Meet You Halfway

CHAP. 4

   (Y/n) wraps her coat around her as she quietly closes her bedroom door. She sneaks down the hall and down the stairs avoiding creaks when possible. As she reaches the door facing the back lawn, she sees the guard dog busy eating treats. She pets his head and gently opens and closes the door. 

   There she is met by seven boys. They all run across the lawn. Once they were past the stream, everyone split into groups. Meeks, (Y/n), Cameron, and Pitts in one. Neil, Todd, and Knox in another. And Charlie going ahead. They run into the forest.

   Meeks and (Y/n) walk down into lower ground, looking out into the darkness. "AAAAAH! I'M A DEAD POET!" Charlie jumps out and grabs Meeks, earning a scream from the red-head and a gasp from the girl. Charlie calls out,"Guys, over here!- Ow!" (Y/n) wacks his arm as she passes.

   Everyone files into the small, damp, cave. Pitts next to Neil, Neil next to Todd, Todd next to Knox, Knox next to (Y/n), (Y/n) next to Meeks, Meeks next to Cameron, and Cameron next to Dalton.

   Meeks tries to start a fire. "That's too wet." "Are you trying to smoke us out of here?" "No, no. The smoke's going right through this opening."

   "Aagh!" Pitts hits his head against the rocky interior of the cave. (Y/n) stifles a laugh as she reaches across dusting debris from Pitts's shoulders. "You okay?" The boys laugh. Charlie waves smoke from his face. "Oh, god."

   "Alright, alright. Forget the fire." Neil shines his flash light at the group. "Let's go, gentlemen. And of course, lady, as well." He waves the light at (Y/n) with a smile on his face. Neil opens a book entitled Five Centuries of Verse and shines his flashlight on it. "I hereby reconvene the Dead Poets Society." He takes a drag from a cigarette and hands it to Charlie as the boys and girl cheer. "Welton Chapter. The meetings will be conducted by myself and the other new initiatives now present." He again shines the light amongst the faces in the cave.

   "Todd Anderson, because he prefers not to read, will keep the minutes of the meetings." They all nod. "I'll now read the traditional opening message by society member, Henry David Thoreau…'I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.' "

   "I'll second that." Charlie chimes in, scattered laughter filling the cave. Neil continues. "To put to rout all that was not life, and not, when I had come to die, discover that I had not lived."

   Knox let's out a soft whistle. "And Keating's marked a bunch of other pages." Neil flips through the book. Charlie cuts in. "Alright, intermission. Dig deep. Right here. Lay it down." He shines his flashlight down on the ground. "On the mud? We're gonna put our food on the mud?"

   "Meeks, put your coat down. Picnic blanket." "Yes, sir! Use Meeks's coat!" Meeks responds sarcastically as he lays down his coat. "Don't keep anything back, either. You guys are always bumming my smokes," Charlie nods to the group.

Everyone dropped food down onto the coat, (Y/n) contributing a bag of Razzles candy. 

"Raisins?" "Yuck." Charlie groans. "-Wait a minute. Who gave us half a roll?" Pitts answers with his mouth full. "I'm eating the other half."

"Come on!"

"Want me to put it back?" "Keep it!" Meeks and (Y/n) answer in unison, making them both laugh. 

-

   "It was a dark and rainy night. And this old lady, who had a passion for jigsaw puzzles, sat by herself in her house at her table to complete a new jigsaw puzzle. As she pieced the puzzle together, she realized to her astonishment that the image that was formed was her very own room. And the figure in the center of the puzzle, as she completed it, was herself. And with trembling hands, she placed the last four pieces. And stared in horror at the face of the demented madman at the window. The last thing that this old woman ever heard was the sound of breaking glass."