A Boy in the Woods Read Online Free PDF Page A

wilderness out here, slim chance to none that somebody will stumble on his remains.” Ben swallowed hard. “Just real tough on the mom not knowing one way or the other.”
    “Could he have hitched a ride, maybe he’s in another state?”
    “I’m just going off the statistics they give us. When an eleven year old boy is missing for more than seven months...” Ben shook his head.
    “Could someone have grabbed him?”
    “It’s a possibility. But I mean, what are the chances that the first person to come across a runaway is a child abductor? You know, statistics again, we have these bulletins with all the crime reports. Watching the news you’d think kids get grabbed by strangers all the time.” Ben shook his head, “There’s no boogeyman, especially not out here. Kids just get lost in the woods... die.”
    Harold sat up, “There’s no chance he could survive in the woods this long?”
    Ben looked at him and then turned up the stereo, “Sure I couldn’t interest you in some of my wife’s date bread?”

The sun was almost down and Harold stood glassy-eyed behind his cabin staring into the woods. “If you’re lost, it’s okay,” he yelled. “I have a phone. I can give you a ride.” His voice echoed in the empty cold. “Sorry if I scared you.”
    He went into the cabin and came back out with four slices of sausage pizza and a can of root beer. He set the meal down on a large oak stump in a clearing. “Here’s some food,” he yelled into the dark. “Soda and pizza. There’s more, I got plenty of food...” He searched the woods for a flash of white, “I’m not mad at you... my name’s Harold.” He waited and searched a little longer. Under his breath he whispered, “Where did you go?” He shivered with cold and went inside for a drink.
    It was morning and the pizza and soda were still on the stump. Harold nodded then went inside the cabin and made a phone call. His bags were packed and the cabin was clean.
    “Hi Mr. Peck? It’s Harold out at the cabin. Listen, I had a change of plans and I’m not going to need the cabin anymore.” Harold stared out a window as he listened to the voice of his landlord on the other end. “No the place is fine, it’s me, I just can’t seem to get any work done out here.” He paced in the kitchen and looked out the window above the sink. “I got it pretty cleaned out, fridge is empty, I’ll leave the key under the cap of the propane tank... Okay then, I’ll talk to you soon.”
    He packed his bags and boxes into the car and closed the doors. He took a moment to size up the landscape, breathe in the last of the forest air. He thought back about the first day he rolled in to the place, the feeling of promise as he started a new chapter in his life.
    A flash of white darted through the trees. It was the boy.
    “Hey?” Harold trembled and chased after him.
    The boy darted down the rough trail that started outside the bathroom window. Harold stumbled and followed, catching up behind him. With his back to Harold, his hood up and his hands in his pockets the boy made his way quickly into the woods.
    “Hey, wait. It’s okay, I know you’re lost.” Harold caught up to within twenty yards of him. The trail twisted and turned its way up a rocky hill of cathedral pines. “I’m not going to hurt you, I promise...” Harold stumbled and the boy rounded a bend and disappeared.
    Harold scrambled up the crude trail and into a grove of white birch. Up ahead, near the top of the hill, the boy walked into a clearing ringed by giant oaks and stopped. He stared down at the ground.
    Harold made it into the clearing. The boy didn’t move, he just stared at a pile of rocks in front of him. Harold slowly walked up behind him, close enough to touch him. The boy was thin, his sweatshirt was two sizes too big and hung off his boney shoulders. This close he was so small, barely as high as Harold’s chest.
    “It’s going to be okay...your mother is looking for you... She’s