Pa's Shack

This is my entry to week 5 of @gmuxx's Art Prompt Writing Contest

Dust clouds billowed from behind the truck. Cody had been driving for over an hour along the pot-holed track. His destination was in the middle of nowhere. He hadn't been here for years but, for Cody, there was no forgetting the route. He could see his end-point on the horizon.

The wooden shack wasn't much to look at. The timber frame was weather beaten and the tin roof was was deeply tarnished by rust. Nobody else had been here in years either. No one would find him here.

Cody pulled up outside the hut and took a deep breath. He mopped the sweat from his brow and stepped outside. The sun beat down on his already drenched back. Pushing against the front door it opened slowly, the rusty hinges squeaking in dissent.

Inside, the place was just as he remembered it. There wasn't much in there. There never had been. A layer of dust now covered most of its contents. A musty smell met Cody's nostrils as he surveyed the room.

Walking over to a pile of firewood Cody grabbed an old broom. He gave it a nudge to make sure nothing venomous was hiding behind it. ''Damp'' he muttered as the wood disintegrated.

Next to the firewood stood a small table and chair. Dozens of empty bourbon bottles sat upon it. Alongside was an old paraffin torch. Cody sniffed the wick then grabbed his Zippo out his pocket and lit it. The lamp sprung to life for the first time in years and the shack now took on an eerie light. Pulling open the tattered curtains to let natural light in, Cody extinguished the lamp. "Save you for later".

On the floor was a mouldy old mattress. Cody looked down at it and gave it an exaggerated smack with the broom. A plume of dust rose high.

Taking another glance around the room Cody gave a deep breath. He came here regularly when he was younger. He and his younger brother, Jared, would be judged on who had behaved best at home. The winner would be brought out to the shack for the weekend. The memory sent a tear down Cody's cheek. Wiping it away with his forearm, he stepped back out of hut.

Returning to his truck, Cody opened the trunk. Inside lay an older man, bound and gagged. He tried a muffled shout and Cody removed the gag from the man's mouth.

"Goddamit Cody. What the hell are you doin'? I need water. It must be over 130 in here."

Cody grabbed a bottle of water before pouring it over the man's head. He repositioned the gag and hauled the man from the truck.

"Walk" he instructed, pushing his victim towards the shack.

Inside, Cody sat the man down and cuffed him to the chair, removing the gag again. "Why the hell are we here boy?"

"You remember this place then?"

"Course I do. Why?"

"Surprised you recall it with all the drink."

"I ain't seen you in years. How d'ya find me?"

"A quick trawl of the bars. You weren't hard to find."

"So why are we here boy?"

"Jared!" Cody shouted. "He's dead!"

"How?"

"Overdose. As if you'd care! He left a note. It said about not getting over his childhood...OUR childhood!" A tear rolled down Cody's cheek again. "What you did to him...to me out here."

"'Pa's Shack' we used to call it. We never told each other what happened here, but we didn't need to."

Tears were now flowing rapidly down Cody's cheeks. "Years of seeing a shrink after we went into care. I blocked it out but Jared never could. He suffered for years and couldn't go on. His note asked me to take care of the past. So here we are Pa."

"That was years ago boy. You know I done my time for that." Pa replied, his face emotionless.

"But that wasn't nearly enough. Not enough for me and certainly not enough for Jared."

Cody picked up the paraffin lamp again and smashed it on the floor. The liquid spread out over the wood. Cody reached for his Zippo again. "It ends here Pa!" he said as he struck the flame.

Pa shuffled in the chair uncomfortably "Whoa boy. Whatcha playin' at? You strike that on the floor and that makes you a murderer, and you don't look like the murderin' type."

"You know nothing about me Pa."

"Ya reckon? I knows ya got yerself a woman and a kid. One of the guys in the bar looked ya up on that Facethingy. What if yer boy found out his Pa was a murderer?"

Cody paused for a moment and reflected on what had been said. He thought about his family. He loved his wife and son. It was the only genuine love he had ever felt. Fighting himself, he closed the lighter again.

"That's a good boy. Listen to Pa."

These words reignited a spark in Cody's eyes. "That's what you used to say, you bastard!" With that, Cody untied his father from the chair and threw him out the door and off the porch. Picking up the chair he followed him outside.

Cody grabbed the old man from the dirt and sat him back in the chair, cuffing him in again.

"I'm better than you Pa. I'm a real man, a real father. Nothing like you. You won't see me again Pa. You won't ever see anyone again. You can't hurt anyone again."

With that he headed towards the truck.

"Get back here boy. Ya can't leave me here. I'll die out here!"

Cody didn't look back as he walked away. "Yeah should take two to three weeks maybe. If you're lucky a rattler may get you quicker."

Stepping back into the truck he pulled a picture of Jared from his pocket along with his note. "It's finished now bro."

Starting the engine again he drove off, leaving Pa's shack behind him.

This is a short story contest based on the winning entry to @gmuxx's art prompt contest won by @lymmerik.

This story is completely fictitious and does not represent any events that I am aware of. However I know that the subject may represent experiences of others and if you have been affected by this then I would urge you to contact any number of support services available worldwide.

If you are a writer of poetry or short stories then great support and advise is available from the guys on The Writers Block channel on Discord.