CHAPTER 1

Memories of Death

I recently traveled back to the small town in which I grew up. Through life I've noticed many such small towns, but growing up, I was sure there was no other place like Maple Falls. It was the only world I knew. But I was innocent then and noticed only what my developing mind wanted to see: a superficial world that was created by, and catered to, my dreams and wishes.

Like all kids, I had a physical and emotional attachment to my home town. It happens to almost all of us: one day we are living a dream created by ourselves, and then something happens, and suddenly we get a glimpse of the real world. From that point on, we've lost the innocence of childhood and belong to the adult world. I guess that is the difference between a child's world and an adult's world. A child's world caters and conforms to the child's needs and wishes, whereas the adult world does not. The world is rigid and uncompromising; the adult is the one who has to give and take to fit in.

I had not given much thought to my early childhood for quite some time and had almost forgotten the past. But to be honest, the memories of Maple Falls — especially the month that brought me from childhood to adulthood — have always occupied a place at the back of my mind. I can never forget that experience.

Now I find myself thinking of that month quite often as I recall a trip home. I had traveled with my wife and two daughters back to Maple Falls to attend a funeral, and the memories came with the trip. Though the incident from my childhood seemed to last for years, it really only spanned a few months.

I was eleven the summer I lost my innocence. Kids have experienced many traumatic, life-changing events: poverty, violence, or some other occurrence. For me, it was a death. I had been to a few funerals before that summer, so I had already seen a dead person, but no death affected me like the death I faced then. And the truth is I never saw a dead body that summer — only heard about it — but I was still greatly affected. Death will do that to you sometimes.

I was eleven that summer and living in a world all my own. Fewer than five hundred people lived in Maple Falls, and though it was rare for any major events to take place (events I only realized existed when I moved away from Maple Falls), there was still plenty to keep a young child busy. I never heard of any murders or robberies or other crimes taking place while I lived there. I'm sure there was crime in Maple Falls, but it wasn't prevalent, like in most of the larger cities. Being a child, I didn't hear about the little bit of crime that did occur. Tucker's barn burned down one summer, and that brought every kid from town to watch — every kid except the Barlow twins. The only time the two of them were seen was at school or Sunday church. I wonder what happened to the Barlow twins. I wonder why they never had any friends. I asked a few people at the funeral if they knew what happened to the Barlow family, but no one seemed to know. They just up and moved one year, and no one I asked ever heard of them again.

The main event each year was the small parade held every Labor Day and the traveling carnival that came for a week to help celebrate the event. The rest of the time, a kid was left to his own imagination and initiative.

I lived with my family on the outskirts of town, and since there was only one other house within a quarter mile, I became good friends with one of the boys who lived there. At the time, I thought he was my best friend. We did just about everything together, from riding our bikes into town to watch a matinee or hang around the soda shop to following the town creek out to our favorite fishing and swimming hole. But best friends don't keep secrets from each other. At least that's how I felt then. Until that summer though, life was the best for us.

Larry came from a large family of three sisters and two brothers. Though Larry was my best friend, I didn't know the rest of his family that well. His father worked in Windy Corners, which was fifteen miles south of Maple Falls. He would say hi to me when he was home, but he always seemed to be busy fixing one thing or another and didn't have time to be bothered with us kids. Larry's brothers and sisters had their own friends from school, so they were often with them. (It never occurred to me that his brothers and sisters usually went over their friends' houses to play, just as Larry and I rarely played at his house.) I almost never saw his mother. I had often heard my mother tell others that Mrs. Thompson was a homebody and only occasionally left her house. With Larry and me playing in town or along the river most the time, I didn't even notice when she stopped going outside altogether.

As I look back now, I realize there were many things I didn't notice at the beginning of that summer. I suppose part of it may have been that I was innocent then and naive as to what was really happening around me. Larry and I still played together, as in years past, but his attitude had changed. He seemed to be more serious, more preoccupied. He didn't laugh or joke around as much. If I thought anything, it was probably that it was what happened when someone reached his age. He was two years older, so I just expected him to lead the way into the different stages of life. I don't know how I could have thought anything different.

Even though Larry and his siblings played at their friends' houses quite often, I would still say they were a close family. They did a lot of things together; they just didn't do much together as a family with outsiders. But that summer, all the kids in Larry's family started to spend even more time with their friends away from their home. I didn't know they were trying to escape from something. It is easy now to make a connection between everything that happened that summer and the death we faced. But that's because I know more about life now; it's always easier to make connections between events after the fact.

I began to learn the truth one evening when I returned from town. I had gone by myself that day. Larry said he had some work to do around his house, so being by myself I was home earlier than usual. My mother had a few of her lady friends over; they were talking when I entered through the kitchen door, so I'm sure they didn't notice that I was home. I was about to head for the washroom to clean up when my mother mentioned something about Mrs. Thompson. I stopped to listen. I always listened when anything was said about Larry's mother, as there was an air of mystery about her. But I was unprepared for what they said.

"I heard they brought her home early this morning in an ambulance."

"She was taken into her house on a stretcher. I think she's confined to her bed now."

I'm not sure who was talking; I was only able to distinguish my mother's voice when she spoke. But it only mattered what was said.

"I didn't even know she was sick."

"Neither did I. And to think, I'm her neighbor. The family has always kept pretty much to themselves. I mean, the children do have their friends, but I noticed they never talked about their family life that much."

"What you say is true. I heard earlier this morning that she has been sick for quite some time."

"Why did they bring her home if she's so sick?"

"I heard that Lois believes it's not God's way to use man-made medicines for cures."

I've come to realize over the years...