Apes In The Aether: Chapter I

Jeremiah was raised and home schooled by his grandparents and lived in a typical old farm house in a tiny, Midwestern rural community circa the late 1980’s. He was a shy, sheltered kid who unfortunately was born disfigured with various health problems. His mother, their daughter, died when he was a very young child and retained only vague memories of her. He never knew his father and his grandparents refused to speak of him. They were a quiet, quaint, religious and old fashioned family. Despite living on farmland they didn’t farm. They lent their land to a neighbor who was a good friend of the family, which he tended to until his death. His grandmother, who seemed to have a relevant bible quote for almost every situation, had always been a housewife and a volunteer at their church. His grandfather, a drinker and stern disciplinarian, worked at a metal stamping factory for almost 40 years until his recent retirement.

Behind the old farm house lays an open field, which hadn’t been tended for many years, and now yields weeds instead of crops. There was a dirt path that ran along its side, and on the opposite side of the path was a densely wooded area lined with thick, gnarled brush and a few rotted poles that were the remnants of a wooden fence. The path led down to a stream at which the field eventually ends.

Jeremiah would walk this path to go fishing on lazy summer days. In fact, fishing was one of the few joys he had in his life, and had done so routinely. Down this stream and into the woods was an old stone bridge with webbed, rusted trussing over it. Railroad tracks, long since decommissioned, passed over it. It had a small bit of graffiti upon the abutments; the same bit that has always been on there as far as he could remember. It was visible but a good distance down from his favorite fishing spot along the bank. Despite his curiosity he never ventured down toward the structure. For one he was forbidden by his grandparents to do so, and two the steep, narrow embankments and the thick entanglement of branches and undergrowth of the woods made access rather difficult.

One day, as it was getting late, Jeremiah had gathered his fishing gear and was turning toward the house when he noticed in the corner of his eye a figure sitting on the bridge, their feet hanging over the water. He stood and stared into the distance for a few moments, squinting and straining his eyes in a vain attempt make out the details of the figure. The figure appeared to be a female, although it was hard to for him to tell at that distance. He continued to look towards that direction as he made his walk back home, until the bridge and the figure disappeared behind the trees.