Broken Things Read Online Free PDF Page A

left, he’d made a list
on a sheet of notebook paper, which inadvertently he’d left behind. Still, he
could remember most of it.
    Obviously he’d demanded a campsite with a river. They told
him he couldn’t swim in it, but they’d packed his swimming trunks anyway. They
probably expected him to splash at the bank like some little kid, but he knew
they had no intention of watching him the entire time. He stuck his fingers in
the water, the heat of the summer sun didn’t seem to warm it at all. He’d have
to just dive in later. There were supposed to be fish in the river too, and his
father had packed a fishing pole. He suspected that his father hadn’t been
fishing in a hundred years and possibly wouldn’t be doing much teaching.
    He looked up at the surrounding mountains. He bet that he
could climb up one fairly easily. They weren’t that steep. How far could
he see from on top? He intended to find out. His parents told him that there’d
be trails to walk too, and it had looked like there was one near the campsite,
but probably only to other spots along the river. Farther upstream he could see
where it turned around a bend, and what looked like possibly a beaver dam. Josh
added that to his mental list of things to at least check out.
    He also hadn’t seen any wildlife either. There were supposed
to be a lot of deer up here, and even bears and wolves. Not that he wanted to
get too close to one of those, but it would be something to talk about when he
got back.
    How would it be to not go back at all?
     
    8
     
    David and Carol Norton watched Josh dart off, Carol opening
her mouth and raising a hand but just slightly as if to call him back, her
brows furrowed with concern, but her husband placed a hand on her arm and shook
his head slightly.
    “He’ll be fine,” he said, “Help me unload.”
    “Do you think we brought him enough?”
    “Yes, he’s good. We brought more than he’ll ever need. ” He
opened the back hatch of the SUV to reveal bags and boxes packed in tight,
filling every inch of available space with as many comforts of home as
possible. They unpacked methodically, setting everything up as they went along,
placing everything around the campsite as though permanently staking their part
of the wilderness. David set up the tent, only occasionally calling his wife
over for help. Carol kept busy with the food, setting the coolers in the shade
and rummaging through them, making sure they hadn’t forgot anything. They were
packed with sandwich meat, bread, chips, and a host of processed cakes and
donuts that the boy liked.
    “I wish we hadn’t packed so much junk food,” she said.
    “It doesn’t matter,” David said, “Let him enjoy his last few
days.”
    Carol covered her mouth, fighting down the tears. She turned
away from her husband, staring at the trees, staring at nothing, until she got
herself under control.
    “Carol, don’t. We talked about this. You know it’s for the
best.”
    “What if he suffers?”
    “He won’t, he’s shutting down. He will only last a few more
days.” As these words brought Carol dangerously close to tears, David quickly
added, “We’re doing this for him. It’s what he wants.”
    Carol glanced toward the river. She couldn’t see Josh, but
could pick out the sounds of splashing in the creek. “You’re sure about this?”
    “Absolutely. We’re making his last few days fun. We don’t
have the money to fix him, and we don’t want him broken for parts. This way he
gets to spend his final days having a good time.”
    “Won’t he be scared?”
    “Josh? No, he doesn’t get scared.”
    They filled the tent with bags of clothing and toys, and set
up a single sleeping bag. The tent could easily sleep a family of three, but
the pile of bags would make it impossible to do so. Carol entered the tent,
gently going down on her knees, looking over everything.
    “It doesn’t look right,” she said, “I don’t think we brought
enough.”
    David poked his