Strange Travels

WANDERING

Joseph still had the name tag pinned on his jacket that was prepared for him at the juvenile agency. Bits and pieces of the past day keep jumping into his head, but still he was unresponsive. There were sirens and flashing lights in the distance. But Joseph did not notice them. He continued to slowly stumble further away from the accident, the social worker, and the foster home she was taking him to.

The field of weeds turned out to be wildflower starts and growth of natural grasses. The new spring green colors were comforting and there was a soft feel under foot as he wandered aimlessly.

With the past week being mostly dry and the mid-afternoon sun beginning to warm the ground, Eastern Ohio started showing starts of trillium and Indian cucumber-root. Mayapple and blue phlox were all around. But it was the bush of honeysuckles along the fence rows that were good places to hide. And Joseph followed those as much as possible.

Joseph did not know where he was going, but felt the warmth of the sunlight on his face. It felt good.

The young boy continued to wander until the sun went down. For a moment, he thought he saw a figure in the distance motion to him. He wasn’t sure, it seemed like just a shadow, but also felt real. He headed in that general direction. He never saw the figure again no matter how far he walked.

As the evening darkened, he sat down and saw a dirt road ahead of him. In the distance occasionally vehicles would go by. He still had glassy eyes and a blank look on his face when a horse-pulled wagon came by. It stopped several yards away and a few boys jumped out from the back.

Joseph could hear a grown man from the front of the wagon say, “Hurry up boys, we have a way to go yet.”

The boys were dressed in similar clothes. All had on black pants with suspenders, durable boots, and black hats.

The boys ran over to a nearby tree to relieve themselves, since there were no public toilets anywhere nearby. Joseph saw them but did not make a move. In a way, he felt apprehensive. So, he tried to sit still; maybe they would not see him.

The boys ran close to where Joseph was sitting, and he tried to hide. But they were playing and one of the boys accidently tripped and fell close to him. He jumped up.

The boys started laughing with excitement and included him in their play. He was slow to respond but accepted the challenge. When the man called the boys back to the wagon, Joseph followed them, and they helped him into the back with them.

During a few moments of lucid awareness, Joseph felt strangely familiar with the boys. Although he did not know them personally, he felt like he knew about them. Memories of other boys – boys from where he lived – came to his mind.

—

Back home, before the fire, Joseph saw families with children dressed just like this. His family lived near an Amish farming community. And he saw boys and their fathers and uncles often driving their horse drawn wagons by his house.

The Amish community in Ohio close to where Joseph lived was known as the “Plain People”. Their farmlands are recognized as very productive in that area, and farming is their chosen way of life. They hold to a simpler, family-centered life, maintaining a rural environment. Many of the farmers there work their farms in a different way. They use horse-drawn power instead of engines, believing that modern equipment and automobiles would lead them to yearn for a fast paced, modern life like many Americans.

Traditional groups wear plain clothing styles. It is the simple, peaceful lifestyle of the plain people that keeps them as a distinct community.

To see the boys of this culture was a warm and comforting feeling for Joseph.

—

The steady movement of the wagon, and the drone of the boys’ laughter, reassured Joseph and he fell asleep. The wagon carried him, the boys, and the men onward in an Eastern direction, to a relatives’ farm to help with needed repairs.

As Joseph lies in the wagon he twitches in his sleep. His dreams bring back unresolved memories of the auto trip from the Children’s Home, the accident, the fear, and wandering into the fields that night. The shadowed figure was in the dream and motioned to Joseph. The trauma of the past few days makes his body jerk.

As Joseph slept in the wagon, he rolled over on his side. As he did so, his name tag folds under the pressure of his body. His last name, Walker, is tucked under the rest of the tag and can no longer be seen. The tag now only reads “Joseph Allen”.

—

Dreams filled his head of protectors surrounding him.  Five cloaked beings were standing around him again, huddling in a protective way. He did not recognize them, and their faces were not visible. Although strange, it was a safe and warm feeling.

When the wagon finally stops it is extremely late at night. Joseph wakes with a start and has a blank stare for several minutes. He doesn’t remember where his was. The boys he has been riding with do not look familiar, and he feels lost.

The boys start to jump out of the wagon. Their father sees Joseph and thinks he must be a local kid from the area. “What are you doing here? Your parents must be worried! Go now, run home. Run home to your parents.” 

Joseph jumps off, frightened, stumbles into the brush and wanders aimlessly. His thoughts turn to his parents and how much he misses them, his home, his life. That seemed like 100 years ago instead of two weeks. He slows down, wondering where he is and why he cannot be with his folks. There are too many questions and no answers.

His mind slows down and being in a stupor he sits up against a large tree stump. It only takes a minute for him to slump down and move into a deep sleep.

MEETING LIV

The morning sun led Joseph out of the woods. He saw a clearing ahead of him, and the warmth of the sun signaled him ahead.

That morning felt different. Joseph started to have some awareness of being alone, and not really knowing where he was. That dazed sensation still came once in a while, but he really started to make sense of things. 

Somehow it felt right to head toward the clearing, so he steadily went in that direction. His head felt swollen, and his brain was foggy, but he was aware of his feelings. And they were fear, emotional hurt, loss, and confusion. 

Joseph could hear the faint trickle of water and was reminded of sitting on the bank of a small stream near his home with his father. They went fishing whenever possible. His father’s smile always made him feel warm inside and safe, like nothing could ever go wrong. Then the memory of the fire stabbed his heart. And he took a deep, quick gasp.

“The fire…”

But the need for water was greater than his memory, and he looked around to see a small stream straight ahead. The closer he got to the stream, the more he realized how thirsty he was. The thirst was what took him directly to the stream. He practically fell down, full body onto the muddy bank of the stream and slurped up the cold water.  It seemed he could not get enough to drink.

The morning weather still had a chill in the air, and getting wet was not a good idea. Even though the sun was high by now, the air was cold, the breeze was cold, and Joseph started to shiver.

He sat down, matter-of-factly, on the first dry spot of grass he could find, and noticed he was not in a familiar place. He looked around realizing this was not the stream he and his father used to go it. No, he did not recognize anything here. That sense of confusion took him over, and the bewildered look came over his face again.

As he sat, he continued to shiver. His face took on a clear, pale pallor, and his lips had a tinge of blue purple to them. All he could do was shiver.

Joseph was aware enough to hear a young girl’s voice singing. The song did not sound familiar to him, but it had a joyful sound to it. But he did not figure that there was a girl that went with the voice. He heard the song for several minutes when it stopped abruptly.

There she stood: a girl. She was right in front of Joseph with her hands on her hips.

“What are you doing on my property?” she said in a vexed manner.

Joseph opened his mouth. He hesitated. No sound would come out of his mouth. The thoughts got stuck in his throat. Trying to explain was nearly impossible. He was not able to make sense of things to himself yet, so how could he put words to them?

“How can I explain?”

At that exact moment, he made a conscious choice to be silent.

This choice or vow of silence made an immediate shift in Joseph’s life. He had no idea how it would affect his interactions with people, and the decisions he made in the future. This Life, experienced by Joseph Allen Walker, was now headed towards an inward declaration.

“Well? You gonna talk to me, or what,” she said even more belligerent than before.

Her aggressive attitude confused Joseph. All that he had been through the past few weeks left him physically weak, mentally confused, and fragile.

The girl began to realize there was something wrong with him.

“Are you okay?”

Joseph had no response. But there were a few tears that filled his eyes. And then the blank stare. She could see that he was shivering.

The girl took off her quilted jacket and pulled it around Joseph. She helped him stand up.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take you home with me, and help you get warmed up,” she told him as she put his arms in the sleeves.

She saw the name tag on his jacket. “Oh, I see your name is Joseph Allen. You can call me Liv.”

She took Joseph’s hand and led him down to a narrow area of the stream. It was a little muddy, but easier to cross than the point where he was sitting.

As they maneuvered through the stream, Liv noticed two men in the distance wearing hunting jackets. She recognized them as neighbors of her family.

“Come on this way,” she pulled Joseph to a large tree, and ducked around it.

Liv was in middle school and looked gangly as girls do at that age. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail to keep the stray pieces out of her face, and she wore a heavy knit sweater and jeans.

She was supposed be in school but decided to skip that day. Both of her folks always left for work before she had to catch the school bus. So today she decided to take time for herself. But these two guys in the next field knew her family. If they saw her out, not in school, it could ruin everything. She put her index finger to her lips as a sign for Joseph to be quiet.

Liv and Joseph sat quietly until the hunters moved on, out of sight. As they waited, Liv pulled out a half-eaten sandwich from the pocket of her jacket, and gave it to Joseph. He ate it without thinking about it.

As Liv gathered her thoughts, she realized Joseph needed to be her first concern at the moment. She did not recognize him from the small community in which she lived, and wondered where he came from. She took his hand and led him to her house.

They came up a small hill and over the top. Liv’s house was just ahead of them. It was a two story farm house with several out buildings scattered on the property. The stakes marking a new garden were off to the side and an old wheelbarrow turned upside down nearby. They walked towards a potting shed.

Liv knew that she could not take Joseph in the house. It was too risky, since her folks might be home soon. She’d never be able to explain a lost little boy there, when she was supposed to be at school. Much easier to hide him where no one would know. At least until she could figure out what to do.

The door to the shed was hanging on one old leather hinge, and creaked and crackled as she opened it. It was darker in there and it took a few minutes for them both to adjust their eyes to the new setting.

“This is where my mother pots her flowers and herbs. No one will come in here, so you’ll be safe.”

Liv kept trying to talk to him, but he did not respond. She was puzzled as to why he did not talk to her and was very concerned about his well-being.

There were bags of potting soil and crates stacked around the small room. She made a sleeping pallet for him, fussing with the burlap bags she found under a potting table.

But before Joseph could respond to her, she ran out of the shed yelling behind her, “Just sit tight for a minute. I’ll get you some dry clothes.”

Liv flew into the house, and ran straight upstairs into her bedroom. Her room was a typical mess, as is many girls’ rooms at that age. When she looked around, she picked up clothes from the floor, from chairs and tabletops, sizing them up as possible use for Joseph. Then she remembered some bib overalls that she had outgrown. She wanted to cut the legs off and belt it around her waist for a radical new look. But all that did not matter right now. This young boy needed something dry and warm.

Looking around, she also saw a cotton-knit Henley shirt and a very well used sweatshirt. Grabbing all these clothes and a pair of socks out of her drawer, she headed out back to the shed where she left Joseph.

Quickly turning on her heel, Liv ran into the kitchen and picked up a banana and pack of cheese crackers meant for her lunch. She knew he must be starving.

Joseph was rather slow moving, but Liv was able to help him change to the dry clothes. She rolled up the sweatshirt sleeves and legs on the overalls. It was very bulky, but he was warming up. She handed the banana and crackers to Joseph and he ate them before she knew it.

Liv gathered all the wet clothes and ran into the back room off of the kitchen. That’s where her mom did all the laundry. As she put the wet clothes in the dryer, she realized his jacket was not there.

Her folks were due home from work soon so there was no time to go back to the shed and get it. There was only time to make some sandwiches, grab a few fried chicken legs from the fridge, and a few individual juice packs, stuffing them into an old back pack she used for hiking.

Her mother came back from work early, so Liv frantically stashed the pack of food in the back room, close to the laundry area.

As her mom came into the kitchen, Liv rummaged around in the refrigerator which was a normal stance for her. “Hi mom!” she yelled as she took an apple and ran outside. She ran around the yard as normal, singing the same happy song Joseph heard earlier. That way, her mom would not become suspicious of anything.

Liv’s father came home while she was outside eating the apple. And her mother was putting the supper out on the table. Her parents did not pay any attention to Liv – no more than normal. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary to them as they went about their usual after work business. She felt confident they knew nothing of her guest in the shed – or that she had skipped school that day.

After supper, she remembered Joseph’s clothes were still in the dryer. Liv was thinking of the young Joseph and how he came to be there. It certainly was a mystery that she intended to solve. This would be a great story piece for the news broadcast. She was fascinated with television and news and broadcasters. And she dreamt of being an investigative reporter one day.

After helping her mom clear the table, she ran out of the kitchen and told her mom she’d wash the dishes after she checks the school project she was working on. She sneaked out to take the food and dry clothes to Joseph. She couldn’t wait to ask him questions about where he came from and where his family was.

But alas, as Liv entered the shed she saw Joseph was sound asleep. Part of her was disappointed because she’d have to wait until morning to question him. Another part of her realized he must have been exhausted and needed the rest. She decided to leave the clothes in the back pack long with the stash of food resting against the pallet Joseph was sleeping on.

After she finished the dishes, she headed to the stairs on her way to her room, passing by the living room. Her dad was watching the evening news. She stopped to see what was going on since she was intrigued with current events.  And she heard about a young boy reported missing with the last name of Walker.

It caught her attention. The name did not sound right – Walker, not Allen. But she was concerned that the boy in her shed was the same that was missing. She slowly moved up the stairs, hands shaking with worry and excitement.

===

In all the commotion, Liv forgot to set her clock alarm for morning, and ended up waking later than she wanted. She hoped to be up early to check on Joseph. But she woke up as her mother called upstairs to let her know they were on the way to work.

Liv ran down the stairs and out to the shed.

But Joseph was nowhere to be seen. Liv searched all corners of the shed hoping he was hiding from her. “He can’t be gone,” she said out loud.

The dreams Joseph had that night were strange and confusing. Those cloaked people were there again. And a feeling of comfort came over him. But they kept pointing to the morning Sun. He could not hear anything in his dream, they were not talking to him. They just pointed to the Sun.

Joseph woke up early as the sun came through the dirty window. His dream was fuzzy at this point, just a vague image of the Sun. He took a few minutes to look around and become oriented to this environment.

“This is that girl’s place.”

He remembered how she had helped him when he was so cold and hungry. She made sure he had dry, clean clothes and a warm place to sleep and food to eat. Even though Liv had been a big help to Joseph, he knew inside his head that he must continue to move. There was a special place he needed to be, or a special thing he needed to do. Not sure what it was, but he had a certain sense of leaving.

Just then the door latch to the shed he was staying in popped open.

He waited for a moment, thinking Liv would be coming in. but she never came. Slowly, he peeked out the window to see what was going on.

All was quiet. Dew was on the grass. But Liv was nowhere to be found. 

He bundled up in the jacket he had been wearing all along with his name on it. Then he saw his clothes and extra food in the backpack.

“Liv must have left this for me.”

He picked it up and walked out the door. It creaked as he opened it, and yes, the Sun was there to greet him. It was just becoming strong since rising this day. And it felt so different. It was a new day, sure, but this day was the first day of a major journey. It was a kind of “knowing” that he had a mission.

As he headed in an Eastern direction, towards the morning sun, he knew that he had made a friend.