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As the taxi pulled up in front of the small brick house that Jason grew up in, he swallowed hard. The mass in his throat was nearly choking him. What was he doing? For the last 10 years, ever since he was twelve, he had lived with the secret.
The guilt had slowly been eating away at his soul. He just couldn't live with the burden any longer.

Jason glanced toward the house with it's neatly kept lawn. Suddenly his head reeled. Feeling sick he put his hands on the sides of his head.

"Hey mister?" the driver looked at Jason in the rear view mirror, "you okay?"

"Yeah!" Jason dropped his hands to his lap and stared at the floor.

"My God!" He thought, "It's already done."

Jason remembered that day so clearly. It seemed like it happened yesterday. His dad had told him not to worry. They had to keep it between them; no one was to ever know.
So they never spoke of it again. For Jason though, it plagued him, it constantly ate away at his soul every day for the last ten years.

It was Jason's first time bow hunting. His excitement that morning was uncontrollable.
His dad and him had set the tree stand up earlier that week in the most perfect oak tree on the deer trail.

Jason could remember the crisp summer smell of the morning air, the quietness as they sat hidden in the tree stand. His dad spotting a deer among the trees, he aimed and fired.

"I got him!" his did exclaimed, "Let's go!"

They climbed down from the tree stand and headed in the direction of the deer. As they approached the area where she should've been they searched the area looking for any traces of her. Jason saw the body first.

"Dad!" Jason pointed toward the large pair of boots sticking up behind some brush.

His dad walked over to the body and looked down at it. "Jason!" his dad said firmly, "We must keep this to ourselves." His dad pulled a rag from his back pocket and wiped the arrow. "We can't mention this to anyone, understand?"

"But Dad! It was an accident! He's still alive, we need to get help!"

His dad shook his head, "They won't see it that way Jason. I'll be arrested for murder."

His dad convinced him that they had to keep it to themselves and never talk about. Jason couldn't forget what happened though. It had haunted him like an oppressive weight around his neck. Several months afterwards, Jason found that his father knew the man in the woods that day. Chris that was his name, Chris Wallens.

Over the years Jason was obsessed with Chris Wallens. He had found out that Chris had a wife and two children. Jason had also found out that Chris worked at the same company, Rey Enterprises, as his father. It wasn't until recently Jason found out Chris was having an affair on his wife. The shocker was that the other woman' in Chris's life had been his mother.

His father had planned the hunting trip that morning. He had planned the whole thing. His dad knew Chris would be there. Jason couldn't and wouldn't carry his father's reprehensibility any longer. He had called the police and told them everything.

Jason glanced toward the house again, reaching into his back pocket he pulled his wallet out. He handed the driver a twenty as two police cars pulled into his parent's driveway. He opened the taxi door, stuffed his wallet into his back pocket and exhaled. "Well!" Jason thought, "This is it dad!"

Learn more about this author, Cheryl Kottke.
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