Chapter 14 - THE PROMISE BESIDE THE RIVER
One year after the rescue, Jackson returned to the forest.
Not alone.
Wyatt walked beside him.
Harold followed.
Titan led the way.
The snow was gone.
The trees were green.
Birds called overhead.
They reached the fallen hemlock.
The place where Jackson had nearly died.
He stood quietly.
For a long time, nobody spoke.
Then Wyatt looked up.
“Is this where we found you?”
Jackson nodded.
“Yes.”
Wyatt stared at the ground.
“It looked different in the snow.”
Jackson smiled faintly.
“I imagine it did.”
The boy knelt.
Touched the earth.
Then looked at Titan.
“You saved him.”
The dog wagged his tail.
Jackson crouched beside them.
His knee protested.
He ignored it.
“Wyatt?”
“Yes?”
“I want to tell you something.”
The boy looked up.
Jackson continued.
“When I was buried here, I thought my life was over.”
Wyatt listened.
“I'd spent years making people afraid of me. I thought that made me powerful.”
He paused.
“But when I needed help, none of that mattered.”
Wyatt looked at him.
Jackson smiled.
“What mattered was a boy who refused to leave a stranger behind.”
Wyatt's eyes filled.
“And a dog who wouldn't stop digging.”
Titan barked.
They laughed.
Jackson reached into his pocket.
Pulled out the lucky stone.
Wyatt stared.
“You still have it?”
Jackson nodded.
“Every day.”
He placed it in the boy's hand.
“I think it's time you had it back.”
Wyatt shook his head.
“No.”
Jackson frowned.
“Why?”
The boy smiled.
“You still need it.”
Jackson swallowed.
Wyatt continued.
“Not because you're scared.”
He paused.
“Because it reminds you to be brave.”
Jackson looked at the stone.
Then at the boy.
He nodded.
“Okay.”
Harold stood nearby, watching silently.
Jackson rose.
Looked at the forest.
Then whispered:
“Thank you.”
The wind moved gently through the trees.
May you like
And for the first time, the place where he'd nearly died no longer felt like a grave.
It felt like the beginning of his life.
