Terrance awoke finding the world upside down. Her legs tied to a tree branch. She had no idea how she had gotten there.
As she looked left and right, her body slowly spun and swung with motion like the old broken wind chime swinging on her front porch. When she looked up (or was it down?), she saw her feet hogtied with a vine and the dusk sky through flitting tree leaves. She could feel the weight of her body tugging the vine tighter around her ankles and her face becoming more flush as gravity pulled her blood.
She looked at the ground above her head. She would see the yellow cornsilk turning red on enormous corn stalks. The rows of corn stalks were so dense, the ground was not in sight. Just a birds-eye view of endless corn.
She looked to her feet to assess her situation. She was hanging like a worm off the end of a fishing pole. The branch from which she hung was gigantic. She had no frame of reference for its size. She just could see the weight of her body from the end of the branch and did not even bend it in the slightest. This defied her knowledge of teeter totter physics.
She looked around again. This cottonwood from which she hung appeared to be in the center of the corn field which spanned as far as she could see in every direction. Around it’s trunk was an area with sparse corn stalks. There were some rocks around the base of the tree. Her body did not hang over the rocks but out maybe 6-8 rows from it. It was hard to tell because the corn was so dense and almost ready for harvest.
“SAAMantha…Taaabitha”
Tears began trickling down her forehead, soaking her bangs. A gentle breeze blew giving her wet head an instant chill.
“SAMantha, SAAMantha! Tabitha!”
The only response was rustling leaves and corn silk.
“Mom?!”
Nothing, Terrance was alone. She tried to reach for her feet but couldn’t. She wished she were on the ground and with that thought, her body propelled down. Corn stalks and silk scratched her bare arms and thighs.
Splat … koosh, her body hit the black moist soil and sank with her weight. She lay flat on her back. She could feel the cool soil on her tired body. She felt cold in the dense shade of towering stalks. Crawling on the stalk next to her face was a spotted cucumber beetle, its size was in proportion to the corn. She laid still, scared stiff.
She must have been lying on the ground for a while because the last part of daylight was fading. She sat up. She was a mess with cuts and mud all over. She used a stalk to pull herself up. The corn stalks held corn cobs as that were the same size she was. Terrance felt like an ant. She looked around to get herself oriented.
Remembering the bare hard ground and rocks around the tree, she decided that is probably the best place to go. She started to walk but her feet sunk into the dirt like it does in snow. The field turned moist soil was not solid ground to stand on. Terrance once again assessed her surroundings. Hard clumps of soil, some bigger than others, were all over. She decided to try to get around the dirt by jumping from one clump to another because walking through the dirt would be like running in sand.
“Taaabitha, SAAMantha…...Taaabitha, SAAMantha,” she belted hopping aimlessly from clump to clump trying to make her way to the base of the tree. She looked for the tree but could not make out which direction. Everywhere she looked, looked the same! She looked at the imprint of her body in the soil to see if that would help. It did not.
She closed her eyes and tried to listen. Neither Maria nor her Father’s voice could be heard. She was alone.
“Taaabitha, SAAMantha…...Taaabitha, SAAMantha,”
She decided to go the opposite direction of the beetle. Sweat rolled down her forehead and she made her way through the soil; sometimes walking through and sometimes jumping from clump to clump.
It was getting exhausting. As she stood on one large clump, she felt it start to crumble beneath her feet causing her to lose her footing. She fell backwards again.
“Ow!” she yelled as her head hit something hard. She sat up. Looked. Pounded in dark dirt was Tabitha’s metal lunch box. She picked up; surveying the area. No footprints.
“Taaabitha, SAAMantha…...Taaabitha, SAAMantha…..MAAAria!”
Silence.
She stood up searching with her heart and her eyes. Hanging off corn stalk leaf was her purse; resting against it was Samatha’s lunch box. She gathered them still searching.
She dropped to her knees; tired and hungry. She opened them. Tabatha’s lunch box contained playing cards, a cootie catcher, an empty plastic water bottle, and an empty tupperware container; Samatha’s lunch box contained tiny orthodontic rubber bands, a red ball, jax, a pencil, an empty water bottle and an empty tupperware container. She already knew what was in her purse but she doubled checked because a lot of things are weird right now. It was the same and there was no food. She looked, she was getting low on candy cigarettes.
She put her purse strap through the lunch box handles and put the shoulder strap over her shoulder.
With the cluster of the lunch boxes and purse hanging to one side, she had to work harder to keep her balance hopping and walking through the dirt.
She was grateful when she would find a twig or stick to walk across and continued to walk towards the tree. However, the only direction to make out was up and down. And that was getting harder and harder as a blanket of darkness was covering the green stalks. The sky was dark and so was the dirt.
“Tabitha! SAMANTHA! MAAAria!”
There was no response. She listened hard but the only thing that entered her ears were god damn cicadas. Their sound was drowning out everything, even her thoughts.
“Tabitha, Samantha…MAAAria!...Mom?!”
Quiet tears streamed down her face. The tears cleared a path through the dried salty dirt on her face. Below the hard earth on her face; her skin was hot and red. On fire from hanging in the sun from the tree for who knows how long.
“Mom!!….Dad…”
She sat down on who knows what. It was pitch black; she needed light. She did have matches and a lighter in her purse but there was nothing to light. The stalks were green. All the wood was wet as if the field was just watered moments ago. Even then it didn’t really matter. She couldn’t see.
Suddenly, Terrance felt her whole body jolt up, as the earth below her shifted and lurched forward. She fell down into the soil, scrambled up and ran like hell.
She didn’t know what just happened. Once again she assessed but she could not see anything. She could only speculate that an earthworm moved the earth she was sitting on or maybe...she was sitting on a beetle.
“Mom!!….Dad…”
Defeated, she lit a candy cigarette. But thing about candy cigs, is you don’t get that cool amber glow of ashes for long. She took another drag. Looked up, in the darkness there was a yellow glow blinking off in the distance. Her body was paralized; too tired to care about anything. She stood there perplexed staring at the glow. Some corn stalks rustled. Coming down low towards her was something with segmented antennae, black fly like eyes and a redhead helmet. As it flew directly came towards her she could feel the wind and hear the wind being jostled by its brown and yellow wings. It was about the size of her dog, Trouper. Behind it was a huge blinking yellow light.
It just came closer, right at her. Not thinking she just grabbed the antennae with her hands. Her body started to lift. Hanging from its antenna, she could see its abdomen glow. She loved to catch and kill lightning bugs. The higher up, the harder the fall; she thought.
She waited for the right moment; she waited for its abdomen turn from white to neon yellow.
Mid air she pulled herself into position to crush its skull with her muscular thighs.
It’s wings flapped slower until they stopped. The tangled bodies drifted to the ground.
Terrance heard a crunch of an exoskeleton as her hand reached in to pull out the glowing neon goo. She wiped her face making war paint lines
Terrance felt instantly energized. She looked up and all around.
It was like she was in a real disco with neon strobes. A spider hung swirling from a stalk leaf like a disco ball.
Alooone in the
Daark
but now you've come aloong
you liiiight up
- my liiiife
You giiive me hope
to carry oooon
You light up my liife
and fill my niiights
with song
Terrance went on a hunt. She “caught” 2 more huge fireflies.
The dead carcuses were a sharp contrast to the soil up which they rested.
Terrance accessorized herself with glowing earrings, a bracelet, and painted stripes on her cut arms and legs. Terrance dug in her purse. Pulled out a necklace made of beer tabs that she had made for her mother. It sparkled in the night sky.
Then she put a candy cigarette in her mouth. She lit it but well, candy cigarettes don’t glow like tabaco ones. Then a smile jetted across her face. She reached into a dead body to retrieve some lighten bug goo. She asked herself. “Wanna light.” She answered herself, “Yes please.”
She placed goo on the end of her cigarette; took a drag; and yelled, “Ready or Not HERE I COME!”
The cicadas yelled back.
Crouched, with a neon glowing cig hanging from her mouth and her purse with 2 lunch boxes slung over her muddy, cut body, glowing body she tiptoed out into the darkness
She only heard the cicadas.
So she tried to drown out their noise singing these words.
No, I don't know where I'm going
But, I sure know where I've been
Hanging on the promises
In songs of yesterday
An' I've made up my mind,
I ain't wasting no more time
Here I go again
Here I go again
Tho' I keep searching for an answer,
I never seem to find what I'm looking for
Oh Lord, I pray
You give me strength to carry on,
Cause I know what it means
To walk along the lonely street of dreams
End of Chapter
©2020 by TC McCracken. All rights reserved.