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A SLOW, COLD RAIN
JANET FREMONT
Evan moved back further under the large overhang and let his pack slide from his shoulders to the sand covered ground. Twenty feet in front of him the large drops of rain fell constantly, a little thicker now than even minutes before. It wasn't a thunderstorm. That kind of rain would strike hard but soon be gone, often leaving bright sunshine in its wake. No, this was a slow, steady rain that promised to last for many hours, if not for a day or more. And the temperature had dropped rapidly with its onset. A slow, cold rain. Somehow it seemed quite fitting.
It was October and Evan Roberts was a senior business student at the university over in Lexington. He was a good student, loved his classes and in general had been quite happy for the previous three years and, in fact, for most of his life. He had grown up in a town some sixty miles distant where his dad had a good job as a mechanic with a car dealership. His family lived on five acres in the country a short drive from his dad's work. They weren't rich but certainly weren't poor either. He had not been brought up to expect things for free and had worked summers to help pay for his schooling. That, along with what his parents could afford to pay, a small scholarship and a couple of loans, had been enough for an in-state school. He had been working summers and part time with a one man accounting firm in Lexington for a couple of years and the owner had pretty well promised him a full time job when he graduated the next spring. He was an only child but had always gotten along quite well and never lacked for friends, male or female. Since the previous May Evan had been going with Sarah, a nice girl, also a business major but a year behind him. He was beginning to think he was really in love with her and had started thinking about asking her to marry him. Yes, in September the world had looked quite good and the future bright and sunny.
Then a week ago the world clouded over and the storm began to form. First it was Sarah. They had gone out to dinner on Friday night and, with no previous warning at all, Sarah informed him that she was transferring to a school in California. He was shocked and when he pushed her to find out why, it was revealed that she had given in to an old boyfriend and decided to get together with him once more. She liked Evan, had had fun with him, but now she believed was the time to move on. Or maybe move back. Whatever one called it, Evan's romantic world was totally shattered.
Then the next morning he had gotten a call from home. The car dealership was closing in another four months and his father's job was going with it. There was almost no chance of finding another similar position anywhere nearby and they were seriously considering the possibility that they would need to sell the place and move somewhere else.
The saying is that such things come in threes. The following Monday when he went in for a few hours at his part time job, he found the office closed. It didn't take long to discover that the owner had died of a sudden heart attack the day before and it looked like the business was going to stay closed forever.
Evan's peaceful, hopeful world had dissolved almost overnight. Evan managed to make it through the next three days of classes, but on Friday morning the thought of attending his three classes was just too much. Whenever Evan had a problem that required thought he liked to get away from everyone else, to remove all distractions. He loved outdoor activities and one of his favorite getaways was backpacking. So this Friday morning he moved his pack into his car and headed out to the Boone National Forest to the east. There were a number of trails with which he was quite familiar and he headed to the trail head for one of his favorites. He left a note in his windshield saying where he was going and that he'd return on Sunday. As he wrote that he sarcastically thought maybe he wouldn't. Maybe he'd just stay there and live in the woods. He gave a bitter smile as he placed the note on the dash, knowing full well that yes, he'd be back and somehow continue with his life. He just was no longer sure exactly what kind of life it was turning into.
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Email: janetfremont@gmail.com
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