Waking Lazarus Read Online Free PDF

people were always surprised to hear him talk about Soldier Ridge Forest near his hometown. People, it seemed, felt Nebraska had no trees—especially no pine trees. But for Jude, it had heaven: a patch of evergreen that stretched from the northern edge of Bingham to parts of Wyoming and South Dakota.
    About fifteen minutes from Kevin’s house, they reached the trail-head; after another fifteen minutes, they were in heavy timber. They hiked at a steady pace, unhurried by a specific destination or timetable, but driven by a simple need to explore. They passed through thick stands of ponderosa, then open meadows as they pushed deeper and deeper into their journey. Scents of sweet wild flowers and musky underbrush mingled and meandered around them as they walked.
    After about five miles, they stopped for a break. They sat on a large boulder, ate a bit of gorp, and exchanged ideas about which girl was the prize beauty of Bingham—Kevin voted for Carol Blades, while Jude was more partial to Kim Oakley.
    That was the only day Kevin ever asked him about dying.
    ‘‘What was it like?’’ Kevin ventured after he put his head back and shook the last bit of trail mix into his mouth. He munched steadily as he eyed Jude.
    ‘‘What was what like?’’ Jude asked, even though he knew Kevin was talking about the drowning. The Drowning. Jude had been a minor celebrity in their small Nebraska town since The Drowning. The local media gave it plenty of coverage. A few regional papers and television stations had even picked up the story.
    Jude had returned to life after being clinically dead more than an hour—all with no apparent ill effects—but he was uncomfortable with the local celebrity status it brought. He knew it didn’t make him a celebrity in the same sense James Dean had been a celebrity. More like Typhoid Mary.
    Even though he came back to life, a certain part of him, perhaps the most normal part, had died when he drowned. People were wary of him, and a few kids were actually afraid to touch him. Thoughts of junior high gym class made him wince even years later. One of the boys, Bobby Evans, had said he wouldn’t shower with a freak. Soon, other boys followed Bobby’s suggestion like the lemmings they were, and Jude found himself showering alone three times a week, always after the other boys were done. Mr. Johnson, the bald-headed gym teacher who was more interested in sitting on his can than actually educating anyone, acted oblivious. But in his heart, Jude knew that wasn’t true. He was sure Mr. Johnson knew , and enjoyed the torture as much as Bobby Evans and the rest of the idiots. The memories of gym class, along with a thousand other memories of people avoiding him, were still fresh, wet, and painful.
    If he hadn’t drowned, none of that humiliation would have happened. He would be anonymous. Normal.
    The Drowning had always been a taboo subject between Jude and Kevin. Without ever speaking about it, both of them understood this. And both of them had always abided by that unspoken rule.
    Until now. Amid the safety of the forest, Kevin obviously felt sure enough to wonder aloud. Jude, in turn, was also relaxed by their surroundings, and Kevin was his best friend. ‘‘I don’t remember a lot of it,’’ Jude offered.
    ‘‘Did you see anything?’’
    ‘‘Yeah.’’ He looked up, gauging the reaction; Kevin’s face was rapt, so he continued. ‘‘A bright light—like a huge spotlight, you know?— but it didn’t hurt to look at. Not at all. It was hard not to look at. I wanted to go into the light.’’
    ‘‘So did you? Go into the light, I mean?’’
    Jude nodded. ‘‘I started. I mean, I knew this was where I was supposed to be. And then I saw someone standing in front of me. Other people who have had, um—’’
    ‘‘Life-after-death experiences?’’
    ‘‘Yeah. Life-after-death experiences, I guess. Other people say they see someone they know. A grandfather or a friend or something. But