A Story Blook

Smoke from a Distant Horizon

2009-08-15T10:12:00.000-07:00

High in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, perched on a rock, Angie Porter could see the distant lights of Fresno. But it wasn't the city lights she was seeing any longer; it was the light from fire - lots of fires. Or perhaps one huge fire; she wasn't really certain anymore. For the past few nights, the glow from the fires was getting brighter and brighter. Now, as the sun set again, she wondered if the fire would crawl up the mountain and engulf them.

But more than anything else, she wondered when and if her husband would return. It had now been 25 days since Jeff along with Claire's husband, Rolf had taken off back to Fresno to recoup the firearms. The mission was only supposed to take 3 weeks at most and by now Angie had taken to worrying.

Jeff and Rolf had given them specific instructions about what to do in the event they do not return by September 15th (this was the 9th of September). The tribe was to begin its long journey south to Area 2, in the Death Valley area to spend the winter there. However, the trip south would be dangerous without the firearms. Although their current encampment made a fine camp, it would not be suitable for winter. That high in the Sierras, without some kind of permanent shelter would create tremendous hardship for the tribe.

All the events of the recent past had happened so quickly. There had been no time for things like building permanent shelters; in fact there was scarcely enough time for them to get the families out of Fresno alive.

Oh they had seen the downfall coming alright. It was evident to the Porters the very day Congress banned all gun ownership in the United States. It was evident the day the 'officials' came around to collect all firearms from the citizens. It was a choice of giving up the firearms on that appointed day or face prosecution.

Most citizens caved in and gave up their firearms in order to gain immunity from prosecution. The Porters and a small group of other close knit families didn't quite fall into that trap. They buried most of their firearms in Rolf and Claire's spare lot across town. Each family turned in only a token firearm to play along and avoid falling under suspicion.

The original plan was to gradually move the families to an 80 acre parcel in Colorado where they could form a compound. But they did not foresee how quickly the downfall of the structured society around them would happen. Almost immediately after 'collection day' things began to change for the worse. Violent crime in their once peaceful neighborhood began to take a sharp rise. It was evident right from the start that they were not the only ones who didn't turn in their firearms.

The other element - the gangs, the hoodlums, and all other miscellaneous anti-societal ruffians - apparently had plenty of firearms and ammunition. It also became apparent that there was corruption in the government officials who were supposed to be stockpiling and safeguarding the guns and ammo. Prior to the ban, in an effort to remove poor people from welfare roles and to create jobs, the government took to hiring them. Now the very 'government officials' who were in charge of firearms and ammo were of the 'other element' and had little trouble laying their hands on all the firearms and ammo they wanted. Thus began their reign of terror.

It did not take long for their once safe middle class neighborhood to become a 'no mans land'; a place where the children couldn't play and people could not go out of their houses safely. Only 3 days after collection day, the couple across from the Porters was slaughtered in a hail of gunfire from a group of thugs while they were out in their front yard with their children. The children were taken away. It took the police a full day to come out and another day after that for the ambulance to come and take away the two bodies. Unlike their previously quiet life, each night, the sounds of gunfire could be heard from every direction. It was at this point, the Porters and the other families who would go on to form the Tribe, realized they would have to move fast.

The Porters and the other families had quickly grouped and made plans to leave town on Day 6. There was little time for elaborate plans, because even as they met, gangs were patrolling the neighborhoods picking out victims to rape, murder, and plunder. Even as they met to plan their escape, they could hear the screams of women being attacked and raped and the sounds of children screaming as they were being taken away.

In the early morning hours of Day 7, the families took off in 2 vans, sneaking out of town using a route made up of back roads. There was no opportunity to get the buried firearms from the lot on the other side of town that night. In fact, one of the vans broke down along the way and they all had to cram into one van to make the rest of the trip to the trail head. Not a happy trip.

After the group settled down in the mountain camp, Jeff and Rolf (after much arguing) set off on the long and dangerous journey back to the edge of Fresno to retrieve the firearms. As Angie watched the bright fires burning in the distance, she wondered whether she would ever see her husband again.

Claire walked up to join her and sat down on the rock next to her.

"It's getting brighter isn't it?", she said.

"Yeah, I think so", Angie answered. "But it seems there is another fire, even closer." She pointed to a spot in the near distance, in a small valley slightly down the mountain from where they were.

Claire looked for a minute and said, "You're right, that looks like a camp fire although I can't quite tell. It may just be a flash light. Maybe we have company? We ought to check it out."

Angie looked up at the darkening sky with only the last vestiges of daylight. "It is a strange light now that I look at it. Well, we'll have to go in the morning. There's no daylight left," she said.

Claire nodded her head in agreement. "We can get Dan to go with us and leave first thing in the morning. He's been itching to leave the camp on some sort of mission anyway."

With that, the two women got up and took the short walk back to the camp.

---------------

Early in the morning, the 3 trekkers gathered together.

"Julie, I'm leaving you and Gregory in charge of the kids," Angie said. "We'd better get out of here before they wake up and pester us to go along."

Julie smiled. "Here you better at least take this," she handed Angie a pistol crossbow. The crossbow was of the few legal weapons that were allowed since guns were outlawed and it was one of the two the Tribe had.

"True, I don't know what or who we'll find down there," Angie said. "Here Dan, you're the sharpest shot, you take the crossbow" as she handed it to the older man.

"We'd better move out," Dan said.

The three began to make their way down the mountain. Angie had been worried that they would have a hard time finding the spot in daylight, but she noticed a distinct column of smoke arising from the spot. They made their way down the mountain toward the odd looking column of smoke, which rose high into the sky before it eventually dissipated into the grayish clouds.

"Whoever's down there isn't too worried about being discovered," Dan remarked.

It did not take them long to descend the mountain and they neared the spot where the smoke was rising. As they approached the area, they saw a man standing on the edge of a clearing near where the smoke was coming from.

Dan motioned them to stop and got out his binoculars to look more closely.

"It's Rolf!" Dan exclaimed.

Claire was the first to take off running toward her husband as the other two followed quickly behind her. But as Claire got closer to the edge of the clearing where Rolf was standing, he walked back into the woods. Angie thought to herself that that was rather strange behavior. Shouldn't Rolf be happy to see his wife again?

By the time the 3 of them reached the edge of the woods where Rolf had been standing, he was no longer in sight. Claire went running after him frantically calling his name while the other two followed her toward the column of smoke.

Claire reached the body first. There was Rolf lying face down in a small puddle of blood. She knelt down to feel his pulse and began to weep.

Angie joined her and felt his pulse. Rolf was dead.

Dan turned him over and they could see that not only was he dead but he been dead for a least a few days. He had several bullet wounds in which the maggots were plentiful.

"What the... " Dan said. "He was just standing there a minute ago! We all saw him right?"

He looked at Angie who nodded. Claire was beside herself in mournful weeping.

Dan then saw a bundle a few feet from Rolf's body.

"It's the firearms!" he declared as he inspected the contents. "And lots of ammo too!". In the bundle he found a journal. Dan opened it, flipped to the end and began to read the last entry - dated September 5th.

Can't hold on much longer, can't go any further. Claire I love you. Angie .. Jeff said he loves U right before he died...

Dan handed the book to Angie and looked away from her. He looked to where the fire should have been. But the column of smoke had completely disappeared and there was no evidence of any fire.

Bend in Time Yields 189

2009-07-03T16:25:00.000-07:00

Dave Romano called his own cell phone number from his cell phone. He had done this hundreds of times before. It was one of several ways he could check his cell phone voice mail and for some reason, he preferred doing it this way. He wanted to see if he had missed a call from his girl friend Sam.

He was beginning to worry about Sam. She seemed to be cooling off on their relationship and he really needed to talk to her. He had been hearing some rumors that she was seeing someone else and needed to find out what was going on.

Instead Dave was understandably surprised when someone answered the phone instead of the usual voice mail greeting prompt. He quickly pressed END - figuring that he must have misdialed.

But wait.

He had queued the number from the contact list, not dialed it. So how could he have misdialed the number? Furthermore, there was something oddly familiar about that voice that answered.

He tried again - this time keeping close eye on the number to make sure it was right. It was.

Again someone answered. Not just anyone. Someone who sounded like.. himself.

"Hello?" said the voice.

Dave looked at his phone to make sure it showed the right number and he wasn't somehow getting re-directed. It was his number.

"Um, hi I was trying to dial 206-453-3756. It looks like I dialed it, but you're answering. This doesn't make sense."

"Yeah, I know, it's really bizarre", said the other voice. "I have that number - 206-453-3756 yet that's what's showing on the caller id. Plus you sound a lot like me".

"And yeah, you sound like me. What gives here? Is this some kind of joke?"

But the voice sounded just as baffled as Dave was. "I'm Dave Romano, who are you?" Dave #2 said.

"I am Dave Romano!" Dave #1 responded sharply. "This must be some kind of prank or some wierd ass cell tower switch issue".

"Then why do you sound like me? And why do I sound like you?" asked Dave #2 - also sounding like he thought he was the victim of a joke.

There was silence on both ends for a long minute when Dave #1 finally said, "Ok what's the last 4 digits of your.. uh.. my social security number?".

"8024" said Dave #2.

After a moment of stunned silence, Dave #1 said "Holy shit. That's mine. Ok ask me something that only you.. um.. I will know".

Dave #2 thought for a moment and said, "Ok, what was the date I first got laid?"

"August 12, 1982", was the response. "And what was her name?"

"Jenny Saltameyer", Dave #2 said. "and later she earned the nickname of Jenny Slutameyer"

This back and forth went one for quite some time; each Dave pelting the other with very personal validation questions that only the real Dave would know the answers to. In all cases, the correct answers were given. Finally both Daves sat in stunned silence; not knowing what to make of it but yet not wanting to hang up the phone.

Finally Dave #2 said suddenly, "I just remembered something. When you called the first time, I looked at the call record in my call history and noticed it was time stamped 3 days ago. What date is it where you are?"

"Um... Tuesday August 4th." was the answer.

"So that's what's going on!" Dave #2 announced. "Today is Friday August 7th for me"

"Holy crap, you mean we're talking through some kind of time warp? What year is it for you?"

"2009"

"That means we're 3 days apart. This is way too frickin’ weird."

After a few more moments of silence, Dave #1 had an idea. "Hey, are you near the computer?"

"I can be in just a minute" Dave #1 could hear Dave #2 pull the chair out and start typing.

"Ok go to the Mega Millions Lottery web page and tell me what the winning numbers were for tonight's drawing - August 4, 2009"

Dave #2 started snickering as he understood the implications of the request, then they both started laughing. "Got something to write with buddy?"

"I sure do Best Friend!"

"2, 17, 29, 31, 45 and a mega-ball of 32." Dave #2 read and Dave #1 jotted them down.

Dave #1 looked at his watch. He still had more than 8 hours until the lotto would be drawn; plenty of time to get a ticket. "Got it" he said as he read it back for verification.

I wonder if this is a permanent rift in time" Dave #2 pondered.

"I don't know buddy, but I am going to have to hang up. I need to go find a lotto place that has play cards to fill in. How about I try calling you back in 3 hours?"

It's a date! Dave #2 said and the call ended.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Dave sank back in his sofa with Sam curled up in arms. They watched as his interview came on the local news.

A Seattle man has won the 4th largest Mega Millions jackpot in history - 189 million dollars. His name is Dave Romano and we've got him here to share the excitement. So Dave, what are you going to do with all that money?

Dave turned away from the TV to see his text message icon appear. He pressed the button to access the message. The time warp or bend in time was still open and the 2 Daves were talking constantly. It was a message from 'the other Dave'.

dump samantha! before we won $$$$, she told Evie she was going to break up. shes bin scruing Lon for weeks behind our backs. after we won the $$$$, she told Evie, she changed her mind and now she wants in on the winnings. gold digga harlot! shes no good, u need to dump her.

Dave #1 smiled. A lot had changed in the last 48 hours and it looked like one more thing was about to change.

"Baby I'm really tired tonight, let's call it a day" he announced.

"Oh but honey, I really want to be with you" she cooed.

"No baby, I think all the excitement has been too much for me - I'm exhausted" he said as he walked her to the door.

She complained some more, but it was no use. The door was opened and she was ushered out.

"Call me tomorrow baby" he said as he closed the door in her face.

Dumping her on the phone would be so much easier -- or he might even dump her via text message.

Dave really loved his cell phone.

Poetic Justice for an Offender

2009-05-11T14:07:00.000-07:00

Rolf Denton needed a room. He sat in at a window table at Starbucks looking out at the cold autumn rain that would soon turn into even colder rain and snow. He waited for his old notebook to boot up and find the Starbucks network so he could check CraigsList again.

It wasn't easy for a convicted sex offender to get a place to live these days. Everyone wanted a background check it seemed and the question always came up: have you ever been convicted of a crime? When they found out what the crime was, they hung up the phone or showed him the door.

He really needed a 'no questions asked' room. It was already early November and soon the nights in Seattle would be unbearable for sleeping outdoors. Word had already gotten around about Rolf's past and it wasn't even safe for him to stay at the shelters. The last time he slept in a shelter, he woke up with a knife is his face. Fortunately he fought that guy off, but who knows if he would be lucky enough to wake up next time?

He briefly thought about moving south. He knew he could drum up the money for a bus ticket to LA or Phoenix from a few days panhandling next to the freeway off ramp. He wasn't supposed to go out of state though without telling Bart - his sex offender registry official.

Bart kept bugging him for an address. Just last week he had seen Bart but told him the same thing he always told him: 'My address is Seattle, WA general delivery." They had the usual argument about personal responsibility that went nowhere since Rolf really couldn't find a home and Bart had no real way to get him into a home.

He would just as soon go to Phoenix and call Bart and say: Hey my new address is Phoenix, AZ general delivery."

He was now on CraigsList and his eyes zoomed in on one ad: Live-in Handyman needed ; Rent in exchange for maintenance work. It was a Queen Anne address not far from the Starbucks he was in. He shut his notebook, picked up his bag and walked out.

---------------------------------------------------------

"My husband used to do the all work but since he died, there's been no one to fix things," the old woman was saying. "This is an old building and there're lots of things that need attending to."

"Barbara, let me start out by fixing that leak in the bathroom" Rolf said. "Then you can see that I'll be able to do all this work for you".

"Oh ok! That sounds like such a great idea - you'll find my husband's tools in the basement" she said as she showed him to the basement door. Barbara walked with him down the stairs into the musty, rather cluttered basement. She pointed to a corner of the basement.

"That's where Ed used to do all his work - you'll find some tools over there" she said. "I'll be upstairs in the study if you need me". With that she walked back upstairs and left him down in the basement.

The workbench was a mess. It was a horrific pile of junk with tools strewn about. Once upon a time, it looked like maybe they were all in a toolbox, but they had not been organized in some time. Rolf decided he would start by organizing all the tools and began picking them from here and there.

Rolf had been working about 5 minutes when he heard a tremendous crash and felt the house shake. Another crash followed and then another. Before Rolf could get to the stairs, the ceiling of the basement caved in and buried him in a large heap of rubble.

Trapped, unable to move, but still alive, Rolf screamed for help.

-----------------------------------------------------------

"Did you hear something?" one the workmen said as the group of wreckers stood at the edge of the pile of rubble.

"Nah, keep going, nothing in there", the foreman said.

Barbara who was standing off to the side watching the whole thing, smiled. She wouldn't be needed again for awhile, so she dissolved quietly and seamlessly into the shadows.

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The Body Replaceable

2008-12-06T13:37:00.001-08:00

It was time to change bodies again. The 41-year old body he was living in would no longer do and he knew it was well past time for the metamorphosis again. He had been waiting for some time and now the opportunity finally presented itself.

The boy sitting next to him in church would be his next manifestation. The boy and his sister were sitting with his mom in between them. The father was not present in church today. The changer had met the family before; they had exchanged polite after-service conversation on many occasions.

From these conversations, he had learned the boy's name was Jason and he was between 2 and 3 years old - the perfect age for the change. He also knew this was a well-to-do family and a family filled with love. It was going to be a perfect family for him.

The changer glanced at Jenny, his wife of 10 years, sitting on the other side of him. She had never wanted children and had gone out of her way not to conceive. Had she been more willing to conceive, the transition would have been more straightforward.

He will have to remember this for the next generation of himself - pick a wife who wants children! In the 4000 or so years he had been living in various bodies, only one other woman had failed him in this way. In her case, it had not been her fault. Next time, he will have to begin a family much earlier. At 41, this was one of the oldest bodies he had inhabited. It was time.
The boy, Jason was fidgeting as young children often do in church. He began sliding down the pew and onto the floor. Jason was at that age where, just learning to walk, he was anxious to walk everywhere. He began to move down the pew in front of the changer.

The changer, sensing anxiety from the mom, put his arm out to stop the boy from going any further. The mom smiled at the changer and reached out to pull Jason back in.

Only it was no longer Jason, the child. The changer had done this so many times that all he needed was a slight touch, an ever so brief physical contact to make his exchange.

The mother now lifted him back up on the pew and whispered to him "Honey, church is almost over, be a good boy and sit still for a bit more".

Indeed, the minister was just then wrapping up the service. As everyone started getting up to leave, one man stayed put. It was the body of the man the changer has previously inhabited. Jason turned around for one last look at the body he had spent the past 39 or so years in. It was seated still, staring vacantly ahead while Jenny, the childless one, was trying to shake him and get him to come around.

Jason giggled a little boy's laugh and walked out with his new mom's hand in his. "What's so funny Jason," she asked and smiled a loving smile at him.

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The Water Heater

2007-08-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

Jan Fortney had come to hate that water heater. She knew that moving from a 3 bedroom home into a studio apartment would require some major adjustments. The leasing agent had called it a "charming efficiency apartment". Yeah.. sure, call it what you will, it was still just a one room place. Well two rooms if you counted the bathroom.

Yes, there were plenty of adjustments needed. Sleeping in the same room as the living room and the kitchenette (partitioned off only by a counter) made it feel like she was living in a Ramada Inn. And that water heater in the closet -- making all kinds of funny noises.

Jan had never paid much attention to water heaters before. In her previous home, the water heater was in the basement and was out of sight, out of mind. And out of hearing range. Here it was in the closet, just a few feet from where she was trying to get to sleep.

Clacketly Clacketly Clack. Click Click Click. Knock Knock Knock.

Maybe this is the way water heaters always sound, she thought. Or maybe there's something wrong with it. She remembered a few years prior, the water heater went out and flooded the entire basement. Such a mess! She could not understand why they couldn't manage to build a water heater such that when it stopped working, it would just cease functioning and not leak all over the place.

Jim, her ex husband, had tried to explain the reason behind that, but the explanation was lost on her. Jim, the eternal mechanic and her the ultimate non-mechanic who never even lifted the hood of her car.

Her thoughts turn to Jim. Jim, who drained their joint bank account and took off with Gloria, that NASCAR babe. She didn't even know where he was although she had suspicions that he was in West Virginia.

She couldn't sell the house without him. She recalled the conversation with the mortgage company several months earlier.

"But my husband has taken off, I've filed for divorce, and I just want to sell the house," she had said.

"The mortgage is in both your names, Mrs. Fortney" Mr. O'Brian, the mortgage agent explained. "Unless he's deceased we need his release before you can sell the property."

"But I've already said, I don't know where he is."

Mr. O'Brian thought for a minute. "There might be something we can do once the divorce is finalized. I assume if he's AWOL, the divorce will default to uncontested. But until then, I'm sorry, there's just nothing I can legally do".

It didn't take long for the home go in to repossession -- Jan couldn't afford the mortgage payments on her tiny waitress salary. So here she was, lying here in a tiny studio apartment, wide awake tonight. Listening to the maddening noises coming from the water heater.

She finally switched on a light, picked up a book, and began to read hoping it would draw her mind into a state of drowsiness, ready for sleep.

-------

Morning finally came heralded by the repetitious beeping of the alarm clock. Jan had set it for 5 am since she had the early shift today. She stumbled to the bathroom and readied the shower. It seemed as though when she turned on a hot water tap, the noise from the water heater got worse - now it sounded like it was rocking or shaking.

'I must remember to call the maintenance people later today', she thought. 'Surely there must be something wrong with that water heater'.

She stepped into the shower and felt the nice hot water running all over her. She turned her back to the shower to get her hair rinsed and ready to shampoo. The she closed her eyes and began massaging the shampoo in.

If only she hadn't turned her back. If only she hadn't closed her eyes. Then she might have seen the tentacles oozing out of the shower nozzle. Then she might have had a chance to escape. But she realized only after a tentacle wrapped itself tightly around her neck, in a deadly choke hold, why the water heater was making so much noise.

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The Plantation

2007-08-23T10:58:00.000-07:00

Kyle and Kevin Ashby wiggled and fidgeted restlessly in the back seat of the Mercedes ML500. The long trip from Houston was taking its toll on the 9 year old boys. The boys both had finished their assortment of Nintendo DS games and had since become bored.

"Dad, are we close yet?" came the inevitable question from the back seat.

David Ashby checked his car navigation system. "Sorry son, still about 40 more miles to Rosedale," he replied. "But that's only about an hour." He glanced in the rear view and smiled at his sons.

David looked toward Sarah, his wife who was fast asleep in the passenger seat. There were just not enough of these family outings. This was the first major getaway since he had married Sarah -- other than their honeymoon. The twins were not quite to the point of calling her "mom" yet and David hoped this trip would change that.

After arriving in Rosedale Mississippi, the family stopped for dinner and then bought some necessities. They then made the final leg of their journey. Soon David saw his turn off.

"This is the place," he said.

He turned off the highway and onto a dirt road. It was a rough dirt road and was in dire need of grading. In a short distance, they arrived at a locked gate. David stopped the SUV and got out. After fumbling for a moment or two, he found the key, unlocked the gate and the boys rushed out to help him open it.

"Wow awesome place Dad," remarked Kevin. "Cool woods all around. We sure can get lost in here"

"That's exactly why you each have a handheld GPS." David said as he ushered them back in the vehicle. "I'll expect you to carry them with you at all times. I know how much you two are going to love to explore this place, but the woods are thick and they go on ... well for a long ways."

They eased through the iron gate and further into the property. The wood closed in on the road and branches began to scrape up against the Mercedes SUV as they slowly drove along.

"The woods are taking over the road," remarked Sarah. "Tomorrow, I'll call for a landscaper to come take of it".

"The boys can take care of the basic trimming," David said. "They do plenty of yard work around home right boys?" He turned around to look at them. They rolled their eyes as if to say "ah gee Dad do we have to".

Just then the SUV cleared the woods and the narrow dirt road led them out into the open where they could see the house.

"Oh it's even lovelier than the picture," Sarah exclaimed.

The plantation house was a 25 room place with an garden in front that badly needed tending. David pulled the SUV up to the front and stopped. After fumbling with the keys again, David swung the heavy oak doors open and everyone went inside.

"Whoa his place is old" remarked Kyle. "And huge!"

"Come on upstairs everyone," said David. "I'll show you the rooms".

There were a dozen rooms upstairs, but David had arranged to have only a few of them cleaned in preparation for their arrival. David and Sarah were to take the master bedroom at the north end. The twins were given their own separate rooms - two rooms on the south end of the upstairs overlooking the woods on that side.

The rest of the evening was spent getting settled and exploring. Much to Kyle and Kevin's dismay, David found a Caretaker's Cottage which contained a wide assortment of grounds maintenance tools. The twins were given marching orders to begin hacking back the overgrown foliage from the road in the morning.

Everyone was tired after the long drive and no one had any desire to stay up late. The family had all retired by 9:00pm.

The next morning, Sarah prepared a delicious breakfast in the spacious plantation kitchen. After breakfast, the boys were taken out for their assignment. David handed them each a pair of long-handle pruners and walked with them to the edge of the wooded road.

"Start here and work your way back to the gate," he said. "Just focus on clipping the really intrusive branches and limbs. I'll need to hire someone to grade this road anyway, and they can do the heavy duty clearing. Just worry about the worst offenders, clear?"

The boys both nodded affirmative.

"Oh and it's going to be hot today," David went on. "Here's some water" He handed them a couple of bottles of Aqua Fina. "I don't expect you to do it all in one day. Be sure to quit by noon ok?"

"Ok Dad" they answered in unison as the twins often did.

The twins immediately got to work as David made his way back to the house. Meanwhile, back at the house Sarah had found her way into the library.

She was awestruck as she leafed through the old books and document collections - many of them handwritten documents of the pre civil war period. In addition to the books and documents, the library wall had an amazing collection of old photos. There were photos from the mid 1800's and on through the end of that century. There were photos of the plantation mansion at various points and the families that lived here. Most interesting were pictures of the black slaves. There was a very clear photo of a young slave boy who looked to be about 10. Another clear photo showed the same boy with his slave family.

"I see you've found the library," David said as he walked in.

"This isn't a library," Sarah said. "It's a museum!"

David smiled. "I suspected the Vice President of the Greater Houston Historical Society would get a kick out of this room".

"It's completely amazing, David!" Sarah said. "These photos of slaves are extremely rare" she pointed to the photo of the young boy. "Especially to find them this well-preserved. And these journals! Well I know where I'll be spending the rest of this visit!"

David laughed. "Well do come out for dinner and some family time" he said as he kissed her cheek.

-----------------------

The twins had a fair amount of work completed as noon approached. They sat down on a log to rest.

"Whew it's hot" remarked Kevin as he wiped his face with his T shirt.

Just then, seemingly out of nowhere, another boy came walking up the road toward them. He was a black boy who looked to be around the twins age but he was dressed rather strangely. He wore very old style looking shorts - the kind that Kyle and Kevin had only seen in movies. The shorts were made of some heavy patchwork material.

"Hi ho" the boy said as he waved and smiled. "Sho is warm today ain't it?"

"Aye yea," said Kyle. "I'm Kyle, this is my brother Kevin".

"Please to make ya acquaintances. I be Jimbo".

Kevin noticed that Jimbo's pants were dripping wet. "You been swimming Jimbo?" he asked.

"Yep. I gots me a nice swimmin hole. Wanna see? Youz guys look all hot," he said.

Kyle and Kevin looked at each other and grinned. "Lead on Jimbo!" Kyle said.

The boys followed Jimbo into the woods by way of a trail they had not previously noticed. Soon they arrived at a nice clear pond fed by a small creek. Jimbo jumped in and splashed the two twins. "Last one in!" he laughed.

Kevin and Kyle took off their shoes, socks and shirts and joined him. Soon the three boys were frolicking in the water like 3 old friends.

After a while Jimbo said, "Hey ya how long can you hold your breath?"

The twins thought about it for a minutes and Kevin said "Well we have dived before but never too deep, why?"

"Cuz they be an underwater cave that goes to a really neat place. You jez to have to see it to buleeve it" Jimbo said. "But you have to hold your breath for about 60 seconds".

"Oh we can do that," Kyle said. With that the boys took a huge deep breath and dove down with Jimbo leading the way.

------------------------

Sarah was in the living area completely lost in the old manuscripts she had brought out from the library. David came down stairs rubbing his eyes after taking a nap.

"Are the boys back yet?" he asked.

"Goodness, look what time it is" Sarah said as she snapped her manuscript shut. "No I haven't seen them".

"I'd better go out and have a look" he said as he looked at his watch. "Oh look at that, they forgot to take their GPS handhelds" he pointed to the 2 units sitting on a table by the door.

"Oh my, I hope they're not lost," Sarah said, concerned.

"Never fear," David fired up his notebook. "Unknown to them, they're wearing GPS trackers on their shoes. I'll just see where they are".

Sarah laughed, "Now that's what I call keeping an eye on the boys" she said.

"Well they have always been boys who love to explore and they've always had the tendency to wander off. I'm just a doting father," He smiled as he opened his map software. "Hmm, looks they've abandoned the work assignment and went off into the woods. I'm going to go surprise them." He closed his notebook and tucked it under his arm.

"Ok I'll get lunch started," Sarah said. "I'm sure they'll be hungry boys when they get back"

David went out the front door and followed the road while looking at his map on notebook. He kept an eye on the signal coming from the boy's shoes. He eventually found the trail they took and kept following their signal until he reached the pool.

But there he only found 2 pairs of shoes, socks and T shirts.

--------------------------

Sarah headed back to library to put the manuscripts away. She glanced at the photos again and then did a double take. The photo that showed the little black boy now showed two white boys standing alongside him. "I could have sworn he was in that photo alone" she said aloud.

Then she looked closer and gasped. Even though the photo was old and grainy, the white boys looked very much like Kyle and Kevin.

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Night Train

2007-08-14T07:02:00.000-07:00

Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks its true
What is the point of this story
What information pertains
The thought that life could be better
Is woven indelibly, into our hearts, and our brains (Paul Simon 1983)

Tom Haverill stood at the bedroom window and drew back the vertical blinds quietly. He drew them slowly so as to avoid the 'clackety clack' noise they usually make when drawn back abruptly. He did not want to wake his wife. He listened and waited.

There it was again - the train horn. It wasn't that distant and was clearly a train horn. He had been hearing what he thought was a train horn for a week or so now, but he had always been partially or wholly asleep. He was never sure whether he had been dreaming or not. But now he was wide awake and quite sure of what he was hearing.

There really is a train, he thought to himself - a freight train. Tom and Julie Haverill had lived in this house for going on 20 years now and he had never heard a train.

In fact, Tom loved trains. One of his regrets to living in Pineville was that there were no trains. He had learned some time ago they were a full 100 miles from the nearest train. Oh, there were those downtown underground commuter trains but they didn't count. They rarely appeared above ground and when they did, they made very little noise. And no horns. At least no horn like the grand freight trains made.

The horn blasted again - this time a bit fainter. Tom stood listening for 15 more minutes and the train horn kept getting fainter and fainter. He went back to bed and laid down, falling asleep thinking about trains.

***********************************

"No, I didn't hear a train," Julie sipped her coffee. "Is that what you were doing standing at the window in the middle of night?"

"Yes, and I know I heard a train," Tom answered. "Several times in fact. Today, I'm going down to the library to do some research. Maybe they've laid down some track nearby and somehow I didn't know about it."

"That's hard to imagine," Julie got up and put her breakfast dishes in the sink. "You and your railroad buff buddies surely would have known about a new train in the area. And I don't remember reading about any such thing, do you?"

"No ... but I know what I heard," Tom answered.

"Aside from that, there're suburbs for miles," Julie said as she wiped her hands. "Where would they put an above ground freight train?"

"Dunno", Tom shrugged his shoulders and stared into his coffee.

"OK dear" she said as she kissed her husband on the forehead. "Speaking of trains, I need to get to the station or I'll be late for work."

"Bye dear, have a nice day," Tom said blankly.

Julie sighed and made her way out of the house.

**********************************

Julie stood on the train pretending to read her latest copy of RedBook. She wobbled and vibrated slightly as the Yellow Line made its way downtown. Every once in awhile, she glanced up to see if anyone she knew was on the train. She could really use someone to talk to.

Tom had not been right since the operation. Ever since they tore him open (ripped open like a lobster as he often described it) to replace a heart valve, things had not been right. The doctor said he made a splendid recovery and by all physical standards, he seemed to.

But something in him changed. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but in some ways he wasn't the man she married. It's almost as though the replaced heart valve made a subtle change in Tom that no one else but his wife would ever notice. It wasn't necessarily a bad change, but it wasn't a good change either.

He never wanted to do anything anymore for one thing. Tom used to love to do things like go out to movies or go see the baseball team play. He also loved the theatre and so did she. But he never wanted to do any of those things anymore and she couldn't coax him into anything, no matter how hard she tried.

She supposed it had a lot to do with his sleeplessness. He had not been sleeping well in the 8 months since the operation. He frequently got up in the middle of the night and went out to read or watch TV. But this latest thing standing by the window hearing trains was fairly new and only added to her growing concerns about her husband.

**************************

Tom lay wide awake staring at the clock on the night stand. It was nearing midnight and this is about the time the train could be heard. He quietly turned to see if his wife was asleep. She breathed deeply and slowly and her mouth was half open. Even in that less than flattering view, she still looked beautiful to him. He eased out of bed and crept into the family room.

He quietly eased the patio door open, stepping outside onto the deck. It was a warm June night and he could hear the crickets chirping in the field next to their property. Within a few minutes he heard the first train horn. His research had not revealed any trains in the area, but yet there it was.

He craned his neck to try and determine the direction it was coming from. After several minutes, there were more horn blasts and at one point he thought he could hear the clacking of the metal wheels on the tracks. He stayed out on the deck until the last horn had long faded away and then finally retired for the evening.

Over the next week, Tom went out on the deck each night around midnight to wait for the train. And each night he was rewarded with the sounds of the train. But there was one thing that was extemely odd. Each night the train seemed to get getting a little closer. Each night the train horn was a little louder, more distinct.

Now, a full week later the train horn thunderously blasted first around midnight. He stood on the deck to try to get a glimpse of the iron beast he knew was out there. He raised his binoculars and swept the horizon looking for some sign of the train. The next blast of the horn nearly jolted him. He expected his wife to wake up after that one.

'That would be good if she heard that', he thought. 'She doesn't believe me.'

The train sounded so close now, he couldn't understand why he couldn't see it. It sounded like it was right on the next street of their suburban township. But it came and went again tonight; all out of view. And when he returned to bed, he found his wife still fast asleep.

The next night Tom was not quite sure what to expect. First off, where is this train, he thought. He questioned his own sanity and then wondered if he were really hearing anything at all? How on earth could a train be getting closer each night when trains run on fixed tracks? A Ghost Train?

Today he had gone down to Best Buy and purchased a digital camcorder. Tonight he planned to record what he saw, or at least heard - the device had an external microphone. He had given up even going to bed before Midnight. For the past few days, he simply waited out on the deck until midnight.

Soon midnight arrived and with it, the first blast of the train horn. He switched on his camcorder, aimed it in the direction of the sound and held out the microphone. Tonight the train was really, really close and what was this? A light? He could see the headlight of the train! It was coming right toward the house, directly from the south. He could feel the deck vibrating as the train rolled toward their house.

He was suddenly reminded of a time when he was 8 or 9; when his family went to spend a week with Aunt Marion. Aunt Marion's house was in Nebraska, set right alongside a set of train tracks. Each night during that visit, Tom and his brother squealed with delight every time a train passed and shook the house. Mother had not been so pleased however, and swore they would never visit there again because she didn't get any sleep the entire week. And so they never saw Aunt Marion again.

Another train horn blast - this time the train was right on him. Still he maintained his aim with the camcorder. The train rolled closer and closer approaching the house. "This cannot be REAL!" Tom shouted above the now deafening roar of the oncoming train. And then....

Julie awoke with a start - she heard something. Something had dropped or fallen. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, looking at the clock. 12:20am. As usual her husband was no where to be seen, but by now she knew where to find him. She donned her bathrobe and headed to the deck. She opened the door and stepped out into the quiet evening.

"Tom?" she called. But Tom was nowhere to be seen. The only thing she could see was a camcorder lying on the deck - still running.

**************************

Julie Haverill stood looking out at the snow quietly falling on the deck. It had been six months since Tom's disappearance and she was finally giving up hope that he would ever return or be found. The video footage had baffled the detectives and left all kinds of questions for which there were no answers. No fingerprints other than Tom's and her's had been found on the device. And no one could explain the movie showing the train coming toward the camera.

But without Tom's contribution to the bank account, Julie had reached the point where she could no longer afford to live in the home. She had begun the long, slow process of selling the unneeded things and eventually the house. Tonight Julie was waiting on a potential buyer to show up.

A knock on the door. It was Mike Riley who had called earlier about Tom's model railroad set. She let him in and showed him to the basement where he could see the model railroad that Tom had built over the years. At first he didn't say anything. He just walked around the large grouping of tables several times. Finally he spoke up.

"This is an absolulutely spectacular set," Mike exclaimed. "The detail and scale are meticulous. And this foam scenery and landscaping. Beautiful! You want $2500 for it?" Mike knew this set was worth a great deal more but didn't say so.

"Yes," said Julie. "I'll take cash or a cashier's check".

Without much further consideration, Mike said. "Consider it sold. I'll be back tomorrow morning with a Cashier's Check and some boxes. This will make my son so happy this Christmas - thank you."

"No problem, I'm happy to get rid of it," Julie said.

Mike stopped to admire the set again and rubbed his hand on one of the buildings. "Why just look at the detail on this station house."

"If you say so" Julie answered, uninterested.

But if Julie Haverill had paid more attention to her husband's model railroad and its accessories, she would have noticed there was now one more figure waiting at that bucolic station house platform that hadn’t been there before.

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The Falls

2007-04-05T10:48:00.000-07:00

Grouse Falls is a beautiful cataract style falls in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. It plunges 210 feet down a rugged path of large boulders and sheer drops. This particular afternoon, if you happened to look at just the right moment, you would see 2 bodies tumbling down the falls, bouncing violently off each of the sheared boulders that made up the falls path and eventually ending up bobbing in the churning pool at the base.

****************

Two men could be seen making their way down the makeshift trail that led up to the falls.

"Lenny would you hurry the fuck up?" Jeff, the smaller of the pair said. "It's gonna be nightfall soon".

"Whats the matter Jeffy?", the large man huffed and puffed as he talked. "Scared of the dark?"

"No I'm not afraid of the dark, you asshole. I'm just not sure we're gonna be able to find the campsite in the dark".

"How bout the same way we came? L turn at the lake and then north?" Lenny asked.

"I guess we'll have to feel our way, no moon tonight, gonna be pretty dark." Jeff grumbled as he looked up.

After a few more minutes of walking, Lenny stopped and sat down on a rock. "I'm really tired" he said out of breath. He leaned back against a tree.

Jeff could not argue with that; he was very tired himself. Hauling two full sized male bodies several miles up the side of a mountain and tossing them over the waterfall had been no easy task. Jeff sat down on the log of a fallen tree and looked around.

It was already getting very dark. He had miscalculated the length of the afternoon and how long it would take to do the dirtywork with those two fishermen. Suddenly, Jeff heard snoring sounds and looked over at Lenny to find him already fast asleep.

'How do ya like that' Jeff mumbled. 'It looks like we'll be staying here for the night' he thought to himself. They had not really had any sleep since the prison break two days ago. They spent the first night on the run and had not slept much the second night. Even though they managed to set up camp, neither of them had been able to sleep.

Tonight was different and Jeff felt himself feeling very weary. He went over to Lenny and put his coat over him. They were able to get two nice coats from the two fishermen; Jeff's fit fine, but the larger fisherman was not nearly as large as Lenny and Lenny had to make do with a less-than-perfect fitting jacket. But it would at least keep the big man warm.

Jeff looked around and found a nice flat place for himself on a rock nearby. After so many years in prison, they were both used to sleeping on hard surfaces. Jeff laid down and listened to the sounds of the forest. There was the ever present sound of Grouse Creek. With the spring runoff, it sounded more like a full blown river than a creek. There were other sounds too; sounds of life in the woods. Jeff soon found himself falling fast asleep.

After many hours, Jeff later woke up with a start. He sat straight up rubbing his eyes.

'huh, what?' He thought he had heard something. Looking around, he could see Lenny still asleep up against the tree and could hear him snoring. He tried to remember the sound he heard - was he dreaming?

He got up and walked over to a bush to take a whiz. As he was finishing up, he heard a SNAP from behind him. Jeff whirled around.

Jeff turned around just in time to catch some movement in the dark forest about 30 feet away. It was too dark to see much of anything; he waited and listened. Nothing.

He cautiously returned to his rock - he would not be getting back to sleep anytime soon. He glanced at his new watch -- courtesy of one of the dead fishermen -- and noticed it was 4:57am.

'May as well stay up and wait for daylight' he thought to himself. He sat back down and faced the direction of the noise. After awhile his eyes adjusted a bit to the darkness and he could make out an animal standing where he saw movement - a deer!

'Spooked by Bambi' he chuckled to himself. He sat still for long time watching the deer; the longer he watched, the more clearly he could see the animal. He realized that daybreak was beginning and some dim light was slowly making its way into the forest. Soon the deer, who had been eating something on the ground, galloped off into the forest.

By now it was light enough to see fairly clearly - Jeff could see what the deer had been eating - it was a body on the ground!

'What the fuck' Jeff walked over to where the deer had been and looked down. It was one of the fishermen. Jeff bent down to examine the body closer. Yes it was one of the men they threw off the falls.

"A, what is this asshole doing here and B, what was the deer doing eating this!" he said aloud. He realized that deer liked salt and realized the animal was probably just licking it. The body was all bashed up as one might expect for having tumbled down the falls, but it did not look eaten.

Still, he could not explain how the body got there. The creek was at least 300 feet away. Futhermore, the creek was in a canyon. Could the fisherman have been still alive when they tossed him over the edge? If so, could he have possibly survived the tumble down the falls and made his way back here? Was he still alive?

Jeff felt the man's neck for a pulse several minutes. None. Jeff grabbed the body by the arms and began dragging it back towards the creek. In a few minutes, Jeff had the body at a ledge overlooking the creek. He lifted the body up and threw it down the embankment. He watched as the body tumbled and bounced down the embankment and then landed with a loud plop in the roaring creek.

He continued to watch for a few more moments as the body bobbed in the foamy current and quickly disappeared out of sight.

'That had better be the end of that' he thought to himself as he made his way back to their overnight spot. When he got back, he found Lenny stirring and getting up. He decided to keep his early morning encounter with the dead fisherman to himself.

"Good Morning Mr. Sunshine Lazy-Ass" Jeff said.

Lenny leaned to one side and ripped a huge fart in Jeff's general direction. "There's your lazy ass".

"Nice manners! Hey chop chop, we gotta get moving," Jeff said.

"Ok Ok, mind if I piss?" Lenny got up and wobbled his way toward a tree and took care of business. "I don't know why, but I slept like a rock on that rock" he remarked.

"Mmm .... might be because we haven't slept in days," Jeff reminded him.

The two men then resumed their journey down the mountain. They had already descended the worst part; now it was a relatively gradual descent down the mountain. Jeff and Lenny followed their own trail and kept the sound of the creek in range. Soon they could see the blue waters of Silver Lake ahead and they began to hurry.

The two men soon found the deer trail that followed alongside the lake. They took it and began heading back towards their 'camp'. After a bit, Jeff slowed down and stopped.

"Why’re you stopping?" asked Lenny.

"The boat - I think it's down here," Jeff pointed to the beach below them.

They made their way down to the beach and sure enough, the boat was right where they left it. It was here on this small beach that Jeff and Lenny overpowered the two fishermen and smashed rocks into their skulls. The boat was tied up and partway up on the beach.

"Let's see what's in that boat," Jeff said as he hopped into it. The first thing that caught his attention was a small cooler strapped to the side. He popped it open and grinned with delight. It was still cold and it had 2 wrapped sandwiches and 2 beers!

He tossed a sandwich to Lenny. "Here's breakfast….. lunch and probably dinner," Jeff said. Then he tossed Lenny a beer. "And here's something to wash it down with". Lenny accepted the gifts hungrily and ripped the sandwich open.

Jeff opened the other sandwich for himself and the other beer. Both men were very hungry; it had been a long time since their last meal and it didn't take long for them to devour the two sandwiches. It had been even longer since they had last drank beer and they enjoyed every drop of the canned beers.

"Holy cow that was the best damn ham and cheese sandwich I ever tasted," Lenny remarked as he licked his fingers. "Anything else in there?"

Jeff fished around in the partially melted ice for a bit. "Just a couple of sodie pops - we can save those for later", he said as he closed the lid. He then spotted a day pack sitting in the bow of the small boat. He opened it and fished around inside for a minute.

"A cell phone, a tackle box .. and wait.. here're some chips. Our lucky morning!" Jeff tore open the bag and they ravenously scarfed down the small bag of chips.

"I'm still hungry," complained Lenny.

Jeff examined the rest of the pack. "That's all there is so it'll have to hold you for awhile."

Jeff opened the side pocket of the pack and smiled again. "Hey check this out", he held up a piece of paper. "It's a campsite receipt." Jeff began reading from it. "Boulder Point Campground - Space number 8, and they paid for 5 days. It's dated May 15th. Hey .... what's today?"

Lenny thought for a minute, "May 15th was the day we broke out so today must be the 17th."

"That means there's still 3 days paid left on this campsite," Jeff said.

"So what are we are gonna do, go roast weenies around the campfire?" Lenny cracked.

"Maybe so!" said Jeff. "Think about it, there's gonna be food and supplies there. More importantly clothing."

"Oh yeah" Lenny said as he eyed his dirty scrubs. "So what're we waitin for?"

"Dark" said Jeff. "We'll hafta at least wait for sunset. We can't go to that campground looking like this." They were still wearing their prison scrubs - even though they were badly soiled by now, they still were recognizable prison clothing.

"Now help me get this boat up out of sight," Jeff said.

Lenny untied the boat and the two men lifted it and carried just into the trees where it could not be seen.

Jeff slept most of the day at their makeshift campsite up the hill from the beach, while Lenny played fisherman with one of the fishing poles he found in the boat.

As night finally approached, the two men moved the boat back into the water.

"So you know where this campground is?" Lenny asked.

"I think so," Jeff said as he pointed to a spot a few miles away on the other side of the lake. As dusk began to set in, they could spot a few campfires in the woods across the lake, a few miles away.

They both got in and Jeff pushed them out from the shore. He started the small outboard motor and steered them out into the lake. The trip was slow going and in the remote quiet of the valley, the small motor seemed exceptionally loud in the hushed serenity of the pristine lake.

By the time they arrived in the vicinity of the campground, it had grown almost completely dark. After trolling around for a bit, Jeff spotted the boat dock and headed toward it. He cut off the motor just before they arrived at the gravel dock and the boat slid gently up on it. The two men got out and lifted the boat, setting it down on a grassy area near the dock.

Jeff looked around. The parking lot at the boat dock was deserted expect for 2 trucks with empty boat trailers attached. He presumed one of those belonged to the fishermen. "Let's go find the campground," He said.

The adjacent campground was sparsely populated and the few people who were around were busy with dinner and end-of-day camp chores. No one seemed to pay any attention to the two grubby men that were wandering around the campground. After scouting the campground for a bit, Jeff and Lenny found campsite number 8.

They both stopped and looked at the dark campsite for a minute.

"I thought I saw someone back by the tent there," Lenny pointed. "You sure we got the right place?"

"Reasonably certain," Jeff said. "I don't see anyone; com'on lets go in for a closer look."

They walked into the campsite and looked around. There was a lone car; a toyota Celica parked by a dome-style tent. The picnic table had a few things on it; including a larger cooler.

"You see what's in that cooler and what else is on that table," Jeff said to Lenny. "I'll see what's in the tent."

Jeff walked up to the tent and said out loud, "Hello, anyone in there?". After hearing no reply, he unzipped the tent's door, opened it and went inside.

Inside the tent were two sleeping bags neatly rolled up. In each corner was a piece of soft-sided luggage. Jeff opened the first one; it was filled mostly with clothing. He pulled out a pair of sweat pants and held them up. 'This must've been the large guy's suitcase,' he thought.

"Hey Lenny, I found some pants for you," he called.

"Cool, I found us some more eats," was the reply.

"Hey, save some for me!" Jeff looked out and could see Lenny woofing down stuff from out of the cooler.

Jeff looked in the other suitcase and found a suitable set of clothes for himself. He tore off his prison shirt and put on a nice clean, plaid shirt. Then he wiggled out of his prison pants and replaced them with a fresh pair of jeans.

As he was finishing dressing, he heard a loud distinct 'thud' from outside. He turned around to look out the tent door -- Lenny was suddenly not to be seen at the picnic table. Jeff quickly got out of the tent and looked around.

"Lenny?" he called.

Suddenly, Jeff could hear the sound of something being dragged across the dirt. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness on the back edge of the campground, he could see Lenny being dragged into the woods.

"What the.." Jeff said taking only one step toward Lenny before a heavy blunt object struck him the back of the head and he blacked out.

Grouse Falls is a beautiful cataract style falls in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. It plunges 210 feet down a rugged path of large boulders and sheer drops. This particular evening, if you happened to look at just the right moment, you would see 2 bodies tumbling down the falls, bouncing violently off each of the sheared boulders that made up the falls path and eventually ending up bobbing in the churning pool at the base.

*************************************

Inspector Doug Hilbert looked at the four bodies laid out in a row on the beach. In particular, he was interested in two of them.

"Yep sheriff, that's them - Jeffrey MacDonnis and Leonard Daly. I have no idea who the other two are."

"The other two had ID on them - seems like they were just vacationing here" Sheriff Ron Harmon said.

"Well whoever killed MacDonnis and Daly did us a favor - those two were dangerous escaped convicts," the inspector said. "To be honest, their trail went cold until we got your call."

The sheriff handed the inspector a clipboard with a piece of paper to sign. "If you'll be so kind as to sign them over to the county, we'll get the bodies over to forensics for a full investigation."

Inspector Hilbert signed the paperwork and handed it back to Sheriff Harmon. He looked at the bodies one more time. "God, they're so bashed up. What do you suppose happened?"

"Dunno," answered the sheriff. "It's almost like someone tossed them over the falls - all four of them!"

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Sea Change

2006-08-31T14:17:00.000-07:00

Full fathom five thy father lies:
Of his bones are coral made:
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
(Shakespeare - The Tempest)

"Daddy wake up, time for me to go to school," 8 year-old Kelly shook Gary Preston's shoulder. Gary did not wake up, but Kelly's mom, Colleen, did.

"Good morning honey," she said with a yawn and a stretch. "I'm afraid it takes a bit more work than that to get Daddy up. Oh my, is the power still out?" Colleen sat up and glanced around the dark bedroom.

"I think so mommy" said the little girl.

Colleen looked at her watch: 7:35 A.M. "Let's go, honey, you'll be late for your bus". She got her robe on as they walked out into the dark house.

"Where's your brother?", asked Colleen.

"Chad left for school already." Kelly had lit some candles in the dining room and had already eaten a bowl of cereal.

"Ok. Oh, I see you had some breakfast, good girl," said Colleen. She went to the refrigerator, opened it and felt inside. "It's still pretty cool in here but this food won't last much longer".

"The milk was still OK. I had some juice too" said Kelly.

"Good! That's what mommy and daddy 'll have for breakfast too," said Colleen. "But first we need to get you to ready for school. Go get your school backpack and your jacket; I'll get dressed and meet you at the front door."

Colleen went back into the bedroom and quickly dressed. She wrapped a scarf around her hair instead of the brushing she didn't have time for, dawned a overcoat, and slipped into some sneakers. Gary was stirring and was presently waking up.

Kelly was ready to go and Colleen met her at the door. They walked out into the cool morning. The school bus stop was several houses down the suburban cul-de-sac; close but not close enough that Kelly could wait for the bus inside the warmth and comfort of her house, a point she often lamented on cold mornings such as this.

But this morning she said nothing as mom and daughter walked to the school bus stop.

At the bus stop, there was a small group already waiting. Two boys, brothers Tim and Jason Walker along with Shannon Carleton and her mom Jeannie.

"Good morning Colleen," Jeannie smiled. "How about this power outage?"

"Incredible! I've never seen a power outage where even the cell phones are out." said Colleen. "Any idea what's going on and how widespread it is?"

"No, and I wish I did" Jeannie replied. "I can't even get a dial tone on the regular phone".

The two women chatted it up and before long, 20 minutes had gone by and there was still no bus.

"I don't think that bus is coming mommy" Kelly said finally.

"I'm beginning to think you're right, honey" Colleen said. "Let's go back home and see if Dad's up yet. Maybe we can get him to drive us."

When Colleen and Kelly returned to the house, they saw Gary out in the back yard with his handheld GPS. They went around through the side gate to join him.

"No bus today?" He asked.

"Doesn't look like it. We thought maybe we would drive today", Colleen said.

"Maybe ...but check this out," Gary showed Colleen the GPS. "No signal. I've been trying for 15 minutes. I always get a signal in this spot even on a cloudy day. Today there's only some light clouds today. I wonder if anything at all is working."

"Jeannie said she couldn't get a dial tone," Colleen remarked. The Prestons had lived with just cell phones for so long they didn't even had a regular phone line. "The only things that seem to be working are the wrist watches," she added. She looked at her watch - now 8:15am. It was about 12 hours ago that the power had gone out.

Just then they heard the bus coming down the street.

Gary was standing in a position where he could see the school bus whiz by. Although, it passed through his field of vision rather quickly, it was enough to register that something was not quite right. Instead of children being on the bus, the bus was full of uniformed men! Colleen started to lead Kelly back out to the front to meet the bus.

"Just a second - don't go," Gary said.

"What's wrong?" Colleen asked.

Before Gary had a chance to answer, the pandemonium began. First there were loud male voices, shouting. That was followed by a woman screaming, probably Jeannie Carleton, then gunfire. Rapid fire, gunfire like that of Uzis.

"We need to hide -- quick out in the alley!" Gary motioned his family out. Behind their back yard was a large wooded greenbelt which Gary referred to as the 'alley'. At one time, a railroad line ran through this area, but now it was an overgrown median forming a boundary between neighborhoods and providing a play area for dogs and kids. For now, the heavy shrubbery would provide them cover.

They went out through a back gate and Gary closed it behind him. As the family crouched down in the bushes to hide, they could suddenly hear the sounds of plate glass breaking. Gary surmised that the invaders, whoever they were, were going house to house breaking the front windows. Or perhaps breaking into the houses through the front windows.

The breaking of glass windows all seemed to happen within a 60 second time frame as though it were coordinated. One seemed very close and could have easily been the Preston house. There were more muted shouts and more gunfire.

Gary pressed his finger to his lips as if to say 'keep very quiet'. Colleen and Kelly looked terrified, but they understood the danger nearby.

Just then they heard their back patio door slide open.

The hushed and cowering Prestons could hear the sounds of footsteps on their wooden deck; heavy and clogging, like those made by someone wearing boots. The footsteps were slow and deliberate. They could hear the perpetrator walking slowing down the wooden steps, descending into the yard. Once on the lawn, they could no longer hear him except for an occasional shuffle or throat clearing.

Soon there was another set of footsteps on the wooden deck and then low voices. It was two men talking, but neither Gary or Colleen could understand the language they were speaking. Gary tried to listen for inferences or clues as to what they were saying, but could catch nothing.

Gary heard the back door to the garage open and the voices then seemed to drift into the garage. After a minute, the Prestons could hear their front garage door open; apparently the invaders had found the automatic door opener switch.

Gary could now hear louder voices coming from out in the street and someone shouting; perhaps shouting orders. There was unidentifiable activity out in the street for what seemed like the longest time but no more glass breaking, gunfire, or screaming.

After what seemed like an eternity, the Prestons heard the school bus start up again. Gary listened as the backup beeper sounded and loud diesel engine bus roared down the street. He could hear it reach the end of the street and turn right onto the main road.

The Prestons waited for a minute or two but didn't hear anything else. Gary was the first to speak.

"I'm going to check to make sure they're really gone", he whispered.

"Oh honey, please be careful," Colleen was shaken up and Kelly began to whimper quietly.

"I'll be right back - don't move until I come back OK?" he said.

With that, Gary got up and cautiously eased out of his hiding place in the bushes.

Gary Preston's biggest fear (at the moment) was that the invaders had a left a silent sentry behind. He guardedly peered over the fence to check the back yard; there was no one within view. Gary opened the gate, went back through it, and closed it as quietly as he could.

The unwanted visitors had left all doors open, including the back door to the garage and the front main garage door. Gary could see straight through to the street, but could see no visible movement. He crept through the garage and peeked around the corner of the main garage door, looking in both directions. He could see no movement or anyone about, so he eased out into the open.

Once out in the open, he could see the cause of the glass breaking. The front picture window in every home on the suburban cul-de-sac had been completely broken out. It was evidently how they entered the homes so quickly.

In the middle of the street at the end of the cul-de-sac was a pile of bodies. It was a neatly stacked, layered pile of bodies which Gary recognized as his neighbors.

Gary walked up to the pile in the middle of the street and looked at them with sadness. There was blood running from the pile of bodies and he could see that each had been shot multiple times.

He wondered if they were actually all dead. He decided to take the time to test the pulse on all them; he felt he owed it to his neighbors. But all of them were dead; there were 13 bodies total.

Gary try to keep himself composed as he looked away and noticed yet another body lying on the lawn of the Peterson's house a few houses down. Looking closer he realized this was one of their soldiers.

'At least one of my neighbors was able to fight back,' he thought to himself.

Gary Preston tried to clear his head and think through everything that had happened in the past 12 hours or so. A power outage that also included cell phones, land phones, and nearly every other communications device. Then a school bus full of soldiers. The dead soldier on the lawn looked to be Arab and Gary realized this was likely a terrorist act. How widespread it was, he could only imagine. But if they were able to sweep though this street so fast, it's likely that is was well planned and widespread. One hell of a Jihad.

He also realized that the pile of dead neighbors were all adults; there were no children. Certainly there had been children at the school bus stop and in their homes. What happened to them?

He thought about the video war games he had played with his son, Chad, over the years. There were war games where entire countries were taken over by relatively few people with just a few key strategic strikes. How many school buses or transport vehicles were stolen for this heinous act he could only wonder.

He checked his watch and was surprised so see that only about 25 minutes had elapsed since they had first ducked for cover. He looked at the bodies and wondered why they had bothered to stack them so neatly. Then something occured to Gary.

He realized that someone would probably come back to take care of them - perhaps to burn them. The middle of the street would be suitable for a cremation. With the thought that the terrorists would be back - perhaps even soon - he went back to his house to get his wife and daughter out of hiding.

"It's all clear" Gary said as he opened the back gate. "You can come out now.

Colleen and a weeping Kelly crawled out of the bushes. "Daddy, what's going on?" Kelly asked.

"I'm not sure sweetie, but you were a very good brave girl to be so quiet" he said as he knelt down and hugged his daughter.

"We're not safe here," Gary stood up and said after a moment. "Colleen, can you and Kelly go into the house and get all the non-perishable food you can find? Oh and get a change of clothes for all us too. Just bag them up. I'm going to get our camping gear down."

"Where will we go? Camping out?" Colleen asked.

"I guess you could say that. I don't think we should try to use the roads; we'll have to use the alley and trails as much as possible," Gary replied.

"What about Chad?" Colleen suddendly thought about her son.

"We can follow the alley; it runs along the back of the high school. We'll look for Chad there. Beyond that, well ... I haven't got that far yet." Gary replied.

Colleen and Kelly went into the house, while Gary went into the garage. The garage had a loft storage area where their camping equipment was kept. He got up on the ladder and after a few minutes, had two backpacks, three sleeping bags, a tent and some other camping gear ready to go.

Shortly afterward, Colleen and Kelly came back out of the house with several bags of food items and clothing. Gary and Colleen began packing everything into their two backpacks and some of it into Kelly's day pack.

"We might need these," Colleen handed Gary the guns.

Gary took the 2 twin Glocks, looked them over, slid one in his vest pocket and handed the other back to Colleen. "You still remember how to use that?" He asked.

"I think so," answered Colleen.

Before Kelly was born, Gary and Colleen frequented the pistol range and had become something of 'sharp-shooters'. But since then, their interest in the weapons had waned and Gary couldn't even remember the last time they'd been to the range.

"They might come in handy, but only in defense. I think those soldiers had assault weapons," Gary remarked. "We'd better get going".

They all put on their backpacks and headed back out into the alley. It was April and the days were beginning to feel warmer. Much of the foliage had turned green so there was more cover in the alley then there would have been just weeks before. In fact it would be a beautiful day were not for the events of the morning.

There was something of a trail in the alley that had been created by people doing just what the Prestons were doing now - going for a walk. The high school was about one-half mile from the house going by way of the alley. Gary knew this because he had walked it several times but had not been much further than the high school.

Not much was said as the family walked along toward the high school. Gary could see the worried look on Colleen's face - she was thinking about her son just as he was. At 17, Chad was beginning to act more and more like a man, but he was still their boy and Gary prayed that somehow Chad had escaped this terrorist act.

Just as they were about to reach the high school area, they saw someone moving several hundred feet head.

It was Chad! Never had two parents been so relieved to see their son as Gary and Colleen were right now. He waved and they rushed forward to meet him. Soon there was a happy family reunion with a 4-way group hug. Not much was said for a minute or two, but finally Chad spoke up.

"Wow, I am ever glad to see you're all OK!", he said. "How did you escape?"

"We ducked for cover in the alley when they attacked," Gary said. "We really didn't see much except the aftermath. What happened at the school?"

"Well I was in back of the tennis courts with Alyssa and we were smoking..."

"Chad!" said Colleen.

"Sorry mom, but in this particular case, smoking might've actually saved a life. We heard some shooting and we first thought maybe some kid was going off the deep end. So we ducked out in the shrubbery. Just a bit later the field was swarming with soldiers of some kind. We stayed hidden."

Colleen decided this was not a good time to lecture her son about the dangers of smoking, so she let it go, but asked, "what about Alyssa? Where is she?" Alyssa was Chad's girlfriend; they had been dating the entire school year.

"Lyssa's made her way to the military camp," Chad said. "I told her to get out of here ASAP. I said I'd stay and see about all you and then join her."

"That's great Chad, but what 'military camp' are you talking about?" Gary asked.

"It's our military. They've set up an encampment north of town - a refuge I guess you would call it," Chad answered. "It's about 10 miles from here and we can take the back trails. I know right where it is."

"How did you find out all this?" Colleen asked.

"Zack. His dad was called out last night by the Guard and Zack came down and explained a bit of what's going on."

"You mind sharing some of that with us?" Gary asked.

"Sure dad, but let's not stand here, let's get going," Chad looked around nervously. "We can talk along the way. I'll lead."

"Sounds sensible to me, let's go!" Gary said.

With that, the family followed Chad's lead up the trail back towards the high school.

The trail took the Preston family around the back of the high school and it was a grim sight. There were four neatly stacked piles of bodies lying on the football field, each containing a dozen or so bodies.

"Oh how horrible!" said Colleen, as she tried to shield Kelly's view of the scene.

"Why did they stack the bodies like that?" Kelly asked nonchalantly.

"I'm not sure" replied Gary relieved that his daughter was not upset with the grizzly scene. "But it's the same thing they did to our neighbors. They stacked the bodies in the street. I figure maybe they're coming back to take care of the bodies."

"Oh let's do hurry out of here!", Colleen beckoned them to hurry along the trail.

Chad apparently had no interest in seeing any more of the school yard; he was already well ahead of them. The 3 of them rushed to catch up with him.

When they were once again together well past the high school, Gary said "Ok Chad, what do you know about all this?"

"Well Zack's dad is in the National Guard," Chad began. "The military came to pick up Zack's whole family last night shortly after everything went out. They took them to this military camp we're headed to. According to Zack, terrorists did something to cripple all our systems. Then after all the systems were down, the terrorists that were living among us just took it from there. I'm not real clear on the details - maybe we can find out more when we get to the camp."

"Do they know how widespread this is?" Gary asked.

"Zack indicted it's pretty widespread - possibly the whole country," answered Chad.

The family was quiet for a moment as they tried to comprehend this.

"When did you see Zack?" Colleen asked.

"He came down this morning after they attacked the school. He said he tried to get here sooner but couldn't. He gave me this map," Chad produced a piece of paper from his pocket. On it was crude hand-drawn map of the immediate area showing where the military camp was located. "Here, you keep this dad" he said.

"Ok Chad," Gary took the map and studied it for a moment. "10 miles can be a lot of ground to cover and we'd better keep moving if we want to make it by night-fall. Chad go ahead and lead the way."

With that, the Preston family was on the move through the dense tree cover with Chad out in front.

The Prestons plodded along through the wooded area until about noon. The trail had given out earlier and now they were traveling by compass through heavy foliage. The compass was working sporadically at least. Chad was traveling so far ahead of the group that they had lost track of him.

"Where's Chad?" asked Colleen.

"He was walking too fast for us," remarked Gary. "He's probably already there".

"Yeah he probably can't wait to get to his little hottie Alyssa," Kelly giggled.

"Hottie? Where did you get that word?" said Colleen. "Oh never mind, let's keep walking"

"Good thing Chad left me the map," Gary remarked. "Hope he knows his way".

"How far do you think we've come?" Colleen asked.

"I think we might be about one third the way there - possibly further," Gary said.

Just ahead they noticed a clearing. They were glad to reach it, because the steady trudging through foliage was tiresome and they looked forward to an easier walk. Gary, who was leading the way, stopped the edge of the woods.

Opened up before them was the large pasture area they had seen many times before, but never like this. About a mile away was the interstate. Instead of the drone of vehicles speeding up and down it, there was just an eerie silence. There were no vehicles on the interstate except for a few abandoned ones along the side.

Gary took out the map and looked at it for a minute. "We need to go in the same general direction of the interstate for at least the next few miles," he said. "We may as well use it to walk on."

"Do you think that's safe?" Colleen asked.

Gary thought for a minute and said, "There's a frontage road over there. We can walk along that for now. It has cover we can duck into if we need to".

With that, the 3 Prestons headed toward the road.

The Prestons found their way to the frontage road and took it as a path. It was strange to be walking right beside Interstate 5 and having no traffic going by on it. There was no traffic anywhere in sight. On the other side was an orchard of some kind. Looking closer, Gary noticed it was an apple orchard.

They had not gone very far when Gary stopped suddenly.

"What's the matter?" Colleen asked.

Then they all heard it. The sound of an engine, a diesel powered vehicle of some kind.

"Quick, let's try to make it to those trees," Gary pointed ahead.

But just as he said that, a large military transport vehicle pulled out of the orchard and onto the frontage road just 100 feet behind them. The apple trees had muffled the noise of the approaching vehicle until it was too late. For a moment, the Prestons were terrified and frozen by the realization that they had nowhere to run.

Gary was contemplating reaching for his gun, when the transport vehicle stopped about 30 feet from them. Out of the vehicle driver compartment, two U.S. soldiers climbed down.

"Hey, you need a ride to the camp?" one of them asked.

Gary and Colleen breathed a huge sigh of relief that this was U.S. Military.

"Yes, please" Gary called back as the Prestons hurried toward the camouflaged vehicle.

"I'm Sergeant Miles," the one who had called out introduced himself. "Here, let me help you up."

He lifted off one of the gates of the transport vehicle and lifted Kelly onboard. It was quite high and Colleen needed a boost from the Sergeant. Gary was able to hoist himself up into the back of the truck.

When they were all onboard Sergeant Miles said, "just hold on to the rope handles on the side. We don't have that far to go".

He replaced the truck gate and the Prestons sat down on the hard surface of the truck bed. They were not the only refugees in the truck. Another group - two adults and 3 children - was situated in the back of the truck. They said nothing.

Gary realized he wanted to ask the Sergeant some questions, but both soldiers had already taken their place inside the truck's cab.

Gary looked at the family in the back as the truck took off again. Their faces and clothes were dirty and they looked like they had been lying in dirt. Gary looked at Colleen and Kelly, then his own clothing and realized that the Prestons probably didn't look much better.

The military transport vehicle churned and sputtered its way along the frontage road a bit further, then turned again. This time it turned onto a dusty dirt road which caused billowing clouds of dust to fly up from the rear wheels and into the cargo bed. The family in the back quickly placed clothing over their mouths and noses while the Prestons followed suite.

"I'm not sure this is any better than walking," Colleen said through her tee shirt that was pulled up over her lower face.

"I know," replied Gary as he coughed. "But at least it'll get us there faster"

"Gary, I'm worried. How're we going to find Chad? What if he's lost?", she asked.

Gary said, "I was thinking about that. I meant to ask those guys if they'd seen him, but didn't think of it in time."

Gary thought for a minute and said, "remember when Chad was about 10 and we went camping? We were hiking and he got ahead of us? We were so afraid he was lost and he was there waiting at camp when we arrived."

Colleen smiled and said, "Yeah, I remember him saying 'what took you guys so long'. He always goes at a pace faster than most people."

"I'm sure he's there waiting for us. We'll look for him as soon as we get there," Gary said.

The truck was now on a logging road with heavy forestation on either side. The road was barely wide enough for the truck to pass through; bushes, branches, and foliage brushed against the side as they rode along, sometimes poking their way through the trucks side gates.

Finally the truck swung into an open area and stopped. Gary and Colleen stood up and looked around. They had arrived at the survivor's camp.

The entire trip took no more than 20 minutes, but Kelly had fallen fast asleep. It took several shakes on the shoulder from Colleen to wake her up.

"Come on honey, wake up, we're here," Colleen repeated until finally sleepy Kelly woke up and stood up. Sergeant Miles was busy removing the side gates. Joining him was a female officer. After helping everyone down Sergeant Miles said, "They're all yours Captain" and saluted.

"Thanks Sergeant" she said and turned to the ragged group. "I'm Captain Barnes, but you can call me Lauren," she smiled and greeted everyone. She had a nice warm, friendly smile and it broke the ice immediately. She took the time to have everyone introduce themselves, even the children. From this the Prestons learned that the other group from the truck was the Garcia family - Manuel and Christina were the parents and the children were Michael, Vincent, and Kayla.

The camp itself was a makeshift affair of many tents, large and small. There were no permanent buildings that could be seen. There were military-style tents of various sizes and shapes. There was also a group of smaller camping-style tents set aside in a large group which appeared to be the guest area. Colleen and Gary could see many families milling around that part of the camp.

The camp was set in a clearing that looked as though it had been cleared very recently. Piles of freshly cut timber were neatly stacked on one edge of the compound. There were portable showers and toilets, both of which looking very inviting to the Prestons at the moment. After a bathroom break, the Prestons and Garcias followed Captain Barnes into one of the larger tents which she called the "Briefing Center". The group was instructed to leave their bags and packs at the door.

The Briefing Center was in a large frame-style tent with lots of screen windows. It was divided by flaps into several areas, one of which was a children's play area. A female soldier met them and took the children over into the play area.

"Come over here and I will explain what I can," Lauren said as she motioned them into another section of the tent. It was set up like a meeting room with a large conference table and a folding chairs all around. "Please have a seat. We've found this news to be upsetting to small children" she went on as she saw the concerned look on Colleen's face.

"I've already been separated from one my children today," Colleen said as she took out Chad's picture from her billfold. Have you seen my son by any chance?" she showed the picture to Lauren.

Lauren took the photo and studied it for a moment before handing it back. "I'm afraid I don't recognize him. But then I've seen a lot of people today and I was never very good at remembering faces"

"I'm not going to sugarcoat this for you," Lauren said as she looked around the table. She paused for a moment to make sure everyone was listening and then walked over to a make-shift flip chart.

"At approximatly 2100 hours yesterday the US, in fact most of North America sustained a nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse attack".

"I'll explain further" she said as she saw the frightened and confused looks on the Preston and Garcia faces. She opened the flip chart to expose a crude drawing of North America with a cone shape leading up to a bomb high above the continent.

"Electromagnetic Pulse or just EMP, is the result of a nuclear detonation high above the atmosphere," She pointed to the bomb. "It doesn't cause the direct destruction that nuclear weapons do when they're detonated on the ground. Instead the effect is an intensely fluctuating magnetic energy field which descends to the earth within a certain radius. The size of the radius depends on how high the detonation occurs. The effect is indirectly destructive.

"In this case, there were 3 simultaneous detonations. One above Utah, one above North Dakota and a third above Indiana. The effect of this type of energy field you've already seen. Integrated circuits are particularly vulnerable to it, which is why nearly every system you depended on - cellular service, television, phone service, power systems, and so on - failed simultaneously."

She paused to give her small audience time to digest her explanation. She had given this spiel dozens of times today and each time the reaction was pretty much the same. Terror and confusion. She couldn't blame them a bit and Lauren wished she had better news to go with this.

"This morning, beginning at approximately 0700 hours, there was a widespread ground attack which you were fortunate enough to survive," She continued. "The ground attack was a well coordinated attack conducted by terrorists who were living among us. As you probably know, they took over buses and other public ground transportation vehicles to carry out their attacks. These attacks occurred in nearly every city in North America."

Lauren stopped talking and waited for a moment. "I'm afraid that's about all the information I can give you at this time. Do you have any questions?"

No one said anything at first, but finally Gary spoke up. "Is the military going to counter-attack and if so, what's their strategy?"

"Well the answer to your first question is yes," Lauren answered. "As for the strategy, I'm afraid I can't discuss that."

"When can we return home?" Colleen asked.

"Right now, the only place we can look after your safety is here," Lauren answered. She had gotten this question dozens of times today. "Outside this base, we can't guarantee anything so we don't recommend leaving."

"Who's responsible for this?" Manuel Garcia asked.

"Information is pretty spotty right now and what little I have, I'm not at liberty to discuss," was the answer.

There were no more questions, so Lauren informed them they needed to get checked in. "Please follow me to the Check-in Center" she said as she walked out. The parents were reunited with their children and then left the tent to follow Lauren.

Gary and Colleen noticed their backpacks had been removed from the place where they had left them. But once they reached the Check-in Center a few tents away, they could see the packs had been moved there and were being gone through. The Check-in Center was a small open air tent with no sides and just two tables. Two soldiers were staffing the tables.

Check-in was a breeze for the Prestons. Once the Prestons produced their identification, Gary and Colleen were told they could go get settled. They were also allowed to keep their weapons even though Gary's license to carry was expired. They were given 3 government issued towels and instructed to set up their tent in the visitor camp. Check-in was not quite so simple for the Garcias who did not have adequate identification.

The Prestons left the Check-in Center and headed to the area designated at the Visitor Camp. The Camp was a sea of tents on a football field sized area. Most of the tents were issued by the military, but the Prestons had been encouraged to use their own as they were told the supply of military issued tents was running low.

Gary and Colleen picked out a spot on the edge of one row of tents. They made quick work of getting the tent set up; little was said as they worked. They were both still digesting the upsetting news they had just heard and were not certain how to talk about it in front of their little girl. When the last of the support poles was slipped into place and the dome shaped tent popped up into shape, Kelly crawled inside.

"Pew, it stinks in here," she remarked.

Gary couldn't remember the last time he had had the tent set up. It might have been last summer or it might have been the summer before. In either case, he knew it must be a bit musty from being stored in the garage attic all that time.

"Open all the window flaps to air it out, OK honey?" Gary said. "I'll put the rain-fly on later."

Kelly unzipped all the windows and rolled the flaps neatly up. The tent was just tall enough for her to stand up in the center, but Gary and Colleen had to crawl in. They put their packs and bags neatly in one corner of the end of the tent and got back out.

"I think we should go look for Chad," Colleen said.

"I agree completely," Gary answered. "Do we have any of that bottled water left?"

"It's almost all gone," Colleen said as she checked. "We might as well finish it and bring the bottle. Maybe we can fill it somewhere around here."

She took a swig and handed the bottle to Gary. He drank some and gave the bottle to Kelly to finish. Gary zipped the door of the tent up and the family left the visitor camp in search of Chad.

After wandering around for about 30 minutes, the Prestons discovered that the base was not very large at all - at least the part they had access to. A larger portion of the base was marked 'off limits'. They could see the off limits area was full of tanks and other armed vehicles with lots of armed military personnel hurrying around. They noticed that the people seemed to be a mix of Army and National Guard personnel.

Other than that, they covered everything there was to see on the entire base in a short time. They learned where the mess tent was and that two meals a day were served: 9am and 4pm.

They decided to walk through each of the rows of tents. All the tents were set close and it wasn't hard to peek inside each one. Colleen called Chad's name every so often as well.

"Oh look, there's Rena Boyd," Kelly said as she pointed. "She's in my class - can we go over and say hello?"

"Sure, let's go," said Colleen. "Maybe we'll learn something from them."

Colleen recognized Rena's mom Marsha from the Parent-Teacher group and they all chatted for a while. Marsha and Rena had been through a similarly harrowing experience and had escaped by hiding in their van. Marsha's husband Bruce had left for work before the attack happened but was missing.

Gary looked at his watch and realized it almost 4pm. "We should go see what this place offers to eat. I'm getting hungry."

"Would you two like to join us?" Colleen asked Marsha.

"No thank you," she said. "We have our own things"

With that, the Prestons said their goodbyes to Marsha and Rena and headed toward the Mess Tent.

The Mess Tent was a MASH-like setup with dozens of picnic tables arranged into 4 long rows. The Prestons waited in line and were served their meal on metal trays by a National Guard server. There weren't any choices: dinner consisted of stew, biscuits, and a serving of mixed vegetables. Portions were noticably tiny and the server told them apologetically to expect rationing.

"I'm glad we brought some of our own food," Colleen remarked as the family took their place at a table.

"This looks yucky," remarked Kelly.

"Sometimes you say that about my meals too, dear," chided Colleen. "Just eat - food may be hard to come by."

The family began to eat their meal. Gary finished his portion in a few minutes and began to look around. Suddenly he sat straight up, craning his neck.

"Do you see Chad somewhere?" Colleen asked hopefully.

"No, but I'm sure that's Bill Whittaker, Zack's dad, at that table third from the end," he pointed toward a group of Guard personnel.

"I think you're right," said Colleen as she looked.

"I'm going over and talking to him," Gary said, getting up. "Be right back."

Colleen and Kelly continued their meal. Colleen soon finished, but after several minutes Kelly was picking at her food and had barely eaten any of it.

"Honey you really don't have to finish that if you aren't hungry," Colleen said.

Kelly shoved her metal tray away and began to cry. "I wanna go home" she said as she whimpered softly.

Colleen said nothing. She hugged Kelly and held her to console her.

Gary finally returned to the table. He didn't bother to ask what was wrong with Kelly - he didn't have to. "Come on, let's get out of here," he said.

Colleen took their trays to the bus table and the family left the Mess Tent.

"I'm going off the base to look for Chad," Gary announced once they were outside.

"But it's going to be dark soon," said Colleen.

"I know, but I'm going to have some help," he said.

"What kind of help?" Colleen asked.

"Bill Whittaker." Gary said as soon as they were a safe distance from the Mess Tent. "Bill has patrol duty tonight and he's agreed to let me ride along and then drop me off near where we last saw Chad."

"And so you're going to just wander around in the dark looking for Chad?" Colleen looked concerned.

Gary grinned. "We have a plan. Bill is going to loan me a military grade assault rifle and a pair of night vision goggles."

"That's nice of him," Colleen said. "Isn't that kind of risky to lend equipment to civilians like us?"

"Bill has a personal stake in my finding Chad," Gary answered. "Zack is missing too."

"Didn't Chad say that Zack showed up at the school after the attack?" Colleen asked.

"Yes but he never returned," Gary said. "Bill has been looking for him ever since by volunteering for these rescue patrols. So I'll be looking for Zack too, but my main focus will be on finding Chad."

They reached the tent and stopped. Gary checked his watch.

"It's going to be a long night." he said. "I think I have some time for a few hours of good shut-eye."

"What time are you supposed to meet him?" Colleen asked.

"Nine PM or ... 2100 hours as they say in military time," Gary answered. "Will you wake me up about 8:30? Assuming I can get any sleep around here that is."

"Knowing you, you can sleep anywhere," Colleen smiled. "Of course, I will wake you around 8:30"

Gary got inside the tent and laid out his sleeping bag. Colleen grabbed a few things out of their packs and then zipped the tent shut.

"Um, how will you get back from this mission?" she said.

"Bill is on patrol duty tomorrow morning as well," Gary answered. "We'll establish a rendezvous point for the morning."

"Ok, well.. try to get some sleep," Colleen said reluctantly. She took Kelly and they left Gary alone to get some needed rest.

Colleen looked at her watch - it was 8:20pm. She was sitting in the tent with Gary snoring on one side and Kelly fast asleep on the other. She was putting the finishing touches on Gary's pack trying to think of everything he might need for the long night ahead. She was fumbling with the flashlight when Gary woke up suddenly.

"Wha.. What time is it?" he said as he sat up rubbing his eyes.

"Almost 8:30," she said. "I was getting ready to wake you up."

"We forgot fresh batteries," she said as she shined the dim light at the top of the tent. "I don't suppose you could score flashlight batteries while you're wandering about tonight?"

"I'll make a note of it," Gary said as he pretended to write on his hand. He got up and got out of the tent. Colleen followed him and dragged his pack out.

"I emptied your pack except for things you may need," she said. "Your raincoat, a jacket, some food, the first aid kit, spare socks, and a bottle of water. Can you think of anything else?"

"Not really - that should be enough." Gary said looking around. The visitors camp was pitch dark; only a few flashlights illuminated an occasional tent. Even the military area was poorly lit. He would have no trouble sneaking out to the rendezvous point.

After a long embrace and a tearful goodbye, Gary left for the 9 o'clock rendezvous point.

Minutes later, Gary was riding in the back seat of an open air Military Jeep along the road leading out from the base. Bill Whittaker was in the front passenger seat and a Private Gillis was driving. Gary was glad Colleen had packed his jacket; the early spring night air was crisp and in the open jeep it chilled him.

There was no talking allowed during their trip so Gary was left to play with the night vision goggles Bill had given him. He could look out and see life moving about in the woods as they drove along that he would not have ordinarily seen. Birds, Bats, small nocturnal mammals all showed up as they moved about in their nightly routine of existence. He tested the various settings and by the time the jeep reached its destination, he was proficient enough to feel comfortable with the device.

After driving for 30 minutes or so, the jeep pulled into a residential street not unlike the one the Prestons lived on and stopped at the end. The 2 guardsmen and Gary sat in the jeep for moment to make sure there was no danger about and then got out.

Bill Whittaker spread a map out on the hood of the jeep and pressed it flat.

"This is one area that I couldn't cover very well in the jeep", he said as he pointed to a drawn out area on the map. "A lot of it is in the Greenbelt so it needs to be covered on foot. See how much of it you can get covered tonight ok?"

Gary looked the map. Much of the assigned area he had already walked through once today. Now at night, it would be much different. "Looks pretty straightforward," he said. "Is this for me to take?"

"Yep, it's your copy," Bill said as he folded it neatly up with only the assigned area showing. "Now for the most important part," he said as took out the XM8 Assault Rifle.

Bill spent about 10 minutes explaining the weapon's features to Gary. When he was finished and he was certain Gary understood, he gave the weapon to Gary. Although it was lightweight, it was relatively bulky. Gary checked the safety and placed it on his shoulder securing the shoulder strap.

"How dangerous is it out here?" Gary asked as he looked around at the dark street.

"Well to be honest, I think the terrorists are running scared now," Bill replied. "There hasn't been any sightings of them since about noon. I think they've lost their surprise advantage and they're probably hiding out somewhere regrouping. That doesn't mean you shouldn't keep a sharp eye out."

Gary nodded. "Where and when do I meet you in the morning?" he asked.

"How about right here -- 0900 hours," replied Bill. "Be here a bit early and be ready to wait a bit if we're not here exactly at 9."

Bill shook Gary's hand and wished him luck. Then he returned to the jeep with Private Gillis. Gary watched as they started up, turned around, and drove away. The night was so eerily quiet and void of the normal everyday noises that he could hear the jeep long after it was out of sight.

He took a few moments to familiarize himself with the locale, noting the street name and finding it on the map. He would need to make certain he could get back to this spot in the morning. Then, with backpack and his shouldered weapon, he made his way slowly into the dark wooded area in back of the last house on the street.

It was a long night and the going was slow and deliberate for Gary. In the wooded areas, the night vision goggles turned out to be almost a hindrance. They didn't properly display low lying, inanimate objects like stumps, stones, and branches on the ground so he had to step very carefully to avoid stumbling. If he fell and hurt himself, he knew there would be no one to come get him.

Hour after hour he wandered. He wasn't even certain what he was looking for. He covered every square foot of the area where they had last seen Chad. But he had seen no one. He saw lots of nocturnal critters, several cats, and even the occasional dog wandering, looking longingly for its missing master.

But no people - - that is until now. Many hours into the night, he found himself on a hill overlooking the high school. Down on the field below, he could see a group a people moving about! He ducked behind a tree and stuck his head out to try and focus on them. They were too far away to pick up any detail in the goggles and if they were talking, he could not hear them up here.

He spotted a house nearby and moved toward it. He went in through the back gate and let himself in through the open back door. As with all the other houses he had visited this evening, it was deserted. He made his way upstairs and found a room with a bird's eye view of the schoolyard from its window.

He pulled up a recliner, settled down into it to watch the school yard. He could see the piles of bodies as dark mounds in the goggles. But he couldn't tell what the people down on the field were doing. They didn't appear to move except on occasion - as though they were standing around talking.

Perhaps the terrorists were using the school as a command center, Gary thought to himself. He regretted not having a way to reach the military. This would have to wait until he rendezvoused with Bill in the morning. In the meantime, he watched.. and wondered.

Gary woke up; it was daylight and the night vision device had turned itself off. He cursed himself for falling asleep. He yanked off the goggles and looked out the window. There was nothing in the schoolyard expect the grim piles of bodies. Whoever had been down there was gone now. Looking at his watch, he could see that it was 5:45 AM; just barely daybreak.

He jumped out of the recliner, and hurried out of the house heading down the hill for the schoolyard. Pausing on the edge of the schoolyard, he looked carefully and listened for a minute. Then he stepped onto the schoolyard.

He found Chad in the first pile of bodies he walked up to. He was lying with his girlfriend, Alyssa. Nearby, among the group of bodies was Bill's son Zack. Gary stared in disbelief for several minutes.

Then something behind him, a movement of some sort, made him turn around. But when he turned around, there was nothing there....or was there?

Reaching in his pack, he put the night vision goggles back on and adjusted them to daylight settings. Out on the field he could now see the 'group' he was watching earlier. One broke from the group and came toward Gary.

"I'm sorry Dad," Gary heard him say. "I love you. Tell mom and sis I love them. I can't ... can't stay... much longer".

A strange cold wind began to blow through the field. It was unlike any wind Gary had felt before. It swirled wildly and carried the group up, and whisked them away. Gary watched them as long as he could, until the night vision goggles filled with his tears and he could see no more.

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The Auction

2006-04-06T14:26:00.000-07:00

"Hi, I'm Sheriff Donnely," the plainclothes cop said as he smiled. He looked in her eyes as he introduced himself, but his eyes dropped to her chest for just a split second. It was just a quick 'boob-check', but she noticed.

She was well beyond being repelled by such ingrained male habits and always took them in stride. Smiling back, she said, "Good morning Sheriff, I'm Char Collins. Looks like I'm the only one here" as she looked around.

"Must be the rainy weather and the weekday," he answered. It was a Tuesday.

Just then, Don Chang the storage facility manager, came walking up, umbrella held above his head.

"Good morning, Char, good morning Sheriff", he said. "We have only one unit to auction off today. Please follow me," he said.

He led them through the labyrinth of the public storage units. Char had been to quite a few of these auctions before, but she couldn't remember a time when she was the only participant. She had even been to this particular public storage facility before; that's how Don Chang knew her. She liked this one in particular because some of the neighborhoods around the storage facility were upscale. She knew this gave her a better chance of scoring quality goods here than most places.

It seemed that today's auction was located at the far end of the storage facility. Just when Char felt they were about to reach end of the units, Dan stopped in front of one. "P-46," he said as he pointed.

Sheriff Donnely handed Dan a clipboard with some paperwork on it, which he signed without checking. Then the Sheriff drew out his industrial strength bolt cutter and snapped the lock on unit P-46. The padlock plopped to the ground with a thud and the Sheriff rolled open the sliding door to reveal the unit's contents.

"Bidding starts at $200 and you know the rules, right Char?," Dan asked.

"Unless the rules have changed, I can look from door edge but I can't go in, right?" she replied.

"Right!" said Dan as he motioned her forward.

Char stepped forward to the edge of the doorway to examine the contents of the storage unit. It was a larger unit; about 10 foot by 10 foot and was about 75% full. Most of the stuff was in boxes, which was a good sign. The worst ones, for her purposes, were the ones where people had their stuff stored in plastic garbage bags or just in piles. The best ones were the ones where people had their stuff in moving company boxes or plastic storage bins. This unit seemed to lean toward the better quality from what she could see.

There were neat stacks of cardboard boxes, most of them about the same size. Along one side, there was a stack of see-through large plastic bins which contained clothing of some sort. She took out her flashlight and shined it to get a better view of the clothing. It appeared to be women's wear and seemed to be of the summer clothing variety.

Char could also see a coffee table and what appeared to be computer desk, as well as some chairs that were stacked up along one wall. Having no competition today made her decision much easier than it usually was. The only real decision was whether or not to pay the opening bid of $200 since obviously no one could bid against her. After thinking a moment, Char felt confident she would have no trouble making her $200 back (and then some).

"200" she said.

"Going once, going going" Dan said as he dispensed with the usual routine of waiting for another bidder to chime in. "Sold!"

Char reached in her purse and counted the two hundred dollars out, then handed it to Dan. "I should have this one cleared out by the end of the day, Dan." she said.

"Great, I know I can count on you," Dan replied. "Here's a gate key to get you in and out. Just drop it in the office door slot when you're finished." The 'Key' was actually a card that was swiped in the gate device.

She took the key and placed it in her wallet. After that, they said their goodbyes as the Sheriff and Dan walked up to the front to take care of some paperwork.

Now Char was allowed to go into the unit and do as she pleased. She went in for a closer look at the some of the stacked boxes. Many of them seemed light, which indicated clothing. Depending on the condition of the clothing, this could be very profitable for her. After spending a few minutes in the unit reviewing the contents, she went to get her truck.

It took the better part of the day to get the storage unit cleared. By the time Char got the last load into her garage, it was 2 o'clock. One more hour and it would be time to meet her daughter Katlyn at the school bus stop. But she had time to get started. She knew the sooner she could get started, the sooner she could get the sellable items up for sale. It was important for her to make every hour count.

She had a procedure in place for these kinds of storage auction purchases. She would initially go through all the stuff and separate the items into two groups. One group would be items she thought she could sell. The second group were things she knew she wouldn't be able to sell and could be classified as 'junk'. She would take the items from the first group, photograph them, and place them up for sale on eBay. If they didn't sell, then they would be moved into the junk group. The items in the second group would be taken to the dump (or donated if they were of any use to anyone). Her objective was always to minimize the second group when she made these storage auction purchases.

Char looked at the stacks of stuff and decided to begin with the see-through plastic bins. These turned out to be summer clothes as she had suspected and could easily be sold. There were summer dresses, slacks, and quite a few tops in very good condition as well as some belts and women's shoes. It didn't take her very long to go through them.

Then she decided to attack the sealed cardboard boxes. She noticed upon closer inspection that each box was numbered with a black marker on one side. This showed that someone had taken the time to carefully organize this stuff and Char wondered why, after taking all that trouble, they could not pay their storage bill.

While she was thinking, her cell phone rang. She looked at the incoming number, but didn't recognize it.

"Hello?" Char said. There was no one there.

"Hello?" she said again and waited before hanging up.

"Hrrmph!" she said and went back to work.

The first box she opened was box #7. She knew immediately it would go in the trash. It was a small box full of what looked like cheap, broken toys. There was a doll with its head missing and there was a model flyer with a piece of the wing broken, among other older cheap children's toys. She closed it up and carried it out back to the junk pile to make more space for herself in the garage. Glancing at her watch, she realized it was time to go meet her daughter.

Char was cleaning up from dinner while Katlyn had taken over the dining table to do her homework. Char smiled at her daughter with pride at how seriously she was taking her homework even though she was only in the 2nd grade.

"Honey, I'm going to go back to work in the garage. Just call if you need me," said Char as she hung up the dishtowel. The dining room opened up into the garage in her house so she could easily keep an eye on her daughter while she worked. Although Katlyn had outgrown the stage of just running off somewhere without warning, Char still felt the need to be close to her only daughter.

Char went back into the garage intending to pick up where she left off when she noticed that Box #7 was still in front the others. She thought for a moment and then specifically remembered carrying it out back to the junk pile.

'Hmmm' she thought and smiled, 'Now, I wonder what little troll might have moved that box back in here?'.

Char again moved Box #7 back out into the rubbish pile and continued to work. Most boxes were mixed (unlike Box #7); they contained mostly good, sellable items with a few junk items to take out. By 8:30pm she was done separating everything. Fortunately, most of the items appeared to be sellable and relatively few had to go into the rubbish pile. Photographing all the sellable items however, would make for a full day tomorrow.

While Char was straightening up, her cell phone rang. It was the same number as earlier.

"Hello?" Char said. Once again, there was no one on the line and Char hung up again. This time she marked the number; she would call the number back and have a word with them if they called again.

She secured the garage and went back inside.

"Honey did you move a box from the junk pile into the garage?" Char asked Katlyn when she got back inside.

"No mommy, I dint" replied Katlyn.

"Now Katlyn honey, how did that box get back into the garage? Are you sure you didn't have something to do with that?" Char teased.

"No mommy, those new kids did it," Katlyn replied casually.

"New kids?" Char asked.

"New Kids moved box, then said went away", was Katlyn's reply.

Char thought for a minute. The street they lived on was relatively void of children. There were no children in the immediate area except for a couple of teenagers in one house and a baby in another. Sometimes Char wished there were kids closer to Katlyn's age for her to play with. Char knew that oftentimes Katlyn simply made up her own playmates.

"Ok, well the next time you see those 'new kids', please tell them not to move mommy's stuff around, OK?" said Char.

"Ok Mommy"

"Time for you to get ready for bed honey; go ahead and mommy will come tuck you in" said Char.

Char began securing the house when her phone rang. It was that number again. Instead of saying anything, she just pressed 'connect' and listened. At first, she thought there was nothing on the line but then she heard some very faint background noise. In the faint noise, she could almost hear what she thought were children's voices, but she wasn't certain.

She pressed 'end' and then 'connect' to dial the number. It rang several times before going to someone's voice mail. The greeting said "Hi, this is Karen, can't come to phone right now, but please leave a message, thanks!". Char contemplated leaving a message telling "Karen" to stop calling her, but decided against it and pressed 'end' again.

Char woke up early the next day which was always a good thing. Katlyn was not a morning girl and Char often had great difficulty getting her up, fed, dressed, and ready for school. Her 2nd year of school had not quite gotten her into a morning routine.

After the usual scurrying about, Char saw Katlyn off at the school bus. She went back and immediately went back to work in the garage. She knew she had to get this load cleared out because she had another storage auction that afternoon. Heaven knows where she would put the stuff if she won today's auction too!

She stopped short after she pulled the door open. The first thing that came to her attention was Box #7. It was back again - sitting conspicuously in front of everything else with the top flipped open.

"What the..." Char said out loud. Now she knew Katlyn could not have moved the box back in the garage this time. Katlyn was in the house the whole time between when Char moved the box last night and this morning. Unless the little girl was sleepwalking, someone else was playing games with the box. Now Char wondered about those 'new kids'.

She was about to pick up the box and move it again when she noticed the contents had been shifted around. The toys were still there, but there were newspaper clippings on top of the pile of toys. What caught her attention was the word "Missing".

There were newspaper articles from the Seattle Times, each one dealing with missing children. As she read through them, her heart began to ache. Each child was around Katlyn's age and had been missing for more than a year. She flipped though the articles. Each had a photo and the name of the child. She vaguely remembered a string of Amber Alerts from many months ago and wondered if these had anything to do with them. There was a total of 5 children mentioned in the articles.

Char heard a noise behind her and turned around.

*****************************

Char had sent Katlyn to her room to work on her homework. She could not have the child watch the news with her tonight. She watched in horror as the news played.

"A North Seattle woman today helped solve the case of 5 missing children who disappeared on the eastside last year. Tragically, it's the children's bodies that were found buried in shallow graves in at the home of Karen Whitmire of Bellevue. Ms. Whitmire is charged with 5 counts of 1st degree murder and is being held without bail pending her arraignment. Karen Whitmire ran a child sitting service from her home until last year, when her license was revoked. The prosecutor assigned to the case has already said the state will seek the death penalty for Ms. Whitmire."

Char watched as the news person interviewed the grief-stricken mother of the one of the children.

"I always hoped I would see Josh again", the woman said between her tears. "At least now I know... " the woman began sobbing.

Then the news switched to an interview with an investigator.

"Charleen Collins acquired Karen Whitmire's stuff in a storage auction and she helped us connect a box of toys with the murders. Thanks to Mrs. Collins, we were able to crack open this case which, to be honest, had become a cold case."

Char switched off the TV. It had really been the 5 kids that helped her make the connection. There was nothing more she could do.

As she began preparing dinner, Katlyn came out of her room.

"All finished mommy!" she declared. "Can I go out and play?"

"Sure honey, just stay around the back yard ok?" said Char.

"I will mommy, I wanna see those new kids again." Katlyn said.

Char smiled at her daughter and said "Honey, I think the new kids have found their way home. I don't think they'll be back."

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Roofscape

2006-03-16T14:32:00.000-08:00

Tiffany Shaeffer stepped back to check the picture hanging on the wall. It was perfect. 'Finally!', she thought as she set the hammer down.

Yesterday had been spent moving all her things from the house to her new apartment. Today had been spent unpacking, arranging, and organizing. But finally she was finished. Everything was put away, all the empty boxes broken down and taken out to the recycle bin, and all the pictures hung. But she was exhausted.

She went into the kitchen and opened a little individual bottle of wine that she had been saving for this occasion and poured it into a plastic drinking glass. She sat down in her recliner and looked out over her 'view'.

Roberta Peterson, the apartment manager, had said this apartment was difficult to rent because it had no view. She had told Tiffany that she kept it mainly for the leasing agents or maintenance staff to live in. The view was not what most people would call a 'panoramic view' - it looked out over the tops of the adjoining apartment complex which sat slightly lower down the hill. It was indeed a view, just not that great of a view.

But Tiffany was very grateful for the leasing agent job and the apartment that came along with it. With the job and only a token rent to pay, she might actually be able to put some money aside. For the time being, she was happy here.

Tiffany sat in her recliner and surveyed the rooftops in her view. She really could see nothing but rooftops. The adjoining apartment complex turned into another, and then another, and then more suburban sprawl, punctuated by an occasional oak or fir tree. The far horizon consisted of a ridge of suburban homes a few miles away.

It was growing dark and getting more difficult to see. Several buildings away, she noticed a black object clinging to one of the vents on the roof. It looked to be a garbage bag or wayward piece of clothing from the way it shifted around in the breeze. Other than that, the rooftops of the adjoining apartment complex were all exactly the same; the same semi-geometric pattern of chimneys, vents, and occasional satellite dishes facing south.

After a few minutes, she realized there wasn't much to see out there and turned her thoughts inward. She had never been really been on her own until now. After leaving home for college, she lived in college housing with 3 to 4 other girls - hardly living on her own. After college, her mother grew ill and required attention. Now that mother had passed away, Tiffany was really on her own.

Mother had grown to be quite the bitch in the last few years of her life. She continually threatened Tiffany. "I'm gonna get you for this!" mother would say, as though the cancer she had was somehow Tiffany's fault. Tiffany was relieved when mother finally died and now she was ready to move on. Her friend from college, Ashley, got her this job and now she could finally live her own life for a change.

Tiffany wrapped herself in her white fleece blanket and drifted off to sleep in her recliner, hoping for sweet dreams.

*****************************

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there for your first day," Ashley sat on the bar stool in Tiffany's living room. "Who trained you today?"

"It was Dana," answered Tiffany.

"Oh m' god, that woman is just not right," said Ashley. "What kinds of things did you two go over?"

"Well, we went over the basics, I guess", Tiffany said. "She told me some weird stuff though - like when it comes time to renew a lease, I'm always only supposed to give the tenant the required 15 days notice. That way they don't have time to give the 30 day notice to move."

"That's garbage" Ashley exclaimed. "That's Dana's way of doing things and in her mind, she probably thinks it makes her look good because there's less overall tenant turnover. I'll insist on taking up your training when I get back tomorrow. You and I can go over what she told you and we can steer you in the right direction."

"That sounds great to me... I really didn't like her, to tell you the truth."

"Dana's got some seniority on me, but I think I can get Roberta to let me train you." Ashley looked at her watch and got up. "Meanwhile, hubby's waiting, I'd better run."

Tiffany walked her friend to the door and they said their goodbyes. Ashley also lived in the complex, in another building and Tiffany took comfort in knowing she had a friend nearby.

She went back and stood by her sliding door and surveyed the roofscape with her arms folded. It looked just as before. She saw the black garbage bag -- or whatever it was -- again. It seemed that now it had blown closer to her building, but she wasn't sure. She stared out at the otherwise empty rooftops and realized how very tired she was.

She had not slept well on the recliner last night. She had had disturbing dreams about her mother. She could not quite remember them, but she knew they were disturbing. Tonight she would make sure to sleep in her real bed.

Tiffany went to the kitchen to make a light dinner and then it would be early to bed for her.

Tiffany woke up in the middle of the night with a scream and sat straight up in bed. Her mother again. This time she remembered exactly what was going on. In her dream, her mother was trying to strangle her. It seemed so real that she instantly reached for the light and flicked it on just to make sure her mother wasn't there - in the bedroom with her. She felt her neck and realized she was soaking wet. Then she noticed that her favorite white fleece blanket was also very wet.

Tiffany had never had trouble with night sweats before. It was odd because the room was just the right temperature -- not warm enough to make her sweat and not cold enough for condensation from her body warmth. She glanced at the clock - 4:06 AM.

'I may as well get up' she thought to herself as she lifted herself off the bed. She went into the kitchen to prepare some tea. Then she noticed it was raining outside and wondered if her bedroom roof had a leak. A quick trip back into the bedroom dismissed that idea.

As she heated up her tea, she wondered why she couldn't free herself from mother's memory. She knew she had been having bad dreams about her mother, but tonight she could remember it more clearly. Her mother, partially decomposed, was saying "if I can't live any longer, neither can you!". The she wrapped her boney cold hands around Tiffany's neck and began to squeeze. That's when she woke up.

She took her tea out to the living room and looked out the sliding glass door at the roofscape. It looked strange and foreboding in the dark. Some parts were illuminated by the streetlights but other details were lost in patterns of shadows and darkness. She could plainly see the bag of trash, even in the dark. It was still sitting there, flapping in wind.

The rain was falling steady on the roofscape, with an occasional gusts of wind blowing sheets of rain against her window.

*****************************

"Tiffany, I thought you said you were moving out of the house," Jim McClintock, the real estate agent was on the phone. "The house is still full of stuff!"

"Sorry Jim, I probably didn't make things very clear," Tiffany replied. "I only have a one-bedroom place and I took what I could. I'll have to do a yard sale or something for the rest of the stuff."

"When can you do that?" the realtor asked. "The sooner we can get that place cleared out, the sooner I can list it and start showing it. And course, the sooner I can start showing it, the sooner it will sell. You're not having second thoughts about selling the place, are you?"

"No! Not at all," Tiffany was quick to respond to that question. "I have Sundays and Mondays off; I can start working on sorting through the stuff then."

Jim was quiet for a moment. "Tiffany, I have a suggestion. I have two colleagues who'r in the business of taking care of exactly this kind of thing. Getting rid of a deceased person's stuff."

"That sounds interesting, what do they do with it?" Tiffany asked.

"It's kind of a consignment thing," Jim sensed he had stuck a nerve with her. "They go through the stuff. Whatever is shippable, they'll put up for auction on eBay. Whatever doesn't makes sense to ship, they'll hold an estate sale for. After those processes are done, whatever hasn't sold, they'll donate or discard. In all cases, they handle all the work and it usually takes only a couple of weeks from start to finish."

"Wow, that sounds great," Tiffany was getting excited about having someone else do the dirtywork of getting rid of all her mother's stuff. Then she wondered about the expense. "How much will I have to pay for this service?".

"In most cases -- nothing," Jim replied. "They have an established minimum amount they must make - it's usually a couple hundred dollars - and then they take a percentage of the proceeds after that minimum is met. To be honest, you won't make as much money as you would if you sold the stuff yourself, but at least you'd be offloading the work to someone else."

"Oh that sounds like just what I need," replied Tiffany. "How do I get in touch with these people?"

"I'll have them contact you," Jim said. "You can expect to hear from them in the next few days. Is there anything else today, Tiffany?"

"No thanks for your help, Jim." After they said their goodbyes, Tiffany pressed END on her cell phone, snapped it shut, and smiled.

Tiffany was relieved at how the conversation had turned out. While she certainly could use the money from the proceeds of selling her mother's stuff, she had been subconsciously dreading going back into that house and sorting through all the remaining stuff. It was well worth having someone else do that work for her.

She knew there would be money for her when the house sold - and the sooner it sold, the better. She was so very confident and decisive about cutting ties from her past -- and her mother -- during her waking hours. 'Why am I still so bothered by mother when I sleep?' she wondered.

She supposed that she was just adjusting to her new surroundings and her new life. She had had a good second day at work today. Ashley had taken over the training and Tiffany was able to relax and learn all the things she needed. Things seemed to be going well for her.

However, the past two nights of troubled sleep was continuing to weigh on her. She was still very tired. Tonight, she decided, she would try sleeping on the couch to see if that made any difference.

She had an early, light dinner and decided to go right to bed. She wrapped her favorite white fleece blanket around her and was ready to call it a night. Just as she was ready to lie down, she heard what sounded like faint knock on the door. Except it wasn't coming from the front door -- it was coming from the patio.

'Impossible' she thought. 'This apartment is four floors up - there can't be anyone out there'. Cautiously, she drew the blind open and peered out onto her patio. In the dim light, she could see that the black object she'd been seeing on the rooftops had made its way onto her patio.

'It must have bumped up against the sliding door' she said to herself. 'I'm going to get rid of that hideous looking thing once and for all'.

With that, she opened the sliding door and stepped out into the cold night.

*****************************

"Is everything as you found it, Mrs. Peterson?", Sergeant Nichols asked as Roberta Peterson let the policeman into Tiffany Shaeffer's apartment.

"Yes, except for one thing," replied Roberta. "The sliding door was wide open when I came in earlier. I closed it to keep the rain out."

The Sergeant wrote something down in his notebook. "And the last time you saw Ms. Shaeffer was when?"

"It was Wednesday, her second day of work," said Roberta. "I saw her last when I left for the day around 5:30pm. When she didn't show up for work or call in for the next two days in row, I thought I should come up and have a look. After that, I called the police because things just didn't look right in here."

"What kinds of things didn't look right, Mrs. Peterson?" asked the sergeant.

"Well, aside from the patio door begin wide open, her purse, keys and cell phone are all still here." Roberta pointed them out. "If she were planning to go somewhere, she should have taken those things, don't you think?"

The Sergeant appeared to be writing down what she was saying and said, "Do you mind if I have a good look around?"

"No, of course not -- take your time," replied Roberta. The cop wandered around the room looking at various things and writing things down in his notebook.

Roberta went and peered out the sliding glass door. She had never liked this apartment mainly because she disliked the view of the rooftops. 'It's just plain ugly', she thought to herself as she looked out over the roofscape. 'Why look at that - a black trash bag wrapped around some white piece of cloth on that roof over there! Don't people have anything better to do with their trash than throw it on the roof?'

Author's Note: Story inspired by Fritz Leiber - 'Smoke Ghost'

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Mistaken Identity

2006-02-28T14:41:00.000-08:00

Sam Reynolds unzipped his fly and whizzed in the grass outside his 5th wheel trailer. Those 2 beers went down pretty fast and he really hated to use the RV toilet. It was miserable to clean and plus, it was a such a beautiful night out that it felt good to do it just the way nature intended. The splashing sound of his pee hitting the freshly trimmed grass sounded unusually loud in the very quiet night.

'Boy it is ever quiet here' thought Sam as he zipped back up.

Just then he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Someone standing just out on the corner of his peripheral vision. Or was there? As soon as he turned to look, he saw nothing but the back of the 5th wheel. But he knew what he saw. One thing that his 'new lease on life' had taught him was to be alert at all times... even after two beers. He cautiously walked back toward the rear of rig.

He eased up to the rear of the RV and peaked around. There was a boy standing there staring right back at him a few feet away - a teenage boy of perhaps 15 or 16.

"What're you doing here?" Sam demanded.

The kid did not answer but ran around the other side of RV.

Sam followed him to the other side, but surprisingly he was gone. He walked around the 24 foot trailer a few times and even looked under it, but there was now no sign of the kid.

'What a fruity kid' Sam thought as he went back inside.

*****************************

The bowling team was hot tonight! Bill Kilgore's team StrikeForce4 (which included Sam) was kicking the bejesus out of their opponents. The opposing team, C-Ton, was wilting in the heat of battle and the onslaught of higher than usual scores by StrikeForce4.

Sam had the lead position and it was the 10th frame of the final game. He was working on a strike from the 9th and a quick glance at the scoreboard told him he could clinch the game for the team (and the thus the series) with two more.

He got up, lined up and approached, then set the ball down right next to the 2nd arrow where he had found great success - it curved right into the pocket and pulled a strike. There were cheers from the rest of the team - Bill, his wife Donna, and Carolyn O'Connor. He strutted back and winked at Carolyn as we waited for his ball to come back. He briefly looked up to the viewing area and froze for a minute.

It was that kid again. The kid he saw by the RV the other night was standing up there looking down at him. The gallery was sparsely populated with just a few people hanging around and he was standing in the background - just staring. 'Creepy kid' Sam thought as he picked up his ball again.

He threw again - another strike and another round of cheers. He cautiously looked back up at the gallery, but the kid had once again disappeared. The third ball got a 10 pin tap.

Carolyn's turn. Sam loved to watch Carolyn as she bowled - particularly the part when she bent over to release the ball. He'd been screwing her for the past few weeks and with a little luck he would be seeing more of that ass tonight. Up close and personal.

Carolyn rolled a spare and nine, then sat back down.

"Whatcha doing after league, Sam?" She asked. Sam just grinned and winked.

Donna and Bill finished up the win. Both teams started packing and made idle chit-chat as the crowd thinned out to go home.

*****************************

Later on that evening, after Carolyn and Sam had finished making love, she turned to Sam.

"I must be out of mind".

"Why do you say that hon?"

"Fucking the handsome stranger in town.... while my husband's away. Crazy".

"You're husband's away a lot. What makes you think he's not out fucking someone?" Sam said.

Carolyn sighed and turned away.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sound callous," Sam said.

Carolyn was quiet for a while and just said, "It's Ok, I just get kind of lonely sometimes".

"And you're way too beautiful and far too nice to be left alone like this all the time", Sam said hugging her, "You deserve love and if your husband can't give then I will"

She kissed him and said "You'd better go, Kevin will be home very early in the morning; I checked on his flight a bit earlier. He should come pulling in sometime around 4 am."

"Ok, well I sure know when it's time to leave," Sam smiled and kissed her again. He got up and gathered his clothes up while she laid in bed watching him.

"Mmmmm nice ass" said Carolyn.

"Why thank ye ma'm" grinned Sam as he put on his clothes.

He glanced around the room looking for anything he forgot when his eyes stopped on the pictures on top of the dresser. There was a group of pictures there which he'd seen before - one of Kevin and various other people presumably her family, friends, in-laws, etc. But there was one picture he hadn't noticed before. It was of Carolyn and a teenage kid who looked a lot like the kid who had been showing up the last couple of nights. It was a black and white photo and looked like it had been clipped out of a newspaper.

He moved in to get a closer look. "Who's the kid in that picture?" he asked.

"Oh, that's my kid brother, his name was Sam too." she answered

"Was?"

"Yeah, he died at age 15 about 4 years ago. Killed by a drunk driver."

Sam was quiet for a moment. "That's pretty sad about your kid brother. Did they catch the guy that did it?"

"Yeah, it was actually a she," said Carolyn. "the bitch only spent 3 years in jail for it."

He went back to the bed, kissed her and held her for a minute.

"Damn, are you sure you have to go?" she said.

Sam laughed. "No, but I think it's probably best".

"Ok, you know your way out by now handsome", she said as squeezed his arm. "I'll arm the alarm behind you."

With that, he smiled and walked to front door, letting himself out.

Out in the night, it was a typical Tucson evening. Refreshingly cool after a warm day, it was typical for May. Carolyn and her husband lived in a gated condominium complex called Desert Moon. Sam walked out among the fountains and palms, and let himself out of the front gate.

He spotted his Chevy truck and began heading toward it. As he reached for the door, once again the kid reappeared. Just out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the kid at the back of the pickup, staring at him.

This time, Sam pretended not to notice. He took his cell phone out of his shirt pocket, opened it and quickly turned to face the kid. Then with the kid in sight, he reached up and pressed the button to snap a photo. There was a quick flash from the camera. The kid was gone when Sam's eyes readjusted. He was certain the kid was standing there when he snapped the photo. 'That kid sure comes and goes awful fast' Sam thought.

He got in and started his truck and drove the short drive back to the RV park. Once inside the trailer, he fired up this laptop and waited. 'This should be interesting', he thought as he connected it to the computer. He intended to compare the kid to the photo on Carolyn's dresser.

But when the picture loaded from the camera, all Sam could say was, "Holy shit".

There was no kid in the picture -- not the slightest sign of him. Just a picture of the rear end of his truck and the car that had been parked behind him. Sam knew he had been looking right at the kid when he snapped the picture.

'That kid's a freakin ghost' he thought to himself. He looked at the picture again, then the phone. Finally, he pressed the button to shut down the phone.

But as though he hadn't had enough freaky surprises, the wallpaper had changed. His usual cell phone wallpaper has been replaced - by the a picture of the kid!

"Holy shit" he said again.

He turned the cell phone on and off a few times, and each time the kid showed up as the phone was shutting down. It appeared to be a picture of the kid as he would have been -- if he were in the frame Sam snapped!

He played with his cell phone for bit, locating the screen saver setting. The screen saver that was supposed to show when the phone shut down was of a sailboat. He tried resetting it and still the kid showed up as the phone shut down.

He struggled for long time with the idea that maybe there was a plausible explanation for the kid - that maybe something was wrong with his cell phone camera; that somehow it zapped the image of the kid and placed it into his closing wallpaper.

He wasn't savvy enough with cell phone cameras to know if any such explanation were indeed plausible but he decided to sleep on it. After all, it was late. Very late.

*****************************

A week went by, and there was no sign of the kid after that night. That was just as well for Sam -- the kid was definitely starting to spook him out anyway.

But oddly, he did not hear from Carolyn and of course, he could not call her. When the next bowling night rolled around, she was conspicuously missing. Replacing her was a very large woman named Victoria, who eclipsed the entire lane every time she bent over to release the ball. Carolyn she was not. Bill and Donna seemed not to notice.

In fact life became dull and predictable again. Which is more or less exactly how Sam preferred it. But he did miss Carolyn. In fact, he began to get a bit obsessive and felt he needed to see her.

When his next day off came up, he drove over to Desert Moon and parked in front of the condominium complex. He parked strategically so that he could see the door to Carolyn's unit through the gate. Here he sat - waiting to get a glimpse of Carolyn.

Several hours went by. There was various activity in the condo community, but no sign of Carolyn. Finally her door opened and out came Kevin. Sam recognized Kevin from the photos Carolyn had.

Kevin locked the door and headed to the parking garage. Starting up the truck, Sam decided he would follow him for a bit. He waited for the car to exit the garage and made sure it indeed was the car driven by Kevin.

Sam had learned a bit about tailing people from his 'experience' in an earlier life and he knew how to stay back a ways, but keep his target within sight. Kevin was driving a late model BMW and luckily for Sam he was a slow, cautious driver. Sam had no trouble staying with him.

Kevin drove a few blocks and turned into a residential neighborhood of what appeared to be very upscale homes. He stopped at a house at the end of a cul-de-sac and got out. Sam stopped and pulled off the road a few houses away.

Out of the house came a gorgeous blond woman of about 30. Kevin and the woman met in the driveway and embraced and kissed for a minute or so. They talked for a moment, then went inside.

"I knew it! Son of a bitch is cheating on Carolyn!" Sam said to himself out loud as he pulled away, turned around, and headed back to Desert Moon hoping to meet with Carolyn.

There he waited for another two hours, but there was no sign of Carolyn. Finally, he decided that she must be at work or away. He never really did find out much about her; he didn't know when, where, or if she worked or what her schedule was. He just knew that he enjoyed her company. It wasn't just the sex - that was great - but she was just Sam's idea of a perfect woman. 'And she's married', he thought. He drove back to his trailer home with an empty feeling.

*****************************

Later than night, there was a knock on his trailer door. This in itself was strange, considering that he never got any visitors. He opened it to see 5 cops with guns aimed at him.

"Robert Masterson, you're under arrest." said the one in plainclothes.

He laughed and said "You must be mistaken."

But he could see they were perfectly serious. He stopped laughing. He stepped down and they handcuffed him and read him his rights

There were a total of 3 squad cars and a plain cop car in the RV park and of course the entire RV park neighborhood came out to have a look. He was placed in the plain car along with the plainclothes cop in the back seat.

"I'm Detective Sterling", he said. "You know, the one you called and confessed to?"

"Beg your pardon, I called and confessed? I think you're mistaken" was Sam's reply as he turned away.

Detective Sterling took out his mobile phone and pressed a few buttons. A recording played from his voice mail and it started playing back a message that was Sam's voice.

"Hello, this is Robert Masterson. I'm calling to give myself up. I'm living under the name of Sam Reynolds at 14 Morningstar Drive, Space number 27. It's a 24 foot Fifth Wheel. You can come get me anytime".

"That was you, wasn't it?" Detective Sterling said as he switched the recording off. "We traced it back to your cell phone".

"Huh?"

"Comon' your real name is Robert Masterson. You stole the identity of Sam Reynolds who died some years ago. You're wanted in 3 states for grand larceny. This isn't any time to play games, Masterson."

"Here's the newspaper clip on the real Sam Reynolds." Detective Sterling opened a binder and showed Sam a newspaper photo. "This is the kid whose ID you borrowed .. shown here along with his older sister. They were both killed by a drunk driver about 4 years ago."

Sam looked at the newspaper clipping and felt sick. The picture was the same one he saw in Carolyn's bedroom - Carolyn and kid. "Th...that's his sister?"

"Yeah, too bad huh, she was a babe". The detective grinned.

Detective Sterling went on. "You know Masterson, you might've gotten away with it. We had no idea you were living in Tucson. The call to turn yourself in just handed us everything we needed. "

Robert Masterson was quiet now.

"Just curious, why did you call and confess? I just don't understand that."

Masterson did not answer immediately. He just glared at the cell phone; now in a zip lock bag marked Evidence.

"I don't quite understand either".

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Excavations

2006-02-10T15:52:00.000-08:00

Teri Gething settled back in her easy chair with a huge sigh. As she glanced out her window, the last of the construction workers drove away, leaving the tree branches along the earthen road dancing wildly in the sudden temporary wind.

"Finished – at last!" she said aloud to herself. She had begun to wonder if her plans would ever come to completion. The contractor had told her it would be completed no later than the end of May. Now late into August, she finally found herself sitting luxuriously in her leather easy chair in the living room of her very own mountain cabin - well, perhaps it was a bit more than a cabin. At 2400 square feet, it was more like her dream home - which was fine, since this was where she fully intended to live.

Her thoughts drifted suddenly back to her childhood friends in Maidstone, North Dakota - Joni and Sharon - how the three of them would sit around talking and fantasizing about their future dream homes, how they would be decorated, and whose would be the best. Everything had been planned to the most minute detail, including what their husbands would look like and what color schemes would be used in the dayrooms. Joni was to have a large flat in the upper Manhattan East Side and Sharon wanted an ocean front home in Malibu. But by contrast, Teri had wanted only a cabin in the mountains. She wondered what might have become of those girls as her thoughts reflected out into the deep green forest.

Dusk was beginning to descend on the small wooded valley. From her chair she could hear the murmuring of the creek that bordered her property which, along with the humming of the refrigerator, were all she could hear. Feeling a bit guilty, she knew that she should be in her office working rather than lounging in the recliner.

She closed her eyes trying to concentrate on the relaxing sound of the creek, but her mind kept returning to the things in her life that had to be dealt with. This had to work - she had to write again and it had to be sellable.

Five years earlier her novel 'Taylor's Way' rode the top of the New York Times best seller list for 12 weeks and made her an overnight sensation among readers of romance novels. Caught up the reverie of success, she did cable TV talk shows, bookstore autograph appearances, and even college lecture tours.

Having signed a five year, four novel contract, she had quickly found herself frantically struggling to match or even come close to the success of ‘Taylor's Way’ but her subsequent attempts at writing novels were dismal failures.

Following 'Taylor's Way' was, 'Strawberry Rain', a complete flop. After only three weeks on the bookstore shelves, it was discontinued by her publisher. The kindest words any of the literature critics had to say about the book was ".. a marginally entertaining story line" (that coming from Denis Wilcox-Stone, a man whom she was sleeping with at the time).

Success with all its embellishments vanished suddenly as though it had been just a pleasant dream fading in the morning light; a dream that left the awakened one desperately trying go back to sleep in hopes of returning. Friends vanished as quickly as they had arrived and her publisher began to put pressure on her to produce another "Taylor's Way".

Her third novel did only slightly better than the second. Soon the only thing left of her short lived success were her newly developed alcohol and cocaine habits. Living in New York did not help her either. Like a huge parasite, New York was a drain on all positive resources for a less than stellar performer.

Now her contract with Desmond Publishing was due to expire in April and her bank account had nearly dissolved. After using most of her remaining money to finance and furnish the new home, she was nearly broke. She was lucky to have found the editor's job with the local community newspaper in nearby Miller Falls. It was little more than a small-town weekly newsletter and paid a small pittance, but she was grateful for it nonetheless.

Building the 'cabin' was a calculated risk. She knew that she could not last much longer in New York City; that her creativity was stifled there. She was literally banking everything she owned that the cabin would provide her the peace and tranquillity she needed to write successfully again.

"Taylor's Way" had been written in a quiet house on the coast of Virginia and now, here in the deep woods of the Pacific Northwest, she hoped she could gain back the resourcefulness that had been lost.

She had moved to Seattle in January, not able to bear another New York City winter, and purchased the property in the North Cascades of Washington State for her home. She designed the house herself and oversaw each detail as though it were her own child being brought up.

And now, as she prepared to spend her first night in her new residence, she knew that somehow she could make things happen again. As she listened to the creek, she began to hear small details of it's meanderings. Occasionally a rock would tumble under the pressure of the rushing current and make a 'clunk' sound. She could even hear bushes rustling as the nocturnal creatures of the forest habitat began to make their way out of their burrows, dens and tree homes, anxiously starting their nightly routine of existence.

She drifted off to sleep thinking about Maidstone again, swimming in the Souris River during the summers of her youth - how she loved to spend the hot days there! How once Frank Davis and Derek Phelps caught her and Joni skinny-dipping, how they had watched her from behind the rocks and how they had....

She awoke quickly, startled by a sudden loud thump. The noise she just heard.... She rubbed her eyes and looked at her watch - 9:32pm. Outside it was pitch dark; a darkness that she was not used to seeing. Here, there were no streetlights or headlights, and at the moment, no lights on in her cabin - only the eerie blue glow emitting from the Mac PowerBook’s screensaver in her office.

A night chill had settled in the small valley and had found it's way into her house. She got up to close the patio door and paused to look out into the blackness. Suddenly, she felt frightened, a feeling that she had not bargained for. She drew the blinds and turned on some lights. 'This is ridiculous' she thought, 'a grown woman afraid of the dark'. But the fear was real alright and she could not shake it. She went into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine.

The last few weeks had been very difficult for her; driving back and forth from Seattle to oversee the final details of the house and moving all her belongings. She knew she had been under a lot of stress. She went into her office with her glass and sat down at the computer hoping to write something. She began by brainstorming words, ideas and sentences on-screen, continuing with the chapter she had been working on.

Thump!

The noise again - this time she heard it loud and clear. It vibrated the house just slightly and was definitely not coming from the creek or the woods. The fear that had begun to subside, returned immediately in full force. She got up and walked reluctantly to the kitchen window. She thought that the sound came from underneath the house and from that window she could see the door leading down into the basement. Standing on her tip-toes and flicking on the outside light, she could see that the door was indeed ajar.

"Get a grip, Teri" she told herself aloud. "It can't be him!". She took a few deep breaths and tried to think for a minute. The worker had probably just left it open and the door was banging in the breeze. She breathed a sigh of relief after having come up with that explanation, but once again her relief was short lived.

Thump!

This time she heard it even more clearly. It sounded like something hitting concrete and it was coming from the basement, directly below the living room. The only access to the basement was from the outside and through the door under the kitchen. "No Way!" she said to herself as her brave alter-ego tried to convince her to go outside and down into the basement to investigate the noise.

'There is absolutely no way I am going down there, no way at all'. Teri Gething, the tomboy in Maidstone would have done it -no problem. But Teri the woman, the victim of a rapist who had beaten and badly abused her, had somehow lost that sense of childish adventure and was not about to descend those stairs until daylight -and even then not without trepidation.

She went upstairs to the bedroom and took her Smith/Wesson 38 revolver out of the drawer and sitting on the bed, began to cry. She had not anticipated this darkness, this fear invading her new home. The house was supposed to be a sanctuary and not a place to make her feel the way she felt right now - terrified.

Could Travis Spencer have possibly found her all the way up here? She sat on the bed wondering for a moment and dismissed the idea. He was safely behind bars for at least 5 more years - 10 if the parole board was strict.

In the meantime, all the lights would stay on downstairs and she would stay in here, in the bedroom. She decided that she would lie down and try to go to sleep, something that seemed quite a tall order at the moment.

Several minutes went by and no more strange-noises-from-under-the-house. She decided to pick up a book she had been reading by J.A. Jance, and soon, much to her relief, found herself drifting off to sleep once again.

She awoke the next day, quite late and feeling amazingly refreshed. At least it seemed quite late but the house was so bright and cheery in the daytime that it was fully lit up by whatever outside light existed. The cathedral ceilings in the living room with the tall windows took full advantage of the morning light and she was surprised to see that it was only 6:45am.

As she rose and began fixing her coffee, she wondered how she had been able to sleep so well after hearing the upsetting noises coming from under her house. She decided that she must be getting better; that she just had a few bad moments.

Although she felt stronger with the daylight, she was not looking forward to the trip down into that basement. However, she knew she had to get it over with. She put on a bathrobe and slippers, grabbed her pistol, and walked out the back door.

The morning was crisp but not cold and the sun was pouring down through the pine-scented air, casting prismatic reflections off the stream, making it seem like nothing was wrong or ever had been. As she descended the stairs to the basement, she saw two squirrels playing and roughhousing around her patio and wished life could be that simple for her.

She stopped short of the door and gasped aloud. The basement door was shut tight. She knew, or at least thought she knew, that she had seen it ajar last evening from the kitchen window. Keeping her pistol in firing position, she eased open the basement door and walked in.

Everything looked and smelled like a brand new basement from a brand new house. It was one large empty room with bare concrete flooring. No monster jumped out and attacked her, but one thing was oddly out of place.

Near the middle of the floor, sat a block of concrete next to a rectangular hole that appeared to be the exact size of the block. Walking cautiously over to it, and peering into the opening, it looked as though the block had been cleanly cut and lifted from the concrete flooring. All she could see in the hole was earth, but it was not packed, it looked to be freshly dug.

She could think of no reason why a block would be cut out of the floor and she tried to remember if it had been there when she last was in the basement. The last time she was here, it was full of the contractor's tools and equipment. In any case, she intended to call the contractor immediately and find out if he knew anything about it. The noises she had heard last night.. certainly no one would have been cutting out a chunk of concrete from her foundation at night?

She paused and a chill swept down her spine for no reason at all. She suddenly felt as many of the characters in her novels felt at times - distinctively as though she were being watched.

She swung around and looked toward the door, just in time to catch a glimpse of something moving near the ground. Just a blink of the eye caused her to miss out on any specific detail other than that it was either a small creature or.... a foot. Once again, raising her gun to firing position, she headed back to the half open door. She twisted through the opening and pointed her gun out in front of her only to find that nothing was there. Out in the side yard the two furry squirrels continued to play.

'Oh great Teri, you're freaking out because a squirrel tried to sneak up on you'. She chuckled at herself, laughing for the first time in at least 24 hours. She put her gun down, closed the basement door, and headed up the stairs to start the day.

*****************************

"Houses make noises, you just heard the house settling", Clemens Barnes blew cigar smoke discreetly from the side of his mouth, as though exhaling in that manner were going to spare her the foulness of the cigar in the closed room.

"Old houses make noise, newly built homes aren't supposed to do that" Teri replied.

Clem chuckled. "You've been living in big city apartments and condos too long, Teri. All houses settle, no matter what their age, newer houses 'specially, since they haven't yet become comfortable with their foundations. Remember, it's a lot quieter out here than you're used to and you'll hear every little thing."

She could not argue there, "Boy is it ever quiet! The MAC is making more noise than ever! How do my layouts look?"

"They look great, Ter, I really think you can handle this job on your own from here on out. Would you mind if I didn't help you next week? I'd really like to go fishing."

"Clem, you're retiring. You can stop helping anytime you want. I would like to think I could call on you though. You know these parts and the folks that live here a lot better than anyone."

"Hon, anytime you need anything at all, you just call ol' Clem. And I'll come runnin' no matter what time it is. I have to admit, I worry about you, a pretty young woman living all the way out in these parts by herself."

"I can take care of myself, Clem, thanks. If I survived 5 years in New York City, I can survive this place."

"Well, you got a point there! I better be gettin along, let you get finished"

"OK, Clem, and thanks again for everything, but I will be right behind you, I'll take the rest of the work home."

Clem packed up his few personal things, which amounted to just four bowling trophies and a plaque, and they left the County Hall together.

"Can I give you a lift home, Clem?" she offered.

"No thanks hon, I need the exercise." With that, he patted his belly and hobbled off toward his house which was just a small town block from the County Seat Building.

She watched him for a minute and thought about his offer to come help her if she encountered trouble. She just might take him up on that if she started hearing that noise from the basement again. She wondered if he could really be of any help to her, at the age of 67 with a bad leg, but it was nice to know that she had at least one person around who cared about her. She had only known him for a month, but they had become instant friends. ‘As soon as I'm settled’, she thought ‘I must have him over for dinner’.

Driving back to the cabin from Miller Falls, she started to question again that moving to this place was the right thing to do. Now she began to think that "TeriCrest" as she had christened it, might perhaps be a little too remote. Eight miles from Miller Falls and 3 of those miles were on a bumpy dirt road. She tried to brush those thoughts out of her mind but the truth was, she was a long way from anyone or anything. The nearest town of any size was Bennett, about 15 miles from Miller Falls.

As she drove her Cherokee along the dirt road, she waved to her closest neighbors, the Duvalls. Like most of the 20 or so residents who owned homes along her road, they were only summer residents. She wondered what she would feel like when Autumn arrived and her summer neighbors departed.

All those thoughts were swept away immediately as she pulled into her driveway. She nearly screeched to a halt as she saw the basement door along the side of the house - it was ajar again!

She sat fear-frozen in the Jeep for a moment trying to decide whether to get out, stay or drive back to town. If she drove back, she risked making a fool of herself, if she got out and went back to the basement...no. ..She started the engine again and threw the Cherokee into reverse.

She drove back out the dirt road and swung quickly into the Duvall's place; Madelaine and Mike were on the front porch sipping drinks, enjoying the afternoon. Unlike Teri's place, the Duvall residence was a real mountain cabin, much simpler, only three rooms. It was a classic Chalet style A-Frame, and the couple used it strictly for summer relaxation.

She had never really stopped to talk to them before and now she felt a little awkward doing so, but she needed help and needed to speak to someone. As she got out of the car, her anxiety must have showed plainly; they instantly got up and ran to her.

"What's wrong?" Madelaine asked.

"Are you ok?" Mike asked.

She paused, "Well..No I am not, may I sit down?"

"Sure.. of course," Madelaine ushered her into the small cabin.

"Would you care for a drink?" Mike smiled lightheartedly, "the specialty today is wine coolers."

"That sounds great. Please feel free to make it a triple!"

Mike grinned and began mixing the drink, and with Madelaine sitting on the worn sofa with her, Teri told them about the basement. She told them everything there was to tell, which wasn't that much, sparing her the details regarding Travis.

Earlier that day, she had placed a call to the Pennsylvania State Prison in Albion and asked for Travis. She was put through and as soon as he answered "Hello", the chill that went through her body told her all she needed to know. She hung up the phone without saying a word. At least she knew Travis was still behind bars; she didn't feel any pressing need to unload that particular part of her baggage on the Duvalls.

"... and just now I drove up and looked at the basement door; it was open again and I know I shut it! I remember doing that. That's when I just decided I should not go in.. and drove over here for help."

Madelain and Mike starred at each other for minute and Mike finally spoke quietly.

"There was something going on here too Teri", he said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, uh, we have had a few things .. a few of those squares showing up here too. Only ours are in our side yard. They always appear at night and so far there have been 3 instances, all within a few nights and always in a different place. Each time, the old one is put back so cleanly that you can hardly tell it was ever removed. But it hasn't happened in several weeks and we thought it was just some kids playing around or something."

"Mike, what do you think is going on?" Madelain looked concerned.

"I don't know Mad, what do you say we go back to Teri's house with her and check it out".

The three of them left the Duvall cabin and piled into Teri's Cherokee. Teri drove and thought it was strange that both Madelain and Mike chose to sit in the back seat. Furthermore nothing was said during the short trip and she felt certain that the Duvall's probably thought she was looney. For some reason, she had the strange sense that Mike had made up the story about the squares in their yard.

She eased the Cherokee into the driveway, not wanting to park the car too close to the basement entrance. The three of them got out and as they began walking toward the stairs, Mike and Madelaine, walking on either side of her, took her arms into theirs. Teri felt grateful for their caring, although she was quite frightened and was not quite sure she trusted them. Somehow their grip was a little too firm.

They stood at the top of the stairs to the basement and looked down. Teri could hear someone moving inside and felt the sudden urge to run. But the Duvall’s grips tightened slightly on her arms.

As the source of the noise emerged from the partially open door, Teri could feel her stomach sink to the ground and her legs turn to Jell-O. What emerged from the basement defied and violated all her realities. It gazed at her with huge knowing eyes; a three foot humanoid with features that reminded her a bit of the troll dolls she used to play with as a girl. It had a slit for a mouth, a tiny nose and it wore a hooded robe of some kind; she knew immediately it was not of the Earth. She opened her mouth to scream. But nothing came out... except a weak shrill peep.

She looked to the people at her side for some sort of help or reassurance and then the screams did come - then they sounded like a hundred sirens! Madelaine and Mike were no longer there, at least not in human form. At her side, gripping her arms with bony fingers, were two more of the "troll" creatures.

When the screams started, the creatures that had once been the Duvalls let go and turned away covering their little slit-ears as did the creature at the bottom of the steps.

Panicked, but still coherent enough to seize the opportunity, Teri broke loose and ran to back to the Jeep. Getting in, the creatures got up to follow her. 'My screaming...' she thought and quickly sensing her advantage, laid on the horn. The creatures turned their backs and covered their ears once again.

She started the Jeep, backed up, and frantically drove away from her home once again. Tears streamed down her face as she sped back out the dusty road. She glanced to the Olsen's house as she drove by. Instead of the Olsen family on the front porch, a group of four more 'troll creatures' stood looking at her, beckoning her. She screamed and screamed inside the Jeep Cherokee as she drove a frenzied pace along the bumpy dirt road.

Nothing more happened along the highway back to Miller Falls, which was good for Teri; she needed the time to collect her thoughts and re-assemble her realities.

The total unreality of what she had just seen only began to sink in as she pulled into the outskirts of town. Even for Miller Falls, the town seemed unusually quiet. It was nearly 5:00pm, but it was still summer and usually there was at least a few families in the park. Not even a car stirred on the road and she felt, once again, that she was being observed.

Clem was sitting his front porch as she pulled the Cherokee into his driveway. He stood on the porch smoking a cigar and smiling at her. At least he was human and not one of those creatures, or was he? Well, she had to talk to him regardless.

"Hi Teri," He said matter-of-factly.

"Clem.. I've got something incredible to tell you"

"I know," he smiled "I've been waiting for you"

She gasped. "Cl.. Clem are one of them too" she asked in a broken, squeaky voice.

"No hon, I am as human as you" He placed his arm gently on her shoulder, "But guess I have some explaining to do, don't I?"

He led her into his tiny 3 room house. The house smelled of stale cigar smoke, old cooking odors and dust, but Teri did not mind. Clem seemed to know what was going on and furthermore, he gave her a sense of security that she desperately needed at the moment.

"Sit down Ter, can I get you a drink?"

"Yes.. please do" she remembered that she never even took a sip of the drink that Mike had made for her earlier.

He poured wine into a full sized drinking glass, figuring that she would need the extra portion to get through his story. Handing it to her, he began.

"Teri, I feel bad that you had to see them and get so upset, you are just absolutely pale as a ghost. But I guess I need to start by letting you know that they are harmless. I have been living with them for almost 10 years now and they have become like family to me. I understand how you feel; I can still remember the first time I saw them. Are you ok? This is going to be a very strange story." Clem paused for a moment, watching her gulping at the wine.

"Ok.. well I don't know about that - no I am not ok. I'm terrified and confused. But after what I've seen, I doubt if anything will seem strange, Clem. But one thing I want to know, how do you know I saw them and what happened before I drove up?".

"You'll understand that when I finish”

He paused for a moment and then began “First, as you may have guesed, they are not from around here. In fact, they're not of this Earth. The ‘beings’ you saw are from a planet called Eterium which is unknown to Earth astronomers but somewhat known among UFOlogists. The star Zeta Reticulli, about 1.2 billion light years from our Sun, has a planetary system of several planets. Eterium is the second planet, a warm climate, with weather far warmer than what we're used to here on Earth.

"There's a neighboring planet, Datrinia, the third planet in the system, known to Earth's UFOlogists as Zeta Reticulli 3. The Datrinians are know to us as the "Greys". If you have been following UFO abduction stories, you have undoubtedly seen artist sketches of the Greys; they are small grey creatures with huge eyes and gaunt features.

"The Datrinians or 'Greys' are a very old race and have long passed the height of their civilization. The height of their society occurred many eons ago, sometime around our Neanderthal times. Nowdays, they are in a state of physical and social decline, you see, they're loosing the ability to reproduce.

"The frequency of alien abduction stories is no mere National Enquirer fodder. The greys are frantic to find a solution to their breeding problem and so over past century or so they've been increasing their use of Earth people and other less advanced species as lab specimens. The greys aren't particularly cruel - in fact some of the elders are actually somewhat benevolent toward their abductees, but they are generally callous toward their captives and the Greys know they must engineer a solution to their problem or perish."

"The Eterians, known to UFOlogists as the 'Blues' are here to protect us from abuse by the Greys" Clem paused to let Teri absorb the information.

"Are these Blues more powerful then the Greys?" Teri asked after a moment, not really able to think of anything else to say even though she was stunned by the story and full of questions.

"Yes, they are far more powerful and a much younger, vital race. You see, they are related to us".

"Related! Those horrid looking trolls! How can that be?", Teri could not believe her ears, taking an extra large swig of wine.

Clem chuckled. "As I said before, the height of the Datrinian race was during our Neanderthal era. At that time, the Greys were the most technologically and physically advanced species in this part of the galaxy. They were unchallenged wherever they went so as a result they we able to take all the liberties they wanted. For many years, the Greys transported early humanoids by the thousands from Earth to their neighboring planet Eterium, which was at that time was uninhabited. They used our Neanderthal ancestors as slaves on that planet for mining and farming operations since the climate was far too extreme for the Greys to inhabit.

"The Neanderthals did not remain a 'lower' species for long on Eterium. They evolved at an incredibly rapid pace there, quickly developing a lower profile and incredible mental abilities. They immediately evolved into a race that speaks and listens with their minds, and thus the small mouths and ears. They also developed the uncanny ability to change physical shape at will; they can appear as almost anything. Even the Greys could never do this although they still do possess extraordinary telepathic powers.

"It wasn't long before the Eterians were strong enough to challenge the Greys and break free. During those centuries when the Eterians were establishing themselves in the galaxy, there was a lot of Earth visitation going on. Much of our mythology and religion sprung from appearances made by Eterians in various shapes and forms during their early days of Freedom.

"The parting of the Red Sea, the Tower of Babel, and even Jesus can be explained by visitations from the Eterians"

Teri gasped. "You mean Jesus was an Eterian?"

"Yes, as was John the Baptist, Moses and many others. The Eterians have a great love for shape-changing and role playing, and in those days, they just didn't realize what they were creating here on Earth."

Teri now wondered about the squirrels she had seen that morning but let Clem go on.

"Once they realized just how serious the Earth people were taking these visitations, they ceased those activities and used their powers to alter shape only in rare occasions. For a long time they simply stayed away from the Earth, but as soon as the Grey's abduction practices began to get out of hand, the Eterians started establishing secret colonies on our planet to help protect us. You're living in the middle of one of them."

Clem took a deep breath, then was silent. Teri could think of nothing to say although a million things were going through her head. Never in her life had her sense of realities and beliefs been so overturned as it had now. She began to weep silently. Clem sensing her distress, moved to the couch and held her hand, allowing her tears to flow.

"I know this is a lot to take in all at once" he went on, "I'm sorry Teri, there was no easy way to tell you.“ He paused for a moment and then went on. "The Eterians established this colony about 10 years ago, but they only live here during the warm months. Their bodies can't tolerate our Northern winters, so for the winter, they go a settlement in the the Outback of Australia which is their main colony here on Earth. There they will stay until spring. Believe me Teri, we are fortunate to have them here. And you certainly must be able to see why they must remain secretive. Think of the upheaval that would take place if Christians of the world found out that Jesus was really an alien! It would threaten the very fabric of our society; that's why the Eterians must walk the Earth under the guise of Humans." He paused again. "Are you ok?"

"I suppose as much as can be expected"

After several moments of silence, Teri began to formulate some questions, "Are you and I the only humans in this area?"

"No, not quite. There are now 10 of us, 11 if you decide to stay. They need humans here to run the place during the cold months. And in return, well.. let's just say there are some side benefits."

"Like what?"

He pointed his index finger at her now empty glass, and without touching it, the glass rose in air and glided to the path of his moving finger, floating across the room and settling down gently in the kitchen sink.

Teri was awestruck. "You did that?"

"Yep.. No mirrors or strings, simple levitation. Something they've been doing for thousands of years. And they will teach us what we are able to learn. Now will you stay?"

"Well.. this is all quite ...... alot to get used to. But yes, I think I will if it's ok."

"OK? Yes it's very much ok. They chose you."

"I was chosen?", Teri looked puzzled.

"Yes, when you first came to look at your lot do you remember how you felt?"

"Yes! I instantly fell in love with the place! Do you mean to tell me that I liked the place because they planted that thought?" She laughed, starting them both laughing.

"Yes, you might say that....oh Teri.. it's so good to see you laughing. I know you would have liked the place anyway, but they just wanted to make sure."

"But why me?"

"A number of reasons. For one, you have an open mind, they knew that right away. You're intelligent and more importantly, you're a writer. I think they have the hope that you can reach people in a subtle way through your writing and help slowly chip away at the myths they've created here and bring Earth's people back to reality. The Eterians feel very guilty about deceiving the unsuspecting, gullible Earth people the way they did. Consequently, they feel that they have a debt to pay. Of course, it won't be singly in your hands, since that is obviously a huge project and may take centuries, but you can at least begin to help. Besides, it's not easy to get people to come live up here once they know the truth."

"You mean others have found out and.. not liked it?"

"Yes"

"Aren't you and the Eterians worried about being discovered?"

"The government already knows they're here and that there is a band of humans supporting them. They stay out of our affairs simply because we are operating in secret which is just what they want - it is in their best interest. And anyone who cares to go public with the information.. well let's just say, people tend not to believe it."

"OK..I think I see."

"That's my girl, now there is one thing they need from you. You know what that is don't you?"

"Yes.... I think I do" She was not sure why she knew -- but she did. She just assumed that if these beings were so powerful that they could change shapes, they could certainly communicate without her knowing it. She reached around and unlatched her necklace, taking it off and handing it to Clem.

Clem smiled "They will be very pleased. This part that looked like a beautiful stone to you is really a vital part of their interstellar transport system. The lot you built your house on was formerly sort of 'repair station' for their craft and that part got somehow left behind. That is why the 'excavations' in your basement. Of course you know that now don't you?"

"Yes I do know now, funny isn't it? I didn't know it last night when I was hearing those noises, but I knew when you asked.

"They knew about where it was and tried hard to recover it but they finally figured out you had it. I think you'd better be the one to give it back to them." Clem placed the stone back in her hand. "They're waiting out back"

Teri paused, "That's how you knew everything ahead of time! What should I say?"

"Don't worry, you don't have to say anything, they can read your thoughts and they already know everything about you"

"How embarrassing!"

"No need to be embarrased, they are quite non-judgmental" Clem took her by the hand and lead her out the kitchen door into his small back yard. The sun had gone down but Clem's outdoor floodlight revealed about 20 hooded Eterians all looking at her, smiling at her with their huge knowing eyes.

The two of them stood on the door stoop and Clem motioned her forward. She walked down the steps into the yard among them. One of the Eterians stepped forward and Teri knew right away that it was a leader.

"No Teri, I am called an 'elder'. We do not have leaders as you think of them" it told her without it's mouth moving, reading her thought and answering her.

"I'm so sorry I screamed" she said as she recognized the 'Duvalls' in the crowd.

"You were frightened" answered 'Mike' without moving his mouth. "We're very sorry that we frightened you".

"I.. uh.. think this belongs to you," Teri said as she handed the elder the necklace with the stone in it. "I'm sorry.. it was so beautiful that I made a necklace out of it. I hope it isn't damaged."

"No .. it can't be damaged, thank you." The elder handed the stone to another Eterian and all of the sudden they all gathered around to look at it.

Then Teri's head seemed to be filled with voices, saying things like "thank you", "welcome", and "hello". The Elder turned back to her, opened it's thin arms and without hesitation, Teri and the alien embraced.

*****************************

Teri stared out the window over the massive Manhattan skyline. From the 45th floor of the reception office of Desmond Publishing, she looked west toward the Hudson River and industrial New Jersey. Even under the veil of February snow, the city looked squalid and used-up. After living in the Northwest mountains, she knew she could never come to live here again.

"Teri, good to see you again, sorry to keep you waiting", Ben Delrand burst out of his office. "Please come in!" They shook hands and Teri followed him into his office.

"Please have a seat.. would you like some coffee?" he asked.

"No Ben, thanks."

He held up the CD, her manuscript, "Teri, we absolutely love it! This was really a surprise, when did you start writing Sci-Fi? I mean this is really good stuff, alien colonies and all. This will grab a whole new audience and maybe some of your old too!"

She smiled, "Well let's just say, I needed a change of style".

"And you don't have a problem running under a new pen name?"

"No I think with the drastic change, I’ll need to start over."

"Good! I've taken the liberty of drawing up another 3 year contract for you. "Summer Guests' will be published under the name of Sara Davies as you requested."

"Great", she took the contract, "I’ll have my attorney look it over and hopefully we'll be right back in business. In fact, I have a meeting with her in 20 minutes so I'd better get going."

"Ok Teri, good to see you again, and ... congratulations!

With that he showed her out and they shook hands again.

Down on the street the noise seemed deafening. The newly fallen snow had caused traffic to worsen on the already busy 35th Street.

As usual with not a cab in sight, she thought to herself. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on a cab.

Within 60 seconds and her eyes still closed, a cab pulled up and honked.

"52nd and Lexington," she said climbing in the cab.

The cabby started the meter, took off and was silent for a few minutes, then finally said, "you know lady, that was really weird. I didn't really know that you wanted a ride and I wasn't even goin' down this street! I guess I must be physic or sumpin, eh?"

"You just might be at that," Teri looked out the window and smiled.

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Darkness on the Edge

2006-01-06T21:05:00.000-08:00

Something was just not right. Ok, maybe it had been awhile since Roger Garner had last traveled this route, but the fact is he HAD traveled it before. Many times in fact. But tonight something was wrong. He should have reached the interstate hours ago. Instead he found himself driving on and on along the gravel surface of County Road 156 - or what he thought was CR 156. And there was nothing in sight.

How long had he been driving? The clock on the Silverado dashboard had died last year so it was of no help. And for some strange reason his wrist watch had quit too; it still read 8:45pm as it had for hours. He now had lost track of time as fear and uncertainty began to creep in.

He slowed down and tried to see any sign of something... anything. But all he could see was the gravel in front of the truck's headlight beams. There was something odd about the gravel too. Last time he took this route, this road was dirt and much bumpier. 'County must've done some improvements' he thought.

But there seemed to be absolutely nothing out there except the road in front of him. County Road 156 wasn't exactly a well traveled highway, but he should at least be seeing a ranch or two along the way.

He continued along listening to Bruce Springsteen belting out poetry from the CD player -

Some folks are born into a good life,
Other folks get it anyway, anyhow,
I lost my money and I lost my wife,
Them things don't seem to matter much to me now.
Tonight I'll be on that hill 'cause I can't stop,
I'll be on that hill with everything I got,
Lives on the line where dreams are found and lost,
I'll be there on time and I'll pay the cost,
For wanting things that can only be found
In the darkness on the edge of town.

Suddenly, the truck's engine began to sputter and one glance at the fuel gage confirmed what he already knew - it read 'Empty'. The large truck gasped a few times and finally the engine quit. The truck rolled down the grade of the road a bit further, but soon came to a complete stop.

He sat in his truck for a moment cursing his luck. He should be Spokane by now, in Kim's arms. In fact, he should have finished making love to her and be well on his way back home by now. Now not only would Kim be wondering where he was, but his wife Cathy would wonder too.

He picked up his cell phone and opened it intending to call home. "No Signal Found" was the message displayed on the phone's screen. He waited for a minute, tried again, and finally snapped it shut. "Where the hell am I"? he said out loud looking around.

He opened the door and stepped out. He stood looking around him. When the interior cab lights of the truck switched off, he immediately noticed something strange. Darkness, no, a complete blackness surrounded him. There were no stars, no clouds, nothing. Just a black void all around him. He could not see the truck even through he was standing right next to it. He had to reach over and touch it to make sure it was still there. Now panic began to set in. 'Easy Garner' he thought to himself 'let your eyes adjust to the dark.'

But even after a few minutes, there was still nothing but a black void all around him. Leaning against the invisible truck, he tried to clear his head. Then he remembered the flashlight in the tool box and what luck! He had replaced the batteries in it only weeks ago. He dug it out and flicked it on.

'Some light will help' he thought. He shined the flashlight all around him but it just lit up a beam in the void. It revealed nothing; no hills, no shrubbery, no rocks, no empty beer cans.. nothing. He walked to the edge of the road and shined the light down at the ground. But there was no ground; just more void where the road left off. He did the same thing on the other side of the road - same results. It was as though there was nothing except him, the truck, and this road.

He got down on his knees and ran his hand over the edge of the road. The edge indicated a drop-off of some sort. Could he be on a road that ran along a cliff? But what kind of road had a drop-off on either side? It would have to be on the crest of a narrow ridge and he knew of no such roads in the area. Even if that were the case, it didn't explain the complete blackness. There should at least be stars out; if not there should be clouds.

Then he noticed there was something else missing too: sounds. There was a complete absence of sound. The only sound he could hear was that of his feet shuffling the dirt when he moved. There were no crickets, no creatures, and no sounds in the distance. Complete quiet.

As if the absolute darkness and stark silence weren't enough, there was also an inexplicable cold that began to gnaw at him. September in Eastern Washington State could bring cold nights, but this was not like any cold he had ever felt before. It penetrated all layers of his clothing quickly and bored its way right to Roger's bones.

Standing the dark thinking for a few more minutes, he decided to quit trying to find an explanation for his situation and instead turned to considering his options. There were really only two. He could wait here for someone to come along or else he could start walking and maybe find help.

That was an easy choice because he could not imagine hanging around his truck waiting in the cold, dark silence for someone who may or may not ever come along. Wherever he was, he sensed that not many people ever passed this way.

Having made that decision, he now had to decide which way to head. Did he walk further on this road or head back the way he had come from? Perhaps civilization (and light) was just around the next bend of the road. Perhaps there was a junction or a farmhouse just ahead. After all, it would be a long walk back. He had been driving for what now seemed like at least 3 hours. Although it now seemed a bit fuzzy. At 35 miles per hour, that would leave him with at least a 100 mile hike.

On the other hand, this place he was at didn't look like it would have anything "just ahead". He had the feeling that heading further on this road would be a mistake and he was in no mood for any more mistakes tonight. At least if he went back the way he came, he could eventually get back as long as he could re-trace his route.

With that he started walking. He adjusted his flashlight to its lowest setting to conserve the batteries. He knew that in this complete darkness he would be dependent on the flashlight just to see where he was going.

As he walked along he again cursed his stupidity. If he hadn't had the urge to have these extra-marital affairs he would be warm and cozy at home right now. But no! He had to go seek younger pussy in Spokane. It wasn't just Kim; before her it was Michelle, and before her was Julie. There were even others before that, but he didn't want to think about that right now. 'If only I could undo tonight and start over' he thought.

As he shuffled along back up the road, he continued to feel as though everything was wrong – the darkness, the silence, the cold, and even … the ground. "What the hey?" he said out loud as he begin to notice how tired his legs were getting in such a short distance and how hard it was to walk. He stopped and bent down to examine the dirt on the road. He reached down and grabbed a handful of it and was amazed at how light it was. It slipped through his fingers like sand, only it was even lighter than sand – more like the texture of granulated sugar.

He stood back up and looked around on all sides – nothing - complete and total void. He looked back and could no longer see the truck. It was as though the darkness was some sort of black fog that had swallowed everything up.

He continued plodding along the road. His legs quickly became tired and his body suddenly was beginning to feel sore as though the cold had worked its way right into his bone marrow. Progress was slow and he was afraid of falling off the edge of whatever this road was.

In just a short distance he got a pleasant surprise. Directly ahead of him he saw a lighted cabin!

'What the…?' He thought. 'Why didn't I see that on the way in?'

But that wasn't important now. It was small, cozy looking and more importantly it had light coming from it and the door was open slightly.

Never was he so glad to see such a small cottage in his entire life! He ran toward the cabin as fast as he could - even though the sugary dirt road made running difficult. The closer he got to the cabin the lighter the sand (or whatever it was) became. It was becoming almost like quicksand. By the time he reached the cabin, he was winded and had to stop to catch his breath.

"Hello", he called. "Anyone in there?"

He walked up to the door and peeked inside. He could tell immediately that no one was inside because the cabin was just a small one room cottage. He stepped inside and looked around. Not much to see -- one empty room with a window and a very inviting fire going in the fireplace. He took the liberty of shutting the door and then went to stand near the fireplace to warm himself.

As he stood near the fire, he noticed that the size of the cabin was very odd. It was about 10 feet across the front in length but only about 6 or 7 feet deep. There was no furniture, just an empty room.

'Oh well', he though to himself, 'tonight seems to be full of odd things. What's one more?'

He considered going back out the front and getting the chair off the front porch. He was very tired and his legs for some reason could barely hold him up.

'Certainly I couldn’t have walked that far', he thought to himself.

Just then he saw something he had not noticed before. Right next to the fireplace was another door heading out the back of the cabin. This was an odd door, however, and the only reason he knew it was a door was the fact that there was light streaming through the edges from the other side. There was no doorknob or handle, but the extremely bright light on the other side drew the outline of the door.

He pushed on it slightly and it began to open outward. The light was warm and inviting but he could not see any detail in it – only light. He pushed the door open further and stepped out. Here was just another odd detail to add to the list of oddities for the evening. There did not appear to be a floor or ground, yet he did not fall.

He did however, feel like he was floating. He could feel his body beginning to tilt backward, yet he did not fall. His head began to feel light and he felt dizzy. He felt his body tilt backward even further.

Soon he found himself in the lying down position and he could suddenly feel something supporting his body. Sounds began to form in his ears and suddenly he recognized his wife's voice.

"No he still hasn’t come to."

He opened his eyes and he could see his wife talking on her cell phone. He blinked and looked around. He was in a bed.. no a hospital bed in a hospital room.

"Cathy?", he spoke but his words came out raspy "Is that you? What happened, where am I?" He tried to sit up, but something tugged at his arm. He looked down and could see an IV tube stuck in his arm.

"Oh Thank God", Cathy hung up her phone. She starting crying and held her husband in her arms.

After a moment or two she composed herself and said "Honey, you were in a really bad accident. Do you remember any of it? You swerved to avoid a vehicle and plunged down a hill out off County Road 156. You’ve been in a coma."

"No… umm… I really don't remember that part."

"It's ok honey, don't worry about a thing. Just lie back while I go get the doctor". She kissed him and hurried out the room.

He looked around at the nicely kept hospital room and noticed there were beautiful flowers on the table near his bed. He felt the flashlight still in his hand and looked down to see that it was still on – still shining and set on low just as he had set it. He switched it off.

Springsteen was part right. There is a Darkness…....on the Edge of Life.

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Welcome To the Story Blook

2006-01-01T20:02:00.000-08:00

What's a Blook? A blook is a blog that is turned into a book, or a book that is written by way of a blog - whichever way you decide to look at it. That's what this is! Short stories, maybe long stories, and maybe even.. the novel will come out of this!