Three Sheets In The Woods

The woods that backed up to the yard had always seemed dark and scary to Jacob and he never chose to play close to them. At nine years old, almost ten, he still had some fears to overcome. Jacob was a happy kid most of the time and found lots of things to do without complaining to his parents that he was bored. Video games were a favorite of his older brother who was twelve, but Jacob preferred to use his imagination playing with his cars and trucks outside. He would be the driver and took all kinds of trips on the many roads that he created in the dirt in the back yard. Jacob would become so involved in his building and driving that he would lose track of time, playing for hours.

His brother and his friends would go off into the woods, playing near the creek that ran through them. Dragging fallen trees over to the edge and pull them across to make bridges for them to become Robin Hood and his troop of thieves. Climbing on the bridges they made and sword fighting with their homemade weapons, the boys would come home completely drenched most of the time, having knocked one another off into the shallow water, laughing with glee at their accomplishments. The older boys never invited Jacob to go with them, feeling they were far older and that Jacob wouldn't know how to join in the heroic actions they would undertake. He was a baby in their eyes and they teased him more than they should have most of the time, leaving Jacob feeling that there must be something wrong with him.

Jacob would spend a good bit of time staring in the mirror each day, looking for some change in his appearance. The older boys called him "stupid face", most of the time, rarely by his name. This made Jacob question what it was about his face that looked stupid. He would pull his eyes down and squish in his nose to change the face looking back at him in the mirror, but nothing worked. He wanted to ask his mother, but he was afraid if she didn't already know that he had a stupid face, she would discover it. Jacob began to hide in the background at school and other functions thinking that if people couldn't see him, they wouldn't know how he looked. He spent more time alone at home too, thinking the sad thoughts of a young boy, that he just wasn't good enough.

His family had no idea that Jacob felt so bad about himself, they thought he was just a quiet child that preferred to play by himself. His mother would smile as Jacob went to his room to play when the other boys would be in front of the television laughing and rough housing. His father spent long hours at work and didn't take much notice of things at home. Even on Sundays, his only day off, he was busy with chores around the house, taking little notice of the quiet young boy playing in the dirt. Occasionally in the fall, he would give the boys the job of raking the leaves and placing them in bags to be picked up by the City trucks, fussing at them when they took too long at the job, because they had no idea how to work together. Each had to rake and fill their own bags. Jacob didn't mind the job at all, because he could clean up the area that he loved to play in. His brother was more anxious to go off with his friends, so he would scatter the leaves that Jacob had raked up just for meanness, as brothers will do.

Older brothers seem to have built in radar when it comes to scaring the pudding out of the little brothers. Jacob's brother had an abundance of this trait. One fall day as the shadows of the day began to fall early in the afternoon, the older boys decided to play on joke on Jacob as he played in the dirt. They took white sheets from the closet upstairs and snuck off to the woods. As dusk quickly approached, they put on the sheets and proceeded to become the ghosts of the woods, waving theirs arms slowly about, so very proud of themselves.

Jacob had continued to play in the dirt roads and didn't notice them head in the direction of the woods. He was usually so engrossed in his roads he didn't pay too much attention to anything going on around him. Suddenly he heard a noise behind him and sat up on his knees to look around. At first he couldn't see anything, but just as he was about to bend down, something caught his eye. He stopped still, with a car in his hand, not moving a muscle. Squinting his eyes he looked at the woods edge. Behind a tree he could see a slight movement of something..it was white..or gray. It began to move..slowly it became bigger and was coming closer through the woods. Then he saw another and another! It swayed back and fourth in slow motion as it moved ever closer to the edge of the woods. Then Jacob heard a loud moan, as if someone was in great pain. He was frozen on his knees and couldn't move.

Suddenly, the white ghostly shapes disappeared. The boys had dropped to the ground to cover their hysterical laughter and sneak back from sight, making a clean getaway. Jacob looked a little longer to make sure they were gone before he jumped to his feet and ran into the house, slamming the door quickly shut behind him. With the loud slamming of the door his mother came to see what had happened. Jacob was as white as the sheets he had witnessed in the woods. She came over to him and felt his forehead, checking for a fever. Jacob told her he was fine and went straight to his room. As he opened the door he peered inside first, checking to be sure there were no ghosts lying in wait for him.

Jacob laid on his bed and realized that he was breathing hard, as if he had been running. He stayed on the bed and looked around his room, making sure nothing had come in when he closed his eyes for a moment. Soon his mother called him to dinner. He walked into the kitchen to find his father and brother looking at something intently. Jacob sat in his chair and listened to his father. He had found a key out in the yard beside the walk. They were turning it over and over, trying to figure out what it might fit and how it had come to find it's way there. Jacob had an idea how it must have gotten there, but didn't say a word. His father sat down in his chair and laid the key on the table. Jacob stared at it.

When dinner was just about done, Jacob asked his father if he could have the key. His father told him, sure, he could have the key. Jacob took the key to his room and put in his special box. The box held all sorts of things that Jacob thought were important. A tiny car, string, money and now the key. He locked the box with the tiny key and put it safely in his underwear drawer. Jacob knew that his brother would never go rummaging through his underwear to find something, so that's where he kept important things too. Jacob thought if the key were locked up, no ghosts would be able to come in the house at night, when they were asleep.

He laid back on the bed and felt better. If the ghosts had dropped that key while trying to get in the house he had stopped them. He and his family would be safe tonight. Jacob didn't sleep well that night and woke up feeling groggy and slow. His mother again touched his head and cheeks to check for fever. Finding no sign of one, she sent him out the door to the bus.

Jacob's brother and his friends had left the sheets close to the woods so they could put them back on the next day and continue to scare his little brother. They were so caught up in making sure their sheets would flow out when they raised their arms, they didn't notice that Jacob was not in his usual place in the yard. They had even brought a fake gun that made a loud noise, to up the anty of Jacobs fear. The boys laughed hysterically and practiced their best ghost motions while they waited for it to get almost dark.

Jacob had stayed in his room that day feeling tired from his restless night, and rested on his bed. Feeling better, he got up and sat at the window, peering into the yard at his play area. While he was looking, he noticed his brother and his friends going into the woods at the far corner of the yard. They were carrying...something white! Jacob ran down the hall and looked in the linen closet. Sure enough, there were linens falling down from the shelves and it was completely messed up. His brother had gotten those sheets from here!
Jacob was madder than he had ever been with his brother at that moment. He had been tricked! Jacob thought and thought, he had to come up with a way to fix his brother. Finally, he knew what he had to do. He went to his closet and found his flashlight, turning it on to be sure that the batteries were still good. He went down the stairs and out the front door, heading to the street. He ran up the street past two houses and cut across the yard there. He ran to the edge of the woods and stopped. He was afraid. A tear ran down his cheek from fear and a little disgust at himself too. Jacob took a deep breath and told himself he had to do this if he ever wanted any peace from his brother.

He stepped into the shadows of the woods and looked around, it was almost dark and he had to adjust his eyes. To his surprise, he could see all around him and he couldn't be seen from the yard. This wasn't so bad after all, he discovered. He carefully crept toward the woods behind his own house, where his brother was crouched beside a tree. He could see them now in their white shrouds, kneeling on the ground and whispering to one another. He crept closer and got down on his hands and knees, being careful not to disturb the leaves underneath, making no noise at all. He stayed very still when he had gotten close enough to hear what they were saying. They were giggling and saying that Jacob would really be scared tonight, when he heard the gunshot. Everything was going according to their plan and they were having fun.

Jacob almost laughed outloud when he heard this. He knew that his brother had the fake gun, he had gotten it for a birthday several years ago. What they didn't know was, Jacob had brought along a little noise maker too. The boys stood up and began to move about, in their best ghostly moves. One of them stopped, looking for Jacob. Jacob knew that this was the moment to make his move. He began to run toward them and lifted his air horn up to the air and let it blow, long and loud and making sounds like an animal in the sticks and leaves as he thrashed through the underbrush.

The boys screamed like girls and took off running toward the house, tripping and falling on the sheets as they ran. Jacob had scared them to death! He laid down on the leaves and laughed til his stomach hurt. When he turned over and looked toward the house, all he could see was one last sheet, stuck in the screen door and his brother, the last one in the backdoor. Jacob got up and made his way across the yard, stealthily crouching down and headed back toward the front door. Just as he was about to get to the door he saw his father coming up the walk. He quickly stepped behind a large shrub and held his breath. He wasn't sure if his father would appreciate the fact that he borrowed his prized air horn without permission.

When he was sure that his father had made his way to the kitchen, he quietly went in the door and tip toed up the stairs to his room, putting the air horn back in the closet his father kept it in. Jacob walked over to his mirror and took a long look. Turning his head from side to side, he began to smile...the old sad look had been replaced with a gleem in his eyes and huge smile. Jacob was satisfied with his looks..and his bravery. Those old woods weren't so scary after all. He went down the steps with a new jump in his step and sat down at the table with a grin, as he listened happily to his parents jump all over his brother for ruining three good sheets. His brother wasn't laughing at all now, as he scowled at Jacob, knowing that his little brother had gotten him good.

It was finally a great day for Jacob, and he was hungry!