ENWIN

It was an early Wednesday afternoon, in the first week of September. Enwin’s day, as of yet, was turning out to be a complete waste. He decided to abandon the boredom of home, and spend the next few hours at the park. The park was the perfect destination for Enwin, especially on days like this. It was one of the few places he could go, to find the serenity he desired, as well as the opportunity to read with little distraction. So he grabbed a book, jumped in his 1987 Ford Escort, and took off.



When he arrived at the park, Enwin began to stroll down a trail which would lead him to his favorite bench, by the lake. As he ventured down the trail, he noticed two squirrels on the path ahead of him. At first, he thought nothing of it. He never cared much for the squirrels, since they always seemed to run away anyhow. But as he got closer, rather than jet off in the opposite direction, they started coming towards him.



Enwin stopped immediately, remembering a famous movie scene, where a squirrel had lunged out of a tree and onto a man’s back. He didn’t want any similar trouble, so he backed up and began to walk away.



Unfortunately though, the squirrels had other plans because they proceeded to follow him. Every step that Enwin took backwards, they would match his movement. When Enwin stopped, they stopped. When he moved, they moved.



Worried that they may attack him, Enwin eventually picked up a rock and threw it past the squirrels. As they turned to watch the rock, he quickly bolted the other way, occasionally looking back to see if they gave chase. Once they were out of view, he opted to settle at one of the picnic tables at the top of the trail.



Although he was disappointed not to sit by the lake, Enwin gladly sat down to read a Steinbeck tale of two mismatched migrant workers. There were no squirrels in the general area, so for a while, everything went just fine, and Enwin enjoyed himself. However, this comfort would be short-lived.



By the time Enwin began reading the second chapter of his book, he heard a rustling sound behind him. When he turned around, a baby squirrel could be seen sitting under one of the other tables. Immediately, Enwin moved to another table, hoping the thing would stay away from him. But the little creature insisted on sticking around.



It moved from table to table, watching Enwin each time it stopped. It even climbed the trees around the tables and continuously surveyed him from above, leaping from branch to branch as it made the journey.



“A reconnaissance squirrel” he thought aloud. “Surely they must be planning something.”



Enwin watched carefully as the little rodent ran along the ground, and passed by overhead. For the next twenty minutes or so, he would ping pong from table to table, avoiding and monitoring his furry new enemy.



After surveying him, the squirrel retreated to the trees and Enwin was now positive that the squirrels in the park were organized and conspiring against him. The baby squirrel, he thought, was obviously heading back to inform the situation to the rest of them. There little doubt in his mind that this was over. Enwin even watched the baby squirrel run back into the trees and repositioned himself so that he could keep a steady eye aimed in that direction.



Nothing happened during the next fifteen minutes and Enwin figured that it was just a matter of time until his next run-in with the little tree dwellers. But another problem occurred, as he tried to read his book and keep an eye on the squirrels. A handful of bees were swarming around him.



“Get away from me!” he screamed, as he swatted the bees.



He actually killed one of them, but there were too many for him to fight off.



“The squirrels!” he thought. “They must be behind this.” Enwin thought for sure that the bees had been recruited by those maniacal squirrels, and he switched tables again to get away.



A park ranger had been watching everything. She approached Enwin to ask if he was alright. He mentioned how the squirrels had been after him since he had arrived there and that they were plotting an attack against him from the trees.



He continued on about mapping out a plan to counter their attack on him. He also told her about the bees with their possible cooperation with the squirrels, launching a small attack of their own on him.



“I managed to kill one” he finished. “So the casualties are in my favor.”



The park ranger suggested that maybe the bees were simply attracted to the scent of his deodorant and that maybe the squirrels were only sought food.



“Some times park visitors feed animals scraps of unwanted food” she stated. But Enwin insisted that his theory was correct. The ranger simply nodded in agreement, wished him luck and walked away.



Extremely paranoid, Enwin went back to reading, constantly keeping a steady eye to see if the squirrels were coming. He read for about a half an hour with no interruptions. Nothing crept around him. No bees were in sight. He thought to himself that maybe the park ranger was right about the bees attraction to his deodorant. And maybe the squirrels just wanted a bite to eat. Enwin took comfort in the young lady’s advice, and gave up the notion.



Before too long, there was some swishing of leaves all around Enwin. He looked up, only to see that there were ten to fifteen squirrels to either side of him and more coming from the trees ahead of him.



“I knew it!” he screamed, as he thought how crafty they had been. And with that, Enwin stood and desperately devised a plan.



He wanted to make a break for his car, but the parking lot was to his right, and so were the squirrels. Running out of time, as they slowly closed in on him, Enwin knew he had to run for it. He figured that they expected him to turn around and start running, so he took off straight ahead and down the path that would take him to the lake.



The second he started to run, the squirrels were right behind him. One of them leapt for his face, but Enwin quickly reacted with a strong back-hand slap and sent the scrawny fiend to the ground. As he hurried down the trail, he knew he would not be able to outrun these furry little monsters.



There was no alternative. Enwin sprinted through the first available clearing and dove into the water. The few on-lookers assumed he was a nutcase, as he swam clear to the other side. After he got out of the water, he looked back and gave a well deserved sigh of relief. He had escaped his predators, at the cost of a soggy paperback book.



Enwin waited about an hour before he went to get his car. He wasn’t too worried on the way back, figuring that they wouldn’t know which car was his. But as he approached the Escort, an eerie feeling came over him, and rightfully so.



Movement could be heard in the leaves as he reached for his keys. Enwin immediately knew that they were watching him. Knowing he didn’t have much time, he rushed to unlock the door. As he fumbled the keys, he noticed some squirrels start to slowly creep out from the trees. As they moved in closer he finally got the door open and as quickly as he could, he started the engine and sped off, laughing all the way.



Enwin was laughing and cursing the squirrels so much, that he wasn’t paying any attention to his driving. He approached a sharp turn in the park driveway, failing to notice until it was too late. There was no time to turn, so Enwin slammed on his brakes, which had failed miserably.



He plowed right into a tree, causing his head to break through the windshield. Enwin was unable to move on his own. A piece of glass stuck in his throat, making it difficult to yell for help. He could only sit and wait for some one to come. And then he felt it. Enwin could feel tiny claws clutching at him, and climbing and tugging at his body.



Several people, did hear the crash and eventually made their way to Enwin’s car. But when they got there, that’s all they saw...Enwin’s car. Enwin was nowhere to be found. What could be found, was a trail of blood leading into the woods.



A small search party inspected the entire park and could not find a trace of him. Though, proper examination of the Escort showed that something or some one had chewed through the brake wires.

END.