now lay down yer weapon and get somethin' to eat, young man. Ya musta worked up