Roman Cesaro - Fallen Into Darkness

In spite of the damp weather, they were able to create a decent fire. Robert bundled the river cane tightly together to keep it straight as it dried. Next to the cane, but still at a safe distance from the fire, Robert placed the bow wood.

“I’m starving.” Richard’s stomach growled with hunger. “Can we eat now?”

“Are the bagels still any good? Think they’ve gone stale yet?” asked Robert.

Richard reached into his raft. “I don’t care if they’re stale. We have to eat something,” said Richard, as he handed each man a bagel.

“I’ll go set the lines for fish and filter some water,” said Kyle, as he walked away.

Robert sat by the fire and alternated holding the river cane and bow wood close to it. Keeping it warm would dry the wood faster. As he sat there, he noticed something flicker under a bush, reflecting the fire light. He pulled it out from under the bush and showed it to Richard. It was the Mylar wrapper of an MRE.

“Did you eat this?” Robert asked Richard.

“No, I never touched them. We only have a few left.”

Robert stared at the wrapper in silence. Then he spoke angrily, “That bastard Sergeant Haber was here. I bet we just missed him.”

In the distance, Robert and Richard heard Kyle yelling. “Hey! Get over here.”

Robert held his index finger to his lips, signaling Richard to be quiet. Robert grabbed his knife and whispered to Richard, “Haber?”

Richard shrugged his shoulders and looked for a place to hide. Robert motioned with his hands that they should split up and Robert would be the one to circle around to Kyle. Robert slowly moved through the trees looking in the direction of Kyle’s voice. When the shrubbery began to clear, he saw Kyle holding something with both hands. It looked like a large rock. There was no sign of Sergeant Haber.

“Look, a salt lick. This will go good with some fish or whatever we get,” said Kyle.

“You have got to be kidding. We thought you ran into Haber,” said Robert, looking around the horizon and shaking his knife at the river. “I found an MRE wrapper back there and thought you might have run into him.”

Kyle cringed at the thought of meeting up with Haber. “Nope, but I found a tree house back there. Go check it out,” said Kyle, nodding in the direction he had come from.

Robert walked back into the wooded area, looking upward. In a heavily branched tree, he saw something, but it was not a tree house. It was a deer stand. That would explain the salt lick. This would be a great location to hunt deer. The deer could eat the plentiful grass and come back for the salt lick and river water. He approached the boards nailed to the tree and tested the first few with his hands. They felt strong enough to hold him and they were not heavily weathered. He estimated the structure was only a couple of years old. Robert sheathed his knife and began to climb the ladder. He pulled himself up into the stand and surveyed the landscape. It was the perfect spot to hunt deer.

“Anything up there?”

“There are just some newspapers up here. I’ll bring them down and we can use them to start fires.”

Robert bent over to grab the pile of newspapers. As he wrapped his hands around the papers to scoop them up, he felt a sharp pain in one of his fingers. He recoiled, and kicked the papers to the side angrily. He looked back where the papers had been. Robert’s jaw dropped and his mouth hung open in awe at what he had just found. He dropped to his knees in disbelief. The razor sharp tip of an arrow had cut him. There were a dozen carbon-fiber arrows with broadhead blades, and a quiver lying under the old newspapers. He touched each arrow as if it was a priceless crystal statuette and gently placed each one, tip down, into the quiver. He put the quiver on his back and rolled the newspapers. Robert shoved the roll of newspapers into his waistband, then carefully climbed back down. He was eager to show Kyle the arrows.

“I don’t believe it,” said Kyle, staring at the arrows in amazement.

“We’ll divide these after I finish the bows. I’ll still make some out of the river cane. Save these beauties for something big, like a deer,” said Robert, as he held the arrow up, staring at it in admiration.

Kyle asked to hold an arrow. After handing it to Kyle, Robert looked back at the tree. He noticed it was an old walnut tree, then quickly glanced around the perimeter of the trunk, and noticed all the walnuts on the ground. “Kyle, look down there,” Robert said, pointing at the ground. “Walnuts are all over the place. We can eat them. Let’s get something to carry them in.”

Robert and Kyle went back to the campsite. Kyle left the saltlick at the deer stand. If they caught any fish, he thought that he would bring it back to camp and use it for seasoning. They showed the arrows to Richard who was prodding the campfire. He responded with an apathetic nod. Robert asked Richard to keep rotating the bow wood and river cane by the edge of the fire. Kyle dumped the contents of his backpack into his raft and they went back to the walnut tree and filled the backpack. Robert went to the river’s edge and found two rocks to break the nuts open. He noticed the walnut hulls had stained his hands almost black, and decided to save some of the hulls to rub on the bows when they are finished. A dark finish to the wood would provide some camouflage.

With Kyle’s assistance, Robert finished carving the two bows to the correct dimensions and placed notches near the ends with the multi-tool. “I’ll let these dry a couple more days and then I’ll try out the new arrows on something furry. Keep your eyes open for feathers. I’ll need them for the cane arrows,” Robert said, looking at his companions as he pointed to the bundle of river cane near the fire.

“You guys ready for some food? I’m starving,” said Kyle, as he turned toward his raft to survey the remaining rations. “We better be careful with the food we have left. That asshole stole a third of it.”

“Give me my share,” Robert said, as he yawned. “I’m going to eat, then go to sleep. I think that raft is a little crowded for two of us.” He stood and stretched. “No offense, Richard, but I think I’ll sleep up in the deer stand tonight.” Robert took some food, water, and a blanket. He started toward the deer stand, then stopped and turned to face the two men at the campfire. “I’ve been thinking about Sergeant Haber. We’re wearing the same clothes he is, and he stole my raft. He’s in front of us on the river somewhere and is going to terrorize anyone to get what he wants on his way downstream. If people see us, they’re going to think we’re with him because we have the same clothes and rafts. That’s not good for us.”

“What do we do?” asked Richard.

Robert shrugged his shoulders and said, “I don’t know, but when we meet again, it won’t be pleasant for him.” Robert turned and walked to the deer stand for the night.

A distant thunderclap woke Robert the next morning. He stiffly got up from the uncomfortable wooden floor of the deer stand, stretched his aching back, and turned his gaze toward the small window, edging forward to observe his new surroundings. He froze in place as he looked out the window. In the clearing below, he saw a huge mule deer using the saltlick that Kyle had dropped the day before. In his mind, Robert slowly raised an imaginary bow and arrow to aim at the deer. Pretending to pull the string back to his cheek, he aimed directly at the deer’s heart. He closed his eyes, released the arrow in his mind, and imagined the deer collapsed where it stood. Robert’s stomach rumbled with hunger, he opened his eyes and ended his fantasy. The deer sprinted away with the next thunderclap.