David Corso was a "could be" believer, he listened as they spoke of God and Angels. He paid close attention as they spoke of the miracles in days past, Of the faith of the people who they spoke about. There was always this nagging doubt that seemed to permeate his thoughts, I could believe, BUT!
He watched as they spoke of Aliens that have visited the Earth in the past. Always asking the questions How do I know for sure? Where is the proof?
At 11 years old he wanted to believe in God, and Angels and even Aliens, BUT! He always said "I could believe in god; BUT, I could believe in heaven and the heavenly host, BUT, I could believe in aliens, BUT." It seemed that David was mired in the BUTS that always tugged at his heart. The adults spoke with conviction that all was true that honest faith was all you needed, David had faith that something wonderful created this amazing planet, his trips to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the Grand Canyon, to Rain Forests in Belize, the mighty Glaciers in Alaska, the rolling hillsides of green in Kentucky, the life filled air and water of the Everglades.
David was blessed to have seen so much in his 11 years. Yet he always was surprised by the wonder of wherever he placed his foot, he saw the majesty in the world. Surely God had a hand in all this, and for that brief moment David believed. When he exited the trains at Pennsylvania Station in New York City and when his feet hit the sidewalks of Manhattan he always looked up at the vastness of the Empire State Building soaring to heights so tall that he had to crane his neck to see it tower to the heavens. That must be proof that man wanted to reach heaven and meet God so he built closer and closer to it? David was so torn inside there was just so much that "could be" he questioned everything.
Was it man's desire to reach heaven or was it human pride that it could be done that was the inspiration for these man made wonders. So he thought walking on Hoover Dam when he stood looking down to the great chasm that stood before the massive amounts of water, was that arrogance that inspired that structure or was it simply we can so we will? Serve a greater good, provide electricity and water to places that needed them? David loved the world he saw, the marvelous creations of man, and the magnificent natural creations of God.
David was an avid reader and devoured books on the greatest feats of humanity and the minds of its most revered genesises, scanned every page for a glint of what the great men and women saw and if they believed in God or science? Many believed in both, they were "could be" believers in each or both. After reading the many tomes he said. "They seem to be ok believing that God does exist and there is life outside our planet, that the world of man and the host of heaven are united and yet there are many who believe in others that have shown man what if and maybe even manipulated with our evolution? Playing with Gods creation and tweaking it with DNA and super advances in achievements, propelling ancient man from living in caves and eating roots and berries to creating vast cities and empires and monuments that stand to this very day. "If this thinking is good enough for these great men and women from our past then it shall be good enough for me so I remain a "could be" believer.
This concept of could be was enough until the night July 24th 1974
Davids family would be spending time in a house they would rent from time to time on a lake in Vermont, the Corso family were avid travelers and since both of his parents were teachers they had months each summer to explore both the United States or other countries, always taking their son wherever they went from when he was a very young child. This summer they chose to remain close to home and only rented the lake house for the month of July, always appreciating the weather and the peace the lake house provided. David was the only child so he learned early in life that he could easily entertain himself and adapt to all the wonderful places his family visited. This summer he had made plans to create a journal of all the different plants and trees, he would collect samples and draw or photograph as many as he was able. His parents presented him with an amazing gift on his 14th birthday a Polaroid Instant Camera, it was a miracle since David just had to shoot his picture and within 2 minutes he could see the image that he captured. As he practiced using the camera he became much better at getting clearer and more focused images. He had saved his allowance and all other money he gathered to make sure that when they went up to the lake house he had plenty of film, he did not want to run out during the month, he always knew he took hundreds of photographs.
This day started out like every other day, his mother set out the food for breakfast and as David grabbed a piece of toast and some blueberries he was almost out the door when his mother yelled for him. "Stop right there buddy, your father and I have to go into town this afternoon we are getting low on some basics, do you want to take the drive in with us?" She asked. David thought about it for about 5 seconds and did not want to break up his day with the 50 minute drive to town. "NOPE!" he responded and he ran out the screen door slamming it just the way a 14 year old does, camera and his duffle bag in hand, ready for a day of adventure and collecting. His mother followed out to the screened porch. "David make sure you have enough water it's going to be hot one today, so we will see you tonight?" "Yup" he mumbled with a mouth filled with toast.
David was soon in his element and gathering samples, and snapping away picture after picture, he was so deeply in his own head and loving the soft filtering sunlight through the dense forest. He was searching further and further away from the paths that ran around the perimeter of the lake. This was not a heavily populated area, with only a few secluded homes around the lake, in fact many of the paths that David followed were not even made by man at all but where deer trails, cleared by the daily trampling of the abundant wildlife that had complete freedom this far from civilisation. His mother was right it was hot but once David left the clearing and the meadows near the house the temperature cooled dramatically under the huge canopy of trees. David stopped and sat against the base of an old gnarled American Beech, David knew this since it was one of the 30 trees species he had identified so far, he pulled out his canteen and was glad that he filled it the night before. He rummaged through the duffel and grabbed a peanut butter sandwich he had also prepared the night before. The dense forest was far from silent as many would imagine, David marveled at the sounds of the twittering birds he watched as the Blue throated Warbler sang out its call to its mate. David quietly set up his camera and was able to snap 2 shots of the small song bird before it took to the trees.
All around him the buzzing of the multitudes of insects, and the rustling of the underbrush exclaimed that this was life and it was all around him. The average boy might be intimidated by the sounds of the forest David soaked it all in and wished he had taken his tape recorder to capture these symphonies of life.
Time lost all it's meaning to David as he explored deeper and more intensely into the mighty virgin forest. It was only the sound of distant thunder that caught his attention that he should begin on his journey home. Not the novice explorer David wrote down every change in direction from his compass so he knew that to head home he simply needed to reverse his bearings and that he was quite proud of himself. The only enemy was distance David did not record how far he had traveled something he would almost always forget getting so caught up in his delight sensing the new and beautiful things he saw at every turn. The sound of the thunder was growing closer and David started to notice a darkening of the sky through the trees. As the rumblings grew more frequent and louder. David was convinced that he was not going to make it back home before the storm began and he started to hear the patter of rain as it cascaded down from the canopy of leaves, and soon felt the cold rain hit him as big pellets of water. David was no stranger to harsh weather and he pulled out a plastic tarp and decided to hunker down before it got too bad, he began to tie the corners of the tarp to branches and got under it just before the skies opened up the deluge began. Summer storms are known to be fierce and David was confident that he would be ok as long as it did not become too harsh. The storm did not disappoint and the thunder rocked the trees, lighting sent brilliant blinding flashes in the now dimly lit forest the wind began to pick up and the older trees started to shift and sway in the gusts. The rain was at first diverted by the umbrella effect of the old trees, but as it began to come down in torrents the leaf cover was getting torn and shredded along with the heavy rain, branches were being thrown to the ground, as if the trees themselves were giving up and surrendering to the storm. Water was flowing along the forest floor the leaf clutter from seasons past were like solid matts stopping the water from penetrating to the soil below, and the water flowed in every direction David was soaked right to his skin as the deluge came crashing down and flattened his tarp which was soon ripped from the ties he secured it with and blown up and into the tangle of branches high up in the trees. Thunder roared making it presence known every few seconds followed by more strikes of lighting. David could smell the ozone in the air as the slashes were striking closer and closer to where he now crouched against the thickest trunk he could find not fearing anything but everything! The water flowed fast in wide streams where none existed before and David feared of getting swept up in one as they swirled around him he held his duffle close under his body trying to protect this seasons hard work thus far. The wind fought for dominance over the thunder and David could barely hear as trees that survived for decades or longer were thrown to the ground. Or the bolts of electricity truck and separated limbs as large as his own body. The devastation was real and he was in the middle of it and he fought to breathe and the rain was so thick it lashed his face. He cowered as low to the ground as was possible, to avoid the ever strengthening swirls of water that swept past him he saw small animals squirrels and rabbits caught in its flows struggling and twisting their bodies without hope of survival, deer ran past and stopped and bolted as a mighty blow of lighting burst in front of them. The once tranquil forest was a battle field filled with the victims of the carnage. Song birds thrown to the ground or slammed into trees flowed past in the sweeping rivers. David was shaking from both fear and the ice cold water that chilled him to the bone. He pulled his body in as tightly as he could and tried to keep his spot as the wind buffeted him and the water encroached and swirled around him, pulling at the very roots of the tree he held his back firmly against. The last thing he was aware of was the deafening hiss as the lighting slashed at the very tree he was huddled against and the branches fell quickly and piled on top of the boy, one large one hit him across his forehead and he felt the warm trickle of blood for only a second before he blacked out. When David woke the silence was almost deafening to the ringing in his ears. The storm had passed but not without leaving its mark, he was laying face down with branches of all sizes piled upon him he could move his arms and legs and felt the intense shooting pain as he lifted his head. Moving slowly he began to lift the debris from all around him. The swirling rivers were gone left in their place deep ravines dripping with moist earth, littered with the shredded leaves and small animals that could not escape the swift currents. It was dark not the dark of the storm but a darkness that can only come when it is deep into a summer night. David did not know how long he was unconscious, he tried to focus on the radium hands of his watch, he tried to see but the slam to his head had altered his ability to focus. His equilibrium was also shaken and as he tried to lift himself he felt an overpowering wave of nausea and he vomited violently. He lay back down and placed his face against the wet leaves and eased his breathing, his head was splitting and throbbing and he wondered if he suffered a concussion and tried to remember his first aid training, what are the symptoms of a concussion?
With the passing of the storm and the coming of the night the temperatures in the forest were now quite cold, any remaining humidity was gone and David was shivering and chattering his teeth, from the cold wetness that was his entire body to the night air, it could easily get to 50 degrees at night in Vermont even in the summer, which would be uncomfortable at best. David was soaking wet and suffering from shock from the blow to his head so the cold was numbing and painful. He lay there and shivered and quaked as he was chattering his teeth in response to his lower body temperature. Must stay awake that part he remembered from his first aid training. He began to slowly lift his head again, this time there was no violent nausea he slowly and carefully lifted the debris off of his body once he was free from the branches and leaves he began to slowly focus his eyes and his watch it was 3:45 David had be knocked out for almost 10 hours. He could not stand yet, so he crawled away from the scene of his injury and found his duffle thrown aside as if it had leapt to freedom when the branches fell, he crawled to it and it was surprisingly dry after having spent the day and night in the soaking forest. David opened the zipper and everything inside was also dry, he was happy that on top of everything else he did not lose all the work he had done so far this summer. He pulled out his canteen and took a slow pull of cold fresh water and it was not the tonic that he believed it would be but it added to his chill and even hit is stomach with a slam that instigated his nausea again. He lay down with his face to the wet mud and did not vomit as he did before and the wave of nausea passed. That must be a good sign he thought. I must try and get up he thought as he lifted his head slowly the mud was thick on his cheek and even on his lips, he went to wipe it away and it only smeared wetly across his mouth. He placed his hands on the mud soaked forest floor, all the leaf cover was swept into piles high and dark. Inching slowly out he began the process of lifting his body it was a process as he tried his own body fought him his head throbbed his ears were ringing- and even his muscles fatigued from the cold seized him as he tried. After a few attempts he was able to get onto his knees, when he heard the sound through the ringing it was something large and it was struggling as well, he tried to focus the forest was almost black as there was no moon. It took some time for David to focus he knew where the sound was coming from but he could see the area it was just outside of his line of vision he was torn with curiosity to see just what the struggling was and to stay where he was, suffering as he was, he was at least safe for the moment, who knew what lay on the other side of the large leaf pile. David leaned against one of the smaller trees and began to lift his aching body, each inch was a new torment and he fought the urge to scream, when he finally lifted his throbbing head to its natural height. From this vantage point he could see a bit over the dark leaf pile and he saw what appeared to be two legs struggling to grasp the ground as the creature was on its back and it seemed unable to get up. David remembered that he had a flashlight in his duffle and if everything was dry it was probably still working. He stepped away from the tree and placed his feet out in front of him gingerly and one leg began to just collapse from his weight it was not in the kind of pain he would have expected if it were broken, but the muscled tortured by the cold and laying in one position for so long just gave and he gripped the tree before he fell forward. He cursed out loud from reflex and sensed that the thing behind the leaf pile heard him and stopped flaying its legs. David lifted his body up again and this time he was expecting the leg to give way and it did not it just shot him full of pins and needles and that on top of the cold was incredibly painful but he stepped slowly away from the tree and went to his duffle, he had to bend to retrieve it and his body seemed to cooperate and he held the bag and stood up again and it was then his head became light and he began to spin he grabbed the closest tree and slipped to the ground and closed his eyes. David was not out long as he was trying to force himself awake. Once he felt that he had to see what was moving so close to him he set his aching mind and body on the task and he stood, he did not attempt to move, but reached in the bag with one hand firmly on the trunk of a tree and took out the flashlight and heard through the ringing the click of the metal slide that turned on the small flashlight. David was disturbed by the beam that shot from the small item but the night was so dark it sliced through the black as if it were a saber slashing a sea of ink. He could not look at the light it hurt his eyes which had become somewhat accustomed to the darkness. When David shined the beam at the leaf pile he saw the two front legs of a deer twisting and contorting in the now exposed light and he let go of the tree and ever so slowly placed one foot before the other and began to approach the animal. As the light grew nearer the animal began to franticly move and swing the legs as if to defend as well as escape. David could only move slowly as his own body was barely functioning there was no pain in his legs now but his head was still throbbing and he was beginning to feel a fever as his head was slowly heating up as the rest of his body was still freezing. The light was an invader to the deer and after so much exercition it was still immobile and it just stopped fighting it and let its legs remain still. David was closer and when he pulled the beam toward the animals body it started to violently strike its legs in every direction, quite obviously terrified of both the smell of the human its inability to run and the light which was something beyond the scope of what a deer could experience. David saw that its back was gnarled and broken the animals body was twisted around a small tree and it was clearly paralyzed from the broken back. It must have either been swept up in one of the rivers and slammed into the tree or it was running and slipped and wrapped around the tree with its back broken. David shined the light into the animals face and what can only be described and cold terror the beast tried to run with its two front legs but its body would not cooperate and the light shone on its face its nostrils were frothing with foam as it pulled in desperately at the air. And as it fought to exhale there was foam its mouth, mixed with blood at the mouth. As the light shone on the eyes, the eyes were black as coal and reflected the light back at David. He was frozen with panic and kept the light shining on the beast's eyes and he watched as the animal frantically died of terror while the light assaulted its torn body. When the last heave of the beasts chest caved and it had died of fright its body spasmed a few times and it turned silent and imobile. David was disturbed at watching the creature die before him and felt waves of guilt that if he did not shine the light upon it perhaps the animal might still be alive, but he kept telling himself that it would have died anyway and it would not have lived to see the dawn at any rate. He had bigger problems that faced him how can he get out of here? his own body was only a bit better than the poor animals, he was not broken but he was far from well. The ringing in his ears now became familiar and that too became duller and although his head was burning up and his body was freezing he knew that he somehow had to get out of this forest if he was to survive to see the dawn. David rummaged in his duffle for the compass and when he found it the glass had broken and the simple dial that meant life or death was now just swinging to the north as well as the south, it was now worthless. David could not stifle the intense cry that rose within him he fell to his knees and screamed from the base of his soul. His body shook and he fell forward to the wet mud, sobbing incoherently was it because he knew that his chances to survive the night were now almost gone? or was it the pent up emotion of watching the once graceful deer torn and ripped into what became a horror to look upon yet he could not stop himself from watching the beast as it convulsed to death at his flashlight beam.
David lay there time no longer held any value to the boy his reality was that he himself would soon be following the deer, onto the other place where living things go when they die. Hypothermia was one the most common causes of death if someone became lost in a virgin forest, without a clue as how to get out, David knew that his problem was compounded by his body being soaked and wet and the head trauma, he lay there in disbelief that his research expedition this morning would lead to his death. His body trembled and he was shivering so badly he began to think that if he could build fire he might be able to either warm himself up or maybe someone was searching for him and that would be seen. He lifted up his head from the cold mud and looked around for anything that he could burn but the deluge left nothing but wet leaves and soaking wood, he pulled himself up and realized that he could no longer feel his feet and legs and he could only move his upper body, he was not paralyzed but his body was retreating using all its warmth to save his organs and slowly his hands would not have feeling either. He grabbed his fire kit and pulled out the battery and the steel wool and began to rub the metal conductors of the battery against the steel wool and sparks were becoming larger, I must have something to burn he ran his hands all over the piles of wet leaves and broken branches and tried to feel for leaves buried deeply under the others that might have remained dry. David dug deeper and deeper into the leaves until he clutched what appeared to be dry leaves, his feverish brain and freezing body would have done anything to survive. Placing the leaves near where he was making the sparks Davids hopes soared as the leaves smoked and began to burn he dug deeper and deeper into the pile and as he dug the fire went out. Its okay he thought I will find more and I will have a fire, he pulled out pile after pile and laid them on top and rubbed the steel wool with the 9 volt battery and sparks once again became a small fire he looked at his duffel bag and within its dark recesses there were journals and samples of leaves and small twigs he reached in and grabbed his journal months of preparation to set it up so it would be perfect and he began to rip sheet after sheet of the dry paper and the fire became larger and he added his labeled samples he even grabbed the pack of instant exposure file that he added last night knowing he would need extra film, that will burn like hell he said to himself as he tore open the box and laid the unexposed film and the chemicals flared up and David added even wet twigs and branches and they slowly began to burn a fire a real fire he thought. His face felt the heat immediately as he was already feverish. He wasted no time he leaned and grabbed anything that his hands could grasp as his legs still were not warmed enough to begin the blood circulation that he knew he needed. Soon he thought soon the fire will be warm it will be large I will make an inferno and he tossed everything he could grab onto the fire and although at first wet and smokey the debris began to burn and his fire grew and he placed his legs in front almost against the flames until he could feel the sensation again, meanwhile he was ripping at anything he could to add to his configuration. David was smiling to himself "I am not going to die this night" He shouted out loud the fire lit up the surrounding area and David was planning on what to burn next. When through the dull ringing that still throbbed in his ears he heard a sound, unlike anything he had ever known. A whirring sound metallic and consistent, at first he slapped his ears thinking they were fooling him, but the sound grew nearer it was in the forest with him but he did not see anything. Thank God I have this fire he thought that should keep away any predators, funny he thought all through my pain and suffering I never begged for God to help me, maybe there is a God he thought since his fire was nice and warm and he was just starting to feel the sharp stabbing pain of pins and needles in his legs and feet.
It was then just then when he saw the light it was a glowing ball and it was moving toward him, what the hell is that he said to himself as he tried to back up against a tree. The glowing light, that was the creating the noise it was coming from that, he thought but what is that? David began to panic as the orb shot a beam of intense light down through the underbrush and it was heading right for him. "Go away!" He shouted to the orb and the beam. "Leave me alone!" David was unable to move his legs still suffering the stabbing pins and needle he knew that he could not walk or run, his instructs said to run. It's the fever I am delirious he thought it must be the fever his head was on fire and the warm blood was flowing out of the open wound made by the impact of the limb. He slapped himself in the face thinking it could break his delirium but the things was still hovering a few feet away from him, the sound was driving him insane it whirred and whirred at a higher pitch than he was unable to stand he held his hands over his ears and screamed as the orb was now almost over him. Its light was intense as bright as the sun to David's tortured eyes he could not look at it yet he could not take his eyes away. The beam was moving slowly towards him lightening up everything it touched with a light even more intense than the orb itself. David let go of his ears and grabbed his camera, he shot a picture and pulled the film out and threw it to the ground and shot another and another as the beam came closer and closer and once the beam was full on David he dropped the camera and he threw his arms frantically at the light trying to make it go away, his body convulsed as he felt the beam on his face and it shone off his dark eyes and reflected the light back at the beam. David screamed and did not even hear his own shrieks as the sound of the orb squealed to a feverish pitch.
David tried with every fiber in his being to escape his body pushed to its limits his chest heaved and then all at once David Corso stopped moving, the foam at his nostrils ran clear and the foam and blood mixture from his mouth stopped flowing all together. His heart beat one final time and seized, either from the hypothermia or simply from fear.
tony scarpa 3/10/2019
