Peter the lost

The lake house

It was a morning like any other. I would wake up, get read for school while my father would get ready for work. Dad worked at Medweb, a medical company which produces medical supplies. He worked as a delivery man. We've had a rough few years, with mom passing away with Cancer and dad being in and out of jail for numerous reasons. Moms death hit dad the hardest.

I finished up, got my school bag and I was off to school. School was about five blocks away from my house, Columbian High school. A fine looking school, despite it's bullies and gangs! I was seventeen and four months away from finishing school,.

The day went by in a jiffy. Everyone leaped up and ran for the school entrance to get home. It was a Friday, meaning school came out an hour earlier. I started to walk home, a few friends tagged along. I got to my  house to find dad's van in the driveway. It wasn't normal for him to be home so early! The vans passager door was slightly open. There were 2 metal briefcases on the passenger seat.

The front door was open. I stepped in "Dad are you here?" I shouted. "Hi son, how was school?" he asked. "Good I guess, dad is everything okay?" I asked him cautiously. He stopped, looked around and stared at me a few seconds before answering, "Pack your bags son we're going away for a few days". It was a shock. Dad wasn't someone who would randomly plan a trip or getaway.

I learnt to not ask questions. I went upstairs got dressed into more comfortable clothes and started to pack my clothes. "How far are you? We need leave now if we want to get there before it gets dark. I rushed down stairs grabbed the rest of the bags, loaded them in the van and in a matter of minutes we were on the road.

Dad didn't say where we were going but we were on the road for about an hour and a half when we stopped at a gas station. Dad said he had to make a call. I entered the gas station to use the loo and buy some snacks.

As I was busy paying for my goods I couldn't help but see dad talking to someone in a black BMW with tinted windows, dad was handed a backpack. Dad was looking nervously around as if he was trying to see if anyone was looking at him before he took the  backpack. The BMW drove away, leaving a trail of dust behind.

Dad headed back to the van tossed the bag onto the drivers seat and walked towards the gas station. He entered, paid for the gas and started walking back to the van. "Hurry up, we need to get on the road before it gets to late! he shouted furiously. I hurried up and got into the van.

We were on the road again, my door window was open, I had my hand out the window and the wind in my hair. I looked over to dad, he looked tensed and he kept looking at his phone as if he was waiting for a call or even a text.

I reached my backpack laying by my feet and pulled out a dish of nuggets I had bought at the gas station. It was moms favorite. Eating them always made me feel like she was by me, holding my hand, telling me how much she misses me.

We turned right on to a back road heading through a forest, Dirt Harry's Bush was carved out in a wooden archer suspended across the road. It started to get darker as we got deeper into the forest. We got to a bridge that headed over a river. I could see deer up in the distance. They scattered as soon as they heard us coming. We kept straight through the forest till we got to a lake. There was a lake house and some sort of barn. We stopped in front of the lake house. " You've reached your destination" dad uttered in a voice as if he was a GPS.

We started to unload our stuff and headed in. Dad showed me my room and ordered me to unpack and settle in. Later I was to help with supper, and then I could check the rest of the house out. Dad said I shouldn't be stupid and go wandering around outside at night unless I wanted to be stomped on by a bear.

The house was old but it had been kept in good condition. Steps lead down to a deep dark hole, the basement. I flipped the switch on but there was no light. I went searching for a torch and headed back the the basement. I Made my way down the steps. Dusty is a small word to describe how it looked down there. In the middle of the room stood a big wooden stove used to heat the house up in the winter. Winter was no joke around these parts of the country.

I could see old furniture and boxes stacked up against the wall. There were random but cool stuff in the boxes. In the one box I found a baseball glove. I remember the days dad used to play baseball with me, the days before he hid himself under his work and when mom was still around.

I threw it back in the box, just as it landed I heard something moving behind me. I could see nothing. Scared and shivering I ran back for the stairs. My torched went dead and I could hear something running after me. Its a person! My heart started to beat faster and faster. Without any warning the figure whispered, "Leave while you have the chance!" I ran up the stairs and slammed the door.

"Dad, dad!" I shouted. My dad came running to me, "What is it son?" I told him there is someone down there, I saw him, the person told me to leave while I have the chance. Dad grabbed the torch from me and made his way down. Minutes later he came back up, "Are you sure you heard and saw someone?" "Yes Dad", I replied, "he was running after me saying I should leave while I have the chance".

'Well there's no one down there, it must have been the dark playing tricks on your brain". We headed to bed, I wasn't able to sleep immediately. I kept on asking myself if it really was my imagination or was there really someone down there. I shut my eyes and went to sleep.