Class Novel: Chapter 5 by Seth Sillmon

Class Novel: Chapter 5 by Seth Sillmon

Author’s Note: With this chapter I wanted to start prepping for filming and get the ball rolling. I wanted to introduce her crew and possible filming locations. I also wanted to give a little more information on the incident with her brother and how it has motivated her to tell this story. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 5

Nat awoke the next morning to a monstrous engine roaring outside her hotel window. It was the sound of a jet airliner beginning to land on that small runway strip that was near her hotel. She checked her phone to see that it had preceded the alarm she had set by almost 2 hours. It was a quarter to 7, so she decided to get an earlier start on her day. She got out bed to stretch and instantly felt an uneasiness rumbling in her stomach. She covered her lips and had scurried to the toilet and began to purge the contents of her stomach. The sickness had been going on for some time now since she began the medication to counteract the testing, but the morning sickness had only been going on for a few weeks. But it was beginning to seem routine to her, so she wasn’t startled. She proceeded to shower and get ready to leave for the day. She sat on her bed lacing her sneakers up and flipping through her checklist she wanted to complete for the day. She grabbed her Notebook, back-pack, and Cannon camera back and headed for the door. She paused and pulled out a small photo from her front left pocket in her coat. It was a picture of her and her brother Nathan they took together 2 months before he went missing.

She walked out her room and ran to the elevator to try and catch it before it went down to the first floor. A small tan arm reached out to stop the door from closing. Nat boarded the elevator and one of the cleaning ladies was on board doing her morning runs through the second floor.

“Thank you,” Nat said to the woman.

“What floor?” the woman asked.

“First, please.”

When Nat got down to the first floor, the smell of coffee filled the air. A small child began to dance in her mind. She approached Eugene at the front desk to ask him about the coffee.

“Excuse me, where is the coffee? It smells really good,” Nat said.

“Huh?” Eugene said puzzled.

“Coffee? Do you guys have any? I smell it,” Nat said.

“Oh that in our office, it’s for employees only. But there is a fuel station a few blocks into town that sells it until all day,” Eugene said.

Nat sighed and walked away asking herself why she didn’t pay closer attention to the reviews on this hotel before she booked it. Luckily she was properly dressed for long walking and hiking in the windy climate. It took her about half a mile to walk to the store that was near the town. She grabbed a small coffee, a few granola bars, and a bottle of water for her trip. She sat in a small booth near the window and pulled out her notebook.

“First stop, The Church of the Holy Ascension.”

It was the church that Nat passed on her way to the hotel. She had researched it back at her hotel room to discover that it was actually a lot more famous that she had thought it was. She figured it would give her some great shots in Act II of her script. There was also an Enterprise car rental service a block away, and Nat knew that she would need some other form of transportation in Alaska, other than hiking. Nat made her way to Enterprise after she left the fuel station, and rented a Chevy Tahoe with the funds she set aside in her filming budget.

The Church was a few miles back towards the direction of the airport. She planned on getting a few shots of the Church and some forestry snapshots before making her way back to the airport to pick up Susan, her cinematographer and the assistant director of the film. Nat made her way to the church and pulled into the lot where 2 other cars were parked. It was still pretty early in the morning so none of the few tourists had made their way to the attraction just yet. She grabbed her Cannon camera out of the bag out of the Tahoe. She walked up to the entrance of the tall building and took a snapshot of the bright green top. She captured a few pictures of the gorgeous mountain landscape behind the church as the sun began to roll across.

Nat walked toward the entrance and the door was unlocked and slightly open. She walked in and saw two people, a woman about the age of 50, and younger man that looked like a teenager sitting on opposite pews across the aisle. She walked in and sat in the back row. There was a large, bronze statue of Mary holding Jesus after he had been taken down from the cross. The younger boy was staring at the statue, and the woman had her head bowed. Nat pulled out the picture of her brother again. She stared at it for long time before putting it back in her pocket. She wasn’t necessarily a religious woman, but she was spiritual in some ways. She had hope, She pulled her camera up and took a photograph of the woman and the boy both still in their position. The shutter of the camera was loud enough to even startle Nat herself. The woman lifted her head and the boy also turned around to see who taken their photo. Nat with her eye still in the lens looked up and gave an “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to disturb you.” Her phone then began to vibrate and ring in her pocket, increasing the awkwardness of the situation. It was Susan who’s plane had just landed at the airport. She walked out of the church to pick her up.

During Nat’s drive to the airport she thought about Nathan. He was 7 years older than her, and basically her best friend. He too had graduated from USC in Forestry and Wildlife (much to their parents disapproval) and that was one of the reasons why she chose to attend there instead of Columbia. She remembered when she last saw him. She was only a junior in high school and he had stopped by their family house before his trip to Mt. McKinley. He was an active young man, and they were an active family, so hiking, camping, and rock climbing were common. He was going with a friend from college, who helping him pay for the trip. He was planning on being gone for only a week and they wanted to climb to the top of the mountain. We expected a phone call from him after the week he left had passed but got nothing. My mother figured he may not have had cell phone reception in the mountains and that’s why her calls went straight to voicemail. We received a call four days after their expected return. It was from the mother of Nathan’s friend. She said she hadn’t heard from her son either and was worried. Both of our families contacted higher authority to try and located them and trace their last locations. The furthest we got was footage of them leaving their hotel the morning they set out for the mountain. It’s been 7 years since that day and Nat still was searching for answers. Searching for peace.

Nat arrived at the airport to see that Susan was there and was waiting on a bench outside. She had her luggage, camera, and looked even more eager to begin filming than Nat.

“Susan, I’m so glad to see you,” Nat said.

“Hi Nat! I’m really looking forward to this project.”

“You ready to go landscaping this place?” Nat asked.

“Let’s hit the road,” Susan said.