A cane is generally nothing special.

Its indicative of intelligence, obstinate, or being something unique.  That’s what movies and tv told him.  But really, in the eyes of an 8 year old it was nothing special.

Jack, he had a cane.  He stole from a store.  He was pretty good with his hands, especially for an 8 year old, so stealing a cane, not a problem.

Now that he had it though, he didn’t know what to do with it.  He didn’t even know why he stole it.  Just that it was there, by the door, and he was on his way out.  Other kids left the mall with toys, games, and other childish things.  Jack though, he stole a cane and just kept walking until he was out of the store.

The mall was close to his hide out.  Jack built it in the woods near his house.  Just a lean-to made of sticks and some tarp he had found.  He kept a stereo there, some books, and some apples in a basket.  Now he kept his cane there too. If his parents looked closely out the back window they could see his lean-to, but everyone else would just see the woods.

Jack had an unusual amount of trust from his parents.  He often was allowed to stay out in his hiding spot late into the night.  He would lay there, with the tape deck listening to tv shows he had recorded until he heard his parents scream for him from the back porch.

If he closed his eyes and listened he could picture the shows in his head.  Not what was on the tv, but how he thought they should look like.

Tonight however, he listened to the woods instead of the stereo.  He looked at the branches, the leaves, hear the rustle and squirrels jumping around and felt completely at ease.

He laid there for hours, just staring.  The dark welcomed him.  Starting slowly however, he saw a yellow spot.  At first he thought it was the moon shining through.  Although the forest canopy usually blocked the moon, when the wind blew hard enough he could find it.  But this light grew larger and larger, like something was coming down through the trees.

Jack, for some reason, wasn’t scared.  He did however clutch the cane in his right hand.  The light couldn’t be more than ten feet above him, but at the same time seemed miles away.

Then it dropped….