Paul Rankin’s account of a father-son camping trip and an exchange with an inscrutable stranger reads like it was plucked from an anthology of Southern gothic tales. It’s a tense, slightly spooky meditation on how private faith can grow wild and unruly, how isolation breeds suspicion, and how readily we project our fears.
The more I affirmed my faith, the more suspicious the man became, as if he hadn’t come to share the good news but to catch us in a damnable lie. As the interrogation persisted, I couldn’t help thinking of how Flannery O’Connor once described the South as a Christ-haunted place. I love Jesus, but, good Lord, his ostensible followers can be irksome and even sinister at times. Clearly unconvinced by my profession of faith but out of ideas—or maybe just weary with the effort—the stranger finally walked the three steps back to his camp site.
For lack of a better idea, I relit the stove and was adjusting the flame when the man returned, holding one hand behind his back.
With a flourish he brought out a cross fashioned of two sticks and thin binding wire. This he presented to Fish, then added that he’d have a big surprise waiting in the morning. With that, he turned and walked away, into the woods and out of sight.
More picks from Southlands
The Yarddogs of Northwest Arkansas
“What is never discussed in all of this hand-wringing is the fact that those dogs and their owners likely far predate the people riding their bikes here.”
Losing Paradise
“As rising seas swallow Louisiana’s marshes, oil companies are pretending nothing has changed — and that now floatable, fishable waters remain their private property.”
When the Bears Come Back
“A brutal bear attack in rural Virginia raises a difficult question: what does it mean to welcome wildness back?”
