Rise and Walk Read Free Page B

exciting diversion from which she awoke rested. This strange skill had assisted her while her son grew up. She was able to nap while still keeping an ear on her child’s activities. She could sing with purple dinosaurs or adventure with Hobbits while her mother’s mind would let her know if her son was getting into trouble. As a mother, Marcia had learned to tell the difference between the sound of her son getting a cup of water and the sound of the top cabinet in the kitchen being carefully opened while sleeping; The top cabinet that held the chocolate chips she used in baking cookies. Her boy was clever and tried a number of times to gain access to the chocolaty treasure when he thought she was asleep. While taking a restful nap she could sleep through unimportant phone calls on the answering machine but bolt up with full awareness if the voice on the machine was family. Marcia was a mother and mothers could do that sort of thing.
    She lay peaceful with her back to her husband in the warm tent. The familiar reassurance of her home brought pillow cuddled below her cheek. Her mind transitioned into the waking world ever so slowly, to the sounds of birds and a gentle lakeshore. Her bladder was full. She tried to ignore her need to relieve herself yet the sound of the lake with its soft waves wouldn’t let her. She had remembered that David had been up and down during the night, clumsily exiting the tent in the dark to pee. That will teach him to drink so much beer , she thought smiling. This morning Marcia found herself a little envious that men could just pee wherever they wished. She would have to walk over to the main office to find a suitable restroom, David and her son could just use a tree. It just isn’t fair .
    Her husband was restless. She became aware that he was rocking back and forth. His body leaning towards hers, touching her back with a broken rhythm. Still half asleep, she opened her drowsy eyes and tried to discover through her senses what David was doing. She heard a wet sound followed by a slight groan. Her eyes widened at the thought; is he masturbating ? She suppressed a slight giggle while her expression scrunched up as if she had just bitten into a lemon. Oh that is funny , she thought. He was feeling frisky last night but Marcia didn’t want to make love with her young son sleeping in the car so close by. She had agreed to let the boy sleep on his own but was sure he would get scared and return to their tent. Marcia didn’t want to be caught in the throws of passion. She had pretended to be too tired for her husband. I guess I could join in , she thought. Her mother’s ear would warn her if her son got out of the car. She loved her husband and in the soft warm confines of their tent she would be happy to lend the old pervert a hand, as it were.
    Marcia rose up silently, intent on surprising her husband by saying something romantically clever. As she turned, she was startled by the form of a young man sitting halfway in their tent through the open flap. She became frozen with an otherworldly fear. Her heart began to race. The young man appeared to be covered with dried mud. He was holding a pear sized piece of torn red meat. Greenish black drool fell in ropy strands from his bottom lip. His features were distorted and slack. The thing took no notice of Marcia who had become as stiff as a wax figure. Her expression was one most appropriate for a house of horrors. Her breathing quickened, filling her lungs with the foul fetid smell of decay. The young man-thing took a large bite from its handful of gore. Teeth gnashed against the meat while bloody hands tore the remains from his lips. It looked at the ground outside of the tent and appeared disappointed. A disgusting belch escaped the thing’s mouth. It sniffed at the meat it was holding and casually tossed aside the slimy mass of tissue.
    To Marcia’s unbelievable horror, the creature turned its glassy eyes back in the tent. Its gaze passed her