by Ann Dennis

Created on: July 20, 2008

Lost in the woods

I lived on a ten acre parcel surrounded by farm and woods, more woods, and trails followed by a company that stored salt water in underground tanks. I took many pleasant walks on those trails but the day my children became lost in those woods was far from pleasant.
It started when my future second husband drove in my drive with his son and we had an awkward meeting. But as time wore on towards noon my future stepson seemed to warm up to my two older children. And when he asked if they could take a walk on the trails we both agreed with the caution to stay on the trail.

This wasn't a romantic weekend by any stretch. Jack and I had a lot to hash out and with the three older children occupied and my youngest taking a nap we began working on the hows and whys of putting two families together.

The first sign of trouble came when Jack's son returned and we asked where the two younger kids were. He shrugged and said they were behind him. He flopped on the couch and complained that he was bored and wanted to play a game. When it became apparent that right behind' might mean something different to Terry than us adults we went outside. Five minutes later Jack began questioning his son about why he left the other kids and where he had last seen them. With each evasive answer my heart tightened. This boy had shown no animosity towards me, my kids or the idea of us being a family, but I was suddenly worried that he had left my kids behind on purpose.

While Jack continued to question his son I headed out starting at the spot the kids had begun on the trail and began following it. I knew my kids and they would always follow the path of least resistance. So I started following the trail assuming that they would not leave it. It's hard to describe the scared jumpy feeling of searching for a child. The pictures in a parent's mind run from the ridiculous, kid caught in a tree, to the truly frightening, kid attacked, to the horrifying, a child dead in the proverbial ditch.

It was hard to believe that the woods I was frantically hurrying through were the same ones I had played in when I was younger than the child I had make take a nap instead of letting go with his siblings. I also wondered if he would be all I had left at the end of the day. Yes I was panicking and it took Jack almost an hour to catch up with me.

Meanwhile Jack took my youngest son and his son to my parents and told them the kids were lost in the woods. Then he returned and caught up to me. The day

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>