Found in the Woods

“Jacob,

Buddy, I love you and I’m sorry. I never wanted this and never thought it would come to this. I only wanted to make things right for you and Mom, but….well, life happens. You would have found that out soon enough, but I hate that I’m the one teaching you that lesson.

How I wanted to see you grow. How I wanted to see the man you’d become. Someone similar to me, but better. Maybe that would have been too much pressure for you, and I hope that it’s not too overwhelming for you now.

I hope that any time you think of me, that you know I love you, that you are filled with that love….”

The ink started to run. Max thought it had stopped raining hours ago. Maybe it wasn’t rain. He could feel the warmth running down his eyes.

Max wiped his face with his arm, not minding the harsh scratch from the button on his jacket. He closed the black notebook in which he found these words, and placed it back in it’s ziplock bag. He had only opened the book after seeing the number lock on the briefcase, hoping it would provide some key.

Having gotten inside the brown leather, weather beaten briefcase, Max had found piles of cash. He eagerly leafed through the stacks. It looked like $20,000, all told, but the moisture from his fingers stuck the bills together, making it impossible to be sure. He had looked around the forest to see if there was anyone around, but not a soul.

Having unlocked the mystery of the briefcase, Max had then looked further into the little black notebook, hoping to find further clues of how he came upon this windfall, as the apparent owner could no longer provide any details. Once the shock of his discovery subsided, Max was able to take a better stock of his situation. He had found a man - no, a corpse - a briefcase, a notebook, tucked away in the forest.

The notebook contained hints of what had led to this state of events, a theft, a deception, a betrayal and (at least one) death. Words to a son that belong in the past tense.

Again, water dropping on Max’s hands. Damn rain.

It has been a few days since Max was even willing to leave his room after his dad….

He often liked to get lost exploring these woods, emerging hours later with a new adventure to share. It often felt like an unexplored world, which provided more entertainment than his house.

There was nothing wrong with his house, it was just dull. His parents were always at work. His mom, a nurse. His father, well, it doesn’t matter anymore. They did what they could to put food on the table and to give Max and his sister everything they could want, but as he got older, Max could tell it took them effort. As he began to understand the effort his parents put into every day, there was guilt. But Dad told him to not worry about that, that the work they put into every day was more than worth it to provide happiness, joy, ease and convenience, a future for Max and his sister. That, at some point, Max will understand how much a father would gladly give up to see his children thrive.

That’s what his dad was always like... upbeat, positive, determined. He was all of that and more, until he wasn’t anything. Until he “was.”

The money was a blessing, it was a gift. He thought of the things he could do for his mother and sister with that money. He thought of the smiles he would see, for the first time in what felt like ages. He thought of the future he could set up for himself. He couldn’t help but feel a smile creep onto his face. He felt the rain, or tears, or life and death and everything in between. He thought of Jacob. He thought of this corpse - no, father - that was lost in the woods. He thought of the person his father would want him to become, and knew that he already was.

He called the police shortly after, sending them his pinned location.

Max sat, thinking on his newest adventure, and pondering on the adventures to come.

Max sat, in the woods, alone, but not.

A father and a son.