Garret “Tommy” Thomas McAdams
At first, ditching the baseball scholarship to pursue a more stable career had seemed like a great idea. As much as Garrett loved the sport, it seemed more logical to major in something that proved to be a steady source of income rather than take his chances playing a game that may or may not be successful. Naturally, his father was delighted and was confident that his son would one day join him in the political arena that was the Georgian government. It was a very secure and sure future that was rather appealing in the heat of the moment. However, by Christmas time, he had come to the realization the economics and pre-law was not for him. Try as he might, he was struggling to keep his grades at passing, and by Easter, he was failing half of his courses. Granted, part of this was owed to the fact that skipping class was all too easy and it was much more fun to stay out late with friends rather than study for exams. By the end of the year, he had given up and was starting to worry about what the future held for him. In the midst of crummy professors, failed tests, and the spring midterms, all anyone could talk about was summer vacation and their plans for next year. Now that they were responsible adults, most of that entailed internships and working. It was then that a friend of Garrett's recommended a unique opportunity deep in the Oregon wilderness. "Maybe some time away to get your head straight and your feet planted will do you some good," he had said. The only reason he didn't go himself is because his health wouldn't allow it.
In the beginning, Garrett had been a bit skeptical at first for a couple reason. The first was that it was terribly far away from home, on the exact opposite side of the United States, the farthest corners of the northern wilderness. While he had always enjoyed camping with his friends, he wasn't exactly sure how he would like doing it for months with complete strangers. Although, the more he thought about it, the more appealing it became. His parents had been hounding after his grades all year, and when he went home, he would never hear the end of it. This could be a chance to escape their wrath and enjoy some peaceful time to himself, something he had painfully little of lately. Moreover, they would have no way of coming after him even if they wanted to. Yes, maybe a summer away from the place he had lived his whole life would do him some good, not just for the experience, but for the calm he could imagine it bringing to his worried mind.
His application was accepted in early April, much to his delight, and he wasted no time in setting about preparing for his "firewatch" among the serene pines of Santiam National Park. From what he had gathered from his friend and researched on his own, it was basically camping with a hint of survival mode thrown in, should the need arise. Much to his relief, the park services seemed to be pretty good at providing basic essentials, but he was one to over prepare as it was, spending the rest of the school year reading up on the park and brushing up on some survival skills while collecting gear here and there. He hadn't told anyone that he was going yet, because if his parents found out about this before he left, they would never let him go without chewing him out first, and he wanted to avoid that if he could help it. So he spent the next two months being as sneaky about his summer plans as possible to prevent discovery. And he had done a pretty good job until his sister paid him a surprise visit during finals week.
Ellie was about two and a half years younger than him or so, entering her senior year of high school and enjoying the freedom that came with a car and the impending age of 18. She had taken this liberty to drive herself and her friends into Atlanta to see the sights and use Garrett and his roommates' apartment as home base, unbeknownst to him. He had been sitting on the floor of his room trying to figure out the most efficient way to pack everything when a tawny haired girl with narrowed brown eyes burst into the room flanked by two brunettes, two one way plane tickets held up in her right hand and she stared at him suspiciously. She must have picked up the tickets off of the counter where he had foolishly left them a little over an hour ago.
"Garrett Thomas," she stated, "What is this?" she demanded rather than asked.
"Well," Garrett looked at the ticket, then her, then back at what he was doing, "It's nice to see you too."
"Cut the crap Tommy, do mom and dad know about this? What are you going to do in Oregon?" Ellie insisted, shooing her friends into the other room as she strode across the floor to sit on the bed, one eyebrow raised as she looked down at him.
Tommy paused for a moment and sat back on his heels before heaving a sigh, "Listen, kid, you got to promise me you won't say anything to them, got it?" he said, getting to his feet and crossing his arms across his chest. Ellie huffed in response, which he took as consent. "Alright, truth is, I'm going to spend the summer working at Santiam National Park watching for fires. I just thought it'd be a good way to take a break from it all, you know?" he explained, moving to sit down on the bed beside her.
The girl considered this for a moment, pursing her lip before a knowing smirk slowly spread across her face, "This is just so you don't have to tell ma and dad about failing all your classes, isn't it?" she guessed, her dark gaze quite accusing.
"I'm going for the experience because I'll never get an opportunity like this again," he protested, frowning down at the youngest McAdams in a scolding manner, "And it wasn't all my classes," he added in defense of himself.
Ellie laughed and thrust the plane tickets into his palm as she stood with a cheeky grin on her face, “Oh man, they’re gonna be pissed, you know that? They’ve got all sorts of plans this summer that involve you,” she warned, planting her fists on her hips.
“I’m sure they’ll be able to do without for a few more months. Just, please don’t say anything. I’m going to tell them myself after I’m safely in Chicago boarding my connection flight,” he promised, also getting to his feet.
His little sister considered this for a moment, eyeing him carefully before dropping her hands to her side with a shrug, “Fine, I won’t say nothing, don’t worry,” she consented, pausing for a moment before frowning slightly, “It’s not dangerous, is it?”
Tommy smiled and ruffled her blonde hair, “Nah, I just sit in a tower and wander around the woods to watch out for fire with a few others. I think the most dangerous thing I’ll encounter is a squirrel,” he assured her.
Well, that wasn’t necessarily true. The fire was an obvious threat, but there were also other dangers that took the form of bears and wolves, as well as dumb campers who might not want to follow the rules and would be angry at being told to do so. Those were the most prevalent, but there were countless other things that could occur that made this much more than a mere walk in the park. Far from it. But he was ready and confident, and wasn’t particularly bothered about those things. He just didn’t want to worry Ellie with those possibilities. As much as they hadn’t gotten along as kids, after his graduation, the petty sibling rivalry had dissipated and they had been on much friendlier terms as of late. Their older sister, Maddy, was five years their senior, so they had always butted heads with each other.
Tommy set the plane tickets town on the bedside table and pushed Ellie out of the room as he said, “Now you, tweedle dee and tweedle dumb behave yourselves out there, got that? And come straight back here if anything fishy happens,” he instructed as they entered the living room.
She rolled her eyes and responded, “Okay, dad, we’ll be fine.”
Her friends giggled and batted their lashes at him but he ignored it as he ushered them out the door. “If you’re not back by 8 o’clock, I’m sending Cam to go look for you,” he threatened with a smirk.
“Ew! Alright, we will!” Ellie promised, her face turning beet red as they disappeared towards the elevators.
Tommy just shook his head with a smile of amusement as she shut the door and returned to what he was doing before he had been rudely interrupted. As far as he could tell, he was pretty squared away in terms of gear, so now he just had to wait for the day to arrive. His excitement was only growing now, and he was anxious to be away from the stresses of college and the unknown for a while, at least. Sure, his parents were going to be angry with him, but he could deal with that when he got home. His patience was short, and he was sure theirs was too, and he knew that if he went home now there would be a lot of yelling.
A week and a half after Ellie’s surprise visit, he was in a taxi at 9 pm heading for the airport, drumming his fingers against his knees and sitting on the edge of his seat. The driver glanced at him occasionally, but said nothing until they pulled up to the curb at the Atlanta Airport to announce the total that the youth owed him. Tommy handed the cabbie a few bills and thanked him before stepping out and retrieving his stuffed backpack from the trunk, then turning and striding towards the front doors. The wait to board the flight to Chicago felt longer than the entire school year, much to his displeasure. However, when they finally announced his flight and he boarded the plane, it was a whirlwind. The hours between Georgia and Illinois felt like minutes as he stared through the window at the land below before it disappeared under the cloud cover. He refrained from reading any of the books he had brought since he wanted to save them for the summer months ahead, napping instead.
When the plane touched down at the Chicago airport around one in the morning, he had a mere thirty minutes until his connection to Salem, so he had to make his call home fast. He was supposed to have arrived at the white washed house in Douglasville a hours ago, and no doubt they were wondering what was keeping him. He used a pay phone in the airport to dial his home phone, waiting patiently as it rang.
“Tommy? Is that you? Where are you?” a feminine voice answered immediately.
“Hey, ma, um, I’m in Chicago,” he admitted, looking at his watch than at the terminal where his flight was boarding.
“Chicago?!?! What the hell are you doing there?” she cried, a male voice echoing the city’s name in the background, his father no doubt.
“I’m going to do the Firewatch in Oregon, but I have to go, or I’ll miss my plane. Love you, see you in a few months,” he said quickly.
“Garrett Thomas, if you dare-“ but he quickly ended the call by placing the phone back on the receiver and jogged to the terminal to get on his plane.
Once again, he slept for most of the flight, waking up when the plane touched down for the final time at 8am and released him into Salem. As far as he could tell, there weren’t any buses to Santiam, and it was a 25 mile walk from the edge of the city and he had no intention of accomplishing that marathon on foot. He had to be there today anyway, and he wasn’t sure he could make it if he walked the whole way.
Before starting the trek toward the park, he went to a café for breakfast, trying to debate his next move when he noticed a few truckers sharing coffee in a booth off to the side. He hesitated for a moment, mustering up his courage before getting up and asking them where they were headed. Unfortunately, none of them were going that way, but they seemed happy to help him find a ride out that way. A couple sitting behind the truckers overheard the conversation and volunteered their vehicle, saying they were heading out that way in an hour or two. He gladly accepted the offer and finished breakfast with them, his shyness slowly disappearing as he got to know the kind pair better and listened to their story before telling his.
Apparently they were newly weds, and had decided to cross the entire United States as a honeymoon, no particular destination in mind. They met while roller-skating when he had tripped and fell right into her and she had teased him for being clumsy but he claimed it was on purpose. They were both from Washington state, but had grown up in different towns so they had never seen each other before their little roller-skating accident. The rest was history. Their warmth and openness helped Tommy to relax a bit and explain why he was hitch hiking out to the national park, and they both commended him for the decision, much to his pleasure.
They all got in the car at around 10:45 and it took a little over an hour drive before they reached the gravel entrance, a wooden sign proudly carved above it displaying the name. He thanked the two profusely and wished them all the best, waving as they drove off before turning and walking down the rocky path. By Georgia standards, it was quite pleasant out, the sun warm, but not overbearing and it made the hike up quite pleasant for him. It didn’t take him too long to reach the parking lot mentioned in the information he was given, and there was no sign of life save for a tent and what looked to be a girl standing in front of it. He hesitated a moment, looking back over his shoulder before swallowing any social anxiety he was starting to feel before approaching, now noting that there was a boy around his age poking his face out of the tent. The girl had said something, but he wasn’t close enough to hear yet, pausing a few yards away from them.
At first, he remained silent, but he finally said, “Hey, so, I’m guessing y’all are here for the fire watch too?” He wasn’t sure why else they would be, but that seemed like the safest way to start a conversation at the moment.
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puddingpunter
