Silus J. Crowe

From an early age, David "Flint" Warren loved the woods. He and his childhood friends would spend entire summers charting the dense, untamed forests behind his parents’ house, hunting for what they enthusiastically called "buried treasure." Back then, a rusted iron railroad spike or a smooth piece of sea glass was a fortune. Over the years, David developed a keen eye for the hidden and the forgotten. But childhood fantasy eventually dissolved into adult responsibility. The freedom of the woods…

Back in the early 2000s, I worked as a truck driver. I drove everywhere—from my hometown in Georgia to Alaska—and I’d seen it all. One day, early in my career, I was on a routine drive. I’d been on the road for a few days, and everything was going as planned. I stopped for a tank of diesel and rested for the night. The next morning, I got back on the road.

My name is Mark, and this story takes place back when I was in college. I had a solid group of friends who shared my love for hiking and camping. It was no surprise to anyone that we often spent our free time exploring the outdoors. One chilly fall Sunday, we decided to hike a new trail we’d never tried before in a national park. For privacy and legal reasons, I won’t name the park; I’ll simply call it “The Park.”

This is a story of a boy I met when I was still young. His name was James Elkin, and he lived in the house two doors down from me. We weren’t friends, but I did greet him a few times when I saw him. He always looked small for a nine-year-old and had long, uneven hair.