The Third of July

I'm back! Actually I never left. I've been reading what everyone else has to offer. Some is really good.

As usual I have written and edited the story on my own. Any mistakes are mine alone and will remain as first submitted. There is no overt sex in my stories, I don't feel it is necessary.

I've been around for a while so you know how I feel about life, and I write about how I feel.

I like this story and hope you do too. If not...

Ptbzzzz

*****

It is the fifth anniversary of the loss of my dearest husband. Let me tell what happened that day such a short time ago.

I am Sarah Fisher. I married Joel a little over 15 years ago. We have two children, 13 year old Mary and 8 year old Emmanuel.

Joel and I met in college, I work as a structural engineer. He is a CPA, with a PHD in math. If there is a problem with someone's ledgers he will find it.

I am visiting Belvoir State Park today, and am hoping to find out something about Joel today. This is the fifth time I have made this pilgrimage since he disappeared. First I visit with the rangers to learn anything new since my last visit, any tiny hint will be welcome. Then I return to the waterfalls where he disappeared, to grieve and pray for him. I miss him so much in my life! I know in my heart he is still alive, we are soul-mates. Every time one of us hurts the other knows instantly. I can feel that he is doing well.

When I return to this wall I'm sitting on I can feel his presence. He is alive somewhere nearby, I just know he has to be missing me as much as I miss him. I felt him especially near last time, the fourth year.

Thinking back to the day he disappeared.

Joel has always been a heavy man. Oh, Who am I kidding? The doctors call him morbidly obese. He is 5 foot 8 inches tall and weighs in at a little under 400 pounds. He also has severe diabetes. He does not get as much exercise as he should because he works at a desk and he constantly eats.

The weather that visit had been like a monsoon, heavy rain and high winds were the order of the day on the first and second. Wednesday, July Third dawned bright, sunny and not a cloud in the sky. There was a light breeze. Being toward the bottom of the mountain the water was moving fast and high in the stream.

We came here each year for the first week of July to celebrate at the spot where he proposed. We were sitting on this very wall, way over in the far right corner. If you have been here, you know that's where the wall begins to slope downhill and disappear into the forest. It is a short walk of about one half mile from the parking lot. The last few years we were together, Joel had to stop and rest a few times while we walked here from the car. His weight seems to climb about twenty pounds each year.

He had walked to the metal railing to take a photo of the falls from the top. There was a loud shriek from a woman and I saw a red flash go over the falls. If there were others there I never noticed.

He had worn a bright red sweat shirt that morning. There is a spot at the bottom of the falls where the water can roll you over and over for a long time before it might let you go. They call it a death roll. The stream is over 6 feet deep leading downstream from that point on a normal day.

They found his fanny-pack along side the stream; with his wallet, camera and important medical items he always carried. They also found torn bits and pieces of his shirt, washed ashore, on both sides, for 2 to 3 miles along the stream.

The man who owned the hotel we always stay at was there that day. He was more than kind and tried to comfort me.

Last year there was a fellow who looked like a backwoodsman who sat in the far corner and seemed to be lost. His body was massive, all solid muscles. He had the longest, most unruly hair and beard I ever saw. A woman who was similarly attired sat a distance away from him. I wanted to speak with them, but I was so frightened by his appearance I just couldn't. I was working up the nerve to approach them; when I turned back they were gone. If they return I will speak with them this time.

Carolina's story, beginning five years ago

OK, I know your first thought is, "Who the hell is Carolina?"

Carolina is the last surviving member of a family that has inhabited these mountains for almost three hundred years. She guesses that she is about thirty five years old. Carolina is what you could call a handsome woman. Her hair is beginning to turn silver, after being blond all her life. Life has been hard on her since Momma and Daddy died within months of each other. That happened about six years before the beginning of our story.

She is strong and moves quickly and quietly when needed. This beautiful woman can lift four hundred pounds of stone or firewood and carry it over a mile on her shoulder. She can plow the three acre garden in the spring, using a one bladed plow and mule, in less than a morning.

Not many people know of her. There is the neighbor down the road a spell, she takes Carolina's produce and eggs into town each Saturday to the farmers market. There is the postal lady who drops off the mail every Tuesday. And, there is the recorder lady at the courthouse who receives the tax payment on the property each spring. It is rare for her to walk into town. When she does it is almost as if she is invisible to the townfolk.

She lives in the same cabin that the first generation of her family built with stones and logs from the nearby forest.

Momma and Daddy had five children who survived their first three years. They were all named for nearby towns and other states or countries that the family knew of. Carolina was their last child; what most might call an oops. The family called her "Their gift from heaven." She was both wanted and loved. She was the only girl to survive. She was sickly as a tiny child, then she began to grow when she was about five. There was no stopping her after that. When she was 15 she was as strong as any of her brothers. They were all eight years, or more, older than her. Her four brothers all died early in life leaving her to care for her parents.

She was too busy on Tuesday and Wednesday to run down to the box. There was no mail on Thursday. It was the Fourth of July, five years ago, Carolina was heading back up the deer trail that ran along the stream. She was moving a little fast and making no noise at all. As she moved she startled a few rabbits and racoons, they all scurried of the side of the path and were gone long before she reached them. If she had been hunting they would have already been in her basket. As she moved on she heard noises she had never heard before, kind of a scratching and moaning noise. It would start and stop and then began over and over.

She stepped off the side of the trail toward the water and looked over the edge. There was a massive human form at the bottom of the short hill. At first she saw no face or even the head. Then she saw bubbles coming up from beneath the form. Soon after the head slowly rose out of the water making soft coughing and hacking sounds, and the head dropped into the water again. The head did not return again. The water was higher than normal, but the stacked stone wall of the swimming hole would keep her there if she slipped in the water. She jumped into the water and turned him over so his head was to the side, water slowly trickled out. She saw no signs of breathing.

She remembered a story her Daddy told when she was still a girl. "A young boy had fallen into a pond and had drowned. The father was so full of grief that he took off running with the child over his shoulder to find the town doctor. By the time he had run the two miles to the doctors office the boy was laughing about the crazy ride."

It might work she thought. She threw him up on the bank, jumped out of the water and ran all the way to her cabin with him facing downward. She felt his shallow breathing when she put him on the porch. She turned him on his side and a little more water trickled out. Soon the flow got heavier and the man coughed out a large amount of water.

It was warm that afternoon and the sun was shining on him so she left him there and carefully watched him. Soon no more water drained from his mouth; his breathing began to return to a somewhat normal rhythm and he dropped into a deep sleep.

Carolina had no formal education of any kind, but somewhere deep inside she knew that if he was showing signs he was alive she should hold off taking any more action. Not to mention that she didn't know anything else to do.

She had made fresh bread that morning. Being tired from her efforts and very hungry she cut some ham and a chunks of cheese and bread. She soon returned and found the sun was no longer shining on him. In it's place three of her dogs were curled up around the man keeping him warm.

It gets cold many nights in the mountains, so when she went in for her jacket she brought out a blanket for the man. She hung a lantern in the rafters so the light shown on him. About four or so in the morning he moaned, the dogs got up and moved away from him, the blanket pulling off as they left, and she watched as he wet his pants. He went back under whatever spell held him.

The next morning she woke much later than normal, she rushed to catch up with her chores while she kept an eye on her charge. The sun rose higher in the sky and he finally began to return to the living. After finding he was unable to sit up due to dizziness. He turned his head to the side. He saw the trees and undergrowth and what passed for a yard up there on the mountain.

Soon she noticed his eyes were open and she abandoned her work to look after him. Early that morning she had brought out her Momma's nursing notes, she searched until she found the recipes she needed. He had what was called a death rattle in his chest. She knew he had pneumonia and if not treated quickly, it could kill him. She set about mixing the tea from one recipe and a poultice from the other. He only took a few sips of the tea, he would take no more. She scooped the poultice out of the bowel and applied it as she had been taught. He hated that even more than the tea.

Soon he tired and fell asleep. When he woke many hours later much of the rattle was gone.

Carolina gave him some warm broth to drink, lightly laced with more of the tea.

That evening he slept in the bed beside her, as there was no other place that was suitably large enough for either one of them. He could not remember any name he had been called, so she suggested William.

Through motions he revealed to her that he did not remember anything, even a name. She knew he could hear because he jumped a few times when the dogs would run up behind him. After telling him they were dogs and their names he tried to speak and only made grunts and squeaks. She hummed a note and soon he was able to hum too. It took months before he began to use simple words correctly.

He wanted to help around the farm but was too week to do much. He tried to do everything she did. Sometimes he would get it right and just spend a day doing the same thing over and over. He never forgot a task when he did it correctly.

At six months he was able to fold the laundry, wash the dishes, bring in firewood and many other chores. He had also shed almost sixty pounds. He could speak in short sentences and ask simple questions.

On July Third at the end of his first year he was speaking clearly and reading short children's stories. He was also down to two hundred and eighty pounds and much of that was muscle. He walked as quickly and silently as Carolina did. Math soon returned to him on it's own, first it was simple math and then his abilities opened with a speed that she did not understand. He began to teach her everything he knew about math. She was learning it as fast as he remembered the processes.

Still he had no recollection of his past.

At a year and a half he was one hundred and ninety pounds and mostly solid muscle.

A few months later she was dreaming about the dogs when she woke up. She had been petting the dog in her dream. Upon waking, in the middle of the night she realized she had been petting his penis, he was awake with a bewildered look on his face.

"Why did that feel so good?" he asked. She was very embarrassed and ran from the house onto the porch.

He came out shortly in a confused state, not understanding why she acted so. Haltingly he softly spoke "Did we do something wrong?" And again "Why did that feel so good?"

What could she say? How do you explain the birds and bees to the simple man/boy he had become? How to explain the creation of new life?

"I 'm tired " she told him. "I'll explain it in the morning. You go back to bed and I will be in shortly." He lay awake waiting to be sure she was OK. She had never put him off like that before; she always answered his questions quickly. Soon he went out and found her asleep in that old rocker. He didn't try to bring her in for fear she would wake up, he just brought out some blankets and wrapped her up to keep her warm. He lit a lantern and hung it where it would light her face. He brought out a few more blankets and went to sleep on the porch floor. She woke long before he did to find them both sleeping on the porch surrounded by all the dogs. She was amazed by how carefully he had wrapped her up to keep her warm. She lay there just looking around and saw a pair of pigs mating in the pen. Now she knew how to explain. She was a thirty something virgin about to explain an act, she had never taken part in, to this large gentle man. She imagined some of the questions he might ask her. OH, how to explain? "Just be as honest as you can" she heard a small voice in her head whispering to her.

After breakfast she sat William down to explain. She said, "Every type of critter has two forms: you have the boys, they have a penis. You have the girls, they have a vagina. The boy puts his penis into the girl and she can become pregnant and have babies."

He said, "Is that what they are doing when they climb on top of each other?"

She nodded "Yes."

He continued "So I guess it has to feel good or they would not make the babies?"

She replied, "I suppose."

"I think I understand." he mumbled.

Both felt the discussion was over and went about their daily chores. After supper that evening he asked "Do you have a vagina?"

Carolina had not expected that question, "I, I, I'm a girl, so I suppose I do" she stuttered.

After a long period of silence he asked "Can I see it?"

She was just getting into it deeper and deeper. "I don't think that would be right," she replied, "No more talking about it tonight. OK?" She turned bright red.

Quickly he recognized he had embarrassed her, "I'm sorry!" he mumbled and changed the subject to their for work for tomorrow.

When they went to bed that evening there was an awkward feeling in the room. They lay down facing away from each other. Neither fell asleep fast that night. After what seemed like forever William spoke softly "I really am sorry."

Carolina waited a bit and replied "I know. Maybe it is best if we don't speak about this for a while."

She heard a soft response of "Alright, I didn't mean to embarrass you."

Shortly after, they were both sleeping the sleep of the dead. The next morning they woke facing each other and lay there for a while before they just smiled and began their day.

Late into their third year, around the beginning of June, he spoke to her about a feeling he had been having. "You said you found me in the swimming hole down by the creek on July fourth. I have this feeling that someone is looking for me around that time each year, someone from my past. They are sad and lonely. I think this year I should follow the stream and look for a place where I might have fallen in. I hope I may find something about my past there. Can I do that this year? If I find something I will return and tell you."

"I know nothing of the lands much beyond the swimming hole. Mom and Dad said there were bad people a ways beyond there. We should think on it and make a plan before we do something like that."

Neither could think of a reason not to go exploring. So they set out July Second, making sure the animals all had enough to eat and drink. They also had enough food to last three days and bedding and oil cloths for sleeping.

They traveled, along the creek, a considerable distance before a path began to show. Soon he noticed the path was marked with orange painted squares on the rocks and trees. She remembered in the old days the travelers would chop a small block of bark off of the trees to mark where they had been, blazing they called it. Dad had told them about it in one of his stories. Shortly later they could hear the thundering of the falls ahead. They walked up to the bottom and stared in wonder. After a while, of nothing changing, it began to become boring, they decided to walk back down the path, until they could barely hear the falls. Then they turned to the left and walked a short distance into the wood and set up camp for the night.

The next morning as they cleaned up the camp William began to feel the way he did each July Third, it was light at first like always. Over the next hours it began to feel more intense. Carolina sat near him and they talked quietly for the longest time.

When they returned from lunch in the picnic grounds the feeling was very intense. Carolina moved away from him to allow him to concentrate The person was confused and sad, he could feel that. "Which person as it?" he wondered. Over the next hour most everyone else left and was replaced by new people, except the woman over on the wall. Carolina circled around the stranger and soon ended up behind her. The woman sat and watched the comings and goings and the faces as new persons arrived to view the falls.

It took two times speaking to the woman before she realized the voice was directed at her. Carolina spoke for the third time "It surely was a beautiful day today"

"Yes! It was!" Sarah replied. "Do you come here often?"

The accents and sentence formations each used were different, but they began to understand each other as they continued to talk.

"Are you with the man over there on the other wall" Sarah asked.

Carolina responded that "Let's say William is family." That was the only way she felt she could answer and tell the truth as she considered it to be.

Sarah knew all of Joel's family. She was disappointed to hear that. As she looked over at him, he could sense her feelings and felt sad for her.

After a little more small talk Carolina returned to his side. William declared she was the one that gave him the feeling. "She is very upset right now, she was hoping for different answers. Can we find a way to get to know her better?"

Sarah was near tears as she slowly rose to leave the site. Carolina quickly rose and followed her to the path, "We are sorry to see you leaving upset" she said as she touched her arm to get her attention.

Sarah responded, "There was an accident here years back and I lost someone I loved." Her grief was so great that she was unable to relate any of the details. The feelings were so intense that she wanted to burst out in tears.

Carolina was thinking that there was much more to the story. She needed more time to find what it was. She suddenly blurted out "We would like you to visit us tomorrow, If you would."

Sarah could feel the happiness in William;s thoughts. She had thought about refusing until then. She turned and replied "I think I might like that."

"You'll find Gilead on the map, it's east of here. Not being very worldly Carolina figured everyone knew where Gilead was. You come into town from the north, on State Route 34. That ends at Main Street, Turn right and drive out Main Street to the end of the pavement. Then keep going straight up the road. When you find the fencing closing off the Smithe Joines Mine you will see a small dirt road go off to the right, drive until you see the first house and keep going about five miles, until you see a faded red mailbox on the right. Park at the trail head, between the box and the bridge over the creek. The bridge is old and don't look like much but she's strong and sturdy. I will meet you there."