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.

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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 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.