Kesh Read Free Page A

through his body. Eyes, like glowing embers, peered back at him from far inside the woods. In an instant, they were gone and Kesh began to run.
    By now, he was reconsidering the wisdom of taking off so rashly. He was starting to think maybe he should go home, but his mind brought him back to the terrifying image of the big cat, and he kept moving. He looked at the surrounding dark woods, and he suddenly realized how far his panic had brought him. He wondered if he would ever be able to go back to his troubled home.
    The rain began to come down again, intensifying with every second until the downpour pounded hard against his skin. The comfort he had imagined a moment before was washed away by the storm’s ferocity. His teeth chattered, and his body shook with a damp cold that had settled around and into his bones. More than anything else, he knew he needed to get warm. So, when he saw a glow ahead just beyond the curve of the bank, he quickened his step, hoping for some place to get out of the cold, and some place to get safely out of the storm and whatever else his imagination might conjure.
    Then a new, surprising odor stung him so suddenly that he stopped. He would not remember it as a smell. It was more like a feeling, a mixture of confusion and fear. He tried to locate the smell to help him get a bearing on where he was. Something moved in the bushes just off the trail, and he sprinted.
    It wasn’t a house or a store. It wasn’t even much of a building, little more than a crude lean-to, but just then, it looked pretty good. A blazing orange fire greeted Kesh. It was set under an overhang, in front of the crude shack of cast off plywood, aluminum and plastic sheeting, closed on three sides, covered on top, the open side facing the river.
    The fire burned brightly, invitingly, just inside the opening. In most circumstances, a fresh fire and a ready shelter would have seemed too good to be true, but Kesh was tired, freezing, frightened, and verging on exhaustion. Right now it didn’t matter that ready appearance of a fresh fire and shelter in his moment of need made no sense. Kesh’s normal caution and fear were overridden by his need for warmth, so he eased into the dry, warm nest.
    He scanned the tiny hut; there didn’t appear to be anyone there. Still, it was obvious somebody had been in the hut, and probably just moments before. He called out, “Hello!” The word came out in a chattering, raspy whisper. He cleared his throat and called out again, “Hello! Is anybody here?”
    Maybe I scared whoever it was away , he thought. On any other none of this would have seemed possible, but today was not any other day. So he crawled into the back of the hut and lay down. He told himself he would not sleep and was determined to keep a close watch on the opening. Then his head dropped to the blankets and, wrapped in the warmth, he drifted off to sleep.
    â€œSo you’ve finally come.” The voice startled Kesh and he jumped up from a deep sleep. It came from a pile of rags at the back of the makeshift hut. To Kesh’s astonishment, the rags sat up, and the messy pile of dirt became a grizzled face, peering out through a pair of neat little spectacles over a disheveled graying beard. The rags spoke again. “How did you come to be out on such a terrible night?”
    Kesh jumped up from his makeshift bed and began to back away from the fire and the strange creature. “I don’t know.” The words jumped out between Kesh’s chattering teeth. “I just know I was cold, and I needed to get warm.” He backed away half a step as he spoke, but the rain pelted his back urging him to move inside again just enough to keep dry. The man cocked his head to the side as if her were studying the boy.
    Kesh said, “I’m freezing and wet. I need a place to dry off.” He realized that he probably looked as weird to the little man as the man looked to him. He was still