Vor 5 Stunden
A minivan pulled into the parking area at the trailhead and three excited teens piled out and began unloading their gear for a three day hike and camping trip. The three had been camping alone before, but their parents had never let them go far from home. Now that the boys were fifteen, their parents had consented to a three day, two night hiking trip through the national forest. They would be on their own in an isolated area and even though their parents had some misgivings, all had agreed that the boys were mature enough to take the trip.
Jason and Jared Turner were identical twins, and Logan Matthews was one of the few people outside their family who could tell them apart. The three had lived their entire lives on the same cul-de-sac in Circle City. When they were five and in kindergarten, something had clicked in Logan's brain and he just knew which twin was which.
When they reached seventh grade and were no longer in a single classroom all day, Jason, who was a math wiz, and Jared, who found history and other social studies to be no problem, would exchange clothes in the boys’ room and take tests for each other in the classes they were good at. As far as they knew, Logan was the only person who was onto their little scam, and since they were all so close, he'd never said anything. In fact, he thought it was cool that they were able to fool the teachers like that. Logan was no slouch in school, either, and all three got decent grades.
The twins’ dad watched as the boys unloaded the car and piled their gear on the grass. “Have you got everything? You won't want to be out in the woods and find that you've forgotten something crucial.”
“Yeah, Dad. We're sure. We've triple checked the list and packed everything.”
“Okay, boys, have fun, and remember the rules. Stay together and stick to the route you marked out on the map for us. Remember, there's a lot of bears out there and they're filling up for the winter. We don't want any of you to become bear chow.”
“Awww, Dad, we’re not little kids anymore.”
“I know,” he said, grabbing the twins into a hug, “but you’ll always be my little boys no matter how big or old you get.” Then he reached over and grabbed Logan, pulling him into a group hug. “You’ll all always be my little boys.”
Jared was the first to pull away. “So, Dad, don’t you think it’s about time for you to leave?” he asked, grinning.
“Ha ha ha. Okay, I can take a hint. You boys have fun and stay safe. Logan’s dad will pick you up the day after tomorrow at the Willow Lake trailhead at four pm.” As he was pulling out of the parking area, he gave the boys a honk and a wave.
“Jeez! I thought he’d never leave.” Jared said. “Come on, dudes, the wild is calling us.”
The climb was easy for the first couple of hours, but then the trail became steeper. The easy chatter and joking that had passed the time in the beginning were replaced by heavy breathing and an occasional grunt as the trail wound its way to the top of the ridge. As they passed a milepost, Jared pulled out the trail guide and looked at it. “Just about a mile left to the ridge, guys. We can have lunch there.”
“A mile?” Jason moaned. “Oh, God, why did I let you guys talk me into this? I can’t go any farther until I rest some.”
“Come on, Jase, it’s only a mile and then it’s an easy hike to the trail fork for Devil’s Canyon. We can rest awhile after we have lunch,” Logan said.
“No way! I’m not moving another step until I rest some. Why aren’t you guys as wasted as I am? I know I’m in as good condition as you are.” Jared never answered; he just smiled. Jason frowned at his brother. “Okay, dickhead, what’s in my pack?”
“Just regular camping stuff.”
“Regular camping stuff like what?”
Jared shrugged his shoulders. “You know, just regular stuff. Toilet paper, ground cloth, some dried food, a couple bricks, canned food…”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. A couple bricks? You put a couple bricks in my pack?”
“Well, actually it was three.”
Jason glared at his brother and dropped his bag on the ground and started unpacking it. “Why the hell did you put bricks in my pack?”
“It just seemed like the right thing to do,” Jared said, shrugging his shoulders.
“You are such an ass sometimes.”
Logan was sitting on his pack and laughing at the twins’ antics. What made it even funnier was that he knew that if Jason had packed the bags, he would have done the same thing to Jared. For over ten years he’d been watching the twins pull dirty tricks on each other. They’d fight about it, and as soon as they calmed down, they’d just go on like nothing had happened.
He envied them for the closeness they shared. He had a younger sister and they were close, but theirs was a different kind of closeness. It was more of a protector/protected closeness and not a companion/confidant closeness. Logan and the twins were the best of friends, but even that paled next to the relationship the twins shared. He often wondered what it would be like to be so close to someone that you could share secrets without worrying they’d tell someone else. His laughing stopped as soon as the word “secret” manifested itself. He couldn’t laugh anymore.
Neither of the twins noticed that Logan had stopped laughing as they continued to bicker. “Look at all this canned stuff,” Jason complained. “This is way more than I can eat. You’ve given me two of everything.” The realization hit Jason like a slap at the back of the head. “You turd breath! I’ve been carrying your food, too! You are so gonna die!” Jared just smiled sheepishly and then started ducking the cans being thrown at him. “If you’re gonna eat it, you can carry it!”
Jason carefully replaced the gear from his pack while Jared picked up cans and dumped them into his. Although the twins were so much alike physically that few could tell them apart, there were pronounced differences in their personalities. Jared was more impatient and tended to jump into things, as well as being on the hotheaded side and a poor loser. Jason was more reserved and tended to be calmer in his reactions to new or unusual situations. Jason also tended to defer to his brother nearly all the time. It wasn't that Jason was a follower as much as he disliked confrontation.
Jason put his pack back on and fastened the belly strap while Jared was kicking through the weeds beside the trail, as if he'd lost something. “Come on, Jared, Let's get moving.”
“I can't yet. I can't find my fruit cocktail. You know I like it...where the hell did you throw it?”
“How am I supposed to know where it is? If it'd been in your pack, where it belonged, you wouldn't have lost it.”
“Damn!” Jared said, pulling his own pack on. “What kind of camping trip will this be with no fruit cocktail?”
“Hello, Earth to Logan. Anyone in there?”
Logan was still lost in his thoughts when he realized Jared was talking to him. He looked up into Jared’s smiling face. “Sorry, I guess I was daydreaming.”
“Well, wake up then, dude, and let's get a move on.”
Jared started up the trail and Logan fell in a few paces behind him, with Jason bringing up the rear. They'd gone a couple of hundred yards when Logan noticed that Jason was walking beside him.
“Hey,” Jason said.
“Hey, yourself.”
“You okay, dude?”
“Yeah, I'm doing okay. Why?”
“Well, you just seem a little out of it today. If something's bothering you, you can talk it over with us, you know.”
“No... I'm fine. I've just been thinking about some things lately.”
“Well, when or if you need to talk, we're here to listen.”
“I know, dude. Thanks.”
It took the boys a half hour to reach the ridge, and they stopped there to eat the sandwiches their mothers had fixed for their first lunch.
“What did you get?”
“Peanut butter and jelly and a ham and cheese. What about you?”
“She made me the opposite.”
“The opposite?”
“Yeah, ham and cheese and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”
“You guys are so whacked!” laughed Logan.
“Yeah? Well, at least we have some variety in our lives, mister roast beef sandwiches.”
“I don't always have roast beef.”
“Oh yeah? What have you got then?”
“I haven't looked.”
“Well then, look.”
Logan was laughing inside because he knew what he'd find. His mom always made roast beef sandwiches when he needed a packed lunch. He pulled out a sandwich, unwrapped it, and took a bite.
“Well, what is it?” Jared asked.
“I’m tasting it to see, right now.”
“You don’t have to taste it, just look at it and you can tell.”
“It looks like a piece of meat in between two slices of bread.”
“Quit stalling, asshole. What is it?”
“Okay, okay, it’s roast beef,” Logan said, laughing.
“YES! Jared is right once again! When will you losers learn not to disagree with me? I’m not wrong very often, and even when I’m wrong, I’m more right than either of you.”
Logan just rolled his eyes and continued eating his sandwich, but Jason was giving Jared an angry look. “You know, your crap gets really old these days. Why don't you grow up?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Your attitude. Jeez, Jared, you act like a two-year-old. If you're right about something or win a bet, you gloat. If you're wrong or lose a bet, you go berserk and accuse people of cheating just to make you look bad. You seriously need to grow up.”
“It's called self confidence, li’l bro.”
“No, it's called arrogance, and being five minutes older doesn't make you my big brother. We're the same size, and those five minutes don't count because you used them to tell the doctor what you thought he’d done wrong in delivering you. You're a know-it-all that can't stand to be wrong about anything.”
Logan listened to the brothers arguing but didn't say anything. He'd heard that argument before, and he wasn't about to take sides, although he did agree with what Jason was saying. Jared's temper was legendary at school and in the neighborhood, and it had landed him in detention more times than he could count.
When they were ten and in fifth grade, Jared had gotten angry over a lost dollar bet on the World Series and had broken Jonny Walker's nose, giving it a permanent crook. Jared ended up in anger management counseling, and after only three or four sessions, he convinced the therapist it was just two boys fighting and the therapist gave him a clean bill of health and allowed him to return to school. That incident gave Jared a “badass” reputation, and even though he wasn't a bully, most kids steered clear of antagonizing him.
The twins finished their argument and sandwiches and the three boys put on their packs and started up the trail along the ridge.
“Only about an hour to the Devil’s Canyon trail spur, so we should get to our campsite for the night with plenty of time to spare,” Jared said.
The boys made sure to make plenty of noise as they walked, to warn bears and other wild animals they were there. It wouldn't be much fun to surprise a bear that was eating berries along the trail. Jared was in the lead and was singing “99 Bottles of Beer” over and over. Logan was next in line and he occasionally joined in the singing, but mostly he was quiet. Jason brought up the rear and nervously kept checking the trail behind them. He wasn't so worried about bears, but he knew that cats were curious and he was afraid some cougar would decide to see what all the commotion was about. He was last in line, so if the cougar decided it needed a teen for dinner, he would be the most likely target. The fact that no cougars had been seen in that area for twenty-five years didn't impress him. He thought cats were sneaky and were only seen when they wanted to be seen.
“Looking for cougars?” Jason hadn't realized that Jared and Logan had stopped, and he was startled to hear his brother's voice so close. Jared knew of his brother's fear of cougars and delighted in teasing him when they were camping. Jared was standing there smirking at him and even Logan looked amused.
“Screw you, Jared.”
“Come on, guys,” Logan said. “You can argue later. We're at the cut-off and we still have an hour to go to get to the camping area.”
“Cut-off?” Jason asked.
“The Devil’s Canyon trail,” Jared told him.
“We're not supposed to take that trail. We told our parents we'd stay on the main trail.”
“The main trail's for little kids and old people,” Jared snorted. “We took a vote and decided to take the Devil's Canyon trail.”
“No one asked me to vote.”
“You weren't there when we voted and it wouldn't have mattered if you were because you'd have lost since we both voted yes. That's how democracy works, li’l bro. The majority rules,” Jared said.
“I don't like this, guys. Our asses will be in the wringer if our parents find out.”
“They won't find out.”
“What if something happens to one of us? If the rangers have to come rescue us, they'll find out.”
“The only thing that might happen is that you'll get eaten by a cougar and Logan and I can just say it carried you up there to eat you,” Jared said, laughing.
“Come on, Jason,” Logan spoke up. “It'll be okay. That trail's shorter and has more to look at. All the main trail has is trees.”
“Okay, but I want it clear that I'm only going under protest and because Dad told us to stay together.”
“Gotcha, bro. Your protest is noted and your ass duly covered.” Jared laughed.
“If we get there before it's too late, we can pick some berries for desert with our dinner,” Logan said.
Jason looked at him in shock, “You have got to be kidding! You want us picking berries in bear country? We might as well print some signs in bear talk, and hang them on our backs. 'Today's special meat, teen boys to go along with your naturally sweet berries'.”
“We'll sing while we pick.” Jared laughed. “Come on, guys, the devil awaits us.”
“God, I hope not.” Jason said.
Jason and Jared Turner were identical twins, and Logan Matthews was one of the few people outside their family who could tell them apart. The three had lived their entire lives on the same cul-de-sac in Circle City. When they were five and in kindergarten, something had clicked in Logan's brain and he just knew which twin was which.
When they reached seventh grade and were no longer in a single classroom all day, Jason, who was a math wiz, and Jared, who found history and other social studies to be no problem, would exchange clothes in the boys’ room and take tests for each other in the classes they were good at. As far as they knew, Logan was the only person who was onto their little scam, and since they were all so close, he'd never said anything. In fact, he thought it was cool that they were able to fool the teachers like that. Logan was no slouch in school, either, and all three got decent grades.
The twins’ dad watched as the boys unloaded the car and piled their gear on the grass. “Have you got everything? You won't want to be out in the woods and find that you've forgotten something crucial.”
“Yeah, Dad. We're sure. We've triple checked the list and packed everything.”
“Okay, boys, have fun, and remember the rules. Stay together and stick to the route you marked out on the map for us. Remember, there's a lot of bears out there and they're filling up for the winter. We don't want any of you to become bear chow.”
“Awww, Dad, we’re not little kids anymore.”
“I know,” he said, grabbing the twins into a hug, “but you’ll always be my little boys no matter how big or old you get.” Then he reached over and grabbed Logan, pulling him into a group hug. “You’ll all always be my little boys.”
Jared was the first to pull away. “So, Dad, don’t you think it’s about time for you to leave?” he asked, grinning.
“Ha ha ha. Okay, I can take a hint. You boys have fun and stay safe. Logan’s dad will pick you up the day after tomorrow at the Willow Lake trailhead at four pm.” As he was pulling out of the parking area, he gave the boys a honk and a wave.
“Jeez! I thought he’d never leave.” Jared said. “Come on, dudes, the wild is calling us.”
The climb was easy for the first couple of hours, but then the trail became steeper. The easy chatter and joking that had passed the time in the beginning were replaced by heavy breathing and an occasional grunt as the trail wound its way to the top of the ridge. As they passed a milepost, Jared pulled out the trail guide and looked at it. “Just about a mile left to the ridge, guys. We can have lunch there.”
“A mile?” Jason moaned. “Oh, God, why did I let you guys talk me into this? I can’t go any farther until I rest some.”
“Come on, Jase, it’s only a mile and then it’s an easy hike to the trail fork for Devil’s Canyon. We can rest awhile after we have lunch,” Logan said.
“No way! I’m not moving another step until I rest some. Why aren’t you guys as wasted as I am? I know I’m in as good condition as you are.” Jared never answered; he just smiled. Jason frowned at his brother. “Okay, dickhead, what’s in my pack?”
“Just regular camping stuff.”
“Regular camping stuff like what?”
Jared shrugged his shoulders. “You know, just regular stuff. Toilet paper, ground cloth, some dried food, a couple bricks, canned food…”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. A couple bricks? You put a couple bricks in my pack?”
“Well, actually it was three.”
Jason glared at his brother and dropped his bag on the ground and started unpacking it. “Why the hell did you put bricks in my pack?”
“It just seemed like the right thing to do,” Jared said, shrugging his shoulders.
“You are such an ass sometimes.”
Logan was sitting on his pack and laughing at the twins’ antics. What made it even funnier was that he knew that if Jason had packed the bags, he would have done the same thing to Jared. For over ten years he’d been watching the twins pull dirty tricks on each other. They’d fight about it, and as soon as they calmed down, they’d just go on like nothing had happened.
He envied them for the closeness they shared. He had a younger sister and they were close, but theirs was a different kind of closeness. It was more of a protector/protected closeness and not a companion/confidant closeness. Logan and the twins were the best of friends, but even that paled next to the relationship the twins shared. He often wondered what it would be like to be so close to someone that you could share secrets without worrying they’d tell someone else. His laughing stopped as soon as the word “secret” manifested itself. He couldn’t laugh anymore.
Neither of the twins noticed that Logan had stopped laughing as they continued to bicker. “Look at all this canned stuff,” Jason complained. “This is way more than I can eat. You’ve given me two of everything.” The realization hit Jason like a slap at the back of the head. “You turd breath! I’ve been carrying your food, too! You are so gonna die!” Jared just smiled sheepishly and then started ducking the cans being thrown at him. “If you’re gonna eat it, you can carry it!”
Jason carefully replaced the gear from his pack while Jared picked up cans and dumped them into his. Although the twins were so much alike physically that few could tell them apart, there were pronounced differences in their personalities. Jared was more impatient and tended to jump into things, as well as being on the hotheaded side and a poor loser. Jason was more reserved and tended to be calmer in his reactions to new or unusual situations. Jason also tended to defer to his brother nearly all the time. It wasn't that Jason was a follower as much as he disliked confrontation.
Jason put his pack back on and fastened the belly strap while Jared was kicking through the weeds beside the trail, as if he'd lost something. “Come on, Jared, Let's get moving.”
“I can't yet. I can't find my fruit cocktail. You know I like it...where the hell did you throw it?”
“How am I supposed to know where it is? If it'd been in your pack, where it belonged, you wouldn't have lost it.”
“Damn!” Jared said, pulling his own pack on. “What kind of camping trip will this be with no fruit cocktail?”
“Hello, Earth to Logan. Anyone in there?”
Logan was still lost in his thoughts when he realized Jared was talking to him. He looked up into Jared’s smiling face. “Sorry, I guess I was daydreaming.”
“Well, wake up then, dude, and let's get a move on.”
Jared started up the trail and Logan fell in a few paces behind him, with Jason bringing up the rear. They'd gone a couple of hundred yards when Logan noticed that Jason was walking beside him.
“Hey,” Jason said.
“Hey, yourself.”
“You okay, dude?”
“Yeah, I'm doing okay. Why?”
“Well, you just seem a little out of it today. If something's bothering you, you can talk it over with us, you know.”
“No... I'm fine. I've just been thinking about some things lately.”
“Well, when or if you need to talk, we're here to listen.”
“I know, dude. Thanks.”
It took the boys a half hour to reach the ridge, and they stopped there to eat the sandwiches their mothers had fixed for their first lunch.
“What did you get?”
“Peanut butter and jelly and a ham and cheese. What about you?”
“She made me the opposite.”
“The opposite?”
“Yeah, ham and cheese and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”
“You guys are so whacked!” laughed Logan.
“Yeah? Well, at least we have some variety in our lives, mister roast beef sandwiches.”
“I don't always have roast beef.”
“Oh yeah? What have you got then?”
“I haven't looked.”
“Well then, look.”
Logan was laughing inside because he knew what he'd find. His mom always made roast beef sandwiches when he needed a packed lunch. He pulled out a sandwich, unwrapped it, and took a bite.
“Well, what is it?” Jared asked.
“I’m tasting it to see, right now.”
“You don’t have to taste it, just look at it and you can tell.”
“It looks like a piece of meat in between two slices of bread.”
“Quit stalling, asshole. What is it?”
“Okay, okay, it’s roast beef,” Logan said, laughing.
“YES! Jared is right once again! When will you losers learn not to disagree with me? I’m not wrong very often, and even when I’m wrong, I’m more right than either of you.”
Logan just rolled his eyes and continued eating his sandwich, but Jason was giving Jared an angry look. “You know, your crap gets really old these days. Why don't you grow up?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Your attitude. Jeez, Jared, you act like a two-year-old. If you're right about something or win a bet, you gloat. If you're wrong or lose a bet, you go berserk and accuse people of cheating just to make you look bad. You seriously need to grow up.”
“It's called self confidence, li’l bro.”
“No, it's called arrogance, and being five minutes older doesn't make you my big brother. We're the same size, and those five minutes don't count because you used them to tell the doctor what you thought he’d done wrong in delivering you. You're a know-it-all that can't stand to be wrong about anything.”
Logan listened to the brothers arguing but didn't say anything. He'd heard that argument before, and he wasn't about to take sides, although he did agree with what Jason was saying. Jared's temper was legendary at school and in the neighborhood, and it had landed him in detention more times than he could count.
When they were ten and in fifth grade, Jared had gotten angry over a lost dollar bet on the World Series and had broken Jonny Walker's nose, giving it a permanent crook. Jared ended up in anger management counseling, and after only three or four sessions, he convinced the therapist it was just two boys fighting and the therapist gave him a clean bill of health and allowed him to return to school. That incident gave Jared a “badass” reputation, and even though he wasn't a bully, most kids steered clear of antagonizing him.
The twins finished their argument and sandwiches and the three boys put on their packs and started up the trail along the ridge.
“Only about an hour to the Devil’s Canyon trail spur, so we should get to our campsite for the night with plenty of time to spare,” Jared said.
The boys made sure to make plenty of noise as they walked, to warn bears and other wild animals they were there. It wouldn't be much fun to surprise a bear that was eating berries along the trail. Jared was in the lead and was singing “99 Bottles of Beer” over and over. Logan was next in line and he occasionally joined in the singing, but mostly he was quiet. Jason brought up the rear and nervously kept checking the trail behind them. He wasn't so worried about bears, but he knew that cats were curious and he was afraid some cougar would decide to see what all the commotion was about. He was last in line, so if the cougar decided it needed a teen for dinner, he would be the most likely target. The fact that no cougars had been seen in that area for twenty-five years didn't impress him. He thought cats were sneaky and were only seen when they wanted to be seen.
“Looking for cougars?” Jason hadn't realized that Jared and Logan had stopped, and he was startled to hear his brother's voice so close. Jared knew of his brother's fear of cougars and delighted in teasing him when they were camping. Jared was standing there smirking at him and even Logan looked amused.
“Screw you, Jared.”
“Come on, guys,” Logan said. “You can argue later. We're at the cut-off and we still have an hour to go to get to the camping area.”
“Cut-off?” Jason asked.
“The Devil’s Canyon trail,” Jared told him.
“We're not supposed to take that trail. We told our parents we'd stay on the main trail.”
“The main trail's for little kids and old people,” Jared snorted. “We took a vote and decided to take the Devil's Canyon trail.”
“No one asked me to vote.”
“You weren't there when we voted and it wouldn't have mattered if you were because you'd have lost since we both voted yes. That's how democracy works, li’l bro. The majority rules,” Jared said.
“I don't like this, guys. Our asses will be in the wringer if our parents find out.”
“They won't find out.”
“What if something happens to one of us? If the rangers have to come rescue us, they'll find out.”
“The only thing that might happen is that you'll get eaten by a cougar and Logan and I can just say it carried you up there to eat you,” Jared said, laughing.
“Come on, Jason,” Logan spoke up. “It'll be okay. That trail's shorter and has more to look at. All the main trail has is trees.”
“Okay, but I want it clear that I'm only going under protest and because Dad told us to stay together.”
“Gotcha, bro. Your protest is noted and your ass duly covered.” Jared laughed.
“If we get there before it's too late, we can pick some berries for desert with our dinner,” Logan said.
Jason looked at him in shock, “You have got to be kidding! You want us picking berries in bear country? We might as well print some signs in bear talk, and hang them on our backs. 'Today's special meat, teen boys to go along with your naturally sweet berries'.”
“We'll sing while we pick.” Jared laughed. “Come on, guys, the devil awaits us.”
“God, I hope not.” Jason said.