Wermer's Syndrome: A Short Story

Joshua Cunningham sat, proudly folding his hands in his lap. The eccentric ascend in the boy 's typically pessimistic outlook on the day had originated from the vigorous exhilaration that fifth grade had bestowed upon his slight shoulders. It felt like a breath of fresh, crisp air compared to the unvarying, tedious end of fourth grade. His head rested in the clouds, caught up in a rush of memories from last year. Such a strange time, fourth grade had been, considering he had been absent for a month or so while he had recovered at Resurgam from Wermer 's Syndrome. The amount of work that had caught up to him was tremendous. At some points, Joshua believed it might have been better had he heeded his original idea and

He needed to clear his mind of all events, just let go and breathe. No thoughts. No company. Just his pounding heart and the middle of autumn were with him. The boy had decided to go to the one place where he could be alone, without distractions, and that was near enough as so his mother wouldn 't worry. He had known this place almost as long as he could remember. All his countless visits with his mother, and it was etched into his mind forever. Suddenly, he noticed the large hole in the ground where his second home was. He leaped in to investigate. He strolled down a tunnel of soft soil and found a ledge overlooking a long, deep scar in the earth. Joshua kneeled, and peered down from his vantage point. A chilly fall wind swept throughout the ravine, blowing about gorgeous flurries of golden and scarlet leaves. The sunlight filtered through branches of the oak trees, dappling the colorful mess of leaves and twigs on the floor. Joshua smiled blissfully, gazing down on the deep chasm from a mossy ledge. His ledge. He had first discovered this hidden gem of a ravine long ago with his mother and father, though this memory was dim in his brain and the boy hardly remembered it. He wished that he could. How many problems it would have solved. His hazel eyes swept the ravine for the hundredth time. Despite the frequency of his visits, this place never ceased to amaze him. The river that rushed swiftly through the neighborhood came to a waterfall here, a glorious cascade that always seemed to catch the light of sunset in the most perfect way. Long, twisted vines graced the walls, and lilies grew on the ledges. Cliff swallows nested in grooves along the rocky cliffs. In Joshua 's view, it was one of the most beautiful things in a world. And he was one of the three total people who knew about it. Would he ever find out who the third person who held the secret of