The Road, James Gerard [i can read book club .TXT] 📗

Jerry stood at a distance from the dirt road he had seen before. From the vantage point its opening quickly disappeared in darkness between a mighty stand of tall trees on either side. As when he first saw the unusual sight, he once again wondered why in the middle of just about nowhere would there be a road such as that. Where did it go? Was there another village of Inuit Indians at the other end?

He could never bring himself to ask anyone at the station if they knew about the road or where it led for fear he might appear a bit silly for even wanting to know about it. And further, they might believe he was out of his mind or worse, accuse him of going on a drinking binge and seeing a road that was just a figment of his imagination. After all, the road was located at the north perimeter of the airfield and right next to the dump the station used to rid its trash. But the dump was so off the beaten path that not once did he witness another living soul in the area.

The only reason he had known about it in the first place was because of his duties. He helped run the supply side of the food service organization to which he was assigned. From time to time he was responsible for disposing cases of expired c-rations according to Air Force regulation 163-8. If not for that, the road would have never been made known to him.

From that first sighting to the hidden path the road weighed heavily on the mind. For just the existence of it had elicited curiosity which then evoked the desire to know. It was that desire which led him back to it during one of his off days.   And the only way to find out exactly why it was there and where it led was to amble on down the mysterious path. But Jerry had doubts. Not over desiring to know the road’s end, but the inherent dangers he had been warned about.

When he first arrived at the small Air Force station located in close proximity to the Yukon River and situated two hundred miles south of the Arctic Circle, it was mandatory to attend an Arctic survival training class. There he learned about the dangers of exposure and hypothermia from temperatures that could dip down below minus one hundred degrees Fahrenheit once the long and freezing winter set in. Jerry clearly remembered the staff sergeant in charge of the training, and how he could not emphasize enough that if caught in such temperatures unprepared it most certainly would end in death.

But beyond the Arctic survival training, Jerry remembered an even greater threat to the health and well-being of the station’s personnel. The staff sergeant was adamant about the dangers of the wildlife that surrounded them. And while he heard about the animals that posed a threat, it was the stern warning of staying clear from any bear that may be lurking about the area seeking to satiate their intense hunger and need to prepare for hibernation that stuck in his mind. The warning to stay clear from the black bears and the brown bears that roamed the area of Alaska’s tundra forests was noted. But above all, the sergeant warned, if coming in the path of a Grizzly or just being in the vicinity of the powerful animal start praying that it is not a female with cubs. If the Grizzly was a female with cubs, then the chances of coming back to the base alive were just about zero.   But Jerry sort of let it go in one ear and out the other. After all, although he was just a city boy unfamiliar with the raw wildlife he found himself surrounded by, he ultimately dismissed the warnings as unnecessary. He had been at the station for about four months and not one time had he heard of any attacks on anyone.

In fact, Jerry recalled, in a matter of days after arriving on a cool and overcast day, he took a walk down to the Yukon River to witness the ice breaking up during the spring thaw. The walk was safe. There was too much activity going on from the airfield that served both the needs of the military and the civilian population throughout the region. There was also the small fishing village made up of Inuit Indians and they were in close proximity to the main grounds of the station. The tribal members were out and about taking advantage of the receding river. He thought for sure that bears or any other wildlife would tend to stay clear of the human activity with the large amounts of prey around for the mighty predators and therefore the dangers did not exist. Yet, there was the road. The road headed north. It led away from all human activity.

As he stood staring at the mouth of the path, he realized the opportunity to explore the road was coming to an end. It was late summer and soon the twenty three hours of day would slowly pass into twenty three hours of night. Besides that, winter storms would also ravage the tundra with heavy blizzards making it near impossible to trudge about on foot in the freezing weather and the thick blanket of crunchy snow.   And while the day was somewhat warm and sunny, it would drive him nuts if he passed on the perfect opportunity that presented itself.

With a sly grin, Jerry eyed the road and strolled ahead and onto the path. Just feet into it he found himself in an eerie darkness as the tall trees blocked the light of the sun sitting close to the horizon in its east to west path. He looked around and saw nothing. He listened and heard nothing except the caws of many ravens perched high in the trees.

After a while a check of the watch showed that a half hour had passed. He knelt down and peered over the dirt and from what he could see there was an absence of footprints and tire tracks and even animal tracks. In a way it spoke of the road’s loneliness. He stood and looked up but could not see the ravens, but could only hear their distinctive caws. And as eyes beheld the blue sky, he wondered not where the road ended, but why did it truly exist in the first place.

A few more minutes of sauntering up the path then something unusual was heard and seen. Up ahead Jerry noticed the top of a tree shaking vigorously. At first he figured a fierce wind suddenly blew and threw the tops of the trees into a wild frenzy, but then he noticed the rest of the trees perfectly at rest. Then there it was, some thirty feet away. Jerry froze. Paralyzed, his eyes could see that it stood about ten feet tall with huge paws and shaggy brown fur—and it looked ferocious. Jerry gasped as the beast stopped shaking the tree and turned its attention to him. Jerry gasped again. The beast heard, sniffed about the air, let loose a grunt, and then looked right at him. Without a thought his heart pounded and the beat rapidly accelerated. He screamed and in an instance bolted back down from where he came convinced the predator was chasing the prey.

Moments passed before he gathered enough courage to look back and take a glance at the beast while still racing ahead. “Where is it?” he quickly whispered between the rapid breaths. Slowing down he took another look behind then altogether stopped the frightening pace. Bent over with hands on knees and struggling to catch his breath, Jerry realized it had not followed him. He carefully and suspiciously scanned the road ahead and to the sides but the bear had disappeared. He could not understand how or why. If they were as fierce and unrelenting as what the staff sergeant had told him, then where was it?

Unsure as to how to proceed, he just stood there waiting for calmness to return. Once calm, a stream of level headed thinking came flowing back into the mind. Curiosity again grabbed hold of the thoughts. Not only was the resolve to discover the mystery of the road still there, now he had to find out what happened to the bear. Marching up the road again, the head moving from side to side as if watching a tennis match, he kept a vigilant look out for the beast. About ten minutes later he heard a crackling of leaves off to the right side and froze. And there it was. It appeared it was trying to hide itself in the thick cover of tree trunks.

Jerry laughed and said aloud, “How in the world could you be scared of me? I mean, look at me.”

As incredulous as the thought was, Jerry realized that the bear had too been scared just as much as him and bolted up the road to escape the human beast that he saw. He laughed even harder when he realized the bear was the smarter one; for the bear had no intentions of repeating the chance meeting by coming after him. With a wave of the hand Jerry smiled, bid the bear farewell, and continued down the road.

All of sudden the fear had completely left any of the shadowy recesses of his mind. He could not explain it, but both mind and body were at such peace. And while he could not rationally explain the feeling of being under an umbrella of protection, he just knew there would be no more encounters as the one he had just experienced. There would be no more danger at all.

Strolling down the road further something odd appeared up ahead. A faint light could be seen. The closer he came to the spot the brighter the light shined.

“What?” he whispered as objects of blue and white were caught by the eyes. “Oh my God,” he proclaimed as he stepped back under the bright blue sky and light and warmth and stared at the most majestic sight he had ever seen.

He had only seen the river when he saw it breaking apart from its frozen state, but now he saw it in its splendid glory. The waters gently flowed along peacefully. The breadth of the river having shrunk from the lack of water feeding into it from the spring thaw exposed secluded dots of white sand bars everywhere along the bank that in due season would be immersed under water. And while he viewed the spectacular sight, his jaw agape, he discovered the answer to the question of exactly where that road led; it led to a wonderfully, isolated paradise where with the exception of wildlife quiet solitude was in abundance. And as far as why it existed, Jerry could not care one bit. He was just thrilled that it did.