It was
another beautiful day on the Autumn Mountain. The sun was shining, the air was
crisp and the birds chirping. Jack walked out of his cabin and stretched. He
was wearing his warm coat over a long sleeve gray shirt. He had his normal
black pants and brown work boots. Jack went to a tool shed behind his cabin to
get an ax. It was a clear day, but Jack heard the rumbling of thunder in the
distance and decided to chop some wood for his fire to stay warm on what might
be a stormy night.
Jack opened
the wooden shed door, the old metal hinges creaked as it opened. The shed was
big enough for Jack to stand straight and walk one step inside. Tools were hung
up on the walls and his axe was on the floor with the handle leaning against
the corner of the shed. When Jack leaned down to get the ax he spotted a large
hammer resting in the other corner. It was the same size as Jack’s wood
chopping axe, but it was shining like silver and the handle was made from the
same shining metal as the head. The bottom of the handle had a black grip.
Engraved just above the black handle were the initials “J.H”
Jack stared
at the hammer, it looked so familiar but he couldn’t remember where he had seen
it. He went to touch it when he heard a clash of lighting sound over heard. The
rain was getting closer and Jack had errands to do outside. Jack grabbed the ax
and went back to the front yard.
Karu was
waiting in the front yard, she was playing with one of the pumpkin stems. When
Jack yelled at her she bit down hard on the pumpkin then ran off into the
house. Jack sighed. He inspected the pumpkin to find it hadn’t been pierced.
Luckily Karu was small and her teeth weren’t that sharp.
Jack began
chopping wood in front of his house. He lined up the piece of wood on an old
tree stump that he used as a chopping block then brought his axe down hard.
Jack forced his axe downward but heard a man cry out. Jack saw a flash of a
rainy day in a dark city, a man’s face cried out in horror as a hammer came
down and crushed his head. Jack was horrified by this image and his body
jerked. The ax missed the wood and chipped off a piece of stump. Jack dropped his
axe and ran back to the tool shed. Dust shook from the walls as he pulled the
doors open quickly. Jack grabbed the hammer to examine it closely.
Jack saw
another flash, like a memory. It was a man with long wild hair in a long dark
coat standing in the rain. As the rain washed away the bloodfrom the concrete,
the man smiled, it was a twisted grin. What little light there was in that
Alley was reflected off of a bright shiny silver hammer. Jack remembered this
happening. He could see it so clearly. The dead man looked familiar too. Jack
felt like he had been close to the guy who was killed. Jack began to wonder if
this was why he moved to the mountains to get away. Jack’s mind was fuzzy when
he tried to remember that far back. He remembered he had been betrayed and then
went on the run. Did he steal the silver hammer for himself?
Jack left
the shed holding the hammer. Light rain began to hit the ground. Jack walked
out into the rain, lost in thought. When he looked up he saw a woman walking
into the autumn forest. No one ever came up to his cabin, so this woman being
here was strange. Jack saw another flash, an image of a woman’s face. She had
light red hair and blue eyes, her skin was white like milk and her smile was
warm like a roaring fire.
“Isabelle”
Jack muttered. He didn’t know how he knew that name but he knew she was
important. He ran toward the forest. The rain began to pour down harder and
harder. The sky was dark and stormy, the beautiful autumn trees swayed and
creaked in the wind. The clouds formed a shadow over the forest making it hard
to see. Jack went into the forest and didn’t look back. He held the metal
hammer in both hands as he ran. The hammer was sturdy but surprisingly light.
“Isabelle!”
Jack shouted into the rain as he ran deeper into the forest.
Rain poured down from the treetops and Jack was soaked from
running in the rain. After a few minutes of running Jack stopped. He was out of
breath and he hadn’t seen Isabelle since she first entered the forest. Bright
autumn leaves littered the ground, but seemed dark from the rain and clouds.
The trees swayed as if the forest was alive and the rain continued to pour
down. Thunder rumbled overhead and a second later lighting struck the forest
with a loud crack. Jack saw one of the trees shatter and explode. The sound was
so loud it was disorienting. Jack stumbled backward and tripped over an old
tree root. He landed on his back and hit his head on the ground. Luckily the
ground was soft from the rain. Jack stared up at the sky as rain continued to
pour down on him, unrelenting, uncaring. Jack gripped the hammer and stood up.
He was soaked and muddy and worst of all he wasn’t sure how to get back to his
cabin. He wasn’t watching where he was going as he sprinted into the forest and
the whole mountain was covered in trees.
Tired, sore
and feeling foolish Jack tried to make his way home. through the forest and
into the rain.
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