The Light House

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

The work day was almost over. The last tourists were leaving the lighthouse and traveling down the dirt path toward the beach. Rocks protected both sides of the path from the water. The hundred year old lighthouse belonged to the local historical society. Every day from 8:00 AM to 4:00 AM, Mr Hansen would give tourists a little education of the history of the lighthouse. The tourists could view excerpts from the logbooks and the old lantern. They would learn about the duties of the lighthouse keeper before lighthouse were under the control of the Coast Guard. Mr Hansen was 85 years old. He worked at the Lighthouse before the Coast Guard donated it to the Historical Society. Now Mr Hansen would clean up the place. But today was different. Today Mr Hansen would remain at the lighthouse beyond 5:00PM. As the tourists traveled up the beach to the road, a truck pulled up and parked. Several men got out of the truck, walked across the beach and started down the path to the lighthouse. Mr Hansen was about to have visitors: Some had been invited. Others had not.

A few blocks from the lighthouse, a boy's voice filled the air with happiness. "Schools over!" Little Tommy ran home from school with joy and enthusiasm seldom matched by an adult. He was anxious to show his mom his report card because he got good grades in all subjects. "Yahoo!!" He jumped over the low fence surrounding the freshly cut lawn and ran toward the front porch. He jumped on the porch skipping a few steps and opened the door. "Mom! I'm home!" He yelled waving the report card.

His mom was in the kitchen making a salad. She wiped her hands with a towel hanging on wall and took his report card. "Very good!" she said, "Very good." she paused, "You are not suppose to wear your bathing suit to school."

Tommy looked surprised.

"Its sticking out of your pants." She tried hard not to laugh.

This summer promised to be very hot. And Tommy would take advantage of the good beach weather. Today he looked forward to walking the path to the Light house after 4:30 PM and listening to the stories told by Mr Hansen. Tom's family knew Mr Hansen well.

He looked at the clock. It was 4:00 PM. He started for the door.

"Eat first," his mom said as she served dinner, "Call your brother and wash your hands."

"Ricky." he shouted.

His younger brother came out of the bedroom.

"Ricky got a good report card too." Mom said, "Right, Ricky?" Mom turned off the stove burner.

Ricky smiled and sat down. "Hey!" he yelled.

Mom turned and looked at Ricky.

"Tommy put more peas in my dish." Ricky complained.

"Tommy, you have to eat your peas." She turned to tend to the dirty pans.

Ricky ate and started walking away from the table. Tommy threw a pea at Ricky. It missed and landed in the sink.

Mom turned around and sat next to Tommy. "Eat your peas." She watched him until all the peas were gone. "Thats better. Now you can go out and play. Don't go swimmng without a life guard." she tapped Tommy on the shoulder as he and Ricky walked toward the front door. "And I mean a real life guard. Not Ricky. Understand?" She gave them a big towel.

Tommy and Ricky shook their heads up and down.

"Good!" said Mom, "Now go out and have fun!" she smiled as she watched her two boys jump off the porch and run down the sidewalk towards the beach.

Mom picked up the phone.

Mr Hansen had talked to Dad the other day. Tommy didn't understand much of it but he understood that Mr Hansen might have another job. Tommy wanted to ask Mr Hansen if he'd still be around to tell all those exciting stories. But he knew he shouldn't. Instead he asked mom who assured hm that Me Hansen would only be away for a short while.

One the beach, three men were roping off the area where the path led out to the lighthouse. One man took a folding chair and set it down at the foot of the path. The other men went back to the small grey car and sat in it. After a few moments, the car proceeded down the road and out of sight. The man sitting in the chair was very tired. The lifeguard's chair was about 500 feet from the path to the lighhouse. It was empty.

In the lighthouse, two men forced Mr Hansen to sit in a chair and tied him to the chair and gagged him. One man took out a pistol and pressed it up against Mr Hansen's chin, warning him to be perfectly quiet. Sweat was dripping from Mr Hansen's chin. The men looked out the window. On the horizon, a tiny object appeared on the water. A boat.

A half block down the road from the beach, Tommy and Ricky were running around and laughing. They were slowly approaching the beach. When they reached the beach, the man guarding the path to the lighthouse was asleep in the chair with his hat shading his face.

Back at home, Mom hung up the phone wondering why Mr Hansen had not answered. She did not want the boys playing on the beach if Mr Hansen was not there. She came out the front door of the house and started walking down the sidewalk towards the beach.

Tommy and Ricky ignored the sign and jumped down into the sand and over the rope surrounding the area.. They ignored the sign which said: "Keep Out." They walked toward the rocks that led out to the light house. A man was sitting in a chair in the sand. He was sound asleep with his hat on. The two boys giggled at his snoring.

"I got an idea." whispered Ricky. Ricky picked up a crab and placed it on top of the man's hat.

They both gigled some more. Then the two boys continued traveling on the rocks towards the light house. They would periodically look back at the man and giggle some more. They reached the Light House and heard some angry voices inside. Perhaps they should head back. But they didn't.

They were about to peer in the window when a loud sharp reverberating sound filled the air. They looked at each other surprised.

"A firecracker?" asked Ricky.

Tommy shrugged his shoulders. They peered in the window and saw Mr Hansen slumped over in the chair. What were they to do? They saw the boat approaching the lighthouse. They had no choice but to hide someplace so that nobody would see them. But where? The only place to hide was under the water. There were no bushes or rocks near the lighthouse. Only a steep slope on all sides of the light house. The only rocks were on both sides of the path to the lighthouse. So the boys retreated to the water. They selected a spot where they could not be seen from window or door. Hopefully they also would't be seen by the occupants of the approaching boat.

Tommy and Ricky ducked under the water and stayed submerged for as long as they could. But they had to come up for air. Their only hope was that the people would not see them surface. Tommy got an idea. They swam underwater alongside the rocks until they reached a large rock. They hid behind the rock. But it was to no avail. One of the men in the boat spotted them and yelled at them. Then two men came out of the lighthouse and yelled at them. Tommy and Ricky dived into the water and began swimming for shore. Suddenly Tommy went under. He tried to come back up. He surfaced for a moment and then went back under. The boat was approaching. One man jumped out of the boat and went underwater searching for Tommy. The other man grabbed Ricky and told him to calm down. The first man found Tommy just as Tommy inhaled some water. The man lifted Tommy up to the surfaced and put him in the boat beside Ricky. Tommy was coughing up water. The men got on the radio and called for an ambulance.

The guard had woken up to the feeling of a crab crawing on his hand. But somehow it was no longer funny to Ricky. They had Tommy and Ricky sit in the sand. They went to their car and got a few large blankets. They covered each boys from shoulder to foot in the blanket. Then the ambulance and the police arrived.

"Didn't you see the sign?" The policeman asked.

Ricky shook his head back and forth.

"You can read it from here." The policeman pointed to the sign. "What does it say?"

"Keep out." Ricky answered.

"Next time you see a sign and a rope like this, what are you going to do?"

Ricky lowered his head. "Going to keep out."

"Thats right," said the police officer, "These signs are posted for your safety."

Mr Hansen came walking down the path and approached the two boys. "It's okay. I know these boys."

"Mr Hansen! We thought you were ..." Ricky voice faded and hehugged Mr Hansen.

Mr Hansen smiled and said, "No. No. Nothing like that. We were rehearsing a scene."

"Rehearsing a scene?" Ricky asked.

"Yeah. For a movie."

"You're making a movie? Really? Could I be in it?" Ricky was jumping up and down.

"Sorry but the movie has no youngsters in it."

Ricky's face dropped.

"But I'll tell you what. I spoke to the director and he said you could watch us make the movie."

"Cool!" said Ricky

"But you have to behave and not run around while we are working. Understood?"

"Yes!"

The ambulance technicians were strapping Tommy in the stretcher while his mom was consoling him.

And in the process Tommy learned about the job opportunity that Mr Hansen talked about. Tommy realized their oversite. They had looked inside the light house window but never saw the man in the small mobile vehicle supporting a camcorder on a tripod!

When Tommy's mom and dad arrived at the hospital, they were very happy that he was okay. But they were also very angry that Tommy once again had broken the rules. They did not have to worry. This scary experience would stay with Tommy a long time. Tommy would never again swim without a life guard present . And he would never again ignore beach signs. He had learned that it was easier to listen to mom and dad than it was to learn from his own experience.

Shadows: An Alien Phenomenom

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

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"I don't understand. It was here last night. I saw it," Jim's long blond hair swayed as he shook his head back and forth. Jim walked around the small opening in the woods. There were no soft bare spots to indicate that some alien spacecraft had been buried there. The whole area was grassy. They was in the middle of a two mile wooded area one mile outside the city.

"Are you sure it was here?" asked Gary.

"Of course I'm sure!"

"Maybe it was just a dream."

"A dream! What! You don't believe me?"

"I'd like to believe you but it just doesn't add up. You think someone took it?"

"Too big. It was buried in the ground with only the tip showing."

"What was it?"

"I don't know! How many times do I have to tell you?"

"Okay. Okay. Calm down. We'll figure this out," Gary paused, "Let's go get some breakfast."

They started walking up the dirt path toward the small cabin. A shadow swung across the cloudy sky.

"What was that?" Asked Gary.

"Whatever it was, it was moving too fast to see."

They walked past the tree stump to the front door.

They opened the cabin door. Jim turned on the radio. The soft rock and roll music filled the air. Jim often came up to this cabin to get away from the busy city life.

Jim sat in the chair and relaxed while Gary took out a frying pan and some eggs.

"This may sound crazy but ..." Gary's voice faded, "You think they're related?"

"You mean that thing in the ground and that thing that swung across the sky?"

"Well, yeah."

"I have no idea."

Gary paused, seeking a way to change the subject. "You said your uncle owns this place."

"Yep. He told me I could come up here anytime I want."

"Where'd you live before you moved into the city?"

"Here and there. My mom and I lived in many places, Jim paused, "First time my uncle showed me this place, I loved it."

"I can see why."

Gary jumped as a shadow whisked across the window. Jim jumped from his chair.

"What the hell was that?" Asked Gary.

They both went to the front door and opened it. Gary went outside and looked around.

"It doesn't make sense." Jim sat on the tree stump.

"What do you mean?"

"Shadows are caused by objects blocking a light: In this case, the sun."

"So?"

"So, where is the sun?"

Gary looked up in the sky. It was cloudy. No sun.

"I think we should leave," said Gary.

"I'm calling my mom," said Jim as he searched his pockets for his cell phone, "Where the heck is my phone?"

"Look!" said Jim.

Something huge and dark was in the trees. The boys heard a loud rumble. They raced into the cabin and shut the door.

"That was no shadow!"

Jim was searching the bedroom.

"What are you looking for?"

"My uncle always kept a gun up here."

"What kind of gun?"

"I don't know. I don't know anything about guns."

"What did he do with the gun?"

"Hunting. But that was before developers started buying up the land."

"Have you ever fired a gun?"

"No."

"Great," Gary came in the bedroom. He spotted a lock on a closet door. "Did he have kids up here?"

"Yeah. He had two boys. Why?"

"Boys grown up now?"

"Grown up and moved out."

"Got the key to that lock?" asked Gary.

Jim looked at the lock. "No. Why would the gun be locked up now?"

They heard a noise.

"Sounds like it came from the front door," said Gary.

They hesitated for a moment.

"Let me in!" the voice said, "Hurry!"

Jim rushed to the door and opened it. His younger brother Tom pushed him aside while rushing in.

The dark thing was moving closer.

Jim closed the door and leaned a chair against it.

"Are you okay?" asked Jim.

"Yeah," said Tom, "What is that thing out there?"

"I don't know," said Jim, "What are you doing here?"

"How are we going to get home?"

Gary came out of the bedroom with a rifle and a box of bullets. "Hope your uncle doesn't mind. I broke the lock."

"That's how," Jim answered Tom.

"Anyone know how to use this?" Gary was inspecting the rifle.

Jim and Tom shrugged their shoulders.

"Great."

The room slowly became darker. Jim turned on the ceiling light.

"What's going on?" asked Gary.

"It's getting dark outside," Tom pointed to the window.

"We have to get out of here," said Jim, "Now! Use the back door."

The boys went running through the back hallway and opened the back door. As they distanced themselves from the cabin, they looked back. The sides of the cabin were covered with darkness, but the back was not. In a wild panic, the boys ran into the woods.

After running a half mile, they stopped to catch their breath.

"Where are we?" asked Gary.

"I don't know," answered Jim.

"We left everything there," said Gary, "We have to go back."

"No," said Tom.

"We don't have anything," said Gary, "Not even a compass and we are not on the path we walked to get to the cabin."

"Yeah we do," said Jim searching his pockets, "Oh no! My compass! I must have dropped it while we were running!" Jim paused, "We'll have to find our way back," said Jim.

"More likely, we'll walk in circles." replied Gary.

They looked up at the clouds.

"Looks like we're in for some rain," said Jim, "Maybe Gary is right."

"But that thing!" said Tom.

"May not even be there anymore," said Gary, "Lets go back and find out. Hopefully we'll find our way back before it starts raining." Gary wanted to say, 'if we find our way back at all,' but he didn't.

A shadow crossed the ground. The boys ran for a short while and then slowed down.

"So much for it not being around," said Tom, "Are we headed in the right direction?"

Gary and Jim shrugged their shoulders. They walked for an hour and stopped.

"Where are we?" asked Tom.

Gary felt a wet spot on his forehead. Then another and another. The rain came down. There was no shelter except the trees.

The boys got under a large tree.

"If we see that shadow again," said Gary, "No panicking and no running."

"What!" Tom exclaimed.

"That shadow is our only chance to get out of here." replied Gary.

They heard a loud sound.

Tom looked around anxiously.

"That was not the thing," said Gary.

"How do you know?"

A lightning bolt hit the ground along with a loud sharp thunder.

"That's how." said Gary.

During the next lightning strike, They saw the large dark thing. It had surrounded them.

"I think I'm beginning to understand," said Jim, "Whatever this thing is, the shadows are it's scouts. The shadows tell it where we are."

"Nice theory," said Gary, "Lets see if we could walk through it."

"Are you kidding?" asked Tom.

"Do we have a choice?" asked Jim, "It's closing in on us."

In seconds the boys were buried in the darkness within the thing.

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

Jim's mom was in the kitchen, talking on her cell phone.

"Honey, I'm worried," she said, "I sent Tom out to get Jim and they haven't returned yet."

She heard dad's soothing voice, "Don't worry, sweetheart. Call Bart and ask him to check his cabin. That's probably where they are."

"Honey, can you take some time off and check? I tried ringing Jim's cell phone. He's not answering."

"That's strange," replied dad, "Okay. I'll be taking off in five minutes," dad paused, "Phone Bart."

Ten minutes later, Dad and Bart came in the front door.

"Home already?"

"I assume you want to come," said dad, "Was Gary with Tom?"

Mom shook her head.

"Better call his parents," said Bart.

Bart, mom and dad arrived at the cabin ten minutes later. Mom got out of the car first.

"Jim, Tom," she yelled while looking around.

No answer.

They tried to open the front door. It wouldn't open.

"That's strange." said Bart.

"There's Jim's phone," said mom as she walked over to the tree stump and picked up the phone.

They walked around the back to find the door wide open.

"Jim always leaves the door wide open," complained dad. He heard music.

"They broke the lock and took out the rifle. Seems like they left in a hurry. Here's the compass I gave Jim." Bart picked the compass up off the floor. Bart looked around and walked out the back door.

"Looks like they were trying to keep someone out," Mary pointed at the chair leaning against the front door. She turned off the radio.

"We'd better start searching for them," said dad, "Block the front door. Run out the back. Seems like they are in trouble." Dad took out his cell phone to call for help.

Nobody noticed the dark thing sinking into the ground down the dirt path.

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

The lights came on. The boys looked at all the bright spots on the walls. Then they saw the shadows come flying in. The shadows dispersed across the room: Each one appeared to be in a different section of the walls and landing on one bright spot after another.

A portion of one wall became translucent and the boys were able to see the path to the cabin. A few minutes later they were able to see the cabin. They saw Jim's mom and dad through the cabin window. Then they saw Bart in the back of the cabin. Soon they were able to see the complete wooded area. They saw hundreds of people arranging several search parties. The people became smaller and smaller until they looked like tiny dots. The boys were mesmerized by the beautiful view of the wooded area and the city. Then their view was obscured by clouds. At length, they found themselves looking at the moon, the earth and the stars.

"Where's Gary?" asked Tom.

"I don't know," responded Jim.

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

Bart came back in the cabin. He yelled for Jim's mom and dad, but there was no response. Then he saw Gary standing by the front door.

"Gary, are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Where's Jim, Tom and their parents?"

"They're on the spaceship."

"What spaceship? You're talking crazy."

Gary didn't respond. He knew that no one was able to see the spaceship except those the alien wished to show it to. It was visible to Tom, Jim, and their parents; but not visible to any one else.

"Well?" Bart sounded impatient.

Gary paused. Then as he saw a shadow moving across the wall, he said, "If you don't believe me, explain that." He pointed at the shadow.

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Jim, Tom, mom and dad stared in awe at Pluto. They were on their way to another world in another galaxy. They were the first people to visit that world. Many more shadows would visit Earth. And many more people would visit the world of the shadows.

Hostile Aliens

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

The elderly gray haired lady had lost some dexterity in her fingers and used a cane to walk. But she still managed to get around. She lived in a small one floor house about a tenth of a mile outside a small town filled with retirees. She had an old Chevy parked in the driveway. Every evening she would retire to her favorite rocking chair in the living room with some cold wine.

She was sitting in her rocking chair in the living room when she heard a window shatter in the bedroom.

"What the heck -- " she asked herself softly while putting her feet into her new slippers. She rose from the rocking chair, drank the remaining wine and put down her glass. She grabbed her cane.

It wasn't the cost of replacing a window that annoyed her. Her deceased husband had left her in good financial shape. It was the fact that someone had broken one of her windows. There were no children living in the area. Who would commit vandalism? She had no enemies and had been very kind and generous to the people in town.

She walked out of the living room and by the oak chest in the hallway. She peered through the kitchen at the bedroom door. To her surprise, it was shut. The phone was mounted on the wall within her reach. She picked up the receiver and listened. No dial tone. She put down the receiver.

Most people would have ran outside seeking help. But not Ann. Ann was a proud old lady determined to resolve all her problems by herself. This was her property. She was proud of it and would not yield it to anyone. As one would have guessed, she had a gun. It was actually her husband's gun properly registered. She never gave it up.

The problem was that the gun was in the bedroom. That did not deter Ann. When she heard noises coming from the bedroom, she opened her cabinet draw and pulled out a steak knife. Then she slowly approached the bedroom door.

Should she ask who's there? It would seem kind of foolish. She thought about it for a moment. Then she decided that surprise was her best tactic. She quietly approached the bedroom door. Putting her ear to the door, she heard nothing. "Maybe who ever came in left." She thought.

She grabbed the door knob and slowly turned it. After taking a deep breath, she swung the door open. The bed was undisturbed. Her first task every morning was to make up the bed. She peered into the bedroom. The dresser and mirror were also undisturbed. "So what was the noise all about?"

Then she noticed the broken glass on the floor. Pretty curtains covered the window. She got on her hands and knees and peered under the bed. "Need a flashlight." She put the knife on the dresser, opened the draw and took out a battery powered flashlight. She got down on the floor, laid her cane beside her and shined the light under the bed. Shoes were lined up in one neat row.

She slowly got up, leaving the flashlight on the floor and holding her cane in one hand while balancing herself against the bureau. The window. She moved toward the window and pulled the curtain aside. She always loved the view from this window. She often wondered why the builders didn't put the living room here with large sliding glass doors. The view was beautiful. Lots of grass on land that sloped down toward a small fresh water pond.

Suddenly she heard a noise from the bedroom closet. "Of course'" She thought. "Dumb, dumb, dumb. Where's the gun?" She opened the dresser and pulled out the gun. She viewed the cylinder. Empty. The bullets were in the closet. "This prowler is not so dumb." She slowly opened the closet door. All her clothes were on hangers. Again, nothing was disturbed. She looked under the clothes. "No feet down there."

She closed the closet door, ignoring the insect that came crawling out on the floor. She shrugged her shoulders and approached the window. That's when she noticed the tiny round object in the grass. She peered at it but was unable to make out the details.

Having satisfied herself that there was no one in the bedroom, she decided to go outside and examine the round object in the grass. She put on a light sweater and went out the front door. She went round the side of the house. There it was laying in the grass. Shaped like a disk it was hard to spot because it was the same color as the grass. She had never seen anything like it before. She looked around wondering where it came from. She never looked up. Nor did she ever suspect that her prowler was so small. Even after seeing the saucer, she was totally perplexed. Not recognizing it for what it was, but very curious about the beautiful shiny object, she bent down to touch it.

"Ouch!" she said allowed. She looked at her finger and shook it. "Wow! That’s hot."

Hot it was and so would any object be that just came through the earth's atmosphere. She turned and started for the front door when a strange sound behind her made her look back. Insects, just like the one she saw in her bedroom were coming out of the little saucer. One reached her ankle and bit it. "Ouch!" She pushed it off and ran for the front door. After opening the door and entering, she shut the door and raced to close all the windows. The strange insects were climbing up the sides of the house searching for a way in. She could see then crawling on the windows. A few were coming in beneath the front door.

She opened her kitchen cabinet and sprayed one directly with a bug killer. It didn't affect this bug. She grabbed the insect and tried to crush it. It was hard as a rock. She threw it down kitchen sink and ran the water. A few minutes later the bug came up the drain. Another came up her leg and bit her beneath the knee cap. She pulled it off and threw it against the wall. Then she noticed the swollen areas on her leg.

She opened the cabinet door and took out some vinegar. She picked up an insect and put it in the vinegar. The insect crawled out. More and more insects were entering the house. She searched the cabinets for something else that might kill the insects. She pulled out a jar of olive oil and poured some over an insect. The insect stood perfectly still.

"That's it! Oil!" She gathered all types of oil she could find. That's when she found a spray can of lubricant. She started spraying the bugs. Direct hits. As the insects came in she sprayed them one by one. But how could she ever be sure she got them all? An while later, there was no pressure in the spray can. She shook it and tried again. No spray. More insects were entering the house. She took a bottle of olive oil and poured a ring on the floor around herself while she was near the window. The insects could not get near her. She had time to think. She could use the oil to get to where she wants. But what then? The olive oil would run out faster than the spray can. She had to use it sparingly. She also needed something else. She walked to the cabinet pouring a little oil on each insect that approached her. She took out a package sugar frosted cereal and put some on the floor. The insects ignored it.

"They like blood?" She made her way to the refrigerator. She took out a raw chicken and allowed a few drops to hit the floor. The insects went after it. She got a book of matches from a cabinet mounted on the wall. She walked out the door with the chicken and the oil. She placed the chicken in the grass a short distance from the saucer. The insects came from all directions to devour the chicken. She made a ring of oil around the chicken. Then she lit a match. She tried to ignite the oil. She ran to the car, opened the trunk and took out a can of dry gas. She poured a small ring of dry gas around the chicken outside the ring of oil. Then she ignited it. Now she rushed around breaking twigs off low branches of trees and throwing them in the fire. The ring of fire slowly closed in on the insects killing all the insects that had been attracted to the raw meat.

But where there any more? Where were they? She searched around the house looking at the grass and at the house, but spotted no insects. She went inside and grabbed a jar of coffee. She emptied the jar into the garbage pail. She searched every window. Finally she found a live one. She picked it up, put it in the bottle and twisted the cap on but left it a little loose.

She got in the car and started the engine. As she drove down the road she asked, "Do you lay eggs?"

Of course, the trapped insect did not respond.

She stopped at a gas station and purchased a few cans of motor oil. She turned on the car radio as she drove away. She heard reports of these insects in other areas.

"They have a problem." She said. "I have the solution."

The Vortex At Pine Creek

  

Originally published on Yahoo Voices.

Logan and his younger brother Nathan loved riding their trail bikes. Sometimes they would ride up and down the dirt path which paralleled Pine Creek. The path was three miles long. It stretched from an area of slate rock down to a large pond at the bottom of the hill. A wooded area was on one side of the path and the creek was on the other side.

There had been rumors of large wild animals roaming the woods. But like any other rumors, these rumors became exaggerated as they were passed from person to person. Logan found these rumors hard to believe because he and Nathan had ridden their trail bikes through these woods for years and had not encountered any wild animals larger than a fox.

Logan was seventeen years old. He was an honors student and was entering his senior year at the local high school.

Nathan was a thirteen year old honors student and was entering his freshman year at the same high school.

It was a warm, dry summer day. Logan and Nathan were riding their bikes down the path alongside Pine Creek.

Logan braked his bike to a stop. Nathan stopped alongside him.

"Why did you stop?" Asked Nathan.

"Look." Logan pointed to animal tracks.

The animal tracks were in a small area containing a few shrubs and dirt. Logan got off his bike and walked over to the tracks. Each track consisted of three claws. The tracks led across the path and down the small slope into the creek. A densely wooded area lined the other side of the creek.

Logan looked up at Nathan. "Come over here."

Nathan walked over and examined the animal tracks. "Weird. What would make those tracks? A large bird?"

"I don't know. It would have to be a pretty big bird. I think it is an animal of some sort."

"Maybe a bear?"

"A bear track has three short claws and a heavy pad."

Logan took out his cell phone and snapped a few pictures of the tracks.

"You realize it could be a prank."

Then they heard a loud roar.

"I don't think so. Let's get out of here!"

They jump on their bikes and raced down the trail toward their home. The roar became softer and softer until they heard nothing.

That evening they were up in their bedroom. Logan got on the Internet and searched for animal tracks consisting of three claws. He stumbled upon a site named 'Reptiles Today and Yesterday.'

"It looked exactly like that!" Nathan was pointing to the tracks. "That's a T-Rex. Isn't it?"

"A T-Rex?" Logan paused, "Maybe the tracks are an elaborate prank. But what about the roar?"

"If the tracks are real, we should be able to find out where the animal went and where it came from."

"Good idea!'

The next morning they rode their bikes up the trail to the area where they saw the tracks. They found the tracks and followed those tracks toward Pine Creek. They walked up and down the edge of the creek but did not find where the animal came back on land. Then they followed the tracks back into the woods. There they found a narrow path of human footprints paralleling their race down the hill the night before.

"It hasn't rained for three days. All tracks should still be here." Nathan said. "but they aren't."

"This isn't making any sense."

"Look!" Nathan pointed to the transparent silhouette of a six foot tall reptile. "Let's get out of here!"

The boys hopped on their bikes and raced a short distance down the path. Logan glanced back and realized that the reptile was running through the trees without breaking any branches. "Stay still. It can't harm us. It's kind of like it's in another dimension or something."

The reptile was unable to grab them or any other object. It lost interest and began walking away.

They followed the reptile through some thick brush and down to Pine Creek, The boys did not note the circular ripples extending from the center of the creek to its edges.

The reptile hesitated before entering the creek. The boys followed the reptile across the creek and watched the reptile materialize into a solid form. It was a young T-Rex. It turned and saw the transparent silhouettes of the two boys. The boys ran and quickly realized they were transparent because they were able to run through trees. The T-Rex chased them to the creek but did not follow them across the creek. On the other side of the creek, the boys materialized into solid form.

For the first time, the boys were able to see the T-Rex and the T-Rex was able to see the boys. The boys also observed the expanding circular ripples in the center of the creek.

"What is that?" Logan pointed to the expanding circular ripples.

"I think it's some kind of vortex."

"It's more than a vortex." Logan responded. "It might be a vortex into another dimension."

"That's why we look like ghosts to the T-Rex when we are in it's world and the T-Rex looks like a ghost when it is in our world."

"Who is going to believe us?."

"Nobody." Nathan paused, "Suppose one of us walks across the creek and the other takes a picture with his cell phone?"

"Hang on to that idea. Why hasn't anyone reported seeing a prehistoric dinosaur or anything like it before?"

"Maybe they heard the roar and never saw anything."

"Or maybe the vortex opens and closes." Logan looked at Nathan. "What if the vortex closes while one of us is on the other side!"

"The vortex won't close!"

"You don't know that for sure."

"What if we throw a nice thick branch across the creek and take a picture of the branch. Wouldn't that prove to others that the vortex exists?" asked Nathan.

"A video would be better than a picture." Logan replied. "That way they could see that the branch is real and then they could see it become transparent as it travels across the creek."

Logan got on his bike. "I'll be back." He rode his bike down the path and returned a half hour later with a video camera.

Logan filmed Nathan picking up a large thick branch and throwing it across the creek. When the branch reached the center of the expanding ripples, it hung in midair. Half of the stationary branch looked real and the other half was transparent. Two minutes later, half of the branch fell into the creek and the ripples diminished to nothing.

For several moments, the boys stared in awe at the creek. They were attempting to assimilate what they just saw.

Now the water was calm and the vortex was gone. But Logan and Nathan had visual proof of what they experienced.

 

Logan walked back to his bike. Then he realized that Nathan was still looking across the creek.

"Nathan, Let's go."

Nathan did not respond.

"Nathan, Are you okay?" Logan paused, "What's wrong?"

Nathan shook his head from side to side and said, "Oh man! That could have been one of us!"

How To Avoid Accidental Plagiarism

Originally published on Yahoo Voices with the title 'Are Free Plagiarism Checkers Worth Using?'

--

All the Internet publishing sites I've come across have a zero tolerance policy for plagiarism. That's what triggered my search for plagiarism detecting programs. This article focuses on free on line plagiarism checkers. It is also intended to make people aware of how easy it is to accidentally commit plagiarism without having any knowledge of having done so.

Why should a contributor be interested in the on line plagiarism checkers? Here are two examples that justify the search in my mind.

There is many old songs, prayers and poems named "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep." Some people may assume that these are in the public domain because they were written long ago. But a simple search on the Internet verifies that at least one version may be protected by copyright. That version exists in the New England Primer.

http://neprimer.com/

The same situation exists with any classic novel. Though the novel may have been public domain at one time, one might want to check a recently published edition of the novel to see if it is still in the public domain. I prefer the safe route and follow any quote with information about the book as well as the title and the author.

Many sites claim their on line checkers are free, but once you register with the site, you find out that they mean a free trial period. I considered the use a free online plagiarism checker to check my content before I submit it for publication.

The simplest free on line plagiarism checker is at

http://www.articlechecker.com/

It simply tells you whether plagiarism exists within your article. It uses two search engines Google and Yahoo.

The second free on line plagiarism checker I tried is

http://www.duplichecker.com/

This plagiarism checker gives the user a sentence by sentence analysis and reveals which sentences are exact duplicates of sentences in other articles or blogs. You can select one of three search engines: Google, Yahoo or MSN. You can also choose whether you want to test quotes or general text. If you choose classic check, you will find a detailed search for like phrases and sentences in other articles.

The third free on line plagiarism checker I tried was

http://www.dustball.com/cs/plagiarism.checker/

It analyses text segments and reports whether they are okay or not. Apparently, it does not check every sentence in your article.

In my opinion, duplichecker is the best of the three free plagiarism checkers. One important note. None of the free plagiarism checkers I've come across check for paraphrasing. The only hint you'll receive is a url that appears numnerous times in the results of the plagiarism checker.

I would recommend purchasing a plagiarism checker if they were not so expensive. The prices for using a plagiarism checker is $8 a month and up. I've seen shareware for as little as $50 but I wouldn't recomend shareware nor freeware because there is no gaurantee concerning the thoroughness of the search. Some of them only use one search engine. I don't think that is adequate.

If you can't afford a plagiarism checker service or you can't justify the cost based on your income from writing, then the free on line plagiarism checkers are better than nothing.

Most importantly, after you have written an article, review your resources to ensure that you did not accidentally commit plagiarism.

The Haunted

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

The evening sun was shining nearly horizontally down the dirt road in Salsbury. Salsbury was a small town with a population of 25. Everyone knew each other. A slim leather faced man came riding into town and tied his horse to the post. He was hungry and broke. He looked up and down the deserted road. The folks of the town were in their homes eating their suppers. The slim man entered the store. He saw the bearded owner behind the counter reading a newspaper. No one else was in the store.

He took out a gun and pointed it at the owner. He directed the owner to put all the bills from the cash register into a paper bag. The owner dropped the newspaper to the floor and opened the cash register drawer. He did not glance at the gun sitting on a shelf below the counter top. He had bought the gun because he had been robbed too many times and wanted something to defend himself in a robbery. He slowly put the money in a paper bag and handed it to the leather faced man..

The leather faced man backed toward the door warning the owner not to do anything foolish. He was distracted by a horse-driven wagon passing by.

The owner knew this was his only chance. He reached down and quickly grabbed his gun, keeping it below the counter top. He fired one shot.

The robber suddenly grimaced in pain, fired a bullet and fell to the floor. The owner collapsed behind the cash register.

Fifty years later that road was paved with asphalt. The store was still standing and was operated by the owner's son, Fred, who was ten years old when the robbery took place. The town was rapidly growing. New homes were being built everyday. Fred had heard that a family was moving into a newly built home on Abbey Hill. He hadn't met them yet.

Abbey Hill was a half mile away. It wasn't a large hill. People were busy every day chopping down trees on that hill. The new home owner, Jim, had a job working for the Goldman construction company. His current work was just beyond his back yard. Jim's wife, Mary, was not fond of the new home. For some reason, she was uncomfortable staying there. Jim thought perhaps it was just being in a new place. But it was much more than that ...

In the evening Mary was in their bedroom. "Jim! Jim! Come here quick!"

Jim came up the cellar stairs and ran down the short hallway to their bedroom. He turned the door knob but the door wouldn't open. "Take the stuff away from the door!"

"I can't!"

Jim ran down the hallway and opened the back door. Then he ran around the corner of the house and peered in the bedroom window. Mary was pinned to the wall. All the furniture was piled up against the bedroom door.

"Stop fighting it." Jim yelled as he attempted to open the window. It wouldn't open.

Mary stopped struggling. After a few moments she found herself free to move around the room.

Jim tried to open the window again. It opened without a problem. After climbing in the window, he asked, "What happened?"

"That's what I'd like to know."

Suddenly they heard a lot of loud noises coming from the kitchen. Mary looked at the furniture.

"That will take too long." Said Jim, "Stay here."

Jim climbed out the window and ran to the kitchen window. He looked in to see all the appliances up side down. He didn't believe his eyes. He ran back to the bedroom window. "Come on out now."

Mary climbed out the window. "What are you planning?"

"I don't know. But one thing is for sure. We can't stay here." He looked at his wrist watch. "It's six o clock. Let's go."

Mary wanted to ask where but she figured he did not know where to go.

"What do you think happened?" Asked Mary.

"I think we have a ghost."

"From what I've read, ghosts can't move furniture" Mary commented, "Whatever it is, we have to get rid of it."

They were walking around the block.

"Or find out what it wants."

"How?"

"I'll tell you soon as I find out."

"You really know how to make a girl feel better." Mary paused, "Where are we going?"

"The library."

They walked five blocks to the library. As they entered, Mary asked, "What kind of book are we looking for?"

"Communicating with the dead."

She gave him a quizzical look. "Do you know what you are doing?"

"Absolutely not."

Mary stopped. "You search for a book. I'm going back home."

Jim looked at her.

"It's a two pronged approach. You do research. I try to communicate with the ghost." Said Mary.

"Let's do both together." said Jim.

They found information about contacting a clairvoyant or a psychic. They also found information about how to make contact with the dead.

"We need a history of the area." said Jim, "Let's see what I could dig up at the local bar." He handed Mary ten dollars and pointed to a diner a block away. "Go there and get something to eat. I'll be there in a half hour."

As usual on a Friday night, the bar was loaded with people. Jim started chatting with folks while drinking a beer. He didn't ask any questions. He just made comments about how peaceful and quiet the town was. He mentioned all the violence in the city he came from. That's when someone mentioned the robbery of the hardware store.

"You may not believe this, but other than a small fight here or there, this town has been pretty quiet since that robbery. I was ten years old when it happened. My dad was at the store." The man was drunk. "As I understand it, my dad shot the robber and the robber shot back as he was falling. My dad passed away. The robber -- folks didn't give a rat's ass about him. They buried him."

"Where?"

"Abbey hill. He didn't deserve any respectful wake or funeral after what he did. They just buried him. No gravestone. No nothing."

"Did anyone try to contact his family?"

"Like I care." The conversation continued for another twenty minutes. Jim learned that the town was new at the time and had no real law enforcers.

Jim was twenty minutes late arriving at the diner. He saw Mary at a table. Mary's dish was empty.

"What did you find out?" asked Mary after gulping down her soda.

"A lot. I'll explain it on the way home." Jim ordered a steak.

One hour later, they came out of the diner and started walking home, not being sure of what they would find.

After telling Mary about the conversation at the bar, Jim said, "But something isn't making sense."

The lock on the front door wouldn't work.

"It does make sense." said Mary, "It doesn't want us here."

They walked around the house searching for a way in. All the windows were boarded up with wood.

They went to the back door. The back door lock wouldn't work either.

"Get the ax out of the garage." Mary said.

Jim was able to get into the garage. He came out with the ax a few minutes later and started chopping down the back door. They entered the hallway and went to the kitchen. All the appliances were back in their respective places.

A light hovered in the corner beside the refrigerator. A bearded man in the light was barely visible. He signaled them to exit and disappeared.

Jim hesitated. Then they heard a rumbling in the cellar.

"We should leave." said Jim.

"Why?"

"Because I never told you how we should deal with a poltergeist."

"You mean that ghost isn't the only one here?"

"Right." They walked out the back door.

"How do you know?"

They stood in the backyard.

"The ghost told me." Jim said as he looked at their house.

"You mean the ghost is trying to protect us from the poltergeist?"

"Exactly."

"I think I'm beginning to understand. The poltergeist is what's left of the one who robbed the hardware store fifty years ago." Said Mary.

"And the ghost is the store owner. They are locked together because the robber never even got a proper burial. No one cared."

"Could we dig up the body and -- "

"We'd have to move the house."

"Oh shit!"

They entered the hallway through the back door and opened the first door on the right. They climbed down the cellar stairs and Jim collected several of pieces of wood, a board, a brush and some paint. First, he whitewashed the board. Then he used the black paint to write a name date of birth and date of death.

"How do you know that?" asked Mary.

"The ghost let me know." He paused, " It's getting cold in here. We'd better hurry."

"It talks to you?"

"Sort of. Not really talk. He just lets me know things."

A wind started blowing down the stairway. The wind became stronger and stronger until they couldn't stand without hanging on to the stair rail. The hail began. Jim and Mary felt the sharp cold stings as the ice hit their face and head. Jim was struggling to hold onto the board. wood and the stair rail. The cellar floor was getting icy. One of the water pipes cracked and water started dripping on the floor. Jim's foot slipped as he climbed onto the first stair. He scrapped his knee against the edge of the stair. He struggled up to the second stair, keeping his head low. He hung onto the rail with one hand and the board and wood with the other hand. His fingers and toes were aching.

Mary reached out and grabbed the hammer and nails. She fell down. She tried to get up, but she kept sliding and falling back down. She crawled to the stairway and raised herself up, holding on to the rail with one hand. She was breathing heavily.

They got half ways up the stairs when Jim slipped, tumbling backwards into Mary. The wood, board, nails and hammer fell to the cellar floor as Mary and Jim grabbed the rail with both hands. Her feet slipped out from under her and she slid down the rail to the first step with Jim following her.

"This isn't gonna work." said Jim.

"Don't we have a tarp down here?"

"A tarp?"

"Yeah. Remember? From when we use to go hiking."

"We threw it out long ago."

The ice was building up on the cellar floor.

"We can go out that way." Mary pointed to the cellar wall.

Jim looked and realized that Mary was becoming confused. He needed to find shelter. He scanned the cellar for anything that would give them some shelter from the biting wind.

"There!" He said, pointing the work bench. It was a heavy wooden work bench. Jim picked up the board and they slowly made their way toward the bench. Jim knocked all the stuff off of it and tipped it over. The he moved it so it was blocking the wind. They knelt behind the bench and waited. They hugged each other to stay warm. That's when Jim remembered the cellar windows. They were a small windows eight feet above the cellar floor. They couldn't escape through them, but the air outside was warmer and dryer than the air inside. Jim picked up a piece of wood and threw it hard toward the window. The window shattered. The wood fell to the ground. One by one, he smashed all the cellar windows.

It didn't help. His clothes were freezing. The pain in his toes and arms was subsiding. He was losing consciousness. He struggled to stay conscious but failed. Mary and Jim fell over and lay on the icy floor. Jim became conscious for a moment to see a bright light where the workbench use to be. The bearded man was smiling at him. Then the bearded man disappeared.

Jim remembered his playing with the other kids in his backyard. He remembered his first day in high school. That was the first time he saw the bearded man. Only for a moment. He didn't know who it was until today. He was becoming very confused.

Suddenly two warm loving arms brought Jim back to the present. He looked down at the hands and saw a puncture wound in each palm. The hail stopped. The wind stopped. The warm loving hands lifted him and Mary up the stairs and out into the back yard. The ground was dry and warm. The paint, wood, brush and board were on the lawn alongside a hammer and some nails. Jim repainted the sign, nailed a piece of wood to it and hammered it into the ground.

Mary woke up and read the sign aloud. "Richard Koenig. Born 1820. Died 1875." She kissed Joe.

Then they went inside the house. Everything was calm.

For some reason Mary and Jim were no longer troubled. The sign became a town curiosity, but no one took it down. Only three people in the town understood the meaning of the sign: Jim, Mary and the ghost of a bearded man.

             

Witchcraft In Salem

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

In the year 1692, the witchcraft trials of Salem erupted. At that time, it was not known as Salem, Massachusetts. It was Salem village now known as Danveres, Massachusets. It was said that several young girls were accused in person to have met and celebrated the witches sabath, which is a covenant with Satan. That covenant stated they signed 'the devil's book' in blood. The devil's part of the bargain was to take their souls and bodies in return he would make anyone they considered their enemies suffer. And they themselves would lack no good thing in this world.

Remember that Abagail Williams, who was only a child of eleven, was one of the accused as well as several other girls. These children accused neighbors and their wives of attending the witches sabath. Whole families joined the panic by testifying against each other and others in the village. During the trials, the girls were known to have convulsions. Whether these convulsions were real or pretended, we do not know. Those in authority considered this proof that they had made their pact with the evil one and were condemened to death.

Children as young as 9 years old were convicted of withcraft. The witch trials were so common that no one was safe: Even those known to be pillars of the Church and in good standing with their communities.

Were these unfortunate people witches? Doubtful. It is now known that Salem and similar villages in the area made thier bread of rye. This in itself is not problem, but the swampy ground and moist environment often breeds a type of bacteria that is known to cause convulsions and delusions. These loaves of bread would be baked and sometimes held in non-refrigerated cabinets for weeks, allowing the bacteria to grow. It is more likely that these youngsters were less under an evil spell than a unknown bacterial infection. At least that covers the convulsions and delusions.

The Reverend Cotton Mether presided over many of the trials and was a proponent of the witchcraft devil connection. He published several books: One of them being 'Wonders of the Invisible World' in which he mentioned the devil's he percieved walking about the streets.

The witchcraft frenzy was sadly endorsed by the Reverend Mather and others of his ilk. This endorsement kept the panic going. Even well known and reputable merchants were not above suspicion. Many left the country, if they could do so, to escape accusations. It is known that one merchant, Philip English, and his wife were charged with witchcraft, arrested, and thrown into a Boston jail. They somehow escaped from the Boston jail and ended up in New York city.

Left To Die

Originally titled 'The Hole' and published on Yahoo Voices

The blazing sun tortured the partially dehydrated man laying in the sand. A trail of blood drops revealed the path Jim had crawled. Jim grimaced and placed his hand on his side. Under his hand, his shirt was soaked with blood. He was breathing heavily and used his other hand to wipe the sand off his sunburned face. There was nothing but sand for as far as he could see. No water. No shade. No sign of civilization. 50 yards behind him was the convertible he could no longer drive. The driver's door had several bullet holes in it. The car could provide no shade for him. The sand was almost unbearably hot.

The people who took revenge for a crime Jim did not commit had disappeared 24 hours ago. They left him without water and without food. They left him to die, but he was determined to live. He remembered exactly how it happened...

Three days ago, he was at his girl friend's house to gather his belongings. Their relationship had ended with loud arguments, punched holes in walls and warnings from her brothers to stay away from her. He knocked on the front door. Judy did not respond. He did not have a key. He walked around the house tapping on every window and calling for her. He figured that she was not answering the door because she was angry at him. He stood outside the bedroom window for a few moments before walking back to his car. Perhaps it would be better if he came back another day. A neighbor peered out her window as he drove away. She went to the phone and called the police.

Inside the second floor bedroom, Judy's beaten body laid on the floor. The room had been ransacked and the box of expensive jewelry was missing. The closet had been ransacked and the clothes Jim wanted to retrieve were missing.

He had known her brothers to be hot tempered. He had been in more than one scuffle with them. So he chose a time when they were not there to get his stuff. It normally to an hour to drive across the small desert to her house.

After Jim had left, the police and her brother's appeared at ther house. Her brothers also knew that Jim drove the same road across the desert to go to work. They waited for him,chased him and shot him.

The sand blowing in his face interrupted his memories. The hot breeze was welcome. Ten yards ahead of him, something was in the sand. He could not see it but he could hear it. The sound of a piano. Jim thought he was hearing things. He pulled his body forward to the spot where the sound orignated. There he found a hole big enough to lay in. The wind was increasing and the blowing sand was stinging his face. He crawled into the hole and laid there. He fell asleep and woke up an hour later.

He sat up and looked around. He was feeling good. He remembered his wound and wondered why it did not hurt. He put his hand on his side. His shirt was dry. No blood. The air was cool and the breeze was refreshing. He was not thirsty. He was not hungry. He crawled out of the hole and immediately felt excruciating pain in his side. He felt his side and looked at the blood dripping off his hand. He crawled back into the hole and looked at his hand and shirt. The blood had disappeared and the pain was gone. He laid there and drifted into unconciousness.

Jim looked down at a truck that came down the road and stopped by Jim's car. The man in the truck saw the body in the sand and used his cell phone to call the police. Everything was okay. Jim was feeling wonderful as he watched the ambulance come and carry his body away.

One Out Of Many

This post was originally published on Yahoo Voices

ONE OUT OF MANY

Normally Henry resented beggars. He disliked having to walk by loitering beggars near a grocery store entrance. They were begging for money. But he’d always be in a charitable mood and toss a beggars a few quarters. He would not respond to the ‘thank you.’ One time he almost got into a fist fight when a beggar cursed him for not giving enough.

But this one afternoon was different. Henry was returning home from work. He was hot and sweaty. His pants and shoes were streaked with outdoor porch paint. His jacket bore the name of the company he owned. His long grey hair swayed in the cool breeze. He was wearing a baseball cap to hold his hair in place.

He stopped at a corner in the busy area waiting for a chance to cross the busy street. He spotted two people sitting on the ground enjoying the shade provided by the building: A scrawny middle age man and a skinny small boy. The first thought that entered his mind was ‘more beggars.’

The small boy was quietly playing with his toy soldiers. The middle age man was looking straight ahead. As Henry crossed the street, he observed more details. The middle age man’s clothes were thread bare. The shoes of both the man and the boy were thoroughly worn out. On each side of the pair were small cloth bags: the kind you would purchase to hold your laundry. As he walked closer to them, they paid no attention to him. But when he reached them, he caught the innocent longing look from the young boy: An innocent plea for help.

He stopped and looked directly at the boy. “Hi,” he said.

The boy responded meekly with the word “Hi.”

The scrawny man looked up at Henry and asked, “Could you give my boy some money for food? He has not had a bite to eat today.”

The boy’s pleading eyes made Henry look away for a moment. Should he ask questions, walk away or give the boy money? He reached in his pockets searching for his cell phone. ‘Dang it,’ he thought, ‘I left it at work.’ There was a drug store a few doors away. ‘They have a phone.’

He pulled a dollar out of his pocket and held it out for the scrawny man to grab.

“Not me,” the scrawny man said, “Give it to Jimmy.” He moved his head in the direction of the small boy.

After the small boy took the money, the scrawny man said, ”Jimmy.”

Jimmy looked up and said, “Thank you.”

Henry did not respond. He walked to the drug store and found the public phone booth inside. That boy needs a good home where he can be nourished properly. He phoned the police.

When he came out of the drug store, he looked back where the scrawny man and the boy had been sitting. They were gone. Henry ran to the corner and looked in all four directions. How could they disappear so fast?

The scrawny man and the boy had darted through store and exited on another street. They walked quickly down the street and got into a car. The scrawny man turned to the boy who handed over the hundred dollars they had collected that day. Then he drove the boy home and knocked on the boy’s door. The boy’s parents handed the scrawny man his rent. He gave them back $15 and thanked them for the use of their boy. Then he got back in the car and drove 20 miles. He turned into a driveway beside a raised ranch on two acres of land.

After he entered the living room, he made a phone call and arranged for another boy to be with him the next day. He would train the boy, teaching him the longing look while having the boy stand in front of a mirror.

Political comment:

This one beggar spoils it for the many who truly need help. 

The Loot

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

His body had been trapped underground in a wooden box for years. The wooden box was sealed air tight and was protected from the soil by a thick coat of varnish. Noises were emanating from within the box. But the noises could not be heard from the dirt surface above.

Several miles away, two robbers had broken out of prison. They had spent a year digging a tunnel from their cell to an area just beyond the barb wire fence. The area was beyond a small hill where the lights of the prison would not shine on them A friend, Mr. Stevens, had parked the car on a side road near the prison. They got into the car and drove off.

Two years before, these two robbers had robbed a jewelry store. Unfortunately in the robbery, during their brief struggle with the store owner and his helper, the helper had been killed and the robber's masks had been ripped off their faces. So they had taken the store owner with them to the burial site and had buried him with the jewelry in the wooden box. They had buried the store owner alive. Now, they wanted to collect the stolen jewels in the buried wooden box.

A quarter mile away from the burial site, two boys, Bill and Frank, were throwing a baseball back and forth in their small back yard.

Bill noted something in the remains of a bird nest on a ground just beyond the yard. At first he ignored it and continued playing. But later, he picked up the old yellowed sheet of paper.

"What did you find?" asked Frank while using his hands to shade his eyes from the rising sun.

Bill carefully opened the yellow piece of paper. "It looks like a map of some sort."

Frank approached Bill and looked at the map. "That road right there." He used his forefinger to point out the road. "Isn't that Farm Hill Rd?"

"Not sure." Said Bill. The writing was faded. "Can't read it."

"Remember where we use to play cowboys and Indians? I think it was at that corner." He pointed to the intersection shown on the map. "And that other road must be Park St."

The boys use to live on Park St across from the wooded area. Recently their family had moved to White St where they lived now.

"That's right!" Said Bill. For the first time that morning, the boys were getting excited. "I'll bet the X is a buried treasure!"

"What makes you think that?"

"Mr. Stevens mentioned something about it to dad. But dad knew Mr. Stevens to tell tall tales. Especially when he was drunk." said Bill, "And Mr. Stevens was so drunk that day, he collapsed on his own front lawn. Dad had to carry him onto his porch."

Mr. Stevens was their neighbor when they lived on Park St.

"What kind of treasure?"

Bill shrugged his shoulders. "Beats me!"

"Let's go find it!"

"Are you kidding?"

"No. We have the whole day and nothing else to do."

They went into the old garage and grabbed a shovel and a hoe. They ventured out into the woods to find the spot where the treasure was buried.

They reached the area marked on the map and started breaking up the ground with the hoe.

Meanwhile the robbers parked at a diner a quarter of a mile away. They ordered scrambled eggs and coffee. Then they went to a hardware store. They noted that the store had no customers.

The clerk was in the isle with his back to them. Without looking at them, the clerk said, "Be with you in a moment."

They grabbed a hammer and hit the clerk over the head. The clerk fell to the ground unconscious. They opened the cash register and took all the money. Then they grabbed a shovel and hoe.

Back at the spot marked on the map, Bill and Frank were digging. They heard a noise.

"What was that?" asked Frank.

Bill shrugged his shoulders and continued breaking up the ground. Frank used the shovel to remove the loose dirt. After digging a deep hole, they uncovered a small portion of the surface of a wooden box.

"We found it!" Said Frank.

They raced to uncover the rest of the box.

"Have to widen the hole." Said Frank.

Bill used the hoe to break open the box. Then they removed the loose pieces of wood.

They stared at the gold jewelry inside the box.

"Forget it!" Said Bill, "It's all girl's stuff!"

"Maybe not." said Frank as he began sifting through the jewelry. "Rings, chains, crosses... Ah! Here's a watch!" Frank pulled out a wind-up pocket watch.

"Let's go." Said Bill. "This thing gives me the creeps."

Frank looked surprised.

"Didn't you hear that?" Asked Bill.

'I heard something. Probably other kids in the area." Frank placed the watch in his coat pocket.

Bill climbed out of the hole.

Frank handed Bill the shovel and hoe. "Give me a few minutes."

"Okay."

Frank looked down at the jewelry. He was about to stick his hand in it when suddenly a bunch of it moved.

"Get out of there now!" Yelled Bill as he raised the shovel by the handle.

Frank stared at the jewelry as it began shifting position. He turned and started to climb out of the hole when he felt something grab his leg. He looked down and panicked. He clutched the ground with his hands. "Help me!"

Bill was staring at the half decayed hand gripping Franks leg.

Frank was kicking the hand with his other foot. "Don't just stand there. Help!" yelled Frank as he was slowly pulled into the hole.

Bill lifted the shovel over his head.

A second decayed hand reached out of the box.

"Noooo! Let go of me!"

The robbers parked their car at the corner. They took out their shovel and hoe and started heading for the treasure.

They heard Bill yell, "Let go of me!"

"What was that?" Asked one robber.

"Sounds like it came from there." The other robber pointed into the woods. They heard another yell. They took out their revolvers and raced into the woods. Then they stopped about 50 yards from the hole. They released the safety pins and slowly approached the site. They hide behind some bushes and peered at the hole.

"Someone got here before us." whispered one robber.

They stayed still for a few moments. There was no sound from the hole. No movement either.

The robbers slowly came out from behind the bushes and approached the hole.

The two boys were on their hands and knees in the hole. Their faces were pale as they looked up at the two robbers.

The robbers laughed as they pointed their revolvers at the boys.

"Who were you boys yelling at?"

Suddenly, the decayed man came up behind the robbers and grabbed them by their throats. He swung the robbers around as they fired two shots from their revolvers. "Get out of the hole." He told the boys. "Throw the watch back into the box."

The boys climbed out of the hole and threw the watch back in.

"Now get out of here!" said the decayed man.

The boys picked up their shovel and hoe. They walked a short distance and then looked back.

The two robbers were struggling to free themselves from the decayed man who had a grip on robbers' throat. They kicked his legs and managed to aim their revolvers at the decayed man. They fired two shots.

"You can't hurt me. I'm already dead!" The decayed man chuckled as the robbers repeatedly kicked his legs. "I guess you don't remember me. You buried me alive in that box a year ago. And now you've come back for the jewelry you stole from me. I tell you what. Let's enjoy the jewelry together." The decayed man jumped into the hole without letting go of the two struggling robbers. "Together forever!"

The huge piles of dirt around the hole caved into the hole as the robbers screamed. Within seconds, the screaming stopped. The dirt became hard packed like no one had touched it.

The boys stared in horror. Finally Frank spoke. "We'd better get the shovel and hoe back before Dad finds then missing!"

"We're going to have a hard time explaining this if he finds us."

"We can't let him find us! If we did up that box again, that dead man -- or whatever he is -- will kill us!"

The boys raced through the woods toward their home.

Back at the boy's home, their mother, Mary, turned off the stove burner. She looked at her husband, Jim.

Jim was putting on his jacket.

"The boys should have been home by now." Said Mary.

"I'm going to look for them."

Jim kissed her and went to the front door. "I have my cell phone. I'll call when I find them."

"Shouldn't we phone the police?"

"Not yet. I know the two areas they hang out."

Jim opened the door to find his two boys standing there. There clothes, face and hands were dirty.

"What have you boys been doing?"

"Treasure hunting!" said Frank

"What?"

"You know -- like in Treasure Island."

"Okay. Up to the shower! Both of you."

The boys went upstairs. Jim saw a crumpled piece of yellow paper on the stairs. He picked it up and opened it. " He smiled to himself, crumpled the map and threw it in the garbage. "Treasure hunting. Right!"