Free North Fork by Wayne M. Johnston

and then we followed the trail up to the main viewpoint at the top.
    Kristen told me she had seen vultures from up there, which surprised me because I didn’t think there were birds like that around here, so I told Brad about them. The family that had passed us wasn’t at the top, but there was a couple talking and pointing at landmarks. We looked for the vultures. Kristen said they saw them to the right of Mount Eerie in the distance beyond the little lake that’s right at the base of the mountain, and I had this memory from Greek mythology. I do that, as you may have noticed, have memories from things I’ve read. This one was about birds and came from the Trojan War story, which wasn’t about who won the war but about how war sucks and how kings can be wise and good and still lose, or be assholes and win.
    Anyway, near the end of the story, the Trojan king, alone except for a servant, is heading across enemy lines to get his son’s body back so it can have a proper burial. His wife thinks he’s crazy and that he will become a hostage, or be tortured, and will definitely make an already bad situation worse. He says the gods have told him to go and he prayed for a bird of omen, which means a sign from the gods, to show his wife that he’s right in going. If the bird comes from the right, it’s a good sign, kind of a thumbs-up. If it comes from the left, it’s not so good. Where Kristen said she saw the vultures is on the right. An eagle came for the Trojan king. It was on the right and he got to bring his son’s body back, but laterTroy was defeated and burned to the ground.
    So, were Kristen’s vultures a good sign or a bad one? Is she out there alive somewhere, or not?
    I told Brad the omen story and we looked for birds. There were some robins flitting around in the brush, but there were several and they were on both sides of us. We didn’t see the vultures, and decided they were keeping themselves to San Juan Island, which is where Brad said he had heard they lived. He has a friend whose family has a house there. We heard some crows behind us and turned to look but didn’t know if that meant anything, and finally we did see two eagles, but they came over the top of Mount Eerie, so I guess the gods weren’t ready to tell us anything. But it was a good day anyway, even with feeling the big sadness, because nothing spoiled the way that sharing it with Brad makes grief bearable.

Corey
    It was still pretty early when I woke up. There were a bunch of goddamn crows in a big maple tree above the tent making a huge racket. Their squawking is annoying, like they’re always scolding something or bitching about life. My head was throbbing and I had to pee, so I climbed out and watered a bush away from the tent. The leaves were out, it being spring and all. Brightness filtered through to the ground and made blotches on the tree trunks. When I looked up at the crows, who didn’t seem a bit afraid of me, the green of the leaves had this yellowness to it from the sun shining through them, and it was a nice morning, in spite of how I felt.
    The MacNaughton’s bottle had just one good swallow left in it, so I downed it, hoping that it would clear my head. Then I took down the tent and packed the gear back in the buckets. I left everything, including the empty bottle, hidden under the usual log. I have a thing about littering and always carry out in my pack any garbage that won’t rot, but since the decision to come was spur-of-the-moment, I didn’t have the pack with me.
    I nearly made it to town before they picked me up. The sheriff’s car came from behind so I didn’t hear it until it was close. I looked back and it was clear right away that the cop’s attention was focused on me, not on the road or the intersection coming up at the edge of town. He had the radio mike in his hand. Then he put it down and pulled up next to me with the window