Todd had a perfect resting place that he found one day and he always liked to return to it. It was a big tree that had big branches that angled in such a way, that it was easy to climb and comfortable to sit on. You could even lay down on it, it was so comfortable. Todd always loved to climb it when he saw it. Every time he reached that tree, the sun would be just coming up. And he loved to climb up into it and take a break. There, he would reflect the days events and visualize all that he had accomplished and what more he might accomplish.
   This time, he climbed it to stop a while and think about that poor woman and what she must have seen. He remembered her saying "they took my money, but that wasn't enough." And he thought about what a cruel world this was sometimes. And how unfair life can be. He thought about his own predicament. He had always been honest and hard working. How could it be that he would wind up getting this incurable disease? Why him? And why that little boy?
   Just then, he heard two voices coming through the woods. Leaves were cracking under their feet as they casually walked, talked and laughed. It was a beautiful morning and Todd wished he had someone to share it with. His wife would have loved this tree. She always liked everything he liked. She was a jogger too. In fact, they met while jogging in Chicago.
   The two voices were getting closer now and Todd was beginning to hear what they were saying. "Forty bucks?" One of them asked incredulously with a high pitched voice.
   "Yeah, so what. It was still worth it. It's better than nothing" the other one growled
   "I don't mind robbing a stupid bitch, but I don't think you should have killed that kid" the whiney one said.
   "Awe come on, it was fun. And besides, I always wanted to see what this baby would do." And he showed the axe to his short skinny friend.
   Todd was shocked! This was them! The guys who killed that boy! He hunched down in his tree and listened harder, hoping they wouldn't see him.
   The skinny one talked some more. "I wouldn't have minded if we killed some old fat fuck, but that poor little boy never knew what hit him."
   "Shut up you wimp." His fat friend said as he tossed the axe up and then caught it by the handle. "This is my new weapon of choice. Especially now that I have seen what it can do. I really like it. It does the job, doesn't it?"
   Todd was really sure that this was them. But he couldn't see their faces too clearly from the tree, as high as he was. He wanted to get a good look at them, so he could identify them later, to the police. He quietly climbed down one branch, then another. They were getting close now and Todd was scared. He couldn't let them get away with this. And yet he couldn't risk being caught by them. They had proved they were killers and he didn't want to take any chances. He climbed down one more branch and then, crunch. Some bark broke off the tree from his foot and the killers looked right at him! They saw him. And they suddenly knew he heard every word.
   "Get that son of a bitch!" The big one yelled at his friend. "He heard everything we just said."
   The skinny one started running right at him "you mother fucker!" He yelled as he attacked.
   Todd jumped out of the tree and started running through the woods. He looked back and they were both hot on his trail. His adrenalin was pumping and he was really moving quickly. He jumped over a few dead trees and looked back again. The skinny guy was closer, about twenty feet away. And the bigger guy was about thirty feet away. He kept running full speed. He was wishing he wasn't in the woods. There was about a mile more to go before he would get out and onto a road. He glanced back again. They were still there.
   He heard the big one yell "move dummy!" And he looked back, just in time to see the big guy throw his axe. It missed him and stuck in a tree on his right, about ten feet ahead of him.
   He knew there wasn't enough time to stop and try to get it, so he turned left. He hoped they would waste time trying to get the axe. Then he could put some distance between them and him. He looked back again and saw only the skinny one. He turned at a right angle this time to try to see behind him better, where the axe went. And then he saw the big guy. He was at least a hundred feet back. But the skinny guy was still on his tail.