Jack Etheredge

Prologue

A long time ago, in 1952 16th of September, it was a fine Tuesday evening, a boy named Jack Etheredge and his mother were walking through Cliff Ring Park. Jack being very happy about his new Choo-Choo that he got for his 8th birthday, when suddenly the sirens for when they were under attack went off. Jack and his mother ran towards the nearest exit, but Jack tripped over and fell on the ground Jack's mother quickly noticed and tried to go back to help her son but she was dragged by two men and the crowd and Jack was pulled into the gift shop by the owner where he would take shelter. Jack silently missed his mother, he wanted to go home. The Gift shop owner said he go find out if anyone else needed shelter. Hours later, he never returned.

26 Years Later...

Another package arrived, it was full of food and water and a complimentary letter as well. He was getting bored with the pack of cards he found days before, but then a lady came in with a big bag full of supplies for something didn't recognise, he decided to ask her what she was doing here.

"Umm, excuse me. But what are you doing here. I honestly don't get many visitors, so what brings you to this place," He asked.

"I came here to set up a party for my son, he is turning six. Why? What's the problem."

"Oh nothing just wondering why you were here, most people just walk right on through."

"Here have a coffee, I brought an extra just in case wanted one." She gave him the coffee, and as he accepted her kind gesture he started to wonder how he never noticed the coffees she was holding in her other hand. Jack tasted the coffee because he had never had it before, he thought it tasted wonderful and drank it quickly. The rest of the people came as soon as she the party was ready to start. Some of the kids wanted toys from the gift shop, so he gave them and he told them to keep their money, but the kids said really liked him so they gave anyway. One thing at the end reminded him about his 7th birthday was when the women was handing out the balloons to each of the children but he saw little boy leave his black balloon behind, he ran to grab the balloon and to give it to the boy, but as soon as he grabbed the balloon, everyone was gone. The sun was setting so he got on top of the at the back of the gift shop, and he said to his Choo-Choo,

"Goodnight Choo-Choo. Don't worry we'll find mother again." He quickly went to sleep.

The next day he started wondering what is outside the park. He was worried that the people usually came were from the war and that there were massive craters from the bombing that he used to hear at night when he was younger, but the lady who was nice gave him hope that the world wasn't as he feared. He saw the remnants of the balloon and he put in his pockets. Jack packed some food and water into his bag and finally put Choo-Choo into bag. He walks along the trail but the trail ends, but he doesn't give up, and he keeps on going in the general direction until five minutes later he sees a mysterious shack, he silently decides to go investigate it. While he's looking through the shed he comes across the exact same map that Jack and his used to use to get around Cliff Ring Park. Jack keeps on following the map for hours until finds himself at the of the cliff with no way of progressing. He wished that the park's trees weren't as thick as a forest that he went to with his dad before his dad went off to war. The sky was fading so he decided to sleep through this night in hope that resting through the night made his thoughts clearer. He wakes up right next to the clifface and tells himself, "Note to self: Don't sleep next to ravines." He chuckles quietly. He grabs his bag off the ground and starts walking along the side of the cliff suddenly remembering that Cliff Ring Park was circled by a circular ravine, hence explaining the name. So he checks his compass that grandfather gave right before he died and goes west which happens to be on his left. He sprints along the careful not to trip or fall down after a few minutes of sprinting, being exhausted he looks beside him and he sees a rickety rope bridge he takes a few steps on the rope bridge and becomes so petrified and reluctant to move he says to Choo-Choo,

"We will make it!! Even if it means running across this bridge!" He runs across the bridge, once he gets to the end he is so overwhelmed and reminds himself never to do that ever again. He sees a house close by that he recognises from his childhood. He goes over to the sign at the corner of the street and it read, "Belmont Ave." Just as Jack remembered. As Jack was walking over to the mailbox, he tripped over something that seemed like an animal, the mysterious animal quickly scurried away. Jack looked around he saw a man with his bag hurrying away from him, "I must of been unconscious for a little bit," Jack muttered under his breath. He started chasing the man down, but then suddenly a sudden weight stopped him, the weight seemed to be in his pocket. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out, it was the exact same necklace that his mother wore every time something special happened, broke down into tears, he kept on crying for a few minutes, he pulled himself together and got back up and started lingered around the streets until he found his bag in the middle of the road, he looked to his left and he saw a car coming straight towards his bag. Jack sprinted towards his bag and jumps out of the way of the car with his bag, narrowly missing getting hit by the car. Jack finally makes it back to Belmont Ave. he walks over to the second closest house and mailbox it has the number 42, the same number of the house that he lived 26 years ago. Jack walks towards the front door and knocks on it, the lock clicks open, and the door handle is turning and a random person answers the door, Jack apoligises to the woman and tries the next house gloomily and his mother answers the door and tells him that his father passed away in the war.

Epilogue - 34 Years Later...

Jack's mother had just passed away. It was the 28th of April 2008, a monday afternoon. Jack's mother passed away on her birthday. Jack tried to organise the funeral for his mother, barely affording it with all his money. A few days after the funeral, Jack was back to the Gift Shop at Cliff Ring Park. Once he got there he left a note saying,

"I am sorry to inform you that this Gift Shop that has been running for 76 years, and that it's closing down." As Jack was walking back to his house, the bridge snapped and he fell down and died. Sadly, all good things must come to an end.

The End