The fire was dying down. Harry stood up to fetch more wood. Dry leaves cracked beneath his feet and he vanished in the shadows of trees.

Hey stranger, mind if I join you for a bit? A voice said from the shadows.

I looked around for Harry but he was nowhere to be found, just the crackling of the leaves. 

Sure, I said and I moved my bag off the log we rolled up to use as a bench. 

The man sat down beside me and stared up at the sky and I could not see his face. 

What brings you boys all the way out here on a night like this?

We're going to see my sister, I lied. She lives across the valley, and I vaguely pointed.

Alright, family, he said, that's a fine reason. I got family to see myself just across the way there, and he pointed in the same direction, where you boys come from?

Pennsylvania, I said, Pittsburgh, lying again.

Yup, got some family out there too I reckon, the man said. 

Sure, I said, making conversation.

You got family out there? He said.

Nope, just me and Harry, I said. 

I see. That's a long way to come from, he said, how long you been on the road for?

About a week, I said, which was more or less accurate. 

Not so bad, the man said.

Yeah. What about you? I asked and I picked up a stick to poke at the fire.

Oh I've been on this road about four or five months now, he said.

That's a long time, I said.

It don't feel so long, he said, I've been on other roads longer than this one.

So you just wander around? I said.

I just wander around, he said.

One road and then another?

That's right, he said and he smiled a big smile which distorted his face in the low light and I could only see a sparkling silver tooth among some missing and otherwise rotted teeth that I couldn't quite make out but could guess by the man's appearance. He scratched his beard and he spit on the ground. His form seemed shapeless beneath his large overcoat and his head looked too small for it.

What did you do before that? I asked.

He took a deep breath and let out a long sigh and I could smell alcohol on his breath. 

I had a family, he said. A wife, kid, a daughter. I was selfish, he said, and greedy. I worked a lot and I pushed them too hard and in the wrong way. 

He stopped talking and he smiled, a less authentic smile and he reached into his coat and removed a silver flask and he took a big swig and he offered it to me. I declined with a shake of my hand which he didn't see and he dropped it. I picked it up and gave it back to him.

My wife took all the money in the divorce, he said, well, I gave it to her. And Sadie. And I gave them the house and the car and I left them there. I started walking and I never went back.

I became worried he was trying to scam me or take advantage of me in some way. I didn't know what I was doing there and I didn't know the people there like Harry did and I was starting to get nervous anticipating his return. I listened out for him but could only hear the wind and the trees creaking and the crickets and the frogs. We were supposed to be meeting somebody but I didn't know anything about it. It was something that Harry had to do. I just happened to be there at the time. 

We don't really have any money, I told the man, hoping he would get the hint and leave because I was sure his presence at our fire might disturb Harry and maybe shake up his plans. Or maybe this was the man he was waiting for. So I didn't push it too much. And I didn't ask for his name.

I'm not asking you for money, the man said. It was the fire that drew me here, he said. 

Are we near where your family lives? I asked him.

He didn't answer me.

I could hear Harry getting a little closer so I raised my voice a little to speak with the man.

Where do you sleep? I asked.

Wherever my feet take me, he said, don't worry I won't disturb you, and he stood up to leave. 

I remained seated and I saw Harry emerge from the woods.

That you Figs? Harry said and he came closer with his hands full of wood and he dropped them around the fire. 

They congregated off to the side away from the log and the fire and me and they stood there for a little while whispering and handing each other things back and forth which they then put inside their pockets. I tried not to notice them and started putting logs into the fire. As I got it going again and sparks and flames began to shoot into the darkness I looked up at them and Figs was disappearing into the trees and Harry was walking back to me.

Whoa whoa whoa not so much, he said to me about the wood and he took one of the logs out and rubbed the fire out in the dirt.

Who was that guy? I asked him.

Just some freak, Harry said, who cares?

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