So … once again, the cool and rugged Mary Wash kids kindly invited this New York nerd along for their annual 5-day camping excursion at Iron Gate, Virginia.  And, once again, I bailed like a weenie.

I’m speaking specifically about Russ, Janet, Paula and Paul.  (No, the latter two are neither spouses nor siblings, even though that would be totally awesome.)  I WANTED to go!!  Seriously!!  And I know that you guys went to great lengths to assiduously counsel me about the availability of wifi, coffee, cell phone reception and convenience stores.  I appreciate your encouragement.

I WILL be there in spirit.  If you DO have any access to the Internet (you guys totally equivocated when I asked that), then here is evidence that I am thinking of you.

It’s a story I wrote about a disappearance in the thick forests surrounding a small, rural town.  Just switch out Willibee, Massachusetts for Iron Gate, Virginia, and it could be your little getaway.  It’s called “The Disappearance of Little Tommy Drummond,” and it was first published in Dead Beats Literary Blog in November 2013.

Party like the old days, but beware of strange messages carved into trees.  And don’t walk too far alone at dusk.

http://www.deadbeats.eu/post/66085895442/the-disappearance-of-little-tommy-drummond-by-eric

Photo credit:  “View southeast, general view, barn at left – Woods Homestead, County Route 12 on north side of North Fork of Hughes River, 2.2 miles north and east of Goose Run Road intersection, Harrisville, Ritchie County, WV,”  1933, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, via Wikimedia Commons.