Great flashes of light and deafening crashes filled the evening air. The thick, ancient forest and the rushing river usually invoked feelings of security and serenity. That night, however, was anything but. There was no moon overhead to light the way, and no stars. The running man had only the great flashes of light to aid him in his escape. He could almost have thought that it was a stormy night, but considering the ground beneath his boots was dry as a bone, he knew better.

The small bundle in his arms let out a sigh, and he replied with a soft shushing sound. All he needed to do was to make sure the bundle remained safe and to protect it with his life. His long, dark robe flapped about in the tumultuous darkness except for that which was gathered just slightly before him in the protection of his precious bundle. The edges of his robe were burned and fraying in places from the blasts that were coming in from all around. He didn't know where it was that he must go, only that he needed to get away from here at any cost.

As he ran along the river, he saw creatures of the wilderness running as well. Great bears, lions, deer, wolves, and rabbits were all too focused on their own well-being to pay each other any mind. One such deer suddenly plowed into him, antlers grazing his back in a desperate maneuver to escape. This sent the man tumbling down a ravine.

He held the bundle tight to avoid jostling it too much and used one arm to shield his head from anything that could cause lasting damage. The world turned upside down, and he shut his eyes to avoid motion sickness. He didn't tumble for as long as he thought he might, rolling to a stop mere feet from a nearby cave.

Considering the pandemonium on the animals outside, he decided to try his luck inside the cave. Immediately upon entering, the sounds on the outside quieted, and the man had the chance to catch his breath. He let his hood fall and looked upon the little bundle he was still grasping with his mighty arms. His long, black hair fell about his shoulders, and he smoothed his mustache nervously before holding the bundle out at arm's length to assess any damage. The child, his son, was completely unharmed and was, in fact, sleeping as deeply as if he were home in his bed.

The father understood that they would only be momentarily safe in that cave, so he began to travel deeper into it. He had only walked a few steps into the cavern when he heard a strange sound from within. It was almost a ghostly sound with the way it reverberated off the walls and suddenly tall ceilings. He looked around the corner and saw an old friend who was hurt. The friend had long feet, floppy ears, and huge incisors. The friend was in a pair of shorts and a smart waistcoat. Immediately the hooded man ran to his friend and noticed he was holding out a peculiar rock. It was red and unnaturally smooth. He reached out to grab it, and as he did, there was a great flash of light, and the cavern's ceiling fell.

With a start, the eyes of Eminent Evergreen Quandary flew open, and he shielded his face from a sudden onslaught of sunlight.

"Wazgoinon?" he mumbled incoherently.

"Happy birthday!" Dad exclaimed, pulling back all the shades in the boy's room.

He looked at Dad with bleary eyes in disbelief. Dad knew that he wasn't a morning person. He also knew that this was spring break, March 22, 2006, and for that reason, he should obviously be allowed to sleep in as long as he wanted. Dad disagreed ー he was always the type to wake up super early for who knows what reason.

His dad was a large man who had short, dark hair and always spoke in a very animated way. He usually had an amused smile whenever speaking with his son. He was in his 40s and, between his many jobs he worked at once to pay the bills, including at a bakery and a restaurant, he couldn't always do much better than takeout for dinner. For this reason, Dad had put on just a bit of weight over the years. That's not to say they weren't active, they just really liked taking second helpings if they could manage it at mealtimes.

"Evergreen!" Dad exclaimed, "Get your body out of that bed, we have a full day ahead! You only turn 11 once. You can only redo 29!"

"Fine," he mumbled, "I'm up. I'm up."

Dad left the room and soon Evergreen was greeted with the most amazing smell of fresh French toast and frying sausage links. Breakfast food was certainly Dad's specialty, and it was a good thing, too, as breakfast was supposedly the most important meal of the day. Evergreen grabbed some clothes and left his room for a quick shower.

Looking at himself in the mirror, he thought that 11 would feel different. He was not a "kid-kid" anymore but wasn't yet a teenager. He still looked the same, he thought, with some remaining baby fat, a slightly large head, and arms and legs which were long and fair. His face looked pretty similar to Dad's, with an identical nose and eyes that were inset, but his complexion, his hair, and his eyes all apparently belonged to a mother that he never knew. He wondered, not for the first time, if she had been nice, pretty, and fun. Dad had never talked much about her, and Evergreen had never asked either, because he felt like Dad would talk about her when he was ready. It had been 11 years and Dad still wasn't ready.

Evergreen sighed as he pulled on his jeans and Boston t-shirt. He and Dad shared a mutual love for classic rock. He smiled as he remembered the previous Christmas when his dad had given him this shirt with a bunch of his old cassettes and a new Walkman. Sure, it was no fancy mp3 player, but he liked it all the same.

"There he is, man of the hour!" Dad said, brandishing a metal spatula.

"Thanks, Dad, for making a fuss."

"Like I said, it's not every day you turn 11."

"You say s-something like that every year, Dad, and you never let me prepare anything f-for your birthday. Even grandma and grandpa c-can't help because you said so." Evergreen responded.

Dad laughed uproariously, the way he did when he was genuinely amused. He placed the large plate of French toast in the center of their table which was separated by just a small railing and island from the kitchen. For as long as Evergreen had known, they had lived in this house. Dad had grown up in Portland Oregon, not too far away from where they were now. Dad said that the name Evergreen came from the tall, strong trees that were common where Dad was from. It was fitting for him, and he liked it loads better than he did his legal first name, Eminent.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I stopped celebrating birthdays when I turned 25. I don't need any more reminders that I'm getting old."

This elicited a deep laugh from Evergreen. Dad was weird. Like super weird. No wonder Evergreen had always been kind of an oddball. A little too sensitive, a little too introspective, a little too amused with little things.

"Whatever you say, Dad. Whatever you say. So, what are we going to do today? Are you f-finally going to get me that rabbit?"

This put a tired look into Dad's eyes. Evergreen had been dreaming about rabbits dressed in suits and ties for years now and had wanted one ever since. Dad just couldn't do it because, as he said, when Evergreen was at school, and Dad was at work all day, who would be there to look after the rabbit? Evergreen was just finishing up elementary school and getting ready to enter middle school at this point, after all, so he would be at school for most of the day. Typically speaking, pets weren't allowed at schools in Oregon unless one had some kind of special license. Because Evergreen didn't have any issues that would necessitate a 'service animal', he couldn't get this license. He understood this and mostly asked to see if he could get a different reaction out of Dad. This clearly had not worked, for Dad just said the same thing again that he had every time before.

"When you're older, perhaps."

They talked through breakfast and Evergreen noticed a slightly different vibe in the air that he couldn't explain. Dad didn't seem to notice it, or, if he did, he did not let on that he did. They enjoyed their omelets that contained every color of bell pepper imaginable and their sweet French toast which had been made slightly savory because it had been fried after the sausages in the same pan. There was a large pitcher of orange juice and a jug of milk. Evergreen enjoyed milk; it was his favorite beverage. He didn't quite know why. That's just the way it was.

Together, they expertly cleared the table, bagged up the leftovers, started the dishwasher, and then got out the door. Dad walked around his white Dodge truck to make sure that there wasn't anything hidden that he may damage the truck by driving over. He had always been very careful and very particular about the cleanliness and the working of his truck and his clothes, even though to Evergreen, all of Dad's clothes looked the same, all black and gray with a generally sporty theme showing through. He felt like his color scheme was quite like Dad's, with the same darker shades and sporty vibe. With such colors, it was much simpler to fade into the background. It was safer to be in the background, after all. No one could really get to you if they didn't know that you were there.

It wasn't that he didn't have any friends, he was actually well-liked by the small smattering of friends that he had. Lynne Owen, for example, had been his friend since kindergarten. She was a cute little quirky thing with dark hair and pale skin. Evergreen could be seeing her later, but he didn't know Dad's plans. Plus, there was Souther Connors, a stocky blond kid, but he hadn't seen or heard from him since his family moved out of state after first grade. He also had Bucky Jordan, who was tall and African American. He was probably Evergreen's current best friend, and Bucky was supposed to be coming over the next week when the Jordan family came back from Mexico.

Dad didn't like to travel very much. He never really had. Every time that they had traveled, it was always at Evergreen's request, who really enjoyed the idea of a long ride. However, when Dad and Evergreen got into the truck, Dad surprised him with packed suitcases in the back seat. What was going on?

"Dad, where are we going?"

"To a place I should have taken you a long time ago. Where your mother and I went on our honeymoon."

His breath caught. Was Dad finally going to tell him about his mother? To answer his host of questions and to do away with his doubts? Was that the odd feeling that Evergreen had noticed in the kitchen?

"Where did you go on your honeymoon?"

"Victoria, British Columbia, Canada."

"I've never b-been to Canada."

"I know."

"Where did you meet?" Evergreen asked in a rare instance of daring.

"In Portland. She was raised near Mount Hood, and after she finished school, she came back to the area. That's when we met."

This was a lot. He remembered the last time that he and Dad had been to Mount Hood and just imagined that his mom had likely been to the same place several times. This had caused tears to prick at his eyes dangerously. So, they were going to Canada? That was neat, Evergreen thought. It was much further north, so it was a bit cooler, even during the spring. That was why Dad insisted that they wear jackets. He did think it odd to be wearing jackets in Portland during the spring because Evergreen didn't consider 60 degrees to be cold at all. In fact, he didn't really have much of a memory of ever being super cold or super warm. He was just lucky, perhaps.

Their first stop was the gas station off the Highway, just to make sure that the truck had a full tank and that they had snacks on their way. Dad bought some chicken wraps, plenty of sodas, and various sweet things that ranged from Red Vines licorice sticks (Dad's favorite) to Milky Way chocolates (Evergreen's favorite). Another curiosity is that no matter how much sugar he ingested, Evergreen never went to any more than a dental checkup. His teeth were straight, white, and natural. This alone could be considered magic, he thought.

When they were at the counter paying for their gas and their human fuel, Evergreen looked out of the window at a small, flowerless bush that was across the street. He saw a pair of beady eyes and long whiskers with a bow tie sticking out. He blinked once, and whatever he thought he saw vanished. He shook his head at that. Everyone knew that rabbits didn't wear bow ties. Then he remembered that he had just watched Alice in Wonderland the previous week. The white rabbit must have remained in his mind. He always had kind of a wild imagination. Many of his report cards that Dad would receive would say "daydreamer." Was it his fault that he dreamed of adventure? Was he to blame for wanting more from life, like Spider-Man, Bilbo the Hobbit, or Doctor Who?

"Hey, E.E.," Dad began, "are you with me?"

"What?"

"You've been staring out into space for a few minutes."

"Oh, s-sorry. Let's go."

As they passed that bush, Evergreen looked down and realized that large, white flowers covered the whole bush. This could not be the case, as it had been as bare as a newborn no more than five minutes prior. Plants did not grow that fast. He must have been mistaken earlier. He grabbed one of the flowers just for the sake of it, and they got into the truck and headed off toward the Northbound interstate.