Sunshine Valley

Great place to collapse continued

     The ride up the mountain was a quiet one. Evie was enjoying the scenery and reminiscing. Dillon was enjoying watching her. 

     The house was just as Evie remembered it. It was small, just like hers, but with a high porch. The structure was covered with tar paper. There was no grass in front of the house. Chickens, ducks and turkeys roamed freely. 

     Dillon looked around without seeing anyone. He walked over to what looked like a clearing. Even with heat radiating off the trees, this scene was breathtaking. He could see for miles. Toward the middle of the landscape, God had thrown a hand full of blue paint; Elkhorn Lake. Beautiful. He wondered if Smith would allow him to propose to Evie here. It would be perfect. He inhaled a deep breath before his world turned to black. 

     Evie jumped from the suv, screaming his name. Fowl scattered in every direction. His skin was hot to the touch. “Dillon.” She called his name in a panic. 

     Time had not been kind to Smith’s voice. She sounded like she had smoked a carton of cigarettes a day, “get him out of the sun.”

     On the side of the house where he fell was a tree. Together, they drug him into the shade. “Dillon Jackson Pace when I get you off this mountain, you’re going to the hospital.” She ran to the suv retrieving the bag she had brought. A few bottles of water and the nasty stuff. 

     Smith came round the house packing a 5 gallon bucket and some towels. “Thank you.” Evie took off his uniform shirt before laying a wet towel on his chest. Then she tried cooling his face. 

     Smith sat up against the house, “you’re Jack’s daughter?” She growled.

     “Yes. Evelyn.”

     “Your mom was a bitch.”

     She continued dipping the cloth when it got warm and dabbing Dillon’s face. “You’ll get no argument from me.”

     “You move back home?”

   “You know this.” Evie rose to her knees with her hands on Dillon’s chest as she looked directly at the old woman. “I have heard rumors that you have been talkin’ about my return. And not in a pleasant manner.”

     She spat on the ground, “no shame I guess in tryin’.”

     “Not that it’s any of your business,”

     Dillon touched her arm, “Evie.” He moaned. 

     She worked quickly to get the nasty stuff in his mouth. Followed by a small amount of water. 

     He woke as dusk was approaching. The grill of the suv shimmered in the setting sun. A wolf sat, panting at his feet. Panic ran through his already stressed body. He tried to move his legs. Evie could feel his breathing increase. “Dillon?”

 

    It took him several tries to sputter out, “w w wa, wolf.” 

     She saw that his eyes were fixed on his shoes. There was no wolf. But in his head, it walked up the length of his legs, sniffed of his hand, before sittin’ beside Smith.

     “Seein’ things.” Smith hissed and spat again. Evie wiped again at Dillon’s face before rewetting the towel she had covering his chest. 

     Dillon woke shivering. The sound of crickets filled his ears. Evie had her head lying on his shoulder curled up at his side. He liked this. He placed a gentle kiss on top of her head, before pulling her in closer. “I love you” poured from his lips. 

Sunshine Valley