Absolution River by Aaron Mach Page B

hated so much and left him so scarred? He had shut himself off to the world when he was so young, at the moment of his mother’s death, a moment he not only blamed his father for, but also himself. A smell came in the air and he knew a storm was coming. Just as he made this realization, he noticed several stakes in the ground with various color tags on them. The wind began to pick up and he needed to find cover quickly. The ankle was beyond pain from the many miles of him pushing its limits. The rain began to come down in sheets and he fell in the mud in agony. The darkness around his eyes began to come in around him, as he knew that consciousness was no longer a luxury he could afford. As reality began to slip, so did the calm of the day, and within a few minutes there was a thunderstorm in full strength. The lightning crashed on the mountainside and the creek swelled another foot. The man looked up in his haze and thought to himself that perhaps today is as good as any to simply fade away. There would not be a soul that would remember his passing or even spend the time to look for him. He had no family, friends, acquaintances, pets, or even enemies, for that matter. He had never left much of an impression on most, as they simply thought of him as a ghost in the landscape, a soul forever lost, and one to never interfere with. His mind began to wander and his eyes began to close. The man fought and fought because that was what he did, it was all he ever knew. Should he lose consciousness now the current would wash him down into nothingness and into nothingness is where his mind was already. From the last glimpses of the forest to take with him to that other side, he saw a figure in the darkness of the rain. Barely perceptible, for all he could make out was soaking wet animal skin and a leather hat with the brim below his eyes. The figure came closer and closer as he slowly faded away.

XII
    Arch picked his head up from the desk after setting it there for what he planned to be a few minutes. As he noticed on the wall clock above the file cabinet that it was two in the afternoon, he had a blank look on his face as he stared at the wall. The next moment there was a knock on the door.
    “Not now!” yelled Arch.
    “Sir, uh, it’s a lady from the Department of Agriculture. She has some questions for you,” replied Fred from outside the trailer door.
    Shit, thought Arch to himself. “Give me a minute!” He got up and tucked his shirt in, though with his massive gut it was nearly impossible to do so. Like it would have mattered, as the sweat and tobacco stains on the once white shirt would cancel out what tucking in might accomplish. Arch pulled a comb out of his back pocket and combed his hair straight back in an attempt to cover the bald spot. He glanced in a very small mirror next to his desk and all he saw in it was the reflection of a thousand nights where he tried to be the first man in the world to drink, snort, and screw everything in a one-mile radius. Fuck it, he thought to himself for the tenth time today. He opened the door and saw a striking and very conservative looking woman in hiking boots, brown cargo pants, and a white button up shirt. Her hair was shoulder length and her eyes were stunning. Big and round as if they weren’t even real. She had a pencil behind her right ear and a thick clipboard that rested on her hip. She smiled.
    “Sir, I thought I might be able to ask you a few questions. My name is Marie, I’m from the Department of Agr-”
    “Yeah, yeah, you said, come in,” Arch ordered.
    “Oh, okay, thank you,” she replied, stepping through the trailer’s entrance.
    “Where you from again?” Arch asked.
    “The Depart-“ Marie attempted to reply.
    “No, no, your accent.”
    “Oh, I’m sorry, yes, I moved here from Paris when I was young.”
    “Ah, how fascinating,” Arch stated sarcastically.
    Awkward silence. “So…if you don’t mind, a few questions?” Marie