Down Deep

Toby found the body by accident, while he was fixing a flat. It was in a ditch off the side of the road, loosely covered in leaves and dirt. Toby was startled, but cautiously looked the body over without touching it, something he’d learned from TV. There were no marks or bruises on it that he could see, which told him that it might have been an accident, in which case maybe he should just fix his tire and leave in case whoever did it came back. He didn’t know a lot about forensics but it didn’t look like he’d been there for very long.

In the end, however, he called the police, and then his older brother Josh, who had been waiting for him at home at their old man’s place, which he’d inherited after Dad passed away. Josh was closer and showed up first, and talked to the state troopers who came next. Toby obediently waited while an ambulance came to get the body, and the police got a tow truck to take Toby’s pickup home while he rode with Josh, as he was understandably still somewhat shook from seeing the body.

They didn’t talk much about it after they got home. Dad’s place was at the end of an old logging road, an older cabin home where Dad had gone to live after Mom died when they were younger and they’d gone to live with their aunt and uncle. Dad had kept to himself afterwards, but he seemed glad enough for their company when they came to visit and then stay with him when he got too sick to work anymore. Mostly, they just ate dinner and then Toby went into his room and posted about the experience online while Josh watched college football on TV the way Dad used to. He finally began to share his thoughts later that night before they went to bed.

“You don’t have anything to worry about,” Josh said. “It’s not like you killed the poor guy. Like the state troopers told me, they know who he is and it shouldn’t be too hard to find out what happened. It’s a small county, after all. It probably was some kind of an accident.”

“I know, but I still cant help thinking about how he was buried, like it was done in a hurry. If it was an accident then why not just leave the body out in the open and wait for the police? Even if it was a hit and run, why go to the trouble instead of just leaving? Remember what Dad said one time when he took us hunting when we were younger? ‘If you bury something, bury it down deep, otherwise it’ll find a way to come back.’”

“Dad was always worried about wild animals and such,” Josh reminded him. “But this guy was definitely DOA. You got nothing to worry about-”

But even as he said it, they both heard a rasping knock on the front door, like someone-or something-scraping against it.

At first Josh was nonchalant. “Probably just a raccoon,” he said. When he went to check the living room windows, however, his expression changed.

“What is it?” Toby asked in a whisper.

Josh turned to look at him. “Looks like Dad was right after all,” he said.He, too, was whispering. Then they both stood back and watched as the door slowly opened.

THE END