Get on living or get on dying- 'Shawshank Redemption' -Stephen King
Man can be destroyed but not defeated- E. Hemingway
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"Everything can change in the blink of an eye," Jake thought.
The five of them were driving up to Myakka State Park in Sarasota when they heard over the radio that some crazy guy had escaped from a mental institution.
The radio said he was now living in the woods near Myakka.
"John, are you going camping with us? Or you going to play games on your iPhone? Come on, bro, this is supposed to be quality time away from modern technology," Joana said.
"Yes, you are right."
"Great."
"What time is it, Kimberly?" Joanna asked.
"Three thirty-two."
"Hey, it's 'Miller Time'," Jake said.
That was a joke. Miller was the dude’s name, John Miller.
He was Jake's best friend.
"Alright, guys, let’s go."
"You got the stuff, Jake?" Kimberly asked.
She was talking about some grass.
"Fuck ya, let's do this."
As they drove down highway U.S 41, they passed what looked like the demolition derby. An idiot broke down in the middle of traffic, and the driver had left the car’s flashers on. It turned into a three car pile up. Some chick driving behind them in a sweet ass Z28 black Camaro wrecked the hell out of her radiator.
"That sucks!" Said Joana.
"Did you check out the sticker on the back of her car? It said 'daddy issues'."
"Looks like it?” Kimberly said. "Somebody's got daddy issues."
Two hours after driving, the teens stopped in and grabbed some sodas at this one place called 'Snack n Gas'.
"This place scares the shit out of me," Jake said. "Taking a hit off a J, passed to him. Hey, Cristina, you have any fun yet?"
Cristina was a mute.
"Come on guys, we are here," Joana said.
They all jumped out of the car like they never wanted to take another camping trip again.
"Let's rent a RV next time," Joana said. "I'd rather drive that, no problem."
As soon as they were in the back woods, it was clear to them this was the camping ground because of all the motorhomes parked everywhere.
After they pitched their tents, Miller went missing.
"Anyone see John?"
"John!" Joana yelled out.
"John!"
"John!"
"John!"
"John!"
"John!"
"John!"
"He went for snacks back at the 'Snack n Gas' I think," Jake said.
He did indeed go for some snacks, but he was never seen or heard from again.
Jake strolled out alone away from Joana on a trail leading through the palmettos.
"The escaped killer must've got him," Jake was speaking to himself, off to the side. "Miller was my only friend; roommate in college, yes, he was drunk most of the time, lived in lG, but was a great guy. Then Kimberly disappeared. How? Why? She lived in the other apartment across the hall from him in 1B. We used to play Scrabble. She was cool, but she died, too. The escaped lunatic must've got her as well, so sad. All the crickets of the basin night; they didn't hear nothing? Everyone was sure they couldn't live in the woods. Why did we come up here? Even if we all are crazy, it was a stupid idea. I'll never forgive my dad for what he did to me, never taught me to hunt; nothing about sex or forgiveness. People are culturally rotten to the core. Economics, shaping the mind, human growth and development? What did I learn from all that.
Jake soon encountered a body. It was Cristina tied to a tree branch. Her eyes had been pecked out, probably by vultures.
Jake and Joana ended up having such trauma left over from the camping trip that the two fell in love and got married in Las Vegas.
A year later Jake and Joana, looking like two entirely different people, returned to Myakka to be eaten alive.
They both took a deep breath and held each other’s hands, and then they jumped off a newly installed canopy walk into an alligator infested sinkhole.
There were screams at first as several gators twisted and teared the meat off their thin and emaciated torsos, and then their bodies were gone. And it was silent.
