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Me and Dillard
Strange as it may seem in today’s world of bicycle helmets and knee pads, by my seventh birthday I had been given a Stevens .410 shotgun. Of course, it wasn’t close to being a new gun, but to me it was the one that tamed the west.
There was a little patch of timber across the road from our house probably no more than 10 acres total. There was plenty of hardwood and lots of squirrels. I was allowed to go hunting in that little patch of woods by myself. Auntie would always say, “Son, don’t cross that fence into the big woods.”
“Yes, ma’am,” and off I’d go. Actually hunting inside the fence was usually pretty good, but today was not a day to brag about. There I was sitting in my usual spot looking at my favorite tree and nothing was happening on my side of the fence.
But on the other side, I could hear hundreds, maybe thousands of squirrels barking. Some of them even sounded like they were laughing at me. I couldn’t stand it. I reasoned, “If I crawled under the fence to get my limit, who would know?”
Though I had heard about people getting lost in the big woods, it never crossed my mind that I could, even with the sun hanging low in the west. After all, I was going to stay close to the fence and I was only going to be in there long enough to get my limit.
When I crawled under the fence, I heard a squirrel jumping from limb to limb. I looked up, took aim, fired and down he came. Just a few seconds later, I heard another squirrel and I began walking toward the sound. I don’t know exactly how long I walked, but I guess the squirrel heard me walking and hid.
That’s when I first noticed it was graveyard quiet and getting serious dark as well. Then I heard the night birds rustling around in the bushes. I think it was then that I realized that I was in the big woods and in deep trouble. It was dark, and because I had been walking around looking at the timber, I wasn’t really sure where the fence was. I wasn’t even sure where I was.
That’s when it dawned on me. I was a goner!
I stumbled around in the dark until I remembered my old friend Dillard telling me one time that if I ever got lost the best thing to do was to stay calm, sit down and pick out a landmark and walk to it. That part about staying calm was easier when I was on Dillard’s front porch. But I did sit down and began to peer through the ever increasing black night.
I knew that if I ever got out of this alive, my Auntie would kill me. Worse than that, she’d take my gun, tell our neighbors, the Shepherds and their oldest boy, Hugh, would make fun of me from now on.
Oh, what a tangled web I had weaved.
“What is that?’ I thought to myself. I could see the smallest bit of light no bigger than a lightning bug. I wasn’t sure where it was, but it seemed like a better place than where I was. I stood up and focused on that landmark and started walking. On and on I slowly walked toward the dim light that seemed so far away.
Each step was measured. I could hear things behind me that made me want to have a runaway. One step, find the light and take another step. Then I felt something grab me. It was so dark I didn’t see the barbed-wire fence that separated me from where I wanted to be.
I took one more look at the light, got down on the ground and crawled under the fence, stood up and found the light once more. I’m confident that was the feeling Moses had when the Egyptians were bearing down on him, and he turned in time to see the waters parting.
As I walked across the pasture I never took my eyes off the light that kept getting bigger each step. I soon recognized the 60-watt light bulb on the front porch of our house. I later told Dillard about how dim the light was when you were standing on the porch and how bright it seemed that night. He smiled and said, “The light was not there to see the house, it was there to see how to get to the house.” I knew that was going to be one of those things that I’d have to figure out when I got older.
So I crossed the gravel road to our house and got a “I’m so glad you’re safe” hug and then a “don’t you ever do that again” whipping all the way into the house.
But somehow it all seemed worth it to me. I had stared “lost” in the face and had the key to finding my way out. Now all these years later, I’m reminded that we don’t have to know everything there is to know before we can be successful. Just be true to the light you have and you’ll find a way to win.
“Hey Auntie,” I said while she was tucking me in for the night, “can I go over to Dillard’s tomorrow and tell him about how I stayed calm?”
“And oh, one more thing, let’s not tell the Shepherds. There are some things that Hugh just doesn’t need to know.”
“Thank you Auntie… I love you too.”
