Sheep's Clothing by Gary Lewis (free ebook reader for pc txt) 📕

"Coming in to see Pops?" Tony asked as he stepped out of the car.

"No. I'm going to grab a bite to eat. All that beef made me hungry," David said, tilting into a crack of a smile. "The cliffs at five?" David asked.

"Cliffs at five." Tony said before turning to walk up the rest of the driveway that David avoided pulling up.

Though there was some truth in David's excuse, he was truly only starving for the one thing that had been on his mind since that morning, evident by the direction he drove away. But when he got closer to her road, his mind began to rehearse all the things he might say to her, scrutinizing every stupid word. His heart sped up as he neared her house, still unsure where his destination really was.

As he slowed down, her mom's silver minivan was already home and his mind became blank. He had already visited Janice only a couple hours ago, he thought to himself. His mind, devoid of an excuse, played with empty reasons as he found his car continuing to roll past her house, now becoming another lost opportunity that disappeared in his rearview mirror.

#Janice#

Janice's back yard was still filled with a silence for what it missed and no matter how many times she called out, the void still remained. "Peetie... Here boy. Where are you?" She continued calling out as she bent down and clapped her hands, looking out into the field where her dog liked to play. Her eyes dropped with a sad acceptance. "Are you going to abandon me now too?"

Her search was interrupted by the sound of a slowing engine. "Did Vance finally get my texts?" Janice was filled with a need to hear him tell her that everything would be okay and that there was a good reason he hadn't replied earlier. There was always some reason. She only needed to hear it.

As she rushed around her yard toward the view of the driveway, she slowed to catch her breath with the prettiest smile she could manage. But she found herself disappointed once again. Vance's truck was nowhere to be seen and her small neighborhood road was as empty as she felt. "Maybe I should have just went to the cliffs." Her words fell to her feet as she gazed across the glistening, dew coated grass. "I could always just close my eyes when we cross over Moss Lake."

#David#

The afternoon heat now shined across David's hood as he left home, finding himself once again struggling with his radio, frustrated and defeated in his search for the perfect song. It seemed nothing could distract him from what distracted him most as the passing fields gave way to trees and he accelerated toward the cliffs, now barely visible ahead. The massive rock face jutted up from the forest near the top of Bluff Mountain. Lush, rolling foothills reflected on the shimmering lake below while David drove across the long bridge that separated civilization from wilderness. It was where the pavement ended and the day-to-day struggle always fell behind.

Bouncing its way up the bumpy gravel, David's car slowly climbed the steep dirt drive leading up to the cliffs. He stared into the density of the woods. The deep conifer forests surrounded Pine Bluff, concealing anything they may hold. Thoughts flooded his imagination of what might be lurking out there. "Something capable of ripping through a herd of cattle," he said to himself, gazing deep between the passing trees along the way.

At the overlook, Tony's dark green sedan sat parked next to a few others. They barely managed to cram the only shady spot beside the trees near the trail. "But where are they?" he wondered aloud as he stepped out, shielding his eyes from the overbearing sun. While he continued gazing through the bright glare for a human figure, the distant sounds of laughter and shouting came from the trail ahead.

David snuck quietly toward the trailhead wrapped thick with saplings that filled the ground between large trees, a wall of nature that funneled foot traffic onto the dim, uneven, earthen path. "See if I can give you guys a scare," he whispered with a grin. Just as he was surrounded by the wooded trail, an uneasy feeling swept over his skin. A rustle moved through the bushes to his left. David paused.

They got me, instead, he thought to himself. But as he waited, all was silent. Then it sounded again. The noise got closer, growing louder and more erratic. It creeped, it shifted, then it stopped. His skin froze with tingling fear.

An animal. Large animal. David felt his pockets, scrambling in desperation for some utility of salvation. Not even a knife.

A large crash blasted out from the bushes behind him with a flash of light brown fur. David dashed with a scream, stumbling face first into the damp but hard dirt of the trail. He sprung around just in time to see a deer bouncing away through the forest.

"Watch out, everyone! There’s a savage deer on the loose," shouted a familiar female voice followed by the laughter of Tony as he stood with a few others and grabbed David's hand, pulling him up with a firm tug.

"Shut up. It could've been anything," David said with a smirk, still dusting himself off while Tony chuckled.

"You should try that approach on Janice," she laughed. It was Sarah. A bit tall for a girl, skinny, with shoulder length, light blonde hair that sometimes matched the length of her temper. Her usual bluntness stabbed at David's chest. It seemed she knew him better than anyone and she was never afraid to point out his flaws.

Tony raised his hands to quiet them down. "Okay... Listen up. Before we go back to everyone." Tony paused and looked at David. "Sarah's the one who brought him. There's not gonna be any problems, okay?" David quickly began scanning the faces he recognized.

"Babe, where'd you hide the beer?" a sleazy sounding male asked from the direction of the distant banter, but