‘’Okay Justin’’ the woman placed her notebook and recorder on the table. ‘’I’m Patty. I’ll be doing this years evaluation of your hospital recovery’’ she sat down opening her notebook and turned the recorder on. ‘’’My names Patty L. One of the psychologist’s at Chance Medley Asylum. Lets start at the beginning Justin.’’ She looked up from the file in the notebook. “Tell me about the car ride again” Patty asked him over the table, the only table, sitting in the center of a white room; a singular door in and out.
“I already did” Justin snapped back from his lost gaze and thoughts in the far right corner of the room. The eyes of the terror that only he could see.
‘Just another shrink. What are you? The tenth, twelfth. All fucking cunts you are. Talk to one every year I’m in this nut house. I belong in it but that’s beside the point. I don’t want to be here and I’ve talked to you before.’  He twisted and constricted his arms at the thought. The white cotton of the straight jacket made to constrict his upper body, the scrape and burn against his skin increasing as he twisted back and forth.
“Let me out of this” he looked her up and down; once over as he said it. “And I’ll tell you alright” staring at her nose, the center of it flapping down over her lips. ‘Let me out, and I’ll break that nose like a folded noose knot’

“Play along”
He looked back to the corner of the room again. The terror only his eyes could see walking towards them with the words.
“Just for now, at least.” The young woman whispered calmly; twisting each word with her sinister and sweet grin. Her grey hair covering her shoulders; her soft firm voice pushing his gaze back to Patty’s face with a flip of her hair.

‘’Do you still see her?’’ Patty followed his gaze asking the question.
Looking back from the corner of the room, Patty’s eyes looked him up and down, and back to the corner where he saw and heard the words; and back to him in part confusion and awaiting his answer.
He tried to smile back in reply. ‘Reel her in for a while and buy some time’ he inched the smile up slightly more at the thought. ‘Just buy some time’ he told himself several more times trying to keep the forced smile up.
“Don’t play this game again Justin” she smacked him back with the words over the table, raising her voice ever so slightly with each one; raising and lowering her tone like she was trying to tell him something at the back of a room too large for the conversation.

“Okay” he sighed back, looking down at the table.
“That’s it”
He looked and heard from the grey haired woman in the corner of the room, raising his smile at the sound of the words; the comfort and confidence inching him a few words closer; closer back to Patty’s face.

“Sorry” he let the smile fade looking back to Patty’s eyes. “It’s just….” He looked back to her grey hair and smile in the corner of the room and back to Patty; her eyes following back from the hair and smile as well. “It brings out so much more each time” he sighed and looked down, his reflection watering in the mirrored silver steel of the tabletop between them; the drip of a single tear smoothing it’s spotted reflection.
The grey haired woman started to sob and cry hysterically in the corner for few moments over the words he muttered out; stepping forward and leaning in beside Patty’s face over the third weep and sniffle.
“Yes! That’s it go with the heart strings!” the silver haired woman said; turning the weeps and sobs into a wide and sinister smile. Walking up to Patty’s ear leaning into it she whispered through the silver flow of her hair falling over her face “Take her for a ride” she whispered and smiled behind the flow of grey streams of hair, showing the cresting of her smile grow higher. Looking back to him from whispering it into her ear. “So we can take a ride. A ride for a sick day.” she looked to him and smiled over the last words; looking directly into his eyes as she did.
‘Sick day’ the butterflies in his stomach flapped and fluttered as he tried to keep them at bay for the day ‘take this bitch for a ride so we can take a ride’ he felt a smile start to steal the moment; he started to panic and looked to the silver saviour gone from beside Patty’s right side.

**SMACK**

His vision snapped to black and flipped back as he raised his head from the table.
‘Fuck’ Justin blinked open as he looked up from his bloodied nose lifting from the table, seeing Patty’s eyes widen at the sight.
He looked to his side. The silver snide smirk showing behind her long grey bangs; curtaining and revealing the uneasy wavering of it as she looked him up and down; almost like she couldn’t decide what to do. Looking to her eyes and following them up and down, he saw her smirk widen as all he felt was the blond hair on the back of his head, catch and pull.

**SMACK**

Pulled back up from the bundle of his blond hair, the silver haired terror used as a mitt to catch and pull his face back up and once more into the steel table.
“Focus” the silver haired woman whispered, leaning up from beside him and moving back behind Patty; leaning into the far right corner of the room again.

“Here” Patty wiped the blood from his nose and chin. “Might need to meet with Dean about that side effect again” she said and patted his nose one more. Placing the bloodied Kleenex back into her side jacket pocket she looked up and smiled. “I remember when I used to get nosebleeds as a kid. Bloody hell, the things. Would ruin everything. Always come at the worst time. Dinner, yup nose bleed. First kiss, yup you guessed it, nose bleed. Could never quite figure out why they happened, but they stopped when I became older” she looked back to him from the far corner of the room behind him that she trailed off into while telling the story “Anyway, where were we” she looked back to his face meeting his look.

“Focus” the silver haired woman whispered. Walking towards the table from the corner of the room and wall she leaned on. “Remember.”she said propping her elbows on the edge of the table in between Justin and Patty, resting her chin in both her palms as if to gaze and look upon him in wonder. “Take a ride. Short and simple. Just like we did all the time.” She whispered, her fingers framing her fluttering bright dandelion eyes, flickering and shining over each word she painted for him.
‘But we outa to try and make it alright. Tell her all of it alright. Maybe this one can help?’ he lost focus and thought, looking back to Patty, away from the side of the table and the fluttering distraction and past her to the opposite side. Starring at the white wall he said. “We were taking a car ride when I was a young boy.”
“Good boy” the silver haired woman leaned into where he was looking, twisting each word behind the pry of her devilish smile. Her grey hair mixing with her black hooded sweater, taking up his eyes view as they widened in fear; her grey and black quick movement bringing back the quarter old story from his youth as it flowed and twisted in his vision.
“Short and simple” the grey hair woman turned and twisted her smile wider and wider. “The best version starts short and simple, my love” she gripped the edge of the table, leaning in further as she did. “Just like we used to say back in the day” she leaned back off the table closer to the opposite side, as she stepped half way there she clicked her nails on the table “Remember that day” she whispered and clicked, before turning and walking back to the far right corner; leaning and smiling at him from the corner; curling her grey hair as she did, balling and pulling it the odd time as a reminder.

“We were taking a car ride that day, the day when I meet the woman at the crossroads in the woods” Justin told Patty.
“I don’t remember much from that day, only bits and pieces of it” he looked to Patty then to the grey haired woman.
‘Good’ her lips mouth out, smiling and twisting her hair over the silent statement.
“That’s alright, just start from what you can remember” Patty reassured him as he looked back from the corner of the room. “You never know, retelling the story might trigger a memory?” Patty shrugged and said, waving towards Justin “Start whenever you’re ready” she placed her notepad and pen on the table.
“Driving down the highway to the state park.”
“That’s the first thing I remember. No different than the other times we went out…………“ He trailed the last of the sentence closing his eyes.
“Sick days she used to call them. Twice a month we would usually go; around the end of the week…. I think…… They were always good trips. She was usually in a good mood those days”
“Was she usually in a bad mood?”
“Y………. Sick days usually cheered her up. That’s when she got her medicine” ‘Medicine is what she called it. It wasn’t that different from the small blue inhaler he had growing up, except hers was small and made of glass; black polka dots spotting the end’
“Her Medicine?”
“Ya, I’m still not sure what exactly it was, but i remember the smack on the side of the head when I almost tried it.’’’
‘’Hurt like a mother fucker too” he remembered the time he tried to put it up to his lips because he couldn’t find his inhaler. The quick slap that knocked him face first on the floor; felt like SHE put her entire body weight down on his head. The sight must have been hilarious, because he was leaning into it, his entire body pivoted forward when the slap hit. Causing him to fall face first into the glass inhaler and onto the kitchen floor.
“Did she hit you often?”
“No, rarely. And when she did, it was barely a slap” looking to the grey haired woman. Smiling and twisting her hair. Pulling it a few times; looking at the metal impact on the table she caused earlier.
“So, anyway. We were driving out to the state park. Nice day too. Usually it was a good day. Music cranked, good moods all around”
“I was playing my game boy while we were driving” remembering the game he played. A small plumber he thought back. Jumping up and down, thinking back to the memory.

**SMACK**

“Put that thing away” she had scolded him, the small game console tumbling out of his hands and spilling onto the passenger seat of the car; batteries rolling with the speed of the car as they came out of it.
Lifting his head from the dash he impacted into, he wiped his nose ‘no blood cool’ he remembered.
“Okay” he reached down picking up the batteries and putting them back into the machine. ‘When she was low on medicine, she was low on patience.’
“Sorry, didn’t mean to hit you that hard”
“It’s alright” he said looking down to the floor of the passenger side.
“Here, take your inhaler. Did you take some before we left like I told you?”
“Yeah”
“You sure?”
“Ya” he looked back up to the woman ‘her grey hair; now blonde with the youth and the sun it grew from’ He recalled her burning bright presence.
“Good” she smiled back and looked to the road. “Remember the rules?”
“Ya” he sighed.
**SMACK**
“Aw, what was that for?” He questioned back ‘not as bad as before but the same dam spot.’ He told himself and rubbed the back of his head trying to soothe it a few times before putting his hand back down.
**SMACK**
“That one was for swearing”
‘How the hell. How did she always know when he cursed’ he looked over to her questioning the thought. Hoping she didn’t notice the slipped up start of another one. Her staring ahead like it never happened, a small smirk showing as she looked at him.
“The rules, what are they?” She looked over and questioned him quickly before looking back to the road.
“Stay by the picnic table, only go into the woods for the washroom”
“And”
“Don’t come back to the car for a half hour or until the other one leaves”
“Good” she reached over rubbing the back of his head. Soothing the sting she had stung. “That’s my boy” she said reaching back and turning up the radio on the dash “Well be there soon” she said turning up the dial further. Little Lies by Fleetwood Mac started to crank out of the open windows down the road.

“Sounds like a nice ride out” Patty smiled and looked down at him recalling the memory.
“Ya it was, the drive was always oddly……” Justin was cutoff from a muffled cough from the corner of the room. Looking out the corner of his eye, hearing her raspy attempt go unnoticed. Looking back to Patty seeing her inch towards them from the corner he corrected himself “The drive was always relaxing, nice day off school” seeing her creep back a step into the corner as he did; her widening eye to eye grin raising as she did. Seeing her smile and step back into the corner, he looked to Patty and raised a smile himself “Usually” he side eyed the corner of the room, seeing her grin lessen and step forward in frustration as she did.
“So tell me what was so different about this trip?” Patty looked back from the corner of the room back to Justin.
“Well that’s easy, the woman in the woods” he looked to Patty recalling back to when they parked the car in the park.

“Go see if you can find that shoe you lost last time” the grey haired woman said reaching past his lap and opening the door. Her hair now bright with the pasts grace.
“Go” she pushed him out of the seat as he reached back and grabbed his backpack from the floor. “There early” she pointed out front through the windshield to the other lone car in the parking lot. Pulling him back from what she just told him. “Come over here’’ she waved him over to her side.
Looking over the crack between the car and the open door he saw the beige four door car as he stood up, all the windows darker than theirs. Idling near the end of the small lot, it was maybe the size of his school gymnasium; just rocks and gravel and sparse wooden fences around the edges. The only sounds around them were the low clicks of the engines after being shut off; her clicking nails on the roof as she got out got his attention and motioned him over to her side.
“Here, got your watch ready?” She pulled up her wrist just as he had scuttled around to the driver side of the car.
“Yup” he held up his digital wrist watch on his wrist. The same as hers; an old orange child’s watch that came from a cereal box, the black spotted tiger wrapping around the wrist strap on both their wrists.
“Good’’ she held hers up beside his. ‘’Ready?” She placed her finger on the timer button on the side; just the same as him.
“Yup” Justin clicked the button as she pressed hers, the thirty minute timer starting as he did; looking up to her staring back and forth from him and the beige car several times. Her blond hair panicking back and forth over her shoulders as she looked back and forth.
“Okay” she looked down to him, her eyes still looking back and forth to the beige car, just not as fast. “Have fun hey?” She raised her palm up at the start of a gesture.
Looking towards the beige car and back to the glistening blond hair gesturing to him “You too” he returned the gesture, hitting her palm with his.

“Did you know what she was doing at the time?” Patty looked up from her notebook and towards him.
“I was old enough that I knew something was happening and that it wasn’t quite right” Justin replied back, seeing the grey haired woman’s smile turn to a frustrated scowl as she walked towards him. “I pieced it together later what it was” he looked back to Patty from the grey haired woman that now stood right beside his right shoulder; wiggling it several times as it started to constrict against the cotton swallowing and itching his upper torso.
“Here let me” the grey haired woman calmly whispered, rubbing the itch on his right shoulder; his upper body wiggling back and forth at the feeling, constricting against the white straight jacket.
Justin closed his eyes at the rubbing of his shoulder, the butterflies in his stomach raising and turning to ash over her scorching presence; her bitter corrosive love overwhelming him as she did.
“There, that out to do it” she leaned on the table again between Patty and him; raising her smile and looking to Justin as she did. “Did I get it?” she grinned wide, looking him up and down as she pushed off the table and took a few backwards steps to the corner; making it about half the distance as she did.
‘You fuc…..’ the start of his statement towards the grey haired woman was cutoff, as she took a step towards him; pinching her eyes in anger as she did.
‘You fucking, thank you’ he panicked as he looked to Patty and back to the grey haired woman leaning back in the corner, turning her pinched mouth and eyes into a wide grin as she did. Looking back to Patty, he tried to rub his shoulder under the pressure, failing at it several times as he did; deciding to try and ignore the itch and move on. Closing his eyes he thought back to the parking lot.

**SLAP**

“Good one” she smirked over his palm hitting hers, “Alright, go play your game by the picnic table” she looked back through the drivers side; past the passenger side to the tables and pointed. “I’ll see you shortly” she whispered and looked back to him, pushing him along the front of the car and towards the tables on the other side of it as she did.
“Bye” Justin looked back over his shoulder as he walked towards the picnic tables by the wood fence. Seeing the young blond haired woman walk up to the passenger side of the beige car and get in as he walked. Seeing the car door close he looked back forward and climbed over the wooden fence to the tables to sit. Sitting down he pulled out his game boy and flipped the switch up on the side of it.
‘What the hell’ he looked over his shoulder to the beige car where she had gone in ‘Piece of shit’ he corrected himself seeing the freeing opportunity her absence provided. Turning off the switch on the side, he flipped it over and opened the battery compartment. Seeing one of the two batteries missing he looked back over to their car ‘she has the keys. What now?’ He thought looking around the parking lot and the woods just ahead of the picnic tables. ‘That god dam shoe’ he remembered looking into the small well worn path into the woods; not big enough that people used it, but small and worn enough that it was used by small animals or something else. He remembered going down it many of times to use the washroom when they came out. Looking back to their car and to the beige car; he got off the table and started down the path into the woods.

“Come on” he said in frustration, kicking some shrubs and bushes; pulling the arms length branch’s to the side and looking behind as he did. “Where the hell are you?” He breathed out, letting the branch fall back to the tree. Looking up the path he started to saunter up it; looking around to the whistling and cracking of the moving trees as he did.
‘Never gonna find it’ he told himself several times; kicking the stones and clutter along the path as he walked. Looking up from the distracted thoughts he realized he had gotten turned around ‘Not only can I not find the shoe I lost, but who losses a shoe?’ He questioned as he looked around to the trees surrounding him. Looking back to the path he took, it was still there; looking forward he saw the path split in two ‘I don’t remember that before’ he thought and stepped forward once.
“It’s alright, everyone losses something once in a while” he heard from the tall shrubs sitting directly in the centre of the two paths ahead of him. A black metal frame barely visible over the top of the shrubs; etched circler swirls covering the frame.
“In fact, I seem to have lost something myself.” The older green haired woman walked out of the frame behind the shrubs towards him. “Maybe you can help me find it?” She brushed the branches away stepping fully out of the shrubs; no taller than the blond haired woman to him and holding a wooden lit torch in one hand and a snake crawling up her other arm.
“Who……….who are you?” Justin looked up to the green haired woman; her face lit by the torch, exposing the green and yellow swirl of the snake curling up her arm to her shoulder. Draped underneath was a burgundy rode that outshined the brightest redbud hearts that scattered along the trail ahead of her.
“Hecate” the snake hissed and leaped its face forward as to strike the boy; him winching back an inch as he did. “And you ought to watch your tongue boy” the snake hissed and curled back onto Hecate’s shoulder; turning and hissing lowly in Hecate’s ear.
“Easy Becate!, we wouldn’t want to scare our new friend now would we” Hecate turned and looked to the snake.
“HHHHHIIIIIISSSSSS” Becate the snake hissed back, leaning away from her ear in shock; looking to the boy over the sounds coming from it’s sharp fangs extending back; its lanky long tongue swirling the sounds and words that came out of it.
“It’s okay, he’s harmless. Just a bit…..” Hecate reached out her hand and leaned down to comfort the boy stepping back in fear; looking to Becate curled back on her shoulder and looking behind them. “He gets a bit heedless when he’s not with his friend” she smiled and said looking back to the boy; the snake turning around and hissing at the statement in her ear. Looking down to the boys confused face looking back; partially in fear and the other in question. The boys eyes franticly looking back and forth between her lips and the snakes.
“What boy!” Becate hissed and leaped forward to the boy again, extending its fangs back further as it snapped through the air; landing close enough that it graced the nose of the boy as it did. “You too unripe and tongue tied to understand?” It hissed out and scowled, snapping its face back and forth several times towards the boys face.
His legs and eyes stumbling backwards in frantic fear as it did. His heels shovelling the dirt beneath him as he tried.
“BECATE!” Hecate grabbed the snake in her fist, just below its slim teardrop skin protecting the back of it’s head; pulling and jerking the snake back like a spear over her shoulder “Stop being such a prissy prick” she loudly scolded the snake looking directly at it; it flinching back.
“HHHHHHIIIISSSSSSSS” Becate scolded her back and snapped out; curling back into a small ball as it did.
‘Run. Hide. Lie. What do I do.’ He remembered franticly looking at the pair. Wondering what exactly his place was here and with them.
“You do this every time” Hecate leaned in and whispered in disappointment. Tightening her grip around Becate and turning around to look at the frame sticking out of the brushes behind her, she looked back to Becate “I told you earlier I won’t put up with your attitude” she said before casting her arm and Becate back and tossing the snake forward through the air toward the frame in the shrubs. The snakes faint sharp hiss echoing as it was cast through the door frame and disappeared into it; its tail slapping hard against the corner of the frame as it swirled like a rope and caught the edge of it on it’s flight home.

“There” Hecate turned around and said to the boy sitting back on his palms; his legs pushing down franticly into the dirt as she turned around, pushing him back inches as he did. “It’s okay” she whispered and knelt down.
‘Super not okay’ Justin looked her up and down. Her green hair going down to the ground as she knelt down in front of him.
“What do you want?” Justin stuttered out.
“Nothing” Hecate reassured him, putting her free palm up facing him; setting the torch in her other hand down to the ground, she extended her other hand “Let me help you up. I promise the snake isn’t coming back. I won’t hurt you” Hecate calmly whispered and started to extended her free hand forward to grab and help the boy up. Seeing his free hand move up and grab hers, she pulled him up to his feet; the boy now as tall as her squatting down in front of him. “See, that wasn’t that bad, now was it?” Hecate questioned the boy standing in front of her.
“What are you doing out here?” Justin looked around the green haired woman kneeling in front of him. Looking over her shoulder to the door frame peaking out from the shrubs. “Where did you come from?” Justin looked back from the frame to Hecate’s face.
“Where, is a bit of a long story. Maybe when you’re older I’ll tell you” Hecate looked down to the boy. “What’s your name?” She said; brushing the dirt from his face and shirt.
’Tony, remember.’ He told himself, rubbing his wrist watch; looking Hecate’s face and hair over. ‘Maybe SHE can help’ he contemplated, looking over Hecate’s face once more ‘She had a rule for everything. Meet a stranger?; Hi, I’m Tony. My Mom went to look for camping spots. Our Dad just died. We used to do it together. Our cars up in the parking lot. Most people will run away from that one like a Nun with the clap; she would to tell him’.
“That’s a nice watch. Did someone give it to you?” Hecate smiled and asked him, holding his hand out, rubbing and looking over the watch as she did; looking back to his face for a response. Seeing his eyes searching away from hers, lost in thought and not in present mind; she looked down to the timer on the watch counting down from eleven twenty two. Motioning her hand over the watch as he looked away; the timer skipped to zero zero zero and beeped; bringing Justins attention with it.
“I need to go back…..” Justin turned back to Hecate, trying to pull his wrist from her hand. Hecate gently holding it in place and cutting him off with a firm squeeze.
“I know you need to go” Hecate whispered looking to the ground and back up past his shoulder to the way he came. “Do you want to go?” She looked from past his shoulder, back to his face searching for something in her. ‘Had anyone ever asked the boy such a question?’ She looked back, up and down him in thought.
‘Go where?’ He looked over her green long hair and back to her bright bronze eyes.
“Anywhere you want Justin” she calmly told him; placing both her palms on his shoulders. “But only you can make that choice” she squeezed his shoulders to emphasize the last part and continued once she let up. “But remember. When we leave and go somewhere else, even…” she trailed off and looked to the path the boy came up earlier, looking back to him and continuing “Even if it’s a better place. We always leave something behind. It might be something small and not important” she said, reaching her right hand behind her back. Bringing a shoe back from behind her back and holding it in front of him, she continued again “Like a shoe” she handed it to him over the words and tried to smile.
“What if I don’t know whats important to leave behind?” Justin reached out and took the shoe, looking up to Hecate for the answer he couldn’t find in his racing mind ‘What is this person on about?’ He wanted to ask her. ‘Just take the shoe and go’ he told himself looking back to the path he came from; away from her face.
“If your lucky” Hecate said under her breath; pulling his look back with her hand on his right shoulder. “You won’t have to pick” she said right into his eyes; holding them for a moment to continue “But your not going to be so lucky I think” Hecate said under her breath; closing her eyes ‘He needs to learn at some point’ she thought and opened her watering eyes at the future path of the boy.
“Why are you crying?” Justin looked up to her. “Those are sad tears, like when she came home all black and purple and we moved in the night’ Justin remembered back, seeing her glossed copper eyes drip a few times.
“It’s nothing” Hecate sniffled, wiping her face with both her palms. Placing her palms on her knees, she stood up. “Alright, go” she pointed back to the path he took before and said to it. Looking back to him at the end of the words; Justin already turning around and starting to run down the path as she did. Seeing him get about half way up the path and out of sight, Hecate looked to the rustle of the trees to her right. “Ah, Decate!” She turned and said to the spotted Dalmatian dog walking out of the shrubs.
“Did the boy come?” Decate barked out to Hecate. Wagging his tail and sitting down beside her.
“I’m afraid so” Hecate looked down and said under her breath; scratching the dog behind the ears. ‘’His path will be hard if he chooses to continue with what we gave him’’
‘’And what’s that?’’ barked out
‘’A choice’’
“Did he take the shoe?” Decate looked up and said not barked.
“Yes” she said in regret; stopping the scratches behind the dogs ears as she did, looking down the path that the boy went.
“So well see him again then?” Decate barked and licked her hand to try and cheer her up.
“Possibly” she said under her breath to the path back up the trees.

Running up the path towards the parking lot, he didn’t think, just ran; ran with the shoe like a football in gym tucked under his arm. Stopping at the clearing into the parking lot, he knelt down and started to wheeze breaths. Looking around, leaning on his knees as he did; their car was still parked by the fence and the picnic table where his stuff was. ‘Still here’ he told himself looking up the hill to the picnic table with his stuff; leaning off his knees he walked up to the picnic table and started to look around the parking lot ‘Beige car is gone, must be waiting in the car’ he told him self looking at the empty parking lot besides their car. Packing his things into the bag on the table and walking over to the car he tried to open the door ‘‘What the hell?’’ He questioned the handle, pulling it several more times and looking around ‘‘Where is she?’’ He questioned looking around the parking lot; seeing nothing but the gravel and rocks caking the ground. Walking around to the other side he tried the drivers door; the same action and result repeating ‘Fuck, where is she?’ He started to panic looking around. Walking towards the edge of the parking lot where the beige car used to be, he started to look around. ‘Nothing, where the hell did they go?’ He asked himself over and over as he looked around the middle of the parking lot that he stood. Looking around the only thing with him, was their car that they came in.

“How long were you out there for?” Patty looked up from the table towards Justin talking and staring into the right corner of the room.
“Five days” he replied not looking back from the corner, or to her. “Managed to break a window on the car the first night. There was some snacks and water from the drive that I made work” he looked back and said to Patty.
“Must have been scary?” Patty whispered back, shaking her head and looking down to the table as she did.
“It wasn’t too bad” he looked down at the floor beside the table. ‘Would have been worse without the medicine’ he started to smile at the thought. Looking back up to Patty he added “Plus I had enough of my inhaler to last”, ‘And enough of hers that it felt like only a day’ he looked to the right corner and smiled back to the silver haired woman smiling back to him at the memory.
“Who eventually found you?” Patty looked to the corner of the room that he stared into.
“A nice couple” Justin looked back to Patty, “Called child services and the police for me” he looked down to the table and the empty space between them.
“What did you tell them?” Patty looked back to Justin as he spoke.
“That she was out looking for a camping spot. Just like she told me. Told them she went into the woods to find one and told me to stay put. Never came back” Justin looked towards the silver haired woman in the corner tearing up at him recalling it back to Patty.
“Why did you lie to them?” Patty reached over and dabbed the tears dripping down his cheek with a tissue.
“Seemed easier I guess. Easier than explaining everything again, and really who would believe that story from a lost boy in the woods?” Justin sniffed back ‘I don’t even believe it. I don’t even know who’s real and who’s not’ he looked to the corner of the room, the grey haired woman no longer there; only the ashes of her charred ecstasy left behind. He looked to the other corners of the room, poking from the bags of his eyes, he looked and tried to find where she went.
 
Five years later

Starring down the highway, Justin leaned back and turned up the volume on the radio; Feeling Good by Nina Simone was playing. Cranking the lever down on his window, he lit a cigarette and blew out the smoke. The fresh pine and forrest smelled the same as it always did. Nothing had changed since he was a boy, the trees even seemed to move in the same direction. Closing his eyes for a moment, he breathed in the air from the road he was driving down and remembered back to the last time he went down the road. ‘Her smile as bright as the day, and the music as loud as the tires on the road’ rubbing the back of his head at the memory, he opened his eyes after the short second they were closed and saw the sign to the parking lot turnoff ‘1 mile ahead, state park’. Looking down below the radio he went to put his cigarette out in the ashtray; a bump rocked his head into the dash just above the radio as he heard a loud pop followed by several dozen low thuds.
“Fuck” he yelled and rubbed the back of his head as he looked down the road, pressing the brake to slow the car down to a stop. ‘Piece of shit’ he told the car; slamming the lever on the side of the steering wheel up into the top of the column. Opening the door he stood up and saw the front driver side tire was flat. Rubbing the back of his head, he reached down and grabbed his cigarettes and lit one as he leaned onto the hood of the car. ‘Please be a spare, please be a spare’ he sucked in repeating it several times as he let the air out with the smoke, walking back to the trunk at the back of the car he opened it and saw what he feared.
“Fuck” he slammed the trunk closed and yelled. Looking up the road, it wasn’t far enough of a walk that he couldn’t do it.
“I told you we should have gone with the truck. It was only five hundred more, and it had a spare on the back. Like right were you could see it and all” the grey haired woman said, appearing over the closing of the trunk and leaning onto it.
“Don’t start with this shit again” Justin said under his breath and rolling his eyes to look away from the grey haired woman; he grabbed his backpack from the front seat of the car and started to walk down the side of the road towards the sign. Leaving both the car and the grey haired woman behind.

The walk was fairly short and by the time he got to the gate at the start of the parking lot, his cigarette was done and he dropped it to the ground. Looking around the parking lot, aside from the brushes around it overgrown with neglect and age, it was largely the same. The tables where he would sit, sitting exactly where they were; just painted with the tags of youthful art; and a couple of empty beer cans under it. Walking towards the half fence just before the tables, he looked back to where the beige car was parked when he was a kid ‘God, what happened?’ He looked around the parking lot, and back to the picnic tables; the grey haired woman sitting at one looking back at him.
“What happened is you left me” she looked right at him, her once bright dandelion eyes; now faded with the grey of her hair. Tapping her nails in a row several quick times as she said it.
‘‘YOU LEFT ME!’’ he stared at her, pressing his lips, trying to bite down on the flood of anger at the words. Taking a few steps forward, he pointed right at her “You left yourself” he raised his voice and looked past her to the path down into the trees below the picnic table; lowering his hand he started to walk down the path and away from the silver haired woman.
“Hey where are you going?” the silver haired woman yelled to him from behind him. Seeing him continue walking down the path, she tried “Hey!” She yelled again, seeing him disappear into the trees.

Walking towards the path he remembered as a kid, it split just like he remembered it. The same brushes just more dense sitting at the centre. Standing in front of the cross road he set his bag down at the centre.
“Hey, you know I was just kidding about you leaving me, right?” The grey haired woman said from the path to the left of the brushes at the centre; the steel edge of the frame still peaking over the top of the bushes.
“Does this bring anything back for you?” Patty said from the path to the right of the bushes at the centre; the steel frame mirroring just like the other side. Dressed in a white dress, layered under a black jacket.
Looking back and forth between the two; and the paths they stood upon; Justin reached down and grabbed the bag, opening it up as he brought it up. Pulling the shoe out of the bag, he looked over to the grey haired woman to his left.
“You remembered!?” She whispered and started to smile, seeing the white shoe with a single black swoop on the side in his hands; seeing Justin’s eyes looking right at her over the shoe, she questioned the stare “What is it?” She asked him looking down at the shoe in his hands.
Looking up from the shoe, he looked to her and then towards the bushes in front of him. “Fuck off Nora” he said tossing the shoe to his left side not looking in the direction nor the way of the toss. ‘Make like a wave and get the fuck out of my head’.
Reaching forward with his free hands from the shoe, he shoved his arms into the bush and brushed it aside; showing the black steel door frame, etched circler swirls indexing the sides of it. Flickering in the frame was an out of place image from the forrest he stood on, staring back as it waved out of focus, the sand and the hills of a desert replaced it; a lone tree and pond taking up the centre of his view through the door. Walking into the door frame and taking a few steps, he looked back and saw the image of the forrest wave into a new image of a city street ‘What the…., that looks like Tokyo?’ He tried to play with the image flickering in his head, trying to think where it could be. Just as soon as the wave replacing the forrest with the dense street, it waved once more and showed the continuous hills and crests of the mountains of sand around him; the large doorframe now empty from the reflection of its prior changes. Looking forward to the lone tree and pond, he started to walk towards it; making it the short few steps towards it; he turned to the rustle coming from the tree top.
“Ah, still a bit unripe, but no longer tongue tied” hissed from a tree top branch above him. Slithering down the tree to a branch about the height of Justin as he did; sliding and floating half it’s body over a branch the height of Justin it rattled its tongue back and hissed out “Did you remember what to leave behind?” Becate slowly hissed and rocked its head towards Justins face as it did, “Bbbbbooooyyyyyyy” Becate hissed the last word out slowly as it slithered through the air inching itself closer to Justin; now right beside his face.
‘You aught to watch your tongue snake’ Justin snapped his look to Becate slithering its tongue inches by his face. Snapping his hand up and grabbing Becate’s neck in a tight grip, he pulled it right to his face and off the branch; the snake hissing sharply as it was jerked from the branch of the tree into the air suspending in front of Justin.
“Where is she?” Justin told the snake, tightening his grip around it slightly as he did.
“Not far” Becate’s faint cut-off hiss replied; the grip around its neck letting go as soon as the words came out. Coiling back into a ball on the sand, Becate slithered forward a couple feet and tuned back. “This way, boyyyyy” it slithered its tongue over the last part.
“Lets go snake” Justin walked forward beside Becate as they both started towards the pond just ahead of the tree. A small thatch hut with two chairs and table at the base of the pond; a long dock stretching to the middle of the pond. At the centre of the pond was a small row boat with a figure sitting inside it.