The Omieja Project: Adventure On the Appalachian Trail

By Dana Wayne Haley

When four college students decide to spend the summer after graduation hiking the Appalachian Trail, they imagine a few months of fun adventures, meeting new people, and making the most of their last summer of freedom before “slaving away for some Fortune 500 company”. Instead they have their share of mysterious and often stressful experiences; including a perilous encounter that forces them off the trail, causing them to stumble upon something that makes them question their sanity and wonder if they are finally safe—or if their troubles are just beginning.

Join Einstein, Lotus Blossom, Horn Dog and Bo Peep—their chosen trail names—for the summer of a lifetime and the thrilling and unbelievable end to their amazing adventure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Dec 15, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543921212

Book preview

July 20th, 2044

Taylor’s Cove—Littleport, Maine

Ned Taylor swayed slowly back and forth in a sturdy, white, wicker rocker on the back porch of his ocean-side home, all the while mesmerized by slow rolling waves that softly kissed the coast of Maine. A cool, refreshing breeze caressed his slightly tanned face and bare arms on this pleasant late-July day. The tranquil, middle-aged man’s glance danced up and down between the peaceful turquoise water below and the sunny, nearly-cloudless sky above, periodically watching the slow moving waves and the occasional soft, puffy-white clouds that drifted lazily by in the exquisite light-blue sky.

Taylor was awed by the beauty of it all, knowing that this day could not have been made more perfect, no matter how hard God tried. The serene, ruggedly handsome man wanted this idyllic moment to last forever, but he had something to take care of and he had been putting it off for far too long.

"Johnny, come here!" Ned shouted from the porch of his old gray house, one that had been in the Taylor family for more than two centuries.

The early-New England-style dwelling sat high on a remote hillside overlooking the vast Atlantic Ocean—and parts of Littleport, a quaint little town on the picturesque Maine coast which could easily have been the scene in one of Norman Rockwell’s rustic paintings. At this stage of his life Ned, with an increasingly pensive look appearing on his weathered face, could just as easily have been the main subject of that painting. It was a late Wednesday afternoon—going on 3:30—and the tide was just coming into Taylor’s Cove.

What is it, Grandpa? a thin, dark-haired, 11-year-old shouted back as he peeked his head out a cottage-style screen door and saw his grandfather sitting in his comfy rocking chair, gazing eastward at the calm Atlantic.

Where’s your mom?

"Inside working on her computer; where else?"

Go tell her I want her, would you.

Okay, the little boy responded.

Letting the screen door slam shut, Johnny Taylor turned and ran through the cottage-style living room, and then up old, creaking stairs—two steps at a time—to his mother’s study; she called it her library. Nancy Taylor was Ned’s lone niece. She was a gorgeous, young-looking, 33-year-old woman who had been raised by her bachelor uncle from the age of three when her parents—Ned’s twin brother Ted, his only sibling, and his young wife Susan—were killed in an accident on Route 1A, halfway between Bangor and Bar Harbor.

Because Nancy was so young when that tragedy occurred, Ned was more like a father to her than an uncle. For health reasons, Ned was forced to take an early retirement from the computer software firm he started over thirty years earlier in downtown Littleport. Nancy worked out of their home running a small one-woman real-estate sales company that she started shortly after her husband died of heart disease in February of 2037. Today she was busy on her computer updating her company website.

Nancy’s desk sat in front of a large bay window overlooking the Atlantic, a view that she sat and admired whenever her tired eyes needed a rest from the computer screen. Periodically she glanced at two family photos sitting on her desk: one was of her, Johnny, and Uncle Ned standing in their backyard, with the Atlantic Ocean in the background; and the other was her parents standing in front of scenic Jordan Pond in Acadia National Park, with two small mountains silhouetted in the background.

Nancy’s uncle told her that her parents often visited Acadia and Bar Harbor. Because she was so young when they died, Nancy knew little of her parents, only what her uncle told her. That’s how she learned that their tragic crash occurred on a rainy Sunday afternoon when they were returning from one of their trips to Acadia. She was staring fondly at her parents’ photo—daydreaming, as she did often over the years, wondering what life with them might have been like—when she heard her son’s noisy footsteps running up the stairs, figuring he wanted to play basketball with her, as was usual this time of day. The sexy, 5’10" athletic-looking woman was once an outstanding basketball player for Littleport High—as was her uncle—and later for tiny Division II Bayside College in southern Maine.

Although very talented himself, Ned didn’t have the skills needed to play college ball for the Division I school he attended. Still, he took pride in knowing that he had taught his niece everything there was to know about basketball, and that together they were now teaching Johnny. When Nancy’s uncle was healthy he would volunteer to play with Johnny at least half of the time, but she knew that his playing days were likely over; his arthritic knees made sure of that. In fact, they, and his other health problems, made sure that most things he once did easily were "long gone and hard to find"—an expression Ned had humorously adopted to cover most physical activities that were now things of the past.

Ned’s many health problems resulted from exposure to mid-level radiation at a nuclear power plant when he was in his early twenties. Although the doctors told him they couldn’t be sure if he’d suffer any serious side effects or not, time eventually provided all the answers and he didn’t care for any of them. Until recently the most depressing was sterility, and Nancy always assumed that that was the real reason he never got married, not the joking responses he always spouted whenever she asked. It certainly wasn’t because of his looks, or his personality; he had plenty of both.

Maybe she was fortunate—she used to think—because if her Uncle Ned had gotten married he might not have wanted to be burdened with her, and then she would have been stuck with strangers; her uncle was the only close relative she had left after her parents were killed in the car accident. The Taylor twins had been only children, of only children, and their parents died at a very young age too—in their early 40s—ironically, in a car crash on I-95 during the summer of 2003 while returning from a weekend trip to Boston. The Taylor twins were barely 18 at the time, and losing his parents was the real reason Ned decided to join the Army, rather than go to college as planned. His brother chose the college route.

"Mom! Grandpa wants you!" Nancy’s son shouted when he rushed into her room.

For God sake, Johnny! I’m no more than ten feet away; I think I can hear you without the yelling.

Sorry, Mom, he replied softly.

What does your Grandpa want?

He didn’t say, Johnny answered.

Okay, tell him I’ll be right down, as soon as I upload my file.

Three minutes later Nancy walked onto the porch and saw her uncle staring at the ocean.

It’s sure beautiful out there today, Nancy said to her uncle.

Yup, sure is, Ned replied. "Nothing like yesterday. I swear, the waves were so big, at times the spray had to be 30 feet in the air, if it was a foot. But today it’s as calm as all-get-out. You couldn’t ask for a better day."

Johnny said you wanted me? Nancy said, still lingering near the porch door, admiring the view.

Yes, dear, I have something to tell you; come on over and take a load off.

Nancy dragged a white wicker-chair over to the far side of the porch where her uncle was seated, and sat down beside him. Although fast approaching 59 he still had the body of a 20-year-old; but, as they say and as he was all too well aware, looks can be deceiving.

It’s hard to believe Unc was a 125-pound weakling when he was in high school, Nancy thought. When he first told me that, I thought for sure he was pulling my leg.

But he wasn’t. Right after graduating from high school, Ned decided to do something about his appearance. The 6’1" boy bought a set of weights and worked hard that first summer until he could lift over 175 pounds, weighing almost as much, and had developed the physique of an Olympic gymnast that finally gave him a body to match his graceful athleticism, which he had all his life. He often wondered if he might have received a college basketball scholarship, like Nancy, if he had bulked up in high school. But Ned wasn’t one to worry about missed opportunities; he always looked on the bright side. In this case, bulking himself up by lifting weights not only gave him something to do to help fight depression after his parents died, but it made his service in the Army that much easier. He ran circles around the other basic training soldiers at Fort Dix when it came to forced marches and PT. Indeed, he set his company’s record for pull-ups and push-ups while taking his final PT test.

But now, Ned thought, "I couldn’t run circles around a two-year-old. Bad analogy! he smiled, while thinking back a few years and seeing little Johnny in his mind’s eye. No one can run circles around a two-year-old."

Well, what is it, Unc? Nancy asked after sitting down.

I’ve been doing some serious thinking, Nance, he says while staring off into space, "and I’ve decided I’ve got to tell you something, something I never thought I’d ever tell anyone, but something I should have told you long ago. I doubt you’ll believe me. In fact, that’s why I’ve never said anything before. But I have to tell you now, before it’s too late—I’m not long for this world, you know."

"Don’t talk like that, Uncle Ned! Just look at you; you’re in your prime. You’ll outlive me, and maybe Johnny too."

"I think not, dear. Anyway, it’s time I told someone, and you’re the only one I can tell, the only one who would even consider believing me."

"You’ve really got my curiosity peaked now, Unc."

Good, now where do I begin?

How about at the beginning, Nancy said.

"Damn, you always were the smart one, he joked. Anyway, the best place to start is the day I entered the University of Maine. I was twenty-two at the time, and full of piss and vinegar. I arrived on campus at around ten, having no clue what to expect. It was a Sunday, if memory serves me."

Ned Taylor had always been a man of mystery; never one to go on about himself—even though his niece had tried many times over the years, always in vain, to coax his past out of him, and Lord knows there was plenty to be coaxed out; so Nancy listened intently as her uncle continued his story. She had always wondered why he was reluctant to talk about his past. Was it too painful to recall the accidents involving his parents and twin brother? Was it his service in Afghanistan that he never talked about? Was it his sterility or was it something else?

"Finally, I’m gonna find out," she thought.

37 Years Earlier: Sept. 3rd, 2007

Orono, Maine

After arriving at the University of Maine in his old Chevy and asking directions to Hanson Hall, 22-year-old Ned Taylor pulled into a long circular driveway, parked his car, grabbed his bags, and headed for the main door of the four-story brick dorm. Although an honor student in high school, he had doubts about college. On his three-hour drive to Orono he wondered if he’d be able to get back into the studying mode after being out of high school for more than four years. "Well, I guess it’s way too late to worry about that now; I’m already committed to college," he thought.

When he walked into the lobby of Hanson Hall he was met by a petite, nice-looking RA who gave him the key to his room. Following her instructions, Ned walked to the end of the hall. As he did, the cute RA was checking out his athletic-looking buns, legs, and upper body, right up until the moment he turned left and headed up a set of stairs. When he reached the 3rd floor he saw Room 312 on his right and eagerly walked through the open door. The first thing he did was walk to the lone window in the room and admire the view of the Stillwater River, which lies a little beyond College Avenue. Ned had only been in the room for a minute when he heard something and turned to see two guys walk in.

Hi, he said, I’m Ned Taylor. One of you must be my roomie?

I don’t think so, unless there’s been a real mix-up; Jim and I’ve been assigned this room.

Ned looked confused, and then he looked at the worn number etched into his room key.

"Oh, my mistake. I thought this said 312, but it’s 313. Sorry."

No problem, Ned. By the way, I’m Bill Samson, and this is Jim Hickey; I believe your room is right across the hall, so I guess we’re gonna be neighbors for a while. At least, until I flunk out.

Ned laughed, shook hands with the two boys, and talked with them for a while, until he found out where they were from and what they were majoring in. Then he walked across the hall and into the third-floor dorm room where he saw a young man with light-brown hair sitting in a chair with his legs crossed and his left heel resting on an extremely low window sill, obviously eyeing the co-eds strolling about the scenic campus mall.

Hi there, he said, how’s the view?

The stocky, 5’11 boy looked up and said: Not bad; not bad at all. Then he turned his attention back to the mall and said: Whoa! Look at those two!"

What they up to? Ned asked, straining his neck to look out the window.

Just pussyfooting around campus, the boy wisecracked. "But it’s not what they’re up to, it’s how they’re up to it. And believe me, they’re up to it all right. More than up to it. And I’m starting to get up to it myself."

Ned laughed and said: I’m Ned Taylor. Thought I’d lucked out and was gonna have a nice scenic view of the river, but I guess this’ll do. I’ll take eyeing the body of the opposite sex over a body of water, anytime.

"We’re on the same page there, Ned. By the way, I’m Todd Mooney—all the way from Wyoming."

"Wyoming? You are a long way from home."

Not as far as you might think.——Wyoming, Michigan.

I never heard of such a place, Ned responded.

Not many have. It’s a little hole in the ground near Grand Rapids. But don’t feel bad, you’re not the first person I’ve conned.

Grand Rapids, huh, Ned said. "Now that I’ve heard of."

Yeah, that and Battle Creek are pretty well known, Todd said, unless you’ve never eaten breakfast. I assume you’re my new roommate?

I am if this is Room 313.

It sure is, Sherlock. What’s your major, Ned?

"Engineering. And yours?"

Business. How’d you come to choose Maine?

"I’m from down on the coast, and decided to stay close to home. Actually, the in-state tuition decided it for me. It was way too tempting to pass up. Thought about places like MIT and Cal Tech, but they’re so far out of my range it isn’t funny—in more ways than one. Besides, I heard Maine has a pretty good engineering program."

Which branch are you interested in?

Electrical Engineering, with a minor in Nuclear Engineering.

Whoa! Todd said. That’s way past me. You must be a brain.

Not really, Ned laughed. "In fact, not even close."

"Oh, great! One of our future nuclear engineers is Professor Erwin Corey!"

Ned chuckled. Well, I’m no Albert Einstein, but I’m not quite that inept either.

I suppose we’d better start unpacking and get ourselves settled in, Todd said. Then we can start checking out the skirts. Since you’re already there you can take that side of the room, and I’ll take this one. We’ll get better acquainted when we’re done.

Sounds good to me, Ned said.

While Ned was unpacking he noticed three large posters on the walls: two were of sexy models and one was a depiction of Bigfoot.

Are these yours, Todd? he asked.

Yes, Todd answered.

I can understand these two, but why the Bigfoot? Ned asked.

I’m fascinated with the big guy; someday I’m gonna capture one and become famous.

"Really!?"

Yeah. Someday you’ll be asking for my autograph.

Ned laughed, and went about putting away his clothes. After a half-hour of unpacking and idle chitchat, Todd was restless.

I don’t know about you, but I could use a break; how about it? he asked Ned.

"You don’t have to ask me twice. What’ve you got in mind?"

"Let’s head over to the Union and get a bite to eat."

Although this was their first day of college, Ned and Todd were reasonably familiar with the campus layout from materials they had received, and from checking out the school’s web site. While walking through the scenic mall area the two boys eyed the scenery of interest up close.

Wow! Todd said, I knew we’d run into some foxy foxes here, but I didn’t realize they’d be this plentiful. Hunting season’s starting early this fall.

Ned laughed.

You got a girl back home? Todd asked.

Not anymore. I just got out of the Army, and I kinda lost touch with my high school sweetheart, over three years ago. She didn’t want to wait ‘til I got out. Can’t say as I blame her. The last I heard, she was in New York City hoping to make it on Broadway.

"You just got out of the Army? How old are you?"

Twenty-two.

"Twenty-two? The girls on this campus are gonna be all over you. A tall, older man, and good looking at that. You can’t beat that combo."

Ned just smiled and raised his eyebrows, somewhat embarrassed by Todd’s remarks.

How about you, Todd? Anyone pining over you back home?

Probably, but she’ll get over it. I told her it’s time to move on. She can’t expect me to stay faithful and abandon the hunt when I’m surrounded by so much prey.

Ned laughed so hard that he startled two girls who were passing by. After he and Todd reached the Student Union, they strolled through the University bookstore and then made their way to the cafeteria. It was called the Bear’s Den—the black bear being the university mascot—and Todd was glad they came when he saw all the fine ladies there.

This university gets better by the minute, he said.

Todd, you have a one-track mind.

"You’re not kidding; I believe in being focused. My train’s headed in only one direction and it’s gonna make plenty of stops before I get to my final destination, and I plan on getting off at every one of them."

Ned shook his head and laughed.

I can see that this guy is going to be a barrel of laughs, he thought.

Todd reminded Ned of an old Army buddy, a guy named Terry Gellins from southern California who most of the time was as horny as a toad. The new friends entered the Bear’s Den, and Todd chose a table that provided the best view of the girls inside the cafeteria and those walking in the hallway, just outside. After sharing a large pizza they headed back to the dorm. Along the way Todd tried hitting on some girls—as he had tried to do while eating lunch—but had no luck.

I must be losing my touch, he said.

Maybe, Ned responded. "But more than likely, turkey, it’s that tomato sauce smeared on the left side of your mouth."

"What!? Why didn’t you say something before, idiot?"

I didn’t want to miss out on the strange looks the girls were giving you, Ned replied.

Thanks a lot. I could have had a hot date tonight if you had wised me up.

Not to worry, my friend. You’ve got four years to hook up with someone.

"Four years? What the hell are you talking about, man? It’s not gonna take more than another four hours, unless I really have lost my touch."

Ned shook his head, thinking: Yeah, it’s Terry Gellins all over again.

July 20th, 2044

Taylor’s Cove

Nancy was really into her uncle’s story. She loved listening to people talk about their past, and she loved it even more when it was her uncle doing the talking. As she listened to him reminisce about his first days at college, it brought back fond memories of her own at Bayside College. Unfortunately, like her surrogate father, she had lost touch with her college friends and now only had fond memories of them. Ned was getting tired and had to take a short rest before continuing his story. After a short five-minute break and a glass of high-protein drink that Nancy had gotten him, he had his strength back and was about to say something. Before he could get the words out, his niece’s cellphone rang.

Hello, she said. "Okay, I’ll meet you there in about 20 minutes. I think you’re gonna like it."

Nancy hung up the phone and turned to Ned.

"Well, Unc, your story’s gonna have