The Great Escape

Abe always liked to out do everyone around. It was as if he would say to himself, "See this? I can do it bigger, better, faster and make it a hell of a lot more fun." He couldn't just dive into a pool. No, he would take a running start and cartwheel in screaming a battle cry the entire way. When we road bikes in the woods it would be at break neck speed; we slowed for nothing. A Stump in the road- pop a wheelie and hope for the best. 'No Fear' was his motto, and he lived by it everyday.

Me and Abe would shoot the bull down along the stream right up under the train tracks. We would go down there and talk about the Cubs or throw a baseball back and forth. During Nam we'd pretend we were fighting the gooks right beside our dads, using wads of dirt and rocks as grenades and bullets. There were many bruises and black eyes during those days. On the final day of my life, Abe had come up with something new, he called it The Great Escape. He'd seen it on TV, a magician wrapped in chains would escape while under water. He had gotten a hold of a chain and decided today we were going to practice to be the youngest escape artists this side of the river.

Well that's how it went for awhile, we took turns squirming in and out of a length of chain and cheering each other on. I had a stopwatch and we even timed ourselves; I was always a little slower than Abe. It didn't take more than forty-five minutes and Abe was bored and that's how it happened. You could always see it coming in his face. There would be an odd look in his eye and the next thing out of his mouth would be something like, "You know what would be really great?” and then I'd be doing something stupid as hell and more than likely grounded for a week.

Well, this time was no different. He said to me, ”Lets do this up on the tracks it'll be more like the TV show then.” The train had come by earlier, and on most days that would be it till the following morning. We started the game all over again, Abe going first. I tied him up tight, right against the tracks. After a minute he broke free. Then my turn came. I laid down and let him wrap me up real good, and then I heard it. Just a simple click. I remember thinking to myself, Oh shit! I said “Abe, what was that?”

“Just a lock man. It's okay, I have a key. See if you can get out now.”

I tried to relax, exhaled and started to move around, I hoped he had left some slack. There was none. I told him, “Just get me out of this, it's not loosening up and these tracks are cold.” The sun was right over me, and had left blurry orange glows everywhere I looked.

“Try flopping around some, it worked for the guy on TV,” Abe said

I tried. I remember feeling like a fish out of water, flopping back and forth, but not only had he locked me in, he had wrapped that chain into the rails. I wasn't going anywhere. Abe stood by and laughed, all at my expense. And then I felt it, a deep vibration coming through the rails, and then a low mournful whistle. My heart pounded in my ears.

“Abe, undo the lock now, hurry up the train is coming back around.”

He dug down in his pocket, and got the key along with bits of paper.

“Get this damn chain off me Abe, stop fooling around,” I shouted. “The train is coming!”

Abe straddled me, and tried to undo the lock but something was wrong. It should have just popped open but it didn't. I felt him snatch on it and curse to himself. I tore against that chain, bucking like a rodeo bull but it was just no good.

“It's not opening, why isn't it opening?” I heard him crying softly.

I remembered hoping it was a joke, he would let me out right in time and he'd have a good laugh while I pummeled his face. He screamed like a mad man pulling against that lock, I think he thought he could break it with pure will alone, but it held strong. We saw the train coming, it's whistle screamed at us. The train knew we were there, but it didn't have time to stop.

Abe pulled against that chain till the last possible second. I still remember him crying and begging me to forgive him, but all I ever did was scream for help. The vibration was the worst part, it just kept building up rattling my teeth, my eyes. I tried to close them but it was impossible. I looked away as the roaring bored down on me, it felt like the sound alone would crush me. The whistle echoed in my ears piercing my brain with it's warning. I died that way, looking out towards the stream below us. It was a painless death, fast.

Things are different now, time, seasons, everything runs together. I don't know exactly how many years have gone by, I know it's a lot. Abe still comes out here to see me, he's an old man now with a cane. He'll sit out here on these tracks and tell me about all his problems. To hear him talk about growing up, I might have gotten out of life easy. Sometimes he sits up here and drinks like a madman, throwing his bottles off the tracks. There's a right good stack of them under the bridge now. He still begs me to forgive him, and I have, though he doesn't know that. That guilt eats at his soul like a cancer. I don't think he has much time left, he's been wasting away for years. He suffered more than I ever did on those tracks. I died in just a few seconds, but it has taken Abe half a century.