Carolyn Bower: “Connect Past and Present” – Honorable Mention – a Connect In South Valley short story
Connecting Past and Present
By Carolyn Bowers
Sometimes when you enter a place of magic, the past and the present are connected. It’s like that here in this place where ancient redwood trees reach to the sky and form cathedrals of light, dusted with dreams of the past and wishes for the future.
“Mom, are we done unpacking yet, can we go explore now?” Jamie, unable to contain himself, was on his third lap of the wrap around wooden deck of their yurt. He bounded up the three plank steps, placed his hands on his hips and inhaled. It was a sure thing he was going to sleep well tonight.
The freshest of air, scented with redwood and moist earth, combined to bring back the best of memories for Danielle. She grew up here, with Mt. Madonna Park practically her backyard. She felt compelled to return to her roots, to share with her little boy, to nourish her soul and to find her strength again. The yearning ache was so strong she craved this place, now finally, she was going to answer the call. This had been quite an emotional year with the divorce, adjusting to parenting on her own, not that she hadn’t been doing that all along, and balancing everything. It was exhausting.
“You know we could get done sooner if you helped a bit more. Go get the sleeping bags from the car and roll them out on the bunk beds.”
Jamie leapt off the steps, bounded to the car and grabbed two sleeping bags. Once inside the circular, canvas domed building he stopped in his tracks and exclaimed, “Do I get the top bunk? Oh, please say YES!”
“Yes, the rules say that you have to be over the age of 6 to sleep on the top, so I guess you qualify! Now will be a good time to go over the rest of the rules for camping out. Have a seat.” Jamie sat on the edge of the sturdy two-by-four bunkbed swinging his legs energetically. “There’s no electricity inside the yurt, so we use our lantern at night, but only at night so that we don’t run out of battery. We’ll also need to use the lantern or flashlights to go to the bathroom. Remember we passed the bathroom just a few campsites away? We go to the bathroom together, no negotiating.” Danielle paused for effect and waited for a nod from Jamie. “We can build a fire in the fire ring outside, remember we packed the wood? You will need to gather a few sticks and kindling to help start it tonight.”
“And that’s when we get to roast the marshmallows, right?”
“Right. We’re also going to cook our food over the fire, you’ll be helping with that job and the dishes afterwards. It’s gonna be fun, I promise. The main rule is that we stay together, always, okay?”
“Okay. Can we go on a hike now?”
“Let me grab my backpack and we’re off.”
Danielle knew this mountain retreat like it was home. She grew up at the bottom of Hecker Pass and often she and her brothers would hike up the steep, uneven trail from Sprig Lake to the Park. With legs burning and breath puffing, they would reach the park border and explore the quiet campsites, creating worlds of their own, wrapped in the embrace of these same majestic Redwoods.
With a renewed sense of hope, she breathed in the cool air letting this enduring place and time calm her as the two walked along under a verdant, green forested canopy. The spongy, decomposing soil gave with every footstep and the unique woodsy aroma seeped out of the bark of the trees. Even her rambunctious little boy had quieted with the hush of the forest. There is an innate sense of peace that settles over you and urges you to just be still.
“Whoa, Mom, what is that?” Jamie pointed to a yellow blob on the trail as he inched closer. Danielle chuckled when she remembered how grossed out she used to get as a child by these squishy, slimy banana slugs. Jamie seemed more fascinated than grossed out. Boys!
“That’s a banana slug, do you want to touch it?”
“Really?” Jamie cautiously reached his index finger down to gently stroke the slug, “So cool!”
“He’s probably inching his way over to those lush ferns for a snack, see the trail of slime he left behind?”
Jamie poked at the slime and then ran ahead, excited to meet his next adventure. As it turns out, this new adventure waited around the corner for just the right little boy, one filled with wonder and innocence. While his Mom lingered behind, soaking up the solitude, Jamie turned the corner and nearly ran into a little girl atop a spirited, dappled horse. She looked to be around Jamie’s age, eight years old. In contrast, her countenance seemed to hold years of wisdom.
She sat the horse like an experienced rider and smiled down, “Hello there, you can see me, can’t you?”
“Well duh, I can see you on that big horse blocking the path,” exclaimed Jamie, bewildered “Where did you come from, you seemed to just appear suddenly?” He felt that something about this little girl was different, but different is okay, or so his Mom always tells him.
“How very nice! I’m Gussie, what’s your name” questioned the ethereal child.
“I’m Jamie, do you live around here or are you camping too?”
“I used to spend summers here, so I guess you could say I grew up here. Right over there, where that big house used to be,” she pointed to the cement ruins of a long-ago estate, “do you want to explore with me?”
“Well…sure, I guess so. Are we allowed to climb on the rubble?” Jamie asked.
“Rubble? This was a grand mansion before it burned down. My Papa built it,” replied Gussie proudly as she dismounted.
“Oh, that’s pretty neat, I mean that he built a house right here in the park, not that it burned down, sorry.”
They headed toward the remains of what looked like a house. Only the foundation still stood, and it too was slowly returning to the forest as it enveloped the past. Trees sprouted up in between blocks of cement. Moss, covered shady chunks of forgotten concrete, while the occasional hardy polypody grew from the cracks of the debris.
Jamie followed the quick footed Gussie in and out of the ruins admiring her agility.
Laughing, Gussie exclaimed, “Oh what fun to play with a real boy again!”
“That’s funny, of course I’m real,” Jamie replied. He turned to see his Mom hiking up the slight incline to the ruins and ran to meet her.
“Mom, come meet Gussie, and her horse, she used to live right here in this spot!” He grabbed his Mom’s hand and pulled her toward the dilapidated, rambling staircase that led to nowhere. When he looked around, Gussie was gone. It was almost as if she disappeared.
“Jamie, I don’t see anybody and no horse either. Who were you playing with?” Danielle asked lightly. “Do you want to explore the Miller ruins?”
“Well, yeah, sure, but I wonder where she went, she was right her a minute ago?” Jamie said perplexed.
Danielle shook her head, chalking it up to a boy’s imagination and led him around the fallen ruins. She described the main house, the outbuildings and finally walked down to the once magnificent, weather-beaten, circular cement fountain quoting by memory acquired from her many trips to this site. Back then, if she was lucky, she would be joined by a docent ranger filled with historical tidbits and lore.
“Here is where Mr. Miller and his guests would cool off, right in the fountain. It’s barren now, but I can imagine what it looked like filled with sparkling water and people cooling off. I’ve always wished that I could splash around like they did in the old days” Jamie’s mom said wistfully.
Just like that, Gussie appeared in what looked like a pair of knickers and a long sleeve linen top accompanied by a lacy bonnet.
“Hey where did you go and how did you change clothes so quickly? What are you wearing anyway?”
“It’s my bathing costume, silly. I would have liked to swim in this fountain, everybody had such a gay time,” sighed Gussie.
Jamie shrugged off his opinion of her “costume” and turned to his Mom to make the introductions, again. “Mom, here’s my friend, Gussie.”
Danielle scanned the area and this time she felt a twinge of anxiety because there was obviously no one here. “Jamie, I don’t see anyone, who is this Gussie?”
“It’s weird, she says she wants to play, but she is here one minute and then “poof”, gone!” he expressed, exasperated as he stomped out of the neglected fountain.
Danielle took another look around and decided it was time for a change of venue. “Let’s head to the ranger’s station and get a drink of water.”
The ranger station sits on a little knoll, a small building that looks like it has grown right up out of its rock foundation. Inside there are numerous old black and white photos lining the walls, Jamie is fascinated by the old structures which used to exist and the same ones that he climbed all over this morning.
“Wow, Gussie said her Papa built these houses.” He scanned the photos and came across one of a little girl in a white frilly dress, “Look there she is, I told you she was real, Mom.”
Danielle stepped up close to the photo of the little girl. At the bottom, penned in black ink, was the name, Sarah Alice Miller.
“Ahhh, I see you’ve met Sarah.”
Danielle jumped out of her shoes so engrossed was she with the photo that she didn’t hear the sage ranger step into the room.
“Sarah?” asked Danielle after catching her breath.
“Yes, Mr. Miller’s daughter. She died in a horseback riding accident over a hundred years ago.”
Jamie listened intently to this conversation, confusion evident on his face. “But I just played with her this morning and her name is not Sarah!”
The ranger laughed good naturedly, “I guess Sarah has been “haunting” again. You know her family all called her by the nickname Gussie.”
“That’s what she told me her name was, Gussie, and she was real.” Jamie stated emphatically.
With a knowing smile, indulgent and appreciative, the prudent ranger reached out and ruffled Jamie’s head. “The children are the believers and Sarah can always find them.” With that statement he waltzed out of the station leaving Danielle and Jamie staring at the image of Sarah Alice Miller.
The next couple of days flew by too quickly as Danielle and Jamie traipsed every inch of forest and field, they made new memories, restored broken souls and reenergized. They walked the archery path, visited the white fallow reindeer, roasted marshmallows and were often accompanied by Gussie. Danielle, true to her word, accepted Gussie as “different” and indulged Jamie.
When Jamie got up the courage to ask Gussie if she was a ghost, she just giggled and smiled. So, he wasn’t surprised on the day that they packed up and pulled out of their campsite to see a spectral friend hitching a ride in the backseat. She put her finger to her lips and Jamie conspired with her to zip his own, happy to see his friend tagging along. However, just as they exited the park unto highway 152, Gussie disappeared…until the next time!