Promenade
By Renée M.
BUS NUMBER 94 arrived in The Lake District at 10
am sharp. It had been a long, tiring and arduous
journey, so Greg and Tony were extremely tired
when they arrived there. These two college brothers
loved to go walking, so they had decided to go to the
most recommended place for exciting walks: the Lake
District.
“Wow!! I’m glad we decided to go here. It’s such a
beautiful place! Where do we go first? How about
there? All my classmates keep on bragging about
having been there, you know,” exclaimed Greg, forgetting
that they were there to go walking, while taking
in his beautiful surroundings. Tony, being the older one,
was much less enthusiastic.
“Wait. Don’t be your careless self. We’re not here to go sightseeing.
Don’t forget, we’re here to go walking! WAL-KING,” he
replied, stressing the last word.
“Oh yeah, we are…Sorry. But…we still have enough time to go somewhere
and then go walking, haven’t we? Besides, we’re going to go walking tomo--” Tony, who just
looked at his watch, interrupted his brother:
“Ermm…Yeah, I guess so. Come on, let’s go!” The two brothers then went to the place that Greg had mentioned
earlier. They were really enjoying themselves and they didn’t regret going to the Lake District. A few
hours passed by. It was 2pm. Just then, Greg realized something.
“Oh no. We forgot to look for a hotel where we can sleep in,” he stated matter-of-factly.
“Oh shoot…Now we won’t be able to---wait. A HOTEL? Are you mad? We don’t have enough money for that!”
his brother Tony said, annoyed. Greg shrugged.
“I know. Chill out. I just said that to annoy you…But I’m not joking. We don’t have any place where we could
stay for the weekend and we didn’t bring much money with us…We just have like…500 or so...”
“Hmm…What about a bed and breakfast place?” Tony suggested.
“That’s a good idea…Let’s ask someone if there’s a bed and breakfast place nearby.”
Both of them started asking
people who were passing by if they knew of one nearby. The people who they asked hadn’t really cooperated
and just continued to walk and didn’t even answer their question. After several tries, a strange-looking
adult told them that the nearest and cheapest bed and breakfast was about 5 km away. The two boys thanked
him and followed the man’s directions.
They took the bus and after 10 precious minutes, they finally arrived at
a bed and breakfast place with a big sign on the front door that read: “Bed & Breakfast: Hill view”.
The place
was nice: the view outside was calming and it looked quite comfortable to sleep in. The door was wooden and
one could notice that it was recently polished, because it was shining brightly, just like the sun. The roof was
red, and the building was made of wood. It was like a small hut.
“Wow. I think…I like this place,” Greg said.
“Yeah. It actually reminds me of our uncle’s dojo in Japan, don’t you think?” Tony didn’t wait for Greg’s answer.
“Let’s go inside.”
Both of them entered the wooden building. Upon entering, they saw a small couch and
a fireplace on their left. On their right side, they saw the reception. An old woman was sitting behind the
counter, smiling. In front of them, there were wooden stairs, which looked creaky and old and they looked as if
when you stepped on them, they would just give away and crack. There were a lot of decorations: some of them
were abstract paintings, some of them were animal horns and some of them were simply maps.
“Not bad,” exclaimed Tony. They didn’t hesitate to go to the receptionist: they both wanted to sleep here as it
looked like a very comfortable place.
“Good day. I’m Greg and this is Tony, my brother. Do you have a double room?” Greg asked the old woman.
“Good day. I’m Mrs. Johnston. Yes, luckily we do have a room with two beds. Do you want to take the new special
offer or just B&B? The new special offer’s B&B plus dinner. It’s from £22 and above a night,” the old,
charming woman said.
“Whoa. That’s kind of expensive…” Tony exclaimed, surprised by the price. The old woman simply smiled
nicely.
“Hey Tony, let’s just stay here. I don’t want to look for another B&B. My feet hurt!! Besides, we still have
500…” Greg complained to his older, more mature and responsible brother. Tony just nodded his head in acquiescence.
“Ok…We’d like to take that room, the one with two beds in it,” he said to the woman.
She then gave them the keys to their rooms. “Oh…and one more thing. You always have to tell me if you are
going out walking. If I’m not here at the counter by the time you’re going out, just write a letter and leave it
here with your signatures…you know, for security reasons…” she added. The two brothers nodded, took the keys and quickly went to their room. It was a very comfortable room: there were two soft beds, each with a
fluffy white pillow. On top of each bed was a thick, striped blanket, to keep you warm at night. Both brothers,
being very tired, just stared at the beds in awe, hastily changed their clothes and lay in bed the whole day until
they finally fell asleep.
“Greg! GREG!” Tony was waking his younger brother up, as it was already 8am and last night, they both had
decided to leave for their walk at 9. Tony shook his brother’s shoulders. Greg opened his eyes and saw his sibling’s
face and could hear the radio in the background. He felt annoyed.
“WHAT THE HECK’S WRONG WITH YOU? CAN’T YOU SEE I’M TRYING TO SLEEP?”
“Don’t talk to me like that! Fine, then go to sleep! I’m going walking. It’s already 8:02, you know? I already took
a shower and I’m already prepared…well…almost... Anyway, we went all the way here to GO walking, not to
lie down in bed and be a lazybones! We could’ve done that in Manchester!” Tony shouted.
“It’s 8 already? Why didn’t you say so?” Greg suddenly jumped out of bed, took a 5-minute shower, combed his
untidy hair, put on his shoes and said: “Ready!”
“You dummy. What about our stuff?” Tony stated, annoyed by his younger brother’s ignorance and carelessness.
He then started packing up the things that he needed for the walk: a compass, a flashlight, a whistle, waterproofs,
packed lunch, a medicine kit, a warm pullover, a big bottle of water, a huge plastic bag and some extra
food. Greg, upon seeing what his brother was doing, started to do the same and packed the same stuff in his
own rucksack. Just then the radio reporter reported the weather update.
“Hello folks. Today is Saturday, the 10th of November, and the weather will be warm and sunny, 20°, quite
high in this time of the year. The temperature will drop to 4° in the evening and there will be some rain here
and there. For the hill walkers, the weather changes quite rapidly in the mountains, so I suggest you guys to
bring pullovers, too. That was the weather report, 8:05 am.” Both of them listened to the reporter carefully, for they needed to know if the weather today was suitable for a nice, long walk. Greg glanced at the small night table and saw a manual. He took it and started to read it out loud:
“….distress signal is six long whistle blasts or torch flashes, repeated after one minute…”
“WOW. For once in your life, you did something right. If you hadn’t seen that little manual of yours, we
wouldn’t have known the distress signal…” Tony said, with a small smirk on his face. Greg didn’t react to his
snide little comment, but instead, he just kept on reading the manual, but this time, quietly. Tony broke the silence
between them after a few minutes.
“We’re ready…Let’s go.”
“WAIT! Don’t forget, we have to tell Mrs. Johnston that we will go walking today!” Greg reminded his sibling.
“Ok, after eating, we will drop by the reception and tell her.” Both teenagers took their rucksacks and wore
them, opened the room’s wooden door and went to the dining room. They took a plate and put food on it: bacon,
eggs, toast… After eating their breakfast, they went to the reception and saw that Mrs Johnston wasn’t there
and waited for a while. After several minutes, Tony looked at his watch.
“It’s 8:50. We’ve got to go. Let’s just write a letter and leave it here.” Greg took a piece of paper and a pen and
wrote:
8:52am, Saturday
Dear Mrs Johnston,
We’re going to climb the Old Man of Caniston today. We’ll be back at 6 pm for our dinner.
Yours,
Greg+Tony
He reread his letter. Satisfied, he gave it to his older brother and he put it on the counter, right under a pink
pen holder.
“Ok, everything’s settled. Let’s go now.” Tony exclaimed with an impatient voice. They went out of the wooden
building and looked at their surroundings: it was stunning. The sun was shining brightly above them; the
streams were flowing gracefully like a swan towards the blue, clean rivers; you could feel the cleansed, refreshing
air reaching your lungs every time you breathed; the mountains looked quite peaceful but treacherous and
dangerous at the same time; you could hear the birds singing their morning song…The place was simply beautiful…
beautiful and breathtaking.
“Wow. I wasn’t able to appreciate this place last night because I was too tired…But now…WOW.” Greg stated,
still staring at their surroundings in awe. Tony didn’t say anything: he just kept on staring at nature’s divine
beauty, obviously amazed. After several minutes of staring, they started to walk towards the wilderness…They
wandered and wandered and wandered for what felt like an eternity but was in reality only an hour.
“Wow. I’m glad we went here. This place is AMAZING!!” Tony exclaimed, still astounded by their beautiful surroundings.
“Yeah, me too…let’s take a 5-minute break.” Greg suggested.
“Fine.” Both men looked for a rock where they could sit on. After sitting, Greg opened his rucksack, took a
chicken sandwich and took a bite.
“Wow. You get hungry so fast.” Tony teased and drank a bit of water. 5 minutes passed by and they were already
on their way to the Old Caniston’s top.
Every step they took, everywhere they looked, it was nature’s divine
grace: tall, big, green oak trees protected them from the sun’s warm rays; the clear rivers full of fish swimming
gleefully; the warm, strong wind caressing their faces, making a drop of sweat fall down from their already
sweating foreheads; the colorful leaves, being autumn, were slowly falling from the branches and reaching
the ground…
Mrs Johnston arrived at the bed and breakfast place at about 10 am: she had gone shopping. As she arrived,
she immediately saw Greg’s and Tony’s letter under her favourite pink penholder. She took it, and after reading
it, threw it in the trash can. Mrs Johnston lived a normal life: she was neither rich nor poor. She could buy
all the important things that one needs to live and also the bed and breakfast place’s necessities. She looked
around: people were eating their breakfast. Since long before, her bed and breakfast place, being the cheapest
in the area, had already been the most popular one in the Lake District. She was proud of her accomplishments…
but something had always been missing in her life: a family. A family to nurture. A family to
love…Mrs Johnston went behind the counter, took a magazine, and waited for customers to serve to and the
two brothers: Greg and Tony.
Several hours passed by. It was 3:00 pm.
“Tony, isn’t that the weird rock that we saw an hour ago?” Greg asked his brother.
“Yeah, it is! Ughh, just take out the map. We’ve been wandering all these hours and we’re not even an INCH
closer to the Old Man’s top!” Tony ordered impatiently.
“Hey, don’t look at me. It’s not my fault we’re lost. You’re the navigator…Ma—map? Don’t YOU have the map?”
Greg replied, afraid of what his brother was about to answer.
“WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? You have the map! I—didn’t you bring it? I thought you
brought it…I don’t have it!!” his brother shouted.
“Great. Just…great. We’re lost, we’re hungry and we didn’t even reach the Man’s top!! We don’t even have any
food left!! Greg yelled hysterically.
“OK…it’s best if we stay calm…Let’s just…Umm…Let’s check the compass.” Tony tried to calm his brother
down. He then took the compass out of his big rucksack and tried to find where they were.
“What’s wrong with this? The handle doesn’t even move! This is---crap. Trash. It’s broken. Greg, give me
yours.” His younger brother didn’t wait a minute longer: he immediately gave his compass to Tony.
“Oh shoot. Don’t tell me YOURS is broken TOO!” Tony exclaimed, after having tried to fix both compasses.
“How are we supposed to find our way to the top or our way home if we don’t even have a map nor a compass?”
Greg asked.
“I don’t know. Let’s just…trust our instincts, I guess…” Tony replied, unsure of what to do…
Minutes passed by…and then an hour…and then 2 hours… It was 7:50 pm and Mrs. Johnston was getting a
little worried about the two brothers. She was still waiting behind the counter, glancing at the door every time
someone entered. She had wanted to call the Mountain Rescue team when it was 7 pm, but she had hesitated
and instead, she had waited a bit longer. But now, she couldn’t take it any more. The grandfather’s clock
chimed: it was already 8 pm. She took the phone receiver and dialled 999.
“Good evening. Which service would you like to speak to?” the woman who answered asked politely.
“Hello. This is Mrs Johnston. I would like to speak to the Mountain Rescue team, please,” Mrs Johnston said.
“One moment.” After a few seconds, a man’s voice spoke.
“Hello. This is the Mountain Rescue team. How may I help you?”
“Hello. This is Mrs Johnston, the owner of the bed and breakfast place called Hill View. I have these two customers
who haven’t come back from their walk yet…and it’s getting dark…” Mrs Johnston said with a worried
tone.
“Hmm…and at what time did they leave?” the man asked.
“Well, I don’t know for sure, because I was shopping when they left. But in the letter that they wrote to me, it
said that it was 8:52… so I guess they left at about 9 am. They also wrote that they were going to be back at
about 6 pm for their supper…”
“I understand… We will wait for another hour and see if they come back by 9. If not, then we will send out the
Rescue team, ok?” the man said.
“Ok…” Mrs Johnston replied in acquiescence and hung up the phone, thinking of what the two boys were doing
right now…
“Look, we’re not getting anywhere! Let’s not ‘follow our instincts’ anymore! That’s crap! If we keep on following
them, we won’t be getting anywhere. Let’s just wait here until someone passes by and then they can help us!” a tall, slim figure suggested to the taller and bigger figure right next to him.
“I’ve told you, no one will pass by, because we’re waaaay too far from civilization!!” this figure, named Tony replied, annoyed.
“I know. But it’s dark. We weren’t able to find our way home when it still wasn’t dark, but now that it is, our
chances are NEXT TO NONE!!” Greg pointed out loudly.
Suddenly, something moved hastily and briskly in the thick, green bushes right behind them…
It was 10 o’clock in the evening and every one was already at home, sitting behind their fireplaces or already
going to sleep.
“This is Peter Wellington with the 10pm news. Today, two young college boys from Manchester, aged 19 and
20, got lost on their way to the mountains. The mountain rescue team is now looking for them. This is the
fourth time this month that the team had to look for someone in the dark. 50-year-old Mrs Johnston informed
us of their disappearance a few hours ago. This is Peter Wellington with the---“ Mrs Johnston took the TV’s remote
and turned it off. She had been anxiously waiting for the two boys to come back. The mountain rescue
team had started their search at 9 pm, and up to now they hadn’t found anything. Mrs Johnston just kept on
staring outside the window, waiting and waiting…waiting for something to happen…
“Mountain Rescue team 1 to mountain rescue team 2. Have you found anything? Over.” The two teams that
were assigned to look for the two boys were outside in the cold, windy wilderness. Something fell on top of
Dave’s head. He looked at the sky: it was starting to rain. Drops of rain fell, one after the other. The man took
his walkman and tried to listen to what his colleague said.
“Mountain Rescue team 2 to Mountain Rescue team 1. Dave, we haven’t found a single thing... and it’s starting
to rain. What do we do? Over.”
“I don’t really know. But I think it’s best if we go back and then we can start our search again before sunset.
Let’s meet in the car park at 6 am. Besides, even if the two lads had a whistle, we wouldn’t be able to hear a
single thing with this blasted wind!!” the other man replied.
“So it’s settled then. Let’s go back. And then let’s meet in the car park at 6 am. Over and out.” Both men were
making their way back to the bed and breakfast place, giving up their search, not knowing where the brothers
were…
Two figures were running in the woods, trying to get away from a larger figure behind them.
“RUN, GREG, RUN!!” the figure ahead shouted on top of his lungs, panting.
“Oh damn! Who’d have thought there are bears in the Lake District?” the second figure, named Greg, exclaimed.
He looked behind him: the bear was still there, chasing them and roaring ferociously at the same
time. It was still raining and on top of that, the wind was getting stronger and stronger… The weather was
getting even worse. Something roared: it was lightning.
“Ohh great!! This is the BEST walk ever! A bear is chasing us, thinking that we’re his dinner and it’s raining
so hard that we’re going to catch pneumonia!! ” Tony said, still running for his life. Suddenly, a branch caught
Greg’s foot and made him stumble. He shouted in pain: he twisted his ankle. The bear wasn’t that far away... It was getting closer…and closer… Tony tried to help his younger brother, fearing that he would get eaten… Greg tried to stand up, but it was no use…
“RUN TONY!! LEAVE ME HERE!! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!” Tony didn’t want to leave his brother; but he didn’t want to get eaten as well. Selfishness got to him: he stood up and ran as fast and as far away as he
could, screaming for help, not knowing what to do and where to go. He looked behind him. He couldn’t see his brother anymore. He… disappeared.
After several minutes of running, Tony finally stopped. He then burst into tears. He felt guilty. He felt bad for
what he had done. He let his brother die! How could he? How DARE he? What kind of a brother was he? He wasn’t human… He was a monster… He was inhuman. He didn’t have any feelings… any feelings at all… The raindrops were still falling down from the sky, soaking the crying, guilty teenager…
The man was looking for his colleague at the car park. He was glancing everywhere, trying to find him. As he
turned his head to the left, he saw his colleague: he was running towards him.
“Sorry I’m late… Let’s start looking for them… But instead of splitting up, let’s look for them together…” his
colleague said.
Both of them left the car park at 6:05am and started to look for the two teenagers, hoping that
this time, they would find them...
Hours passed by. It was 8 am. The mountain rescue teams still haven’t had any luck in finding the two teenagers.
“My gosh, where are these people? They couldn’t have gone THAT far…” Dave said. Suddenly, they heard
something. It sounded like a whistle.
“Someone’s doing the distress signal!!” Dave’s colleague said, listening carefully and trying to figure out where
the sound was coming from.
“This way!” Dave followed his colleague into the woods. The trees were soaked and wet; the road was muddy and the birds weren’t even singing their morning song. Both of them followed the sound… and wandered for a while. After 8 minutes, they saw someone: it was one of the teenagers that they were looking for! He looked like a mess: his eyes were all red and puffy; he was kneeling on the muddy ground and his clothes were torn.
“THANK GOD YOU’VE COME!!!! You’ve GOT to help me find my brother, Greg!!” the boy pleaded.
“Weren’t you together? What happened?” Dave asked. The young teenager told them what happened slowly
and clearly…
“…and then I ran as fast as I could… when I looked behind me, my brother was gone… Please help me find
him!” The two men just looked at each other and then nodded. The three of them started to walk into the
woods, looking for Greg and yelling his name. After 3 hours of wandering, they finally found him: his eyes were closed; he was lying on the ground in a foetal position and his clothes were bloody. Tony immediately went to his younger brother and asked for forgiveness.
“I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have left you there! What if the bear… killed you? I’m such a lousy brother! I will
NEVER leave you again!!” Greg didn’t answer. He just kept on being still and his eyes were tightly shut. Dave went to the teenager’s body and checked his pulse.
“Tony, I’m so sorry to tell you this…but…he’s gone.”
“WHAT? THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!! THAT CAN’T BE! THAT CAN’T BE!!” Dave suddenly shook his shoulders with force.
“Tony! TONY!! WAKE UP!!” he said. “WAKE UP!!”
Tony suddenly woke up with a start. As he opened his eyes, he saw his younger brother’s face.
“WAKE UP TONY! We’re already here!” Tony was confused. Am I--in heaven? He asked to himself.
“We’re HERE! Stop daydreaming! We’re finally here, in the Lake District! We arrived!!” Greg said once again.
Tony looked at his surroundings: there were a lot of people. Some of them were talking to each other; some of them were getting out of the bus. He finally understood. Everything had just been a bad dream. Just an innocent nightmare…
“Wow!! I’m glad we decided to go here. It’s such a beautiful place! Where do we go first? How about there? All
my classmates keep on bragging about having been there, you know,” Greg exclaimed. Tony became surprised…
Déjà vu?
(Dec. 2006)
P.S: I haven't seen this story in such a long time. I thought I lost it.
The string strung along with the course of time; the blue balloon; nearing its loss.
