sat up and tried to get his bearings. When he did, Jim saw the book of maps laying at his feet. He grabbed it and opened it to find new markings. He recognized the handwriting as his own and prayed for answers.
Jim pulled back the outdated curtains that covered the van’s windows and looked through the panes. Through the right window he saw the empty beach and the quiet waters. From what little he knew about tides he thought the tide must be well on its way out. Through the opposite one he read a sign in the distance that clued him in to his location of Jupiter.
“Feels more like Saturn or Pluto,” Jim said aloud to no one. He laughed to himself and scratched his head and beard.
Feeling the cobwebs in his brain begin to fade away, he grabbed the book of maps again and studied its details. He noticed that all the lines and circles and entries of dates were written in what looked to be a silver marker. He did not even have a silver marker! Brother Jim decided to search the van from top to bottom and find it.
He tore the van apart and looked in every crevice, nook, hole, and every possible place he could have hidden it or dropped it in some sort of delirium. He found no writing utensils whatsoever. He also found no keys to the van. Under a sleeping bag toward the back of the van, he did find some camping equipment. Jim wondered if in some delusional state the previous night he had tossed the van keys and his silver marker into the ocean.
He did find a number of braided snakes. Three were made out of some long grassy material he imagined he found on the dunes. One was created with wires of different colors an electrician would use to run power in a house, and two others looked as if they were composed of kite string and/or fishing line worked into meticulous patterns.
Brother Jim studied the book of maps and found Jupiter, Florida, which had been circled in his handwriting. Next to the circle, once again in his own handwriting was the word, “Success.” Next to that it read, “See inside back cover.”
Jim quickly turned to the inside back cover and found instructions. It read, “Walk south to Mickey Mouse.” Once again, it was his handwriting.
Jim got himself together mentally and exited the van. Deciding to test his fragile mental faculties, he purposely left the book of maps behind, hoping to never see it again. Since he had been forgetting things lately, he used a method he had been taught once when he worried about whether he had turned off the stove or not. A friend had taught him to scream the word “off” and to slap himself. His friend said that when he would wonder later in the day if he had turned off the stove, he would definitely remember screaming the word and physically assaulting himself. Although weird and extreme, Jim had to admit that the method did work. How could one forget yelling and striking oneself?
Standing outside the van, Jim punched himself in the left eye with his right fist and screamed, “I left it behind!”
Wincing from the pain of his self-inflicted wound, Brother Jim looked up at the sun to figure out which way was south and began to walk. He did not have to take his shoes off to trudge across the sand as he did not have any on his feet. He began to wonder about the absence of his shoes and stopped as the thought could not fit into his already overcrowded brain.
Jim only passed four or five people as he trudged south. As he saw the few others approaching he adjusted his walking path to farther up the beach and away from the water where the other parties were walking. He kept his head down as they passed and acted as if he was looking for shells or something.
After what he thought might be about thirty minutes, Jim saw a lone beach house. From a distance, he could tell there was something hanging on the porch, but from the far distance could not tell exactly what it was. As he got closer and closer to the house it became clear that the towel was in fact a Mickey Mouse
Jim pulled back the outdated curtains that covered the van’s windows and looked through the panes. Through the right window he saw the empty beach and the quiet waters. From what little he knew about tides he thought the tide must be well on its way out. Through the opposite one he read a sign in the distance that clued him in to his location of Jupiter.
“Feels more like Saturn or Pluto,” Jim said aloud to no one. He laughed to himself and scratched his head and beard.
Feeling the cobwebs in his brain begin to fade away, he grabbed the book of maps again and studied its details. He noticed that all the lines and circles and entries of dates were written in what looked to be a silver marker. He did not even have a silver marker! Brother Jim decided to search the van from top to bottom and find it.
He tore the van apart and looked in every crevice, nook, hole, and every possible place he could have hidden it or dropped it in some sort of delirium. He found no writing utensils whatsoever. He also found no keys to the van. Under a sleeping bag toward the back of the van, he did find some camping equipment. Jim wondered if in some delusional state the previous night he had tossed the van keys and his silver marker into the ocean.
He did find a number of braided snakes. Three were made out of some long grassy material he imagined he found on the dunes. One was created with wires of different colors an electrician would use to run power in a house, and two others looked as if they were composed of kite string and/or fishing line worked into meticulous patterns.
Brother Jim studied the book of maps and found Jupiter, Florida, which had been circled in his handwriting. Next to the circle, once again in his own handwriting was the word, “Success.” Next to that it read, “See inside back cover.”
Jim quickly turned to the inside back cover and found instructions. It read, “Walk south to Mickey Mouse.” Once again, it was his handwriting.
Jim got himself together mentally and exited the van. Deciding to test his fragile mental faculties, he purposely left the book of maps behind, hoping to never see it again. Since he had been forgetting things lately, he used a method he had been taught once when he worried about whether he had turned off the stove or not. A friend had taught him to scream the word “off” and to slap himself. His friend said that when he would wonder later in the day if he had turned off the stove, he would definitely remember screaming the word and physically assaulting himself. Although weird and extreme, Jim had to admit that the method did work. How could one forget yelling and striking oneself?
Standing outside the van, Jim punched himself in the left eye with his right fist and screamed, “I left it behind!”
Wincing from the pain of his self-inflicted wound, Brother Jim looked up at the sun to figure out which way was south and began to walk. He did not have to take his shoes off to trudge across the sand as he did not have any on his feet. He began to wonder about the absence of his shoes and stopped as the thought could not fit into his already overcrowded brain.
Jim only passed four or five people as he trudged south. As he saw the few others approaching he adjusted his walking path to farther up the beach and away from the water where the other parties were walking. He kept his head down as they passed and acted as if he was looking for shells or something.
After what he thought might be about thirty minutes, Jim saw a lone beach house. From a distance, he could tell there was something hanging on the porch, but from the far distance could not tell exactly what it was. As he got closer and closer to the house it became clear that the towel was in fact a Mickey Mouse
Similar Books
