Oliver Benjamin
CHAPTER 14
When I woke up it was still dark. I was surprised to find a blanket on
me, and I looked around. There was a figure sitting next to me and I
looked carefully to see who it was. It was very dark, and I thought it
might be Helen.
“Helen?” I asked cautiously. There was a pause.
“Nope,” a deep voice said. I didn’t recognize it, so I asked who it
was that was sitting there.
“Who are you? What’s your name?” Another pause. Then he
answered.
“I was born Dennis. When I was a kid they called me Bookie
because I read a lot. In college they called me Psycho because I didn’t
talk much. I’ve had lots of names. Most people call me Tree now.
“I’m Jake.”
“You told me the other day. So, Jake, what were you doing out
here shivering your balls off moaning, ‘Not yet, I’m not ready’ over
and over again for? What is it you’re not ready for?”
Shocked and angry by his bluntness, I said, “I can’t tell you
that.” “Not ready to die?”
Certain rumors about the man called Tree bubbled up from my
memory, and I became terrified.
“N-no. I mean, yes. How did you know?”
“Dying is the only thing we’re never ready for. No one is ready
to die,” he said. “But when you’re not ready to die, you’re not ready
to live either.”
“Excuse me, but what are you talking about?” I said. He looked
directly at me, and in moving his head out of the shadow of the moon,
I could see the magnificent purple eyes.
“Come with me, Jake. I want to show you something grand.”
I felt a lump growing in my throat. What if those rumors about
this man were true? I opened my mouth to respectfully decline the
offer, but his piercing glare stopped me cold. There was something so
familiar about his eyes that it almost brought a pang of nostalgia to
my chest. I nodded and followed him.
We walked a long way, up a steep incline and along a narrow,
dimly moonlit path. At some points when we walked under dense
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