27.

Tick tock ... tick tock ... tick tock ... Upon waking and yet to open his eyes, Terrence could hear the sound of a small wooden clock ticking time away as it sits atop of a dresser by his boarded-up bedroom window. This is a peaceful sound, a comforting sound, a sound informing him that he is at home and that all he had been experiencing in recent times must be nothing more than a dream or something that only really lives in his own head perhaps.

He can't help but smile as he turns onto his left side feeling gratitude that this dream is over. Before he can even begin to consider as to how he can spend his upcoming day, Terrence is snapped back to a reality of sorts for as his right hand comes down onto what he expects is part of his bed he can feel something that should not be there.

As he comes into contact with what it is that should not be there, he can smell it too, crisp, dead leaves, many crisp, dead leaves. Only now does he open his eyes. Disaster, this is a moment of disaster. For Terrence is not laying home alone in the comfort of his own bed. He is lying on the ground, on a bed of crisp-brown dead leaves and he is surrounded by a multitude of trees.

Opening his eyes reveals this to him. It can't be, it just can't be, but it is. 'No, no ... no' he says to himself propping himself up and looking around. There is no darkness, a day light has returned. For a moment or so Terrence is not concerned with the return of light as for right now there is nothing which he wouldn't give to actually be home alone in the nighttime darkness and back in that bed of his.

What is there to do right now other than get up and onto his feet and move on with whatever he feels he is here to do? And what exactly is he here to do? There is no clock tick tocking time away for there is no time to pass him by. He may be here to spend all of eternity though how long can eternity last in a place that does not acknowledge the existence of time?

There is no time for contemplation, no time to consider how any of what has occurred could be occurring, for right now and before he can make it back to his feet Terrence has his attention taken by the presence of a dog, a German Shepard who has gotten away from his owner as its leash lays beside it.

If Terrence is in the presence of a dog like this, then that can only mean one thing. A voice can soon be heard calling out. The voice is a little ways away and it sounds to be nearing, and it belongs to a young lady.

The voice indeed is female and is repeatedly calling out the name 'Collie'. Terrence has never officially met this lady though he does have more than more than a fair idea as to who she is. The dog is only a few feet away from where Terrence still is on the ground and the lady calling out soon comes into view. Seeing the dog, a moment or two before seeing the man not so far away, she caresses the animal.

'Where did you get to, huh? Where did ...'

Seeing the stranger close by temporarily silences her, it also makes her stand and take a step or two backwards from having crouched down to her dog in the moment she had arrived. Perceiving that she is not in any immediate danger she speaks.

'Are you alright there? Do you need a hand up?'

'Yes please' he says taking her hand once she offers it to him.

'Did you fall? Are you hurt?'

'I'm fine, thank you' Terrence says while brushing himself down. 'To be completely honest I don't really know what happened.'

'Do you need help finding your way out of here?'

'I probably do actually though my intention had been to come help you out of here?'

'Me? ... Really? I don't need any help leaving here. I know this place very well.'

'You don't know it quite like I do, trust me.'

'You do need help ...' the lady speaks now questioning how safe she really may be, '... the sort of help that I can't give you.'

She begins to leave and calls the dog to come with her. The dog does begin to follow, and Terrence feels that he cannot let her simply run off.

'Karen ... please wait.'

Having taken a few steps back the way she had come she stops and turns.

'How do you know my name?'

'I know more than just your name. I do know that you like coming in here on a run and it is not the only place you go running. I know you came in here early on the morning of April the second 1983 with your dog and you were reported missing the following morning by your partner Dale ...'

'Reporting missing? You're crazy, you know that?'

'Then how do I know your name? How do I know your partner's name?'

'I don't know, and I don't need to know', she begins to move away. 'Today is April second. How can I be reported missing if it doesn't happen until tomorrow?'

'For you it is April second, for me it is September sixteenth, 2017.'

She doesn't listen; she can hear what has been said and decides not to entertain someone who to her is obviously crazy. This is not good; it is not good at all. A number of things begin going through his mind. Terrence is here to aid those he knows have been lost to this park, he is here to aid them out, so they can no longer be ... missing.

This is his quest, his calling, the reason why he is here in this place, he is sure that this is what he must do. In that however, he himself is missing too, isn't that clear? How can he help anyone if he is as lost as they are? Hasn't he in a way helped someone already? That vision he has had, Cecil Lynch and his daughter.

Cecil Lynch was twenty years gone at the moment Terrence had come to be in this forest park. Cecil, according to a vision, has returned to reality as if had never been lost to this forest at all. Susan, Cecil's daughter returned here alone then Cecil was returned to her. So, did the visit Terrence make along with Mary to Susan prompt her to a return and that in itself prompted her father's return?

If this is something true, then why hasn't Terrence himself been freed? Or Todd for that matter? Seeing an older Mary come to the bridge wouldn't that have a similar effect for either Terrence or Todd? Maybe it has for Todd. The seven-year-old boy was in his company and now no longer is. Going on his vision logic then if Todd is no longer missing then wouldn't Terrence have seen this, wouldn't he have been shown such a thing?

In the presence of older Mary both Terrence and Todd were invisible to her and neither appeared to be returned anywhere. A return home was temporary for Terrence and that was to a moment recent and prior to decision to enter this place. Anyhow, no point in second guessing anything. Nothing makes much sense while it also makes perfect sense. Considering all that he has just considered then where does that guy with the chainsaw fit in to all this?

The one advantage Terrence has is ... awareness. He knows what the situation is, or at least he knows to a certain degree. That being one thing ... can it be an advantage at all?

28.

October twelfth, 2019, at about twelve noon, Jason Ryan arrives to the forest park with the intentions of illegally gathering some firewood. There are signs by the parks roadway entrance to detract from any such events occurring. 'Offenders will be prosecuted' yeah right. Who is going to police this law?

The park has no official rangers, no wardens, or the likes and once the summer months and the months either side of summer have passed, the town seriously quietens. It is more a holiday venue, more a summertime holiday venue than a place to be, still people do live locally, and people do come here to 'get away'.

Jason is twenty-eight years old and does live locally as well as live alone. He has been here in this town five years and knows better than most as to how cold the winter months can get. The sea air can be described as fresh most of the time though in the winter months that air would be less fresh and more Baltic.

When winter is due to visit once more Jason plans to make sure that Baltic remains locked outside. He will endure it only when it is absolutely necessary. At home and in his home, he will be as warm as warm can be. Blazing log fires will see to that. What Jason Ryan could not know prior to this day was and is that entering this forest park would be an easy thing to do, exiting not so much.

Coming to this place on this day, it would more than appear that others had already come with similar ideas. There are a number of logs, or rather tree trunks, waiting right next to this roadside entrance. Whoever had come before may be back at any given moment. So, there is no time to waste, no time to lose. Jason needs to get to work if he is to get going again without a problem or two coming his way.

Just as well he has come prepare then so. A chainsaw will see that he carves through the wood easily and quickly. His has his pick-up truck at the ready so he parks it to one side and close enough to those logs ensuring maximum gain with the least amount of movement. The chainsaw is revved up and the first log is attacked.

With only five pieces cut from the first fallen rested tree, a distraction comes. A rock, a large stone bounces against the chainsaw as it cuts into the wood. It didn't arise from anything that Jason had done, and it didn't just fall out of the sky. This stone had been thrown and most likely with accuracy too. Jason looks up and around and cannot see anyone anywhere near that could have thrown this stone.

Not wanting to waste time, Jason continues cutting. A second stone comes hurtling with the same accuracy as the first, hitting the chainsaw. This hit comes with some laughter too. Once again, Jason can't see where this stone came from. The laughter echoes too making it difficult to pinpoint where it emanates from.

'Damn' Jason says right after that second stone hits.

It could easily have caused him to lose control of his chainsaw and maybe cause himself physical damage; he can't allow this to continue. There are plenty of spots to hide near-by and Jason does not want to waste time searching for stone throwers.

'Whoever you are please stop doing that. It's dangerous. I only want to get me some wood, okay?'

What Jason says gets a reaction and not the reaction he was hoping for. There is more laughter. It sounds like boys laughing, teenage boys, at least two of them. Not that Jason could know either Jeremy or Kenneth, two boys who went missing nineteen years back; the stone throwers are not those particular boys. Jason tries to ignore the laughing and he continues slicing through the logs. A third stone hits and Jason seriously has had enough. Anger is about to get the better of him.

This time he has more than a fair idea of where the throwing originated, and he is more than willing to use his chainsaw to frighten the perpetrators. The chainsaw roars loud and it does have the planned effect as two teenage boys make their way out of a hiding spot only to move quickly into the park. Jason follows them into the park to ram home fear, frighten the boys just enough so he can get back to work.

Little could he know what he was walking into for the park has claimed another soul ... his. Now anytime he hears boyish laughter he becomes irritated and immediately feels a need to instill fear to those who even think of laughing whether that laughing could be at his expense or if it would come due to any other reason.