Jimmy Stone's Ghost Town by Scott Neumyer

dropped Trex's leash and he sat obediently by our
side.
    I laughed (probably the nerves and
excitement) and then David laughed and Trex barked.
    "Now this is what we came out here for,"
I said as we walked slowly toward Heaven, or God, or just a plain
old tree with her damn shiny glow. Whatever it was, we were walking
straight toward it, and we were going to find out.
     

Chapter Fourteen
     
     
    Sometimes, when I had too
much time to sit in my room alone and think, I'd wonder what it
would have been like to have my almost-sister around instead of
Trex. I mean, I figure that Mom and Dad wouldn't have bothered to
bring a puppy home for me if Charlotte had come home with them
instead. I didn't know it at the time, but now I'm smart enough to
realize that Trex was a gift to keep me from asking too many
questions, getting too upset, or wondering why I suddenly wasn't going to have a
sister.
    Would life have been different? Would Mom
have stuck around? Would Dad be like the Dad I used to remember
from when I was small?
    I'd lay on my bed in my room, listening to
the drone of Dad's TV from the living room, and think about how
things might have changed and if things would be better.
    But every single time I'd
get just a little too upset – every single time a few tears started to well up in
my eyes and trickle down my cheeks – I'd hear a quick bark and feel
Trex jump on the bed, nuzzle up next to me, and whap me slightly
with his tail. That was enough to remind me that things were going
to be just fine. Enough to show me that I have everything I need.
And enough to make me forget - just for a few moments - that I
almost had a sister named Charlotte and that Mom wasn't coming
back.
    I always had Trex. No
matter what else happened, who else came into our lives, and what
Dad did to himself or to me, I always had Trex. Always.
    And it was no different
now with David and I staring up at the shiniest glowing tree you've
ever seen in your entire life (possibly the only glowing tree you've ever seen
in your entire life), I had nothing to fear - Trex was right there
by our side.
    We had no idea just what
to expect as we approached the massive glowing tree, but we knew
(for some strange reason, we really just knew ) that we'd be okay.
    The glow wasn't an ominous glow, and it
wasn't something that you'd think could swoop you up, suck you into
some strange time warp where you'd never see or hear any of your
friends and family again. No. It was more of a warm, glowing cocoon
of light. It was inviting and beautiful. It was, perhaps, the most
beautiful thing either of us had ever seen.
    Trex whimpered slightly as we stepped closer
and closer to the glowing ring of light surrounding the tree, but
he never pulled back. He never stopped moving toward the tree and
neither did we.
    "Are you sure?" I asked David just before we
reached the point of no return - the last step or two before we'd
be bathed in that glowing light.
    "We'll be fine," he said and shook his head
up and down as if to reassure himself of the very same thing. "It's
just light, right?"
    "Right," I said and took another step
closer. "Just light."
    It was in that very last
step - one little push of the feet and we'd be there - that everything around us
seemed to slow down and come to life all at once. We could hear the
slightest rustle of leaves as the wind blew through the trees
around us. The smell of pine was strong in our noses and everywhere
we turned we could see the most gorgeous glow in the history of
light. The forest was alive .
    The very last step,
although not really frightening, certainly felt like a leap of faith. We had no
idea what to expect once we stepped inside the glowing ring of
light. We wholeheartedly felt like we'd be totally fine, but there was still
that one last hint of apprehension as our legs moved and our feet
broke the plane of the light and stepped inside. It was the only
thing left to do - just go right ahead and step inside.
    David, Trex, and I each