Capetonification

Billy and Jesse Martin sat side by side and looked at the giant oak tree, trying to decide what to do. They were playing catch and Jesse had smashed the ball high into the air. It arced down and landed in the bowl of the tree, where a deep dark tear in the bark existed. There the ball had disappeared from sight. For any 8 year old(or six year old in Jesse’s case) the tree appeared to be massive, looming above them like a Manhattan sky scraper. And that tear seemed to be a giant mouth, that could swallow any of them whole. The tree was ancient, its branches claw-like, its leaves thinning and yellowed. It looked like an old dying man. It reminded Billy of the Ents, from the Lord of the Rings books his dad had read to them last summer.

The giant oak stood in the field across the street from their house. The two brothers played there often. All the neighborhood kids did. But for some reason, as far as Billy could remember nothing ever came near to the tree. No one climbed in its branches, no birds nested there and nothing grew in the shade it cast, no grass and no flowers.

It was also the only tree in the field. Why it hadn’t fallen over or been cut down was anyone’s guess. It was almost as if everyone intentionally ignored it, even the animals and other plants and even the wind. Like they were too afraid to acknowledge its existence, because that acknowledgement would mean they might have to deal with the tree.

“Are you gonna go get it?” asked Jesse. He asked the question hopingly, his voice soft and his eyes wide.

Billy thought about it. He was the big brother, it was the right thing to do his dad would say so. But quite simply Billy was scared. Billy was scared shitless his dad would also say.

“No. You hit the ball so you go get it.”

“Billy I’m scared.” Jesse admitted.

“Go get it chicken.”

Jesse stood up reluctantly and looked at his brother. Billy ignored him. He continued to look at the oak.

“I’m taking the bat with.”

“Go for it.”

He started walking toward the tree. Billy’s heart was beating wildly and suddenly he forgot about his own fear. “Jess!”

His brother turned.

“Be careful.”

Jesse said nothing and continued on his way forward. He stopped in front of the tree.

Suddenly the image if David and Goliath came to Billy.

The bat came up and Jesse used his left hand to help step into the tree. He climbed into the Y shaped cleft that led to the mouth. The angle was not too steep. Then he stepped into the crack.

Billy licked his lips.

The breeze picked up, and ruffled Billy’s long black hair. It moved past the boy and steered toward the tree. Then it died. And not a leaf stirred.

Billy waited on the grass, but Jesse never came.

Billy sat with his dad and Police Officer Jefferson at the kitchen table. He could hear his mother crying in the next room. The clock on the wall said 21:30 and Billy could hardly keep his eyes open anymore. It had been a hectic day.

Back on the field Billy waited for an hour and then he started crying. He called for Jesse but there was nothing. He finally ran home to tell his mother. Billy’s dad was still at work when she called him, and he rushed home to search for Jesse. He climbed into the tree, went into the crack but didn’t see anything except the baseball. And the bat. But there was no trace of Jess. He then went from door to door asking the neighbors and other residents if they had seen his son.

“But he didn’t come out of the tree dad!” Billy assured him when he returned.

Cedric Martin was a stern man, and did not take well to lies or stories of make belief from his boys.

“He must have, because he was not there. He might have played a trick on you and waited until you left to run home before climbing out. Then he was alone, and now someone has taken him.” He shook his head, disappointment evident in every inch of the movement. “You should have fetched the ball out of the tree. You are the eldest. You should have known better.”

Billy started crying again and his mother came to console him.

It was beginning to grow dark when they called the Police. A black and white car with flashing lights arrived shortly afterwards. Billy had only ever seen police officers on television.

He had spoken to the parents for quite some time before seeing Billy.

Officer Jefferson had asked a lot of questions, but Billy could not answer most of them.

He wrote things down on his pad as they talked, and nodded occasionally. It all seemed very dream-like to Billy and he kept on thinking that he would wake up at any minute for school, his mother coming into the bedroom with his morning glass of juice and cereal.

“I think that pretty much sums up the report.” Concluded Officer Jefferson.

“What happens now?” asked Cedric.

“Well not a whole lot. The boy has only been gone for three hours.”

“Exactly! You should be out there looking for him!” stormed Billy’s dad.

Officer Jefferson rose from his seat and folded closed his little notebook, stuffing it into his left shirt pocket. “Mr. Martin, we can only file a missing persons report after 24 hours. Until then, sit tight because I’m sure the boy is just fine. I think he is trying to teach his older brother a lesson.” He winked at Billy.

“You don’t know him. He’s six years old. He would never dream of doing something like this.”

“I know kids, sir. Why just last month a little girl disappeared for two whole days after having a fight with her twin brother about which power ranger was the strongest. Turned out she was hiding at her best friends house. In the cupboard. I can tell you what kinda trouble that whole spectacle caused, but in the end she was just fine. Don’t always assume the worst”

Cedric’s eyes looked as if they were bulging from his head. His neck was red and a thick vein stood out in his neck. “What the fuck are you on about. How can you be so blasé about this? You know what kind of sick world we live in. You’re a cop for christ’s sake!”

Officer Jefferson’s eyes narrowed, and when he spoke the warmth had left his voice. “I understand you’re upset sir, but don’t be forgetting who’re you talking to.” As if to emphasize this, his hand dropped to the nightstick at his hip.

Cedric took the meaning straight away. “I’m sorry officer. This is just stressful. I don’t know how to deal with it.”

The policeman nodded. “Let me know if the situation does not change by tomorrow.”

Then he left.

The next hour Billy spent in his room alone. He could hear his parents fighting down stairs. His father blamed his mother for not going to look for Jesse earlier. Instead she had done nothing until he had arrived from work. He pointed out that she was a pathetic and a terrible mother. Billy could still hear her sobbing as he fell asleep.

A breeze fluttered his hair against his nose and it itched. Billy reached up to scratch it and awoke. He was thirsty. His Mickey Mouse clock radio showed 02:57. He was groggy and his eye lids were heavy. Still he wondered where the breeze had come from. He looked at his door, but it had been closed. He rolled over and checked the window, but it was sealed against everything but the clear moonlight. Then he heard the voice. It was faint, and at first thought it to be the sighing of the wind outside. But it was a voice. And it said one word:

Help…

Billy shot bolt upright and flicked the switch on his bed side lamp. “Who’s there?” he managed to whisper.

Silence.

Billy felt a queer sensation creep up his spine and he jerked violently. He wanted to run to his parent’s bedroom, but he was too scared to leave his bed.

The beating of his heart filled his ears, and he waited. Nothing happened.

03:06

He started to feel a bit calmer, and sleepiness returned. Still he waited

03:10

Billy’s eyes began to droop, and he settled back down. He was reaching for the light switch when it came again:

Help Me Billy…

It was his brother’s voice.

“Jesse? Where are you.” He asked, eyes wide head swinging left to right, searching but not seeing anything but the usual contests of his bedroom

I’m stuck in the tree, please come get me out…

“I’ll go fetch daddy…”

No! Come now Billy, I’m scared. Why did you leave me Billy…

Billy bit his lip. He was big brother. He should have protected Jess. He should not have sent him to fetch the ball. He should not have left him.

Billy stood up and ran to the window. He looked across the street at the field and the giant oak that stood there. It looked even scarier at now. Where the moonlight caught the bark it shone silver. The parts that were in shadow were the deepest black Billy had ever seen. He took a deep breath. Sitting back down on his bed he grabbed his sneakers and pulled them on.

Billy…

“I’m coming Jess.” He whispered.

He suddenly thought of the Lord of the Rings again. He remembered the two Hobbit’s Mary and Pippin. They were also scared of the Ents. But in the end they stood up to them, even though they were small and the Ents were big.

This thought seemed to lift his spirits slightly.

He dropped to his knees next to his bed and held his hands together in front of him. He closed his eyes tight and prayed: “Please Jesus, let Jesse be okay. Please let me bring him home safely. Amen.”

He rummaged through the bedside cabinet and found his wind-up torch he got on his last birthday from Derek Coleman. He gave it a few spins and flicked it on. It took a few seconds but the light fluttered on. He was a bit skeptical of it, but it was his only source of light.

Then he opened the window sill and pushed it wide enough for him to climb through. He slid down the wall and plopped in his mother’s little garden. He crushed a few of the flowering plants underfoot, and knew that she would shout at him the next day, but if he found Jesse he was sure she would forget about it.

It took him about twenty minutes to reach the tree. With every step he took, his little heart beat harder. He could hear sirens way off in the background. He could hear the occasional yap of a dog somewhere, fainter still were the sounds of police sirens. Billy guessed these were far away.

He had never been out of the house at this time of night before. He did not expect the world to be so…dead. All the lights in all the houses were off. There were no sounds of movement from anywhere.

He may have been the last human on the earth. The old Oak’s branches moaned above him. They almost sounded like a choir of tortured voices. This freaked Billy out even more and he longed to go back inside.

“No. I must get Jesse back!” He told himself.

He looked at the oak. Jesse had gone into the mouth and he would have to go that way too if he were to find his brother.

He stepped forward and reached up. The bark was surprisingly warm to the touch. Billy put his foot into a hollowed out knot and stepped up. He came into reach of the lowest branch and grabbed it. He pulled hard and got high enough to step into the Y shaped cleft. In front of him was now the gaping maw. He was breathing deeply. The climb had not exerted him, but he was close to panic.

The darkness seemed to pulse from the giant tear, as if the entire world’s darkness originated from it.

Billy held up his torch and turned on the power. The light barely seemed to penetrate that deep blackness. Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the darkness.

And was never seen again…

THE END