Previous Challenge Entry (EDITOR'S CHOICE)
Topic: DEVOTED( 02/04/21)
TITLE:
Still By My Side | Writing Challenge By Jack Taylor 02/10/21 |
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2nd Place
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The smell of creosol from the tracks was strong but this is where we walked. Usually, we were thirty minutes earlier but my grandfatherly body extended the nap a little longer and he was sitting patiently waiting on the front steps knowing I’d come. I’d never missed. Of course, usually, I was on time before his momma had to run off to the store and then pick up the twins from the day camp across town. The neighbour had been watching him from her garden next door and gave me a friendly wave as the little guy ran into my open arms.
He had that perpetual smile of the Down’s Syndrome child who always sees the joy in the world around him. We collected the Border Collie straining at its leash strung from the washline. The black and white purebred was a pup, untrained and eager to chase anything and everything within sight. He had incredible strength for a small hound and I held him back as we reached the second section of tracks.
This part was a little longer and right next to the rails. We were usually gone long before the engine roared by. The bend in the tracks made it hard to be seen so I knew we had to hurry. The grass was high and county cutbacks kept summer workers from getting out to trim back the undergrowth.
We had a spot down the way – a stand by an old station where little Ebenezer would stand and raise his arm for the engineer to blow the whistle. Over and over he would yank his imaginary whistle and smile ear to ear as the train tooted long and loud. It was the highlight of our day. All the way home afterward he would jabber and dance and tell me about the train. We always stopped by the cemetery so he could whisper to his daddy about his big adventure.
The Border Collie spotted a rabbit crossing the tracks ahead and lunged forward like a sled dog. The leash, wrapped around my wrist, yanked me off balance. I tripped over a rock and fell with my ribs against a trestle. My glasses slipped away and stars filled my senses. The pain was intense and I released the leash as the dog shot across the tracks. I could hear the faint whispers of Ebenezer calling for the dog as he hovered over me – debating what to do. No glasses, no hearing aids. I was in trouble.
Then, through the pain, I felt it. The vibrations. The train was coming and we were still trapped in the narrow section of the bend among the tall grasses. The little tike pushed on me, like a log, trying to roll me over away from the tracks. Despite everything others might think of him, he knew things weren’t right.
I yielded to his efforts and rolled into the grass. And then he was gone. I called him. “Ebenezer!†Nothing. The vibrations consumed the ground around me. Even without my hearing aids thunder rumbled into my bones. “Ebenezer!†And then the screeching of braking steel on steel raced by me and my stomach lurched with a sickening realization.
Hours later, in the hospital, the engineer stopped by. “There was nothing I could do,†he said. “He was standing on the tracks trying to make me stop. I didn’t see him on time. I didn’t expect the two of you there. You’re always at the station.â€
His funeral was simple but I’ve never seen so many of the townsfolk stand so quietly. His momma and I collected dandelion puffballs and everyone blew one into the wind in memory of him. We read the Shepherd’s Psalm and laid him side by side with his daddy where he could whisper endlessly about whatever adventure he was having with Jesus.
I don’t walk the track anymore but every day at three I hear the whistle in honor of a devoted boy who loved me more than life.
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