A Message In A Bottle
Jesse sat on the shore of one of Australia's more quiet beaches. He watched the little tin boats rock on the water as the tide steadily came in and lapped at the feet of a family of three and two of their dogs.
The father had his eldest daughter hold onto the orange and black dogs as he stripped off his shirt to pull the animals into the ocean. The younger daughter did the same, handing her sister her zipper jacket and her dress before walking over to their father in her swim club swimmers.
He'd watched the family come down each morning this week, always just after 6am, parking in the same spot. Normally they would exit the car with two different dogs but today was the black dog's second outing to the beach.
From his secluded spot on the beach, he sighed mournfully as he watched the family play, the black dog snapping at the water as it plopped around in circles. The orange dog just stood there unsure what to make of moving ocean, gentle tugs by the elder daughter encouraging him in further. His parents had never let him have a pet when he was at home despite the fact they'd lived on four acres, not even a fish.
As much as he liked the surf - he didn't actually know how to yet - he had to wait a couple more weeks before he could enrol in the surf classes held an hour or so north. He'd tried the more popular beaches further south but decided they were too crowded and he was more likely to be spotted. He'd only been here a week or so and he much preferred the pace of everything here. It wasn't too big like many of the major cities and it was a lot like his mom and dad's home.
One day out of curiosity he'd followed the family home and saw that they lived on a small acreage just as he had. Exploring the area had uncovered a series of houses near the water that were vacant as they waited to be sold and it was here that Jesse would set up for the night. Always a different house but always the same area.
Sitting there watching the family, his thoughts turned to the brothers who had tried to help Jesse . Sam and Dean had genuinely tried to help him – he could see that – but he had found fault with their method. No matter where they took him he would still be able to get away – so what if their friend was like Charles Xavier. And he didn't want to fight. He wanted to be left alone.
Jesse wished none of this had happened in the first place.
While the child had been lost in his memories the family had come back on to the beach and were towelling themselves off before using a rattier towel on their pets. Jesse hadn't noticed that more people were now on the beach, with or without their animals so he scrambled further away from visibility as the family walked past.
"C'mon girls, I think your mum should be up by now," the father said, taking the chain of the black dog off the younger daughter. "You can hold Shags in the car, Renie. You be right with Boris, Lee?"
"Yeah Dad, unless you want me to drive."
"Nah I will this morning."
While the family were putting the dogs in the car, with a lot of trouble from the younger black one - Shags, what an odd name for a dog, Jesse thought – Jesse edged closer to the gravel parking area desperately needing to use the toilet. The daughters climbed in after the dogs, the father having already started the car, nearly ready to go. They both looked in Jesse's direction and smiled.
Something about those smiles – the same smile on the same face just a few years apart – told Jesse he was safe. They'd keep his secret.
~!~
About a month after Jesse had gone, Bobby received a postcard. It had no postmark, name or return address - it was just addressed to Sam and Dean. Judging by the writing, the post card was from a young kid, but Bobby had to wrack his brains to think of any children that Sam or Dean knew. Coming up blank, the hunter shrugged and left it on the stand by the entry to the library knowing either Sam – who'd fallen asleep at the laptop yet again – or Dean would find it.
Disappearing into the kitchen Bobby heard the muted sound of footsteps in snow outside as Dean marched in from taking Rufus for a walk. Lord knew someone had to do it. Last time Bobby tried the Wolfhound had pretty much sent him flying from the wheelchair.
He heard Dean swear kindly at the energetic dog as he stripped off his winter jacket and dawdle towards the kitchen.
Bobby could tell Dean had found the postcard because he'd laughed aloud.
"Holy sh… Sammy wake up dude!"
~!~
Sam groaned loudly and dramatically as Dean shook him from his slumber. Achieving semi-alertness in his brother, Dean shoved a white piece of cardboard under his nose.
"Dude what…?"
"Its 10am Sammy mailman's been and gone."
Sam coughed dryly; he must have snored at some stage because his throat felt rather dry and funny. "So? We don't get any mail here."
Dean's smile broadened. "Well we did this time."
Sam frowned and plucked the card from him, flipping it to find a picture of a very calm beach with little sailing boats anchored in the bay and a small island forest area behind the boats. Where the bay opened to the ocean the sun was beginning to rise, throwing hues of pink and yellow over the water. Stunned at the simple beauty captured in the photo, Sam turned it over to see familiar handwriting.
Don't worry guys, I'm ok. Can you tell Mom and Dad for me? It's great here. Not telling where.
Sam smiled gently at the boy's short but sweet message, noting there were no postmarks of where it had originated. The kid was obviously getting the hang of the being covert in the short time he'd been gone. He was happy to tell his parents that the boy was okay, but how was the problem. Sam and Dean hadn't stayed in town long enough to explain the situation to Jesse's foster parents.
Using Bobby's multi-function printer, Sam scanned in the post card and opened up the image in Photoshop.
A few minutes of fiddling allowed him to change the message for Jesse's parents:
Don't worry Mom and Dad, I'm ok. It's great and safe where I am so don't worry too much. Love you.
Dean watched Sam print out the duplicate onto photo paper before shaking the "postcard" to dry the ink and put it in an envelope. Sam addressed it to Jesse's parents, making a mental note to drop it in the post box as soon as he could.
Sam looked up at Dean silently wondering if he was doing the right thing. Jesse's parents had the right to know.
Dean nodded to reassure his brother.
"They'll wanna know Sammy." Dean shut the laptop and picked up the post card again. "They need to know."
End