Do You Believe in a God? | CAMP CAMP AU

04 | David Tierney Rosenthal

David Rosenthal was a bright kid. He had the reddest hair, the greenest eyes, and the most freckled face a boy could have.

For all his life, he'd always wanted to work with kids. He'd also prefer being in nature, but he didn't mind if he wasn't.

This was because of his neighbors, who'd his parents told him, were the Ravenports.

He briefly knew the youngest, a boy his age. David doesn't remember his name or his face. Maybe they looked like eachother.

David never saw the Ravenports leave their home. David's parents shared their own theories, one being; "they're hyper-religious."

But now that David was an adult, he understood. He wished to experience the outside world for those who couldn't. He'd treat children right. All for those who never could.

All of David students (mostly) loved him, as did his co-workers.

He never found out what happened to the Ravenports, though, as the Rosenthals had moved out two years later.

But as David works to manually grade his students' work (and add his own encouraging notes), he can hardly keep his mind from wandering off to the new history teacher's name.

Daniel Ravenport.

Ravenport.

As soon as he'd found out, he immediately denied it. It couldn't be the same boy! There were bound to be hundreds upon thousands of Ravenports in the USA alone. What were the chances?

When David went to go to the teacher's lounge to grab his newly-printed paper, he couldn't help but stop in front of the history classroom. His skin prickled.

Everytime a new teacher was hired, he became nervous. He knew his boss, Cameron Campbell, was quite laid-back and lazy with his interviews. The head of the office, Gwendolyn Haynes, should've been in charge.

Gwendolyn (who preferred to be called 'Gwen', as her and David were even friends outside of work) was a tight-fisted woman who wouldn't take shit from a single troublemaker. Gwen worked front desk, and she'd seen and heard things before relaying them to Campbell, only for them to be dismissed.

David debated on working even further in his classroom, but he just didn't want to walk past that damned history classroom again. It gave him a bad feeling.

So as he grabbed the printer paper and briskly walked back to his own room, he stared trenches into the floor.

His hands became clammy as he began to put things away.

He scooped up his bag and grabbed his thermos of water before rushing through the hall a final time.

Before David puts his keys in the ignition, a man dressed in white catches his eyes.

Tall, blonde, dressed in nothing but white. What was he doing? Painting his mailbox.

Normally David would wonder why someone would be painting a mailbox dressed in white, but David didn't particularly give any care- because the paint was also white.

He wasn't a judgemental person, by any means, but this behavior was just odd.

When David's car finally started, he could see his own breath, that's how cold it was.

The drive home was a blur (which probably isn't good considering he's driving), he just wished to see his dog and go to sleep.

David struggled opening his door, not to mention unlocking it.

"Jasper?" He called, looking for his dog. Jasper was an unusual name— he named his dog after a friend that just straight-up disappeared. Calling his dog Jasper was a relief, for an odd reason.

"Jasper..?" The golden Labrador lept out from a corner, startling David, causing him to drop his keys.

"Hi, boy!" He chuckles as the dog licks his face, while also scrambling to grab his keys. "Hold on, hold on!"

David pauses as his doorbell rings, "coming!" He shouts. The ringing is consistent, and irritates David further.

David makes his way to the door, as a silhouette of a man his height even barely moves.

The redhead opens the door to a pale, blonde man dressed from head-to-toe in white.

"Hello, co-worker! My name is Daniel. Daniel Ravenport. I believe we used to be neighbors."