Officer Williams was a man of simple tastes. He hungered not for expensive cars or large houses. He had always been a single man and wanted for nothing. The small one bedroom home he occupied would go unnoticed if you didn't know where to find it. Down a small dirt track on the edge of town stood a small log cabin overlooking the nearby lake. Every summer kids would come to the lake to party but the majority of the year the place was one with nature.
The house was run off of solar panels and a small generator for the winter. Those winters would burn bitter with cold but in the height of summer it was a welcome retreat from the noise of the town. It was a window back to a simpler time. Though it was old and remote the Officer took great care of it. Varnishing the wood, keeping the weeds at bay, relocating wild animals that found their way into it. He never harmed any of the animals. “Were living in their backyard” was a phrase he had uttered many times.
Kevin struggled down the dirt road with his heavy pack behind him. He listened to the birds and creatures of the woods as he went. Trying to pick out the sounds of the animals he had been taught about. He was thinking so deeply about the Opossum that he had found under the house's deck last week that he didn't notice that the sounds of the forest had faded away.It was silent. Not even the birds made a sound.
He picked up the pace. The woods were always so loud that the absence of it was terrifying. He imagined a beast so malevolent that it silenced the very leaves in the trees. This thought was enough to send him running. The weight of his pack swung him from side to side making his flight ever more difficult. He couldn't even hear his feet hitting the rough dirt. This wasn't right.
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The silence was broken by the roar of an engine coming down the road. A ford crown victoria police cruiser thundered and bounced down the uneven road towards Kevin. In this moment all of Kevin's fear went away. He knew that behind the wheel of this vehicle was Officer Williams in a panic. He had forgotten that he was coming to pick him up from baseball practice after school.
The cruiser scraped to a halt across the dirt ground sending a cloud of light brown dust into the air. The Driver's side window rolled down and behind it the scowling face of Officer Williams. “Damnit jr are you ok? Your coach said you left early. Don't you remember that I was coming to get you? Had me worried sick boy” Kevin looked down at his feet and tugged on the bottom of his shirt. It was an honest mistake. With everything that happened he had forgotten and just walked home.
“I'm sorry. I fell down and I forgot.” came shakily from Kevins lips. Officer Williams reached over and opened the passenger door beckoning Kevin to get in. He sat down and marvelled at all the gadgets and computers that adorned the cruiser's dashboard as he always did. There were so many buttons and switches and flashing lights that it had always fascinated him.
“Now I don't know about you Jr deputy but I'd call a child on the run who is late for dinner an emergency wouldn't you?” The Officer smiled as he flicked on his sirens and lights and pretended to make a call down his radio “come in control we got a boy late for dinner here code blue responding now.” he always knew how to cheer Kevin up on his bad days. In his seat the boy smiled and looked at the reassuring face of his guardian.
The welcome sight of the cabin came through the trees in no time. The Officer turned off the lights and pulled up in the small metal shelter next to the cabin. “That was a hard call. Damn the things us cops see out here ay deputy?” Kevin let out a small laugh. He was glad that the Officer was trying to cheer him up but the day's events still hung heavy in his mind. “Cmon Jr. i'm hungry for tater tots” kevin smiled and lept out of the cruiser. Kevin liked tater tots.