G. Novitsky
Table of Contents
Introduction……………………………..…..iv
BOOK I
The Misty Dins………………………………5
BOOK II
Sheep….…………………………………..114
BOOK III
The Cemetery Fence..…………………….222
The Cemetery Fence, I
found to be a spectacular story of a young boy who realizes that he possesses a
special gift in his dreams to help solve odd events taking place in his small
Sheep is also a
magnificently told story that takes place throughout the
One very interesting aspect of Novitsky’s writing would have to be the connections from one book to another. The stories are unrelated, however there are small associations from book to book. A prime example of relations from the first two novels would have to be KDL. After reading one of the two books you expect to find out just exactly what KDL is, it is not until you read the other before it makes complete sense. No matter which book you read first, you will appreciate that topic.
The Misty Dins also has connections with the two prior novels. The main relation that I was overwhelmed by was the introduction of Darren Harston in Sheep. After reading Part Two, Chapter Two of The Misty Dins, and then going back to Chapter Thirteen of Sheep, I was quite impressed to see the conversation from both sides. Again, that will be understood after reading both books.
Another surprise is the mentioning of the book from The Cemetery Fence called Sudden Track Switch and to find out who the author is.
Dr. Albert Bleckard also gets a mention due to one of his fine inventions. Learn who manufacturers the product.
There are also a couple of visits from Gary the psychologist in this one.
The Misty Dins is a cleverly written novel that takes place in the 21st century and also takes the reader back in time to when the main character’s father was a child. There are many flashback scenes that signify great importance toward the main situation.
Unlike other works by Novitsky, this one hits a certain element of political issues faced by the world in this time. The issues are touched upon lightly with the view from somewhat of an underdog that disagrees with many of the present jabs that are taken at certain members of society that are used as punching bags by the system. That is a small part of what I took away from this one.
Once again the storyline is one of a bizarre unlikely nature, however if you think about the events hard enough, some of these things do have a small believable factor involved to them.
Novitsky writes in a way where he’ll put the reader into situations that are not commonly witnessed by the average person, although they do have a slight chance of actually occurring. He does not create monsters or harshly far-fetched creatures to give the stories one of an unbelievable basis. His work is seen as events that can actually take place and have actually happened to some people who search the afterlife.
Although his novels are fiction, there is something to be said about reading a story that cannot be documented as never being able to come about. Now open to Chapter one and lose yourself in this one. Try not to look over your shoulder.
Happy reading
1. Admire It From A Distance.
It was late fall in a small, quiet,
lightly populated town known as Radcliff
Clive was the father of a daughter, Amanda and two sons, Darren and Merk. Yes, Merk does seem like an odd name. That shows the originality of Clive. Darren was thankful that his father chose Merk as the one to be original with.
“Honey, it’s about that time. We don’t want to miss the entrance of our first grandchild. Stop daydreaming and step on it!” Clive’s wife Andrea yelled while holding the screen door open.
Clive was startled as he was brought back to reality from a visit to one of his old camp days. He was remembering a night out in the woods when the camp director had the children watching the stars.
“All right, all right,
Clive and Andrea were getting ready
for their trip to
Merk worked for an unusual type of
brokerage firm. It was low key but had several big accounts belonging to high
priced clients who needed their money cleaned and hidden. Merk discovered the
dishonesty by putting all he had into his work. His office was also in the
downtown
Sometime earlier on a warm
afternoon, Merk was sitting outside enjoying a sandwich with some of his
buddies for lunch at the South Street Seaport in
“Did you see that game last night Merk?” one of the guys asked.
“Merk? Are you there Merk?” Another waved his hand in front of Merk’s face.
All of the guys then realized what he was concentrating on. In the distance, sitting on a park type bench near the water was one of the most beautiful women those guys had ever seen. She sat with her legs crossed as she sipped a soda through a straw and chatted with a friend.
“Good Lord, that chic is something. No wonder you don’t care about last nights game.” One guy commented.
“She has to be a grouch, she’s too cute not to be. Stay away from that Merk. Admire it from a distance.” Another added.
“Tell Pol Corr I’m gonna be late from lunch. I have some business to take care of.” Merk had a plan.
Pol Corr was their office manager. He was given that nickname because of his obvious attempts at being politically correct. If the so called experts of public relations told him that dried up, insect ridden weeds in front of his house looked better than his colorful flowers, you can be sure he would run home and rearrange his garden.
Merk followed the women back to their building. He waited until they separated and then he confronted the friend of the woman he was interested in.
“Get in line if you want to get to know her. She has a lot bigger hunters than you chasing after her. If you really think you have a shot, her name is Toni and she works on the twenty-sixth floor. Good luck.” The woman walked to the elevators.
Merk quickly headed to the small flower shop outside of the building. He picked up an arrangement, grabbed a card and rushed to the twenty-sixth floor.
“Hi, can you tell me where Toni sits? Pretty girl, dark hair?” He asked a woman in the hall.
She smiled and directed him to Toni’s desk. He looked over and noticed Toni was walking away. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and walked into a co workers office with a big smile on her face. Merk quickly jotted down something on the card and left it with the flowers on her desk.
He walked toward the elevators in a hurry and bumped into a heavyset man who was walking around the corner. The man's coffee spilled on his sleeve.
“Damn. At least there’s enough left to go with my bagel.” The man wiped his sleeve with a bunch of wrinkled napkins.
“Oh man, I’m very sorry.” Merk offered to help.
“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. A large portion of us office critters are still only human. No one is perfect.”
“Good line. Again, I’m sorry. Have a great day!” Merk was very pleased by the man's reaction. Most people would have gotten bent out of shape after a stranger spilled coffee on them.
After that, he hurried back to work. He took some heat from Pol Corr, which was nothing new. That put a slight damper on the high he was feeling from the flower stunt.
Later that night, he was doing some
exercises in his
“So, now I’m your agent? What the hell is this all about? You should really talk to me before you pull this type of stuff. Who is she? Is this for a job?” She asked one question after another.
“Mom calm down… I guess it worked. Did you make me look good?”
“Of course I did. I’m your mother. She gave me a number where you can reach her.”
“Yes! Perfect plan, if I do say so myself.” He congratulated himself.
His mother insisted he tell her what was going on. Merk explained that the girl who called was Toni. The card he left worked as planned.
“Hi, I am unable to see you in
person because my eyes are trying to recuperate from soaking in your beauty
earlier. I am leaving the phone number of my agent who will give you an honest
opinion of me. Merk.” It included his mother’s phone number in
Merk was impressed by what he had done. He figured having her talk to his mother was somewhat cute and lovable. It was a hit or miss. He called her before he went to sleep and it turned out she did find it cute. They spoke about their jobs and made arrangements to have lunch together one day during the week.
While they spoke, Merk’s younger
brother Darren was at his apartment in
“Another foggy night out there, eh Jen? You know what that means. We better stay inside.” Darren joked, accompanied by a small laugh.
“You keep making fun of your dad and it’s gonna come back to haunt you one day, wise guy.”
“I’m not making fun of dad, you know, out of all of the people in the world, I would be him if given the choice. I know he scares my mom when he talks like that. I just want to do the same to you honey.” He really looked up to his father and wanted to be just like him.
“Gee, thanks, now I feel special. Are you gonna come to bed?”
Darren explained that he would be to bed after he
finished typing one more page. He had a job in a factory outside of
Dr. Bleckard’s invention was a plastic type, water proof, electric carpet. Its purpose was to be plugged in and heated up on sidewalks or driveways or even rooftops before snowstorms. When the snow would fall on it, it would melt before given the chance to accumulate. The invention went over very well in the North Eastern United States where Dr. Bleckard resided.
The most costly part of the carpet was its rubber rim. Darren’s foreman Henry, was a real great guy to work for. His only downside was that he spent so much time bothering the workers by fishing their brains for where he could get his hands on that almost obsolete form of rubber that has gone up in price over the last few years due to the shortage.
The importer that he used was way off some island that the guys never heard of. The word never got out from the supplier where he was getting it because he knew he could raise the price since he was the only one that was able to get his hands on it.
They tried using other forms of rubber but the product never came out the same so Henry continued to throw down whatever it cost to keep the product the way it was meant to be. He told the workers that if they could get their hands on at least a hundred pounds of the rubber, he could afford raises for all of them and the business would be set for a while.
Darren also worked with an old chum from the neighborhood named Dez. They were friends for quite a while. Dez’ father got sick when Dez was very young and he never knew his mother. His father gave custody of him to Dez’ Aunt Tammy. She was not such a good choice of a guardian but Dez’ father didn’t know that at the time. She turned out to be a cheat, a thief and a liar. She was never around for Dez.
For Darren, like his father Clive, writing was a hobby on the side. He had a small set up for his computer in the corner of the bedroom by the front window overlooking the street.
Clive would say things about the fog once in a while that would creep the family out. Darren tried to do the same but when he did, it never had the same effect.
Darren finished typing his page and looked over at Jen, who was fast asleep.
“I don’t know how she does that, if I was able to fall asleep that fast, I wouldn’t be dozing off at work all of the time.” He thought to himself as he walked into the kitchen for a glass of water.
He poured the water and glanced out into the small sixteen by twenty-foot yard. The fog was so thick, the house across the way was barely visible.
“This is the kind of night that would be perfect to sit in the yard with dad and the guys and talk about The Misty Dins” He thought and sipped his water.
The Misty Dins were thought to be some kind of a cult group from the fifties that Clive and his friends used to talk about when Darren and Merk were younger. Darren thought back to a night when his dad told one of his stories.
When the boys were young, Clive and
Andrea took them on summer vacations to a place near
They brought two other couples that
they were friends with for many years. Dudley and Sharon, and JJD and Ginny.
Dudley and JJD were two others from the camp days. JJD was quiet and sort of
timid.
Darren remembered the vacations like they were only days ago.
“Look at the fog Clive. This looks
like that night during our famous camping days with that maniac Kreasherd,
doesn’t it?”
“Yea it does. Remember that walk through the woods that one night?”
“How could I forget it?”
They were referring to one of their
camp nights when they left their tents to explore the grounds. It was the three
guys and a couple of their friends from camp. After an hour or so of walking in
the dark through trees and bushes, JJD mentioned that
“Oh that knuckle head is probably trying to put a scare into us.” Clive commented.
“Let’s put a scare into him.” JJD began to answer as he noticed a muffled yell from behind.
They all hurried back to where they thought the sound was. They looked all around trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. JJD became very worried thinking that it wasn’t a joke any longer.
“Where the heck are you? If this is a joke, it’s not funny anymore.” Clive yelled.
“It’s not a joke! I’m down here!”
All of them started to look down. It was very dark and difficult to see. JJD began to run toward the sound of the muffled voice and he tripped over a tree limb. He landed flat on the ground with his head above a hole. He felt around and noticed that the hole was rather large.
“Oh my God!
“Yes! Quick, pull me out!” His voice came from a different area.
Clive and another boy ran over to the hole and started to feel around.
“Where’s the flashlight?” Clive asked.
“Oh yea, the flashlight. I think JJD has it! JJ turn the light on!”
JJ searched his pockets, then he felt around on the ground where he laid and spotted the flashlight. He turned it on and a small section across from where the others were standing lit up.
“That must be a different hole.” They carefully made their way to the light.
After close to fifteen minutes,
they were able to pull
“What are these holes doing out
here anyway?”
Clive suggested looking at them in the morning and to focus on making it back to the camp area safely for the moment.
Darren came out of the daydream about his father’s adventure as he spilt some of his water down his shirtsleeve in his startled state. He headed to the bedroom and lied next to Jen, who was fast asleep.
The next day, Merk and his buddies went back to the seaport for lunch. Merk was hoping to see Toni once again. She was there but before Merk spotted her, Toni’s girlfriend noticed Merk and explained that he was the guy asking about her. She pulled Toni to the side, out of Merk’s view.
“So, I was meaning to ask you if anyone paid you a visit at the office lately.”
Toni sat and admired her fingernails as she explained the flowers, the note, Mrs. Harston the agent and the strange name Merk.
“Take a look at that table over by the stage area. Do you see the guy with the wavy hair and rolled up sleeves? That’s the guy who brought you those flowers. He asked me about you yesterday and I told him where you work. I didn’t get a chance to tell you.”
Toni made sure she was positive that it was him and she decided to have a little fun. She asked her girlfriend to pull off one of the balloons hanging by the doorway.
“What are you going to do with this?” She handed Toni the balloon.
“Don’t worry, I want to get a good look at this guy but I’d like to have a way out in case he doesn’t look the way I would like him to.”
She tucked the balloon under her blouse to create a pregnant appearance.
The guys were sitting and discussing their favorite topic. “No no no, I am tired of watching the Mets lose. I am not going to pay for a ticket and then pay seventeen fifty for a beer and a hot dog just to let them ruin my evening. I would much rather sit at home and watch the eighty-six series on video again. At least that way I’m not building myself up for a big let down.” Merk explained to the guys.
“I know what you mean, I was
thinking about taking a ride up to
“Baseball has really gone to hell between the over priced souvenirs and the hot shot attitudes. No one really remembers what the game was about in the old days. Well, I shouldn’t say no one. I just finished reading a book last week written by a guy named William something or other. Its called Streaking Home. He remembers. It really put some value back into the sport.”
Ken Murphy walked over to the table. He worked a couple of desks away from Merk. Ken was a part time comedian. He would take the mic every once in a while at amateur night in the local clubs. The guys got a kick out of his routines.
He noticed the guys were discussing baseball and he jumped right into one of his skits.
“Oh baseball, don’t you just love the conversations about baseball at the office? I can’t sit home and watch a game without realizing there will be a quiz the next day. Hey Murphy did you catch the Mets last night? Yea, such and such made a great play at second base and that was some double play in the eighth inning. I can deal with that but then all of a sudden one guy starts a shbeal, I remember back in the 1700’s, before Sy Young, I think it was the Sy Old Award back then, this pitcher had a perfect ERA, his batting average was also great for a pitcher. This guy went on with every stat imaginable…. Then he asked if anyone remembers the guy’s name…
I can’t imagine studying someone else’s life that much, to know their batting averages, stolen bases, home runs, ERA’s, jock strap size… I can just picture a bunch of ball players sitting around TGI Friday’s saying, Hey did you get a look at Ken Murphy’s spreadsheets? That guy is gonna be something in the next couple of years… Then another adds, yea he is only there four years and he managed to accumulate thirty-seven sick days and he’s only been tardy six times…
Gotta go ladies and gentlemen, you’ve been a wonderful audience.” Ken walked back towards the building as all of the guys were laughing.
“That guy cracks me up…” Merk was cut off in mid sentence as Toni strutted by to get a glance of him. She was unaware that walking seductively didn’t work with a large rounded stomach.
Merk’s jaw dropped to his chest in shock and disappointment.
“Told you not to get involved with her. Where was that jumbo pouch the other day? She must have been hiding it pretty good.” One of the guys joked.
Toni made it back over to where her friend was waiting and laughing.
“I guess I won’t be needing this. He’s cute. I guess he’ll do.” Toni popped the balloon as they giggled and headed back to their building.
2. The Lord Has Room For People
Of Humor In His Kingdom.
That evening, back at Darren’s apartment, Jen was telling him that she thinks he should see someone about his nightmares.
“No, I don’t think you are insane. I just feel like all of these constant scares are not healthy for either of us. Just go once. If you don’t like it then don’t go back. Don’t you think it’s worth a shot?” She tried convincing him.
“Maybe.” Darren mumbled as he sat staring at the computer screen. He didn’t mind his nightmares as much as Jen did. She was bothered by him jumping up in the middle of the night. Sometimes it sounded like he was losing his breath. It made her very nervous.
They spoke briefly about it before Jen fell asleep. Darren looked at the screen and thought back to the story of when his dad tried to get his biggest book published.
Back in February of 1981, Clive finished typing and
correcting a story that he worked on for almost six years. He was very
satisfied with his finished product. He decided to use a publisher located in
He kept a copy for himself and packaged and mailed the original to the publisher. He tried not to think about it because that would only increase the anxiety of it being finished. A few weeks later he received a letter from the publishing company. He tore through the envelope in a hurry to find out the news.
It was a letter of apology. “Dear Mr. Harston, we apologize for the inconvenience. The agent assigned to your manuscript is no longer with us. We are having another agent begin where the work was left off.”
“Dammit!” Clive was furious. He threw the letter down on the kitchen table. He was quite upset that he was going to have to continue waiting for his story to come out.
Andrea consoled him. She was upset for him but she tried to make him feel like it would be okay and waiting a few more weeks wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
Darren came out of his daydream and looked at the computer screen. All he had typed was, The Misty Dins five or six times.
“I better get some sleep. All of dad’s old stories are gonna make me have more nightmares. Jen will never let me hear the end of that. Besides, this story isn’t going anywhere. I’ll try to add to it tomorrow.” Darren thought to himself as he lied down in bed hoping not to wake Jen up with another bad dream.
It was only eight thirty but Jen liked to get to sleep early. Around the same time is when Merk decided to confront Toni over the phone.
“Is there anything you feel the need to tell me?”
“Whatever do you mean Merk?” She knew what he was referring to.
“I was able to get a closer look at you today and there was something about you that I didn’t notice earlier. Do you know what I mean?”
“Oh you must mean the new blouse I had on today, how sweet of you to notice. You didn’t like it?”
“I was just concerned about what was under the blouse.”
“Merk, that’s pretty fresh, we don’t really know each other well enough to discuss what’s under my blouse.” Toni let out a slight laugh.
“I was referring to the seed, and who planted it, or was that just a beer belly?”
Toni let out a bigger laugh. “I can’t keep it a joke anymore. My friend informed me that you were the one who wrote me that cute note. I decided to play a little trick on you. I’m not with child.”
Merk got a kick out of the whole story. “Wow, that was good. You had me going. I’ll give you that. Now can we talk about what else is under your blouse?”
She was pleased that he didn’t get upset about the joke. She was even more pleased that she didn’t have to explain her real reason for the joke, to see if his looks met her standards.
They started to see much more of each other over the next few weeks. They had lunch together a couple of times a week and they started to become very comfortable with one another. They began telling each other everything that was on their minds, especially their problems.
Merk’s biggest complaint in life was his job. He hated what he did and he didn’t like most of the people in his office. He wanted to quit but he felt at the point he was at in his life, it was too late to make a career change. Like most of the people in the state, he just wanted to hit the lottery and live happily ever after. It drove him crazy to hear people say that being rich does not make someone happy and that staying home would eventually get boring. It could never get boring for him and he knew it.
“What do these idiots mean I would
get bored? Every time I get a vacation it is never long enough and being rich
would sure help out. I love seeing those
“I can’t agree with you there. Those people can have it pretty tough. Being very wealthy is not always easy.”
“Give me a break. They’re just too stupid to know what to do with their free time. As soon as one of them starts whining about getting depressed, they should be forced to try working a real job. Let them try getting up early and commuting without a limousine to a dump with no satisfaction or heavy paychecks. That should straighten them out. And if it doesn’t, then let their little temper tantrum suicide attempts be successful. The world can go on without their hissy fits.”
“Money is not everything. I make a pretty decent salary but I would much rather be away from Stewart.”
Stewart was Toni’s main complaint. She told Merk that he was a guy at her office that always gave her a hard time and he told the other workers that the reason her salary was so high was to keep her around to shake her rear for the bosses. Supposedly it gave them an extra incentive to come to work. That was the reason she thought she had very few female friends at work.
After she told Merk about Stewart, Merk thought about paying him a visit. He didn’t tell Toni what he was thinking though.
Later that afternoon, Merk and Ken
caught the R train together after work. They would ride that train for a few
stops before they got to
As the train went through the tunnel, they stood facing one another holding the pole, talking about their job and other things in their lives.
While they spoke, an older, short, African American woman holding a rosary, dressed in all white came strolling through the car. Her voice was loud and abrupt.
“Bless you! Bless you all! The Lord shall come! Trust the Lord!” She stopped in front of them and placed her hand on Ken’s shoulder. “God bless you young man!”
“Thank you very much but I wasn’t the one who sneezed.” Ken turned towards her.
The woman smiled.
“Can I ask you a question? How do you manage to keep that outfit so white and clean on such a dirty train?” Ken returned the smile.
She found him amusing. “The Lord has room for people of humor in his kingdom.” She leaned over and looked into Merk’s eyes. “Some families are welcome in Pretegre. Hold him close. Send your most trusted to bring him back to you.”
The train stopped at
“If things don’t work out with that girl from the Seaport, it looks like you have a back up plan.” Ken slapped Merk on the shoulder suggesting that the woman would make a nice girlfriend.
Merk let out a small laugh as he stared out of the window at the woman while the train pulled out of the station. He felt an uneasiness in his stomach. He wondered what the woman was talking about. He brushed it off, telling Ken that she was a crazy woman but deep inside he felt like she knew something.
3. Kreasherd’s Kastle.
Jen’s concern for Darren’s
sleepless nights increased and she finally convinced him to speak to someone
about it. He got off of work early and met with a local psychologist named
He walked into the office, took a
seat and waited for
“Ah, you must be Darren. It is a pleasure to meet you. How are you feeling?” They shook hands.
“Not bad, just a little tired. That’s pretty much the reason I’m here. I haven’t been getting as much sleep as I’d like. My wife thinks it has to do with my nightmares.”
Darren explained how he listened to
many strange stories about his father’s experiences from when he was a child.
After a short while, he became very comfortable speaking with
He also spoke briefly about his
father’s friends,
At the same time, Jen was at work talking to her friend Timothy who was one of the lawyers at the firm. He just hung up from a phone call with his wife.
“Is everything alright?” Jen asked.
“Unfortunately my daughter had a small mishap in school today.”
“Oh no, what happened?”
“Don’t side with my daughter until I tell you the whole story. She got clocked in the face by a boy in her class.”
“She got clocked in the face and you don’t think I should side with her? So far I’m siding with her.”
“Listen, she really deserved it. I love my daughter and all but at least this way she learns that the movies and TV commercials lately are full of it. They fill young girls minds to go out and fight and that no one will fight back. Now that she got laid out, she’ll think twice about starting a fight with a boy again. My wife finally realizes that what I have been saying about television lately is true. They are trying to make young girls think they are more than they are. She let her watch one of those ridiculous movies and the next day she goes and tries to kick a boy in her class.”
“You know what? I agree with you completely. I thought I was the only one that noticed all of that nonsense recently. I am sorry about your daughter but I think there are quite a few girls that need that kind of a wake up call these days.”
Jen’s phone rang. It was Darren. He
was surprisingly impressed by his visit with
“See, it wasn’t so bad, right?”
“I have to agree, I think it was a
good suggestion.
“Well, I am certainly happy to hear about the progress. What are you going to do with the rest of your day away from work?”
“I figure I’ll try and type some more of my book and maybe lay down for a while.”
After they hung up, Darren typed a page or two and then stared at the computer screen. He thought back to one of his dad’s famous camping stories.
He recalled Clive explaining Kreasherd’s Kastle. That is what the kids called the main cabin. Kreasherd was the camp director and he stayed in the largest cabin, which was also the scariest.
It wasn’t really a castle. It was an old structure that was built long before the civil war. They just gave it that nickname.
The structure was said to be the home of a local war veteran named Admiral Angwin many decades earlier. There was one old fable that said Angwin died in the building and his body was never found.
Kreasherd was an older man with a
mean grin and a short temper. None of the boys wanted to tick him off. He was
born on
When
Kreasherd promised
In the morning,
The other kids sat on the hard floor downstairs and practiced tying their slipknots as they gazed up at the two tiki torch type candles shaped like skulls that sat on shelves close to the ceiling.
It was said that the torches had been lit for over ten years and have never burned out. When the kids sat in that room they couldn’t take their eyes off of the flames emitted from the disturbing torches.
Darren came out of his daydream imagining what those candles looked like. He saw them as two human size skulls with cracks running through them. He pictured them to be very frightening, with a tube coming from the ceiling plugged into each of them.
He saved the work he was typing on the computer and lied down in bed hoping to catch up on some over due sleep.
While Darren was trying to make himself comfortable, Merk was sitting at his desk at work thinking about paying Stewart, from Toni’s office a visit.
He went over in his mind if it would be the right choice to confront him. If anything would impress Toni, he thought putting a stop to Stewart's harassing would be it.
After a few minutes of thinking about the hard times Toni had been through because of Stewart, Merk became enraged with anger.
“Hey Ken! I have to run out for a minute. Cover for me, okay?”
“Merk, I covered for you twice last week. It’s not that I mind. I am worried that Corr is going to have a fit if he finds out. You know how anal he can be and face it, being anal just stinks.”
“I’ll handle that clown. Give me twenty minutes, there is something I have to do while I still have it in my system. And keep your day job. Anal stinks?”
Merk bounced from his seat. He knocked the baseball off of Donovin’s desk. That was the guy who sat next to him. Then he headed down the hall. He had to pass Corr’s office on the way out.
“Merk! Can I see you for a moment?” Corr called out as Merk tried to pass the office.
“Oh man, this is what I need now.”
“Please come in and close the door.”
“Sure, how can I help you?”
“Let me get to the point Merk. I understand that there are some joke e-mails circulating about homosexual lifestyles and degrading women. I am asking everyone about them. Do you know anything regarding this?”
“No, I can’t say that I know anything about that. Were you offended?”
“What are you trying to imply Merk? I am not a homosexual and you should not be joking about them, after all we and all of the offices are supposed to be celebrating gay and lesbian month once a year.”
“Wait just one second. Are you going to sit there with a straight face, I use the term straight loosely, and tell me that we are going to take a month to celebrate someone’s sexual preference? What if someone’s preference was farm animals or a blow up doll? Are we going to take a month to celebrate their choices also?”
“That’s enough Merk!”
“You’re damn right it’s enough! It was enough when they decided that seventy five percent of all television programming had to encourage young boys to consider homosexuality as an option after the third grade. You are one of those mindless pieces of.” Merk was cut off when the phone rang and Corr picked it up.
“Pathetic, moronic weasel.” Merk grunted on the way back to his desk.
“Problem with my baseball, Harston?” Donovin was annoyed.
“Problem with office life, surrounded by brainwashed idiots! Is more like it.”
“Just watch your hands when you pass my desk wise ass.”
Merk and Donovin were not too fond of one another. Merk noticed that whenever he was extremely busy and stressed he could always count on looking over at Donovin to either see him on a personal call or in the middle of a game of computer solitaire.
“Don’t leave your balls where other people can touch them Donovin.” Ken tried to take a shot to help out Merk when he had the chance.
Merk
was not against any type of lifestyle or beliefs of a group, he just didn't
agree that certain ways of life should be celebrated and looked at as the
correct ways while others were shunned for no apparent reason. He grew up his
whole life understanding that a man and a woman were considered the regular
type of couple. It made sense to him. If someone was to come along and tell him
that they rather be with someone of the same sex, that would also be fine with
him. He just didn't see the need for it to be pushed onto people that already
have made up their minds on what they like. There was absolutely no reason to
dedicate a month to celebrate someone's sexual preference and also no need to
try to recruit youngsters into a certain lifestyle through movies and
television.
He
was aware that television was on an uncontrollable downfall and there was
nothing he could do about it except turn it off but he was tired of only
hearing about queer guys, straight eyes and fat thighs on women wearing ties.
Enough was enough.
Corr came out of his office. “Merk, our conversation was not over. Can we speak?”
“Not today. I am going to rap up what I have to do here and I’m banging out an hour early. Keep your whiney ass away from me while I get out the door.”
Merk was inches away from exploding. Like he said he would, he finished what he was doing and left for the day.
He stopped at his favorite coffee vendor for a cup before his trip on the R train.
“Leaving early my friend?”
“Yea, this office crap can really get to you. Sometimes I’d rather sit with you in this little tin coffee cart and not deal with the idiots on the inside.”
“There are plenty of idiots on the outside too my friend.”
Merk laughed and got his change.
He sat under a noisy blower on the subway car on the way home and tried to cool off from the earlier aggravation. The subway wasn’t the easiest place to calm down.
After
twenty minutes, a wino entered. He sat across from Merk and spread himself out
in a wet jacket with a bottle of booze in the inside pocket. The stench coming
from the man was enough to make many of the passenger’s switch to another
section of the train. Merk put his head down and tried to avoid eye contact.
“What er you looking yat?”
Merk kept his head lowered.
“Well? What er you looking yat?” The man began to get louder as Merk made his way to another section.
“That’s right, move yer stinkin ass!”
“Gotta love the subway.” Merk muttered as he passed a woman reading a book. Her beautiful eyes and cute smile distracted him. As he smiled back a muffled announcement came over the speaker.
“The next stop is
The train stopped at
“Can you keep em open for a second?”
“Are you deaf?”
“No, why do you ask?”
“If you paid attention to the things around you, you would have heard me announce that you should be in the first three cars to get out at this stop!” The conductor was very annoyed.
“Well how the hell am I supposed to know what number car I am in? There is not a sign on the wall of the car!” Merk was equally as angry.
The conductor closed the doors and they pulled out of the station as Merk tried to contain his anger. He stood at the door and waited patiently for the next stop. When the train stopped and the doors opened he stepped out onto the platform and glanced at the conductor who stuck his head out of the window to make sure no one was in the way of the train as he closed the doors. He looked at Merk with an obnoxious grin to let him know that he had the final word of the argument.
As the train started to pull away, Merk looked into his coffee cup that only held enough for one or two more good sips. He decided a face full for the conductor would be more satisfying than a warm sip or two so he proceeded to release what was left into the face of the arrogant man. He was speechless, but Merk wasn’t.
“That was the most satisfying cup of coffee I ever had!” He yelled as the train pulled away.
His walk was ten blocks longer than it would have been if he were to get off at the right stop but he felt it was worth it.
He pictured in his mind the time he spilled coffee on the man's sleeve and he heard the voice in his head. “A large portion of us office critters are still only human. No one’s perfect.” And that was how he felt about not knowing what number car he was in.
The only things that kept Merk calm were thinking about his first night time date with Toni coming up over the weekend and his vacation that was only a couple of weeks away.
Back in
“So, how was the rest of your day dear?”
“Not bad, I actually got some sleep.”
“Any nightmares?”
“No, I don’t think so. None that I can remember.”
“That sounds good. Were you able to write anything?”
Darren explained that he was able to get a couple of pages done. He mentioned how he hoped if his book was finished, he wouldn’t have the same problems his dad had with his favorite book.
After his father received the first letter from the publisher, he didn’t take the news so well. His wife Andrea consoled him. A couple of months after that letter, another one arrived.
In April of 1981, again Clive was excited to see a letter from the publisher. He tore it open even more anxious than the first time. He began reading it.
“Dear Mr. Harston, again we apologize for the inconvenience. The agent assigned to your manuscript is no longer with us. We are having another agent begin where the work was left off. Again, we are very sorry for the delay.”
“Jumpin
“Please relax dear, nothing worth while is ever easy. They’ll get their act together soon enough.” Andrea tried to cool him off.
“I am giving them until June! If there is nothing accomplished by then, I am pulling the manuscript and going with another publisher.” Clive was being pushed and he didn’t like the feel of it.
Darren’s story was interrupted when Jen got a phone call. It was Andrea. Jen and her had become very close since Jen joined the family.
“Hi Jen sweetheart, how is everything?”
“Very good Andrea, we were just talking about you and Clive and that famous book of his.”
“Oh please, that darn book. Why is Darren so fixed on Clive’s stories? I wouldn’t mind if I never heard about that book again.”
Jen laughed. “I find it pretty interesting, just like some of the childhood stories, except for that camping trip thing. I don’t want to know the ending of that one.”
“I don’t blame you. If I never hear the ending, that will be just fine by me. I was just calling to let you guys know that Merk will be down here in less than a month. I love when his vacation comes around. We don’t get to see him often enough.”
Andrea usually planned a month in advance when Merk was scheduled to visit. She wanted to make sure everything was perfect when he came since she rarely saw him.
Andrea and Jen spoke for quite a while. By the time they ended the call Darren was fast asleep. That was certainly a switch. Jen did her best to move around the apartment quietly so not to interfere in that special moment.
4. I Don’t Know If That’s A Race
I Want To Win.
The weekend finally arrived and Merk was very thankful. After his explosion at work, he managed to make it through the next day without having much contact with anyone around the office.
He was in much better spirits while on his way to pick up Toni for their date. When Toni came to the door, Merk was stunned at her appearance. She looked incredible. Her hair was tasseled. She wore a slinky low cut slip dress that drew attention to her fantastic feminine figure and long dynamic legs.
When Merk was able to contain himself, he held the car door open for his dream date. They headed to the restaurant.
During dinner, Merk explained his confrontation at work. He didn’t mention how he almost went to see her pal Stewart but after seeing her dressed up in all of her beauty, visiting Stewart became something he felt he must do.
“You should just quit that job. There is no reason to be so unhappy, I mean, I am not completely thrilled where I work either but it’s like I make great money, I don’t have to do much, I can come and go as I please. It wouldn’t be worth quitting for me. I can probably find a way to take care of my one problem there.”
Merk just stared at her as she babbled. He caught some of what she said and he thought to himself that maybe she really is just at her job because of her looks.
After dinner, he picked up the check and threw down some money, including a very generous tip. They ended up at her apartment for a drink and sat in front of the television.
After some idle chitchat, their eyes caught one another and they leaned in for the most incredible kiss either one of them had ever felt.
Merk reached over and hit the
remote control. The television went off and the stereo went on. Tequila
They both had a very fulfilling night and Merk left her apartment at close to four AM. He was in much better spirits than he had been for quite sometime.
While Merk was driving home, Darren was realizing that his nightmares had not been cured. He woke up from a dream about a man chasing him in an old Chevrolet. In the dream, the man appeared to have some kind of Mafia ties and he was after Darren because of a murder that he witnessed.
Darren stepped out of the bed quietly so not to wake Jen. He walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water. He glanced out of the window towards the fog build up in the yard. He realized what the dream was about as he thought back to another portion of his dad’s story.
The family was away near
“How did that start? We each had to
close our eyes for forty minutes. The ones caught with their eyes open would
have to spend the night at
“That’s enough, there are kids here.” Ginny felt a scary story coming on and the other ladies agreed that they shouldn’t speak about it.
The guys tried to clean it up a little. They told the kids that Kreasherd played some really twisted games at that camp.
Kreasherd made them all sit in the street and stare up at the stars. First the kids had to sit there with their eyes closed for forty minutes and after that they had to sit and watch the stars. The kids enjoyed that part though. If you stare at the stars long enough, it will give you a tranquil, carefree, relaxing feeling.
While most of them were looking into the dark night sky, an old blue Chevrolet came down the road they were sitting in. There was a small divider down the center of the street to separate cars from on coming traffic. The road was not used very often.
Clive, Dudley and JJD were on the side of the road where the traffic would be heading east. The Chevy was heading west. The car approached rather slowly and reached within twenty feet of where the kids were sitting. The man in the car began honking his horn and yelling from the car window.
“Get the hell out of the way! Do you idiots want to get yourselves killed? What’s wrong with you?”
Clive stood up and also started to yell to get the kids out of the street. He then looked at the driver. He would never forget the look on his face. The man had a beard and mustache and a look of anger and hatred in his eyes. Spit flew off his tongue as he yelled for the kids to get out of the street. Clive gave up on trying to make them move and he began running. He feared that the man in the car was going to come after him since he had a clear view of his face. He felt the man was on the run from a crime or something. Now that he was able to ID him, he was afraid of being rubbed out.
JJD finally caught up to Clive near an out of order phone booth.
“I know why… I know why... I know why.” Clive tried to get the words out but it was as if he was in the middle of a nightmare where he couldn’t speak.
That is where Andrea asked the guys to end the story. “If you tell the rest of that story with these children around, they’ll never be able to sleep again. Besides, I don’t want to know how it ends either.”
Darren came out of his thoughts as Jen walked into the kitchen.
“What’s wrong? Are you having trouble sleeping again?” She looked in the refrigerator for the water.
“It’s right here honey.” Darren poured a glass for her.
“Thanks, nightmares sweetheart?”
“No, I was just wakened by some street noise. I got thirsty and then this fog reminded me of one of dad’s stories.”
“Oh boy, you can share it if you want but please don’t scare me.”
“I’ll scare you another time. I’m sure this one will do the trick.”
Jen thanked him sarcastically and
then they discussed Darren’s next visit with
When Darren visited
Darren filled him in on the first two stories of how his dad received the apology letters and then he started to explain what happened next.
It was June of 1981. Clive was irritated that he had not heard back from the publisher. He remembered that earlier he said that he would give them until June to straighten out whatever they needed to straighten out.
He called up and he was put on hold right away. It was already off to a bad start. He sat in his kitchen and sipped his coffee for at least ten minutes waiting.
“I’m sorry for the wait. How can I help you?”
Clive explained who he was and why he was calling. He was asked to hold on again before a supervisor came onto the line.
“Mr. Harston, it is a pleasure to speak with you. My name is Victor. Let me just apologize for all of the inconvenience you have been put through. We’ve been having some trouble with a few of our agents and unfortunately they were the agents assigned to your manuscript. I can assure you that this time it will be expedited quickly and properly.”
“Can I ask what the problem is with your agents?”
“Well, all I can really tell you is they are no longer with us.”
“What does that mean? Were they fired? Did they quit? Where the hell are they?” Clive started to get angry.
“I am very sorry Mr. Harston. I really cannot discuss it. I just want to complete your project to your satisfaction.”
“I am giving you until the beginning of August. If it is not completed by then, I am pulling the manuscript and going with a more reputable publisher.”
“You can count on me sir. I will have it complete before August. Thank you, thank you very much. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“Just get it done!”
Darren described his father’s anger
over the whole situation to
“I have heard quite a few strange stories in my line of work, so far the strangest ones have been from a young girl who I used to treat. She was kidnapped and the kidnappers ended up being caught because of a young boy’s psychic dreams. She used to talk about the boy and the cemetery fence he used to visit. She had some stories that were way out there but yours are pretty close.”
“I don’t know if that’s a race I
want to win. I do kinda enjoy some of the stories dad would share on vacation
down near
“They are pretty interesting. What do you say we pick up on them next time?”
“Wow, is time up already?”
Darren made arrangements for his next appointment and he headed out. He made it for after Merk’s visit. He wanted to make sure he had some free time to spend with his brother while he was in town.
5. That Was The Glove’s Fault.
A couple of weeks passed. Merk was
in the greatest spirits ever. Things were going wonderful with Toni and he was
on his way to
He left Toni back in
Merk’s flight arrived just before
Turning the radio lower, he continued to glance into the mirror. He felt another thump and quickly opened the door and stepped out. He walked towards the rear of the car. There was nothing there. His music suddenly got louder.
“You still have great taste in music!” Merk was standing next to the open driver’s side door. He was the one thumping on the trunk to play a little joke on his brother.
Both of them laughed and gave each other a hug. After the greetings were out of the way, they got into the car and began discussing what they had been up to since they last spoke.
Merk explained how miserable his job had been lately. Darren gave him the same advice as Toni. He told him that it’s not worth the money if it is making him that unhappy.
“You’re the second one to suggest that. I guess it’s probably the right idea.”
“I don’t love my job either but it doesn’t get me depressed. Who else suggested that you leave?”
“If I tell you something, it has to stay between us. I don’t want mom getting all excited. It may not even be that serious.”
“Either you’re having some kind of an operation or you’re seeing a girl. You look pretty healthy, so what’s her name?”
Merk explained Toni. He felt that he had to mention to Darren, and only Darren that they were discussing marriage.
“That’s good for you, I hope it works out. And don’t worry, I won’t say a word about it. I also suggest you don’t mention how miserable you are at work to dad and mom. Just try to forget about it and enjoy your time off.”
Darren made him feel better about some of the things happening in his life and then he filled him in on all of the family details. It had been close to a year since Merk had seen any of them. He normally stayed in contact over the phone.
A short while later, they were at the house where they grew up. On the way up the porch steps, Merk commented on how gloomy the woods behind the house looked.
Darren opened the front door. “Look what I found!”
Andrea put down her favorite picture of Clive that she was dusting off. She would stare at that picture whenever Clive was away. She was the first to run in to see Merk. She began hugging him and asking questions one after another. She was so excited to see him.
Clive came walking in shortly after
her. “Jumpin
“Thanks pop. What have you been working out? Check out these guns.” He joked as he felt his fathers arm.
Jen walked in next with an ear-to-ear smile. She always loved Merk.
“There’s my girl! How are ya sis?”
“I’m great! It is so good to see you again!”
They all grabbed a seat on the couches in the living room as Andrea’s Sinatra disk was in mid play and the setting sun shone in from the back of the house.
After catching up, Andrea’s curiosity was revealed.
“So, how did I do?”
“How did you do what ma?”
“How did I do as your agent?”
Merk’s face turned red as he tried to play it off that Toni was just a girl he would go out with once in a while after work.
“She has to mean more than that for you to give her my phone number.”
“Okay mom, we go out on the weekends sometimes, don’t embarrass me.”
“Okay sweetheart, you tell me when you’re ready.”
Everyone laughed a bit and Darren quickly changed the subject to relieve his brother. He turned to his dad and asked about the plans for Merk’s home coming. Clive held up three baseball tickets.
“I’m taking my boys to see a game like we did in the old days.”
Their first order of business was to catch a game at Riverfront Stadium to see the Reds. The Stadium had been renamed to Cinergy Field but they still referred to it as Riverfront. They were not overly excited about all of the stadiums taking on corporate titles. Clive had been a fan of the Reds for years and he recalled the stadium being called Crosley Field from 1934 to 1970 and even earlier, Redland Field from 1912 to 1933. He knew his team’s history.
The game went pretty slow. The Reds were up two to nothing by the seventh inning. That’s when Darren made his second trip for food and the bathroom. He joked on his way out that it was another fifty-dollar trip. Each time one of them went for three beers and snacks it cost them fifty dollars or so.
Clive and Merk spoke a bit about the old days while Darren was away.
“Enjoying the game son?”
“Yea, thanks again pop. It sure has been a while. Boy the stadium and atmosphere have changed.”
“Yea, definitely for the worse. I can remember taking you to your first game like it was yesterday. Remember those stories?”
“I remember a lot of your stories dad.”
“For some reason Darren seemed interested in my stories, you didn’t.”
“I knew they were made up, he didn’t.”
“Made up? Son, you couldn’t make up those things from my childhood.”
“What about sitting in the street closing your eyes or whatever and looking at the sky? You never even finished those stories.”
“Trust me Merk, that was for your own good. Most of those things were not for a child to hear. You’ll hear the rest when I feel you’re ready. You and your brother.”
“Okay pop. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and when you finally tell me the end of those stories, I’ll stand up and clap and call you a man of your word. That’s a promise.”
“Okay Merk. I’m gonna hold you to that.”
Just then a foul ball came flying in their direction. It tipped off of a young boy’s mit a section over and bounced right in front of Merk. He glanced down and recalled the ball that he knocked off of Donovin’s desk bouncing on the office floor.
Merk picked it up and smiled. He handed it to Clive as he glanced over at the boy who was slapping his mit with a tear in his eye.
“Go ahead dad. You do the honors.”
Clive placed the ball against his lips and then held it up and hollered. “That was the gloves fault!”
The boy turned around and Clive threw the ball to him. He raised his glove high and the ball landed safely. The boy’s dad waved over to say thank you.
The next few days went by pretty routinely. Merk ate all of his meals with his parents and stayed up late talking and watching Dave Letterman with them.
Clive also took Merk to the track one afternoon. Darren was at work that day so they went without him. Darren wasn’t into the ponies as much as they were so he decided not to use a vacation day from work for it.
Neither one of them were big gamblers but they enjoyed the park and the dream of putting down a few dollars to give a horse a chance to make them some big bucks.
Clive followed the Kentucky Derby
almost as closely as his Cincinnati Reds. That is why he loved Churchill Downs
so much. He would often tell of the facts from the derbies past. He recalled
facts such as, out of the one hundred and twenty two winners, ninety-two were
born in
He explained that only one horse
had ever been disqualified from the
His favorite
Most of the day they threw a couple of dollars down on each race. Up until the seventh race, they didn’t have much luck at all.
“This one’s a throw away pop. You pick one and I’ll pick one. We’ll box an exacta and call it a day. I like Lil Miss Misty. How about you?”
“Let me see that.” He grabbed the program. “Well, Jumpin Cri Falls, Lil Miss Misty, how about that?”
“Maybe I did listen to your stories once in a while.”
“Well then, I guess you know who I have to go with then. Look at that number four horse, Admiral A. Lil Miss Misty and Admiral A in the same race. That has to be a sign.”
They played the exacta and it must have been a sign because it paid eight hundred forty two dollars and sixty-five cents. That was the happiest they ever left the racetrack.
Clive recalled the largest Kentucky Derby payoff being one hundred and eighty four dollars and ninety cents for a two-dollar bet on Donerrail to win in 1913.
In the beginning of the second week, Merk received a phone call from Toni.
“Hey, how is everything?”
“I’m still alive. You wouldn’t know that if I didn’t keep your agents phone number.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to spend too much time on the phone. You know, the questions would follow.”
“Yea, I know, make believe I don’t exist. I just thought you would like to hear the news.”
“Uh-oh, what news?”
“It looks like you’re gonna be a father.”
There was about five seconds of absolute silence. “That’s great! Right?”
“We’ll discuss how great it is when you get back from your trip.”
They talked for a little while longer. Merk tried his hardest to get her to crack a smile. It wasn’t easy but he managed to get an I love you before they hung up. He felt a bit uneasy about the way the call ended but he had an even bigger issue to face, becoming a father.
He spent the next couple of days with his parents. They noticed that he was somewhat distracted. They tried not to harp on it. They figured if he needed to talk about something, he would bring it up. He did need to talk about the situation so he waited for his last night in town. That evening he spoke about it with the one person he felt comfortable discussing it with. That was Darren. The two of them went out for a drink at the local restaurant.
“Good evening Darren. Where is the lovely Jen?” The maitradee Alex greeted Darren.
“Hi Alex, she’s home, this is my brother Merk. We’re just here to have a drink.”
“Nice to make your acquaintance Merk.” Alex set them up at the bar.
“So, what is on your mind?”
“Can’t we just go out without there being something on my mind?”
“I know we can but you got mom a little nervous. You knew she would tell me if she thought something was wrong.”
“Yea, you’re right about that. Well, I guess you should brace yourself for this one.” Merk took a deep breath and then informed Darren about Toni being pregnant.
Darren almost spit his drink out. He was speechless at first.
“I told you to brace yourself.”
They both laughed for a second and Darren gave him what he felt would be good advice. He steered Merk towards the positive parts and told him that it sounded like a good thing since they were already discussing marriage.
They stayed on the subject for a while until Merk brought up their dad’s old stories.
“So you really felt that dad’s crazy stories were true all along?”
“Yea, why do you ask? Don’t you believe em?”
“I didn’t at the time but after talking with him at the game and the racetrack the other night, I kinda changed my stand.”
“I don’t think anyone could make up stuff like the kids sitting on that road with the car pulling up and honking or that bathtub thing. Every time we have a foggy night I think about those stories.”
“You can do that here, there’s not
as much fog in
Darren drifted off into another story.
“Do you remember the one about craft class with the long white rocks and how they made necklaces out of them?”
Darren was referring to one of Clive’s stories about the unforgettable rocks they made necklaces out of when they had their weekly hour of crafts.
Normally they just drew some
pictures or built small forts out of cardboard boxes. That one day
There were only enough for three necklaces so he gave a handful to JJ and Clive and they made their necklaces during craft hour. Merk recalled the story.
“You see, that’s what I don’t get. Dad starts a story. They make necklaces out of rocks, big deal. Why doesn’t he ever finish the stories? I love him but you have to admit that’s a little strange.”
“I guess you’re right but he probably has his reasons.”
They both laughed and enjoyed Merk’s last night in town.
6. DDN.
Merk arrived back in
Merk was back at his miserable job. With everything else that was going on, he was able to tolerate work a little better. He also tried not to complain about it since Toni was grouchy enough because of her pregnancy.
He did his best to keep a level head about being there. He became a little more accepting towards the people he was not overly fond of. Everything was going a little smoother, until one day when Toni came home enraged about Stewart.
It wasn’t a secret anymore that Toni was having a baby, she was pretty far along and it couldn’t be hidden. When she walked in the door, Merk glanced at her and recalled seeing her at the Seaport with the balloon under her blouse and he remembered his disappointment.
“Do you know what that jerk said to me today? In front of everyone he said I might as well start my maternity leave now since I am not worth looking at anymore. I was so embarrassed. I didn’t know what to say. All I could do was walk away. I found out later that he said my job wouldn’t be there after the baby unless I get my figure back.”
Merk was boiling as he hugged her and tried to make her feel better. He had bigger ideas going through his mind for Stewart.
The next day, Darren left work
early again to meet with
“I’m sorry Darren. I believe the only way you are going to be able to get your sleep pattern back and live a normal life is to let go of your father’s past.”
“I know you’re right. It’s just not that simple for me to do.”
They agreed to meet again when Darren felt he would be able to let go of the issues.
At the same time Darren was walking to his car, Merk was on his way over to Toni’s office. He knew she was at the doctor’s getting a check up for her and the baby. That gave him a perfect opportunity to pay a visit to Stewart.
Merk was filled with anger as he made his way to the building. He walked quickly because he knew Corr would give him a hard time if he returned late from lunch again.
He walked through the busy
After the light finally changed, he began to cross the street as a bus stopped right in the crosswalk causing him to be inconvenienced by walking all the way around the bus and holding his breath as he passed the rear so not to inhale the exhaust. That fed his anger.
The revolving doors of Toni’s building were right in front of him. He clenched his muscles and took in a deep breath as he entered. The street noise suddenly halted in his head.
He reached the twenty-sixth floor and exited the elevator. He glanced around and thought of the first time he was there. He recalled Toni walking from her desk, flipping her hair over her shoulder and entering a co-workers office with a big smile. In his mind, he could smell the flowers he dropped off for her that day. After composing himself, he headed towards Toni’s desk.
“Can I help you sir?” A woman asked.
“Would you be able to direct me to a fellow named Stewart?”
She sent him to an office towards the back of the floor. It was the same office that Toni entered the day he left the flowers for her. When he reached the office door, he pulled on the knob but it was locked.
“May I help you with something sir?” Another guy asked.
“I was just looking for Stewart.”
“Sorry, he left for the afternoon, he should be back in a few hours. Can I be of any assistance?”
“Yea, please just tell him an old friend came by to say hello.” Merk rushed back to work annoyed that his perfect opportunity fell through.
Later that evening, he went over to
Toni’s. They still had separate apartments, his was in
Merk didn’t mention where he visited during lunch. He wanted to surprise her if he was ever able to get his hands on Stewart.
Toni was feeling extra emotional and that brought out her need to talk about a wedding. They had been putting off that conversation for quite a while. At that point they were both ready to pick a date. They scheduled it for the Saturday three weeks away.
They planned on something small, just family and close friends. Merk decided to call Darren right away. He was the only one that knew the situation. Darren answered the phone very pleased to hear Merk’s voice on the other end.
“Well, I can’t ask you to go out for a drink this time.” That was Merk’s way to let his brother know there was something he needed to talk about.
“What happened now?”
“I guess you can say I took your advice.”
“You’re staying with the girl?”
“We’re getting married in less than a month.”
“That’s great! I told you it would all work out.”
“How’d you like to be my best man?
That is, if you can make it up to
“I believe I can fit the trip into my schedule.”
“I just have one problem, I don’t know how to go about telling dad and mom.”
“Are you kidding? This will be great news for them. We’ll all fly up together.”
After they spoke, Darren put Jen on the phone to say congratulations. She was very happy for Merk. She questioned if Toni was good enough for him. He was like her big brother also. She only wanted him to be happy. Darren and Jen sat up in bed talking about it later that night.
“You didn’t tell me they were this serious.”
“You don’t know the half of it.”
“What does that mean? Is there something wrong with her?”
“That depends. Do you consider being pregnant wrong?”
That led to a long conversation about Toni before they went to sleep. Jen wasn’t sure how she felt about her but she was going to give her a fair chance. Jen was protective of Merk. She didn’t want him getting the bad end of any deal.
Jen eventually dozed off and Darren sat up thinking about his dad’s campsite once again.
Clive and the other boys used to pull out weeds and do yard chores around the grounds. Kreasherd would explain what needed to get done.
One extra hot day, Kreasherd stood chopping away at an old tree stump with his axe. The sweat was dripping off him so he decided to take his shirt off and throw it to the side.
Clive took a close look at his back and that’s when he noticed a tattoo under Kreasherd’s left shoulder. It was the outline of an island with the letters DDN in the center.
The image struck Clive as interesting. He wanted to ask what the letters meant but Kreasherd had a scary side to him and if he didn’t want to share the meaning, things could get uncomfortable.
Darren fell asleep with his hand over Jen’s left shoulder thinking about the outline of the tattoo.
The next day, Merk and Toni made all of the necessary arrangements for a quiet wedding party. Merk called his parents and informed them that he would have plane tickets and room accommodations for all of them mailed as long as they were able to make it for the chosen date.
Andrea cleared her schedule for that weekend. Her, Clive, Darren and Jen were ready to make a long weekend out of it.
“I guess I was a better agent than
you thought. This is marvelous. I can hardly wait. We will all be up there that
Thursday before the big day and we’ll be ready for a wonderful celebration.”
Andrea was very thrilled to hear the news. She couldn’t wait to meet Toni and
visit
Before they knew it, the wedding week had arrived.
7. To Be There. From Brightness,
To Chaos, To Desolation.
Clive and the family landed at
“My son is not a bachelor anymore. He’s all grown up. Oh, my boy. Where’s Toni? Didn’t she come? Is she okay? Is the baby all right?” She continued her usual questioning.
“Everything is fine mom. She is making sure the apartment is presentable for you.” Merk directed them to the car.
As he opened the doors for them, he looked over at Darren and recalled in his head the little prank he played when Darren picked him up at the airport. He could still hear Springsteen in his mind as a plane took off in the background.
He brought the family over to Toni’s apartment. That was the one they decided to keep. When they got there, Merk noticed that Toni had stepped out.
“Where is my new daughter in law and baby? Is she here? Did they have to see the doctor again?”
“I forgot mom, she was going out to get some cake or pie or something for dessert. She’ll be here. Give me your things and make yourselves comfortable.” Merk went to fix some drinks. The guys put the television on and found a baseball game.
“Hey Merk! Your Mets are on! They’re losing two nothing!”
“Yep, that sounds like my Mets! Always behind!”
Jen walked out of the bathroom as Toni walked in the front door.
“Here’s my blushing bride!” Merk yelled from the bar area. He made all of the introductions and they all sat down to talk.
Toni excused herself quickly. “Baby has to go potty.”
Andrea commented on how beautiful she looked and Darren gave a thumbs up.
“Way to go son.” Clive whispered.
Toni came out of the bathroom holding a towel. “Merk, do you always have to leave the towels laying wherever the hell you feel like putting them?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, that was me.” Jen apologized.
“Oh.” Toni put the towel back.
Jen turned to Darren and made a displeased face. Darren held her hand and tried to tell her to go easy on Toni since she was pregnant.
It wasn’t easy for Jen to hold her tongue. Toni annoyed her with everything she said.
“Oh this guy sucks.” Toni was referring to the music. Freebird was playing quietly in the background.
“What guy?” Jen made an attempt to entertain the statement.
“Leonard Skinner.”
“It’s not a guy. It’s a band and it’s not Leonard Skinner. It’s Lynard Skynard. And they hardly suck.” Jen spelled out the name of the band for her.
Ever since Darren explained to her that it bothered him that people would refer to a band’s name as a person, it also got on her nerves.
Toni didn’t comment back, she just walked towards the kitchen.
After dinner and a couple of hours of conversation, Merk showed the family to the hotel up the road where he had arranged for them to stay. He walked in with them to make sure the registration was correct and he helped carry some bags.
Once everything was squared away, Merk was on his way back home. The family was so exhausted from the trip they all fell asleep in a matter of minutes, even Darren.
When Merk got back to the apartment, Toni was also fast asleep. He made himself a drink and fell asleep in his recliner watching the Mets lose the second game of their double header.
The next morning, Toni shared her feelings about her new in-laws with Merk. She acted as if she was joking but she took a shot at each one of them.
“Your mother asks so many questions. Is she slow? And your brother seems like he would back down from anyone. Who can read your dad? He seems scary.”
“Are you going to say anything nice? What is with you?”
“I’m sorry, it’s the pregnancy.” Once again she blamed her mood on the baby. She didn’t share her feelings about Jen but it was obvious that she didn’t care very much for her. Jen didn’t seem to have much admiration in return either.
A little later, Darren and Merk went out to pick up some groceries and things for the apartment. Another reason Darren enjoyed visiting New York was that he got to hear one of his favorite radio personalities, Jayke J. Koarell, Jayke had an afternoon talk show that was aired from Tampa Bay, Florida and syndicated in the New York and Washington DC markets.
The show dealt with a wide variety of issues but mostly addressed news regarding astronomy and space events. Jayke was also known for his opinionated manner and short fuse. One regular guest on the show was an old acquaintance of Clive’s who was also a writer. His name was E. Patch Liddick.
Merk and Darren were enjoying the radio show as they headed back to the apartment in some light traffic on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway.
“Man, I don’t know how you New Yorker’s tolerate this traffic. How could you call this an expressway? This is far from express!”
“Ha, traffic, you haven’t seen anything. Normally I sit still for hours over here. Luckily it’s not rush hour. Actually rush hours, it lasts for close to twelve hours long on a weekday. One day these genus’ will figure out a way to add a lane or two.”
“I could never get used to this ridiculous nonsense.”
“I’ll never get used to looking up at that empty sky.”
They both stopped talking and stared at the gap in the skyline where the mighty twin towers once stood. They each had sadness, anger and hatred fill their minds whenever that subject came up. So did most of the world and they knew that words, looks, actions nor any possible expression could come close to taking that day and twisting it enough to produce an ounce of logic from any point of view.
After their short pause, Merk recalled the writer from the radio show.
“Patch was there. He was in the third building that collapsed. He wrote a short poem about it. It doesn’t rhyme but I think they still call that a poem.”
“Really? Where can I get a copy?”
“I have it printed at home, I’ll show you it later.”
They continued to complain about the traffic and when they finally got to the apartment, Merk showed the poem to Darren.
TO BE THERE:
FROM BRIGHTNESS TO CHAOS TO
DESOLATION.
ANOTHER MORNING LEAVING THE
SUBWAY STATION TO BEGIN ONE MORE WALK UP THE SUBDUED STREETS OF THE
EXPECTING A ROUTINE PATTERN
AS THE SECOND HOUR OF THE TYPICAL DAY PASSES, THE SKY SUDDENLY FILLS WITH
OFFICE PAPERS…
ONLY CONFUSION TAKES PLACE
AS A CLOSER GLANCE REVEALS A GAP IN ONE OF THE WORLDS TALLEST CREATIONS FILLED
WITH SMOKE, FIRE AND A HUMAN-MISSLE…
THE SIGHT BRINGS AWE AND
TEARS TO MANY EYES. TOO MUCH TO HANDLE FOR MOST AS THE ONLY HUMANE DECISION
COULD BE TO LOOK AWAY…
IF NOT TRAMATIZED ENOUGH, A
SECOND FLIGHT OF DISASTER DISMANTLES PART TWO OF THE CREATION AND MAMES THOSE
INSIDE WITHOUT A CHANCE TO SURVIVE…
ASIDE FROM METAL… HOPES,
DREAMS, FAMILIES, FAITH, FEELINGS, AND LIVES ARE SCORNED, BURNED, AND
DESTROYED…
FRANTIC ONLOOKERS SCATTER IN
ALL DIRECTIONS WITH ONLY THOUGHTS OF THEIR DEMISE IN A BALL OF SMOKE AND PIECES
OF WHAT WAS THEIR MAJOR LANDMARK…
WHAT COULD ONLY TAKE PLACE
IN A MOVIE OR A BAD DREAM HAS BECOME REALITY…
SOME ESCAPE, BUT HARDLY
ENOUGH CAN...
THE ONES THAT DO, SOON LEARN
OF OTHER DEMONIC
LEFT BEHIND ARE THE BRAVEST
OF HEROES TO ENTER THE FLAMES OF HELL WITH ONLY THOUGHTS OF SAVING THEIR
FELLOW-MAN…
QUIETNESS SOON FILLS THE
INDESCRIBABLE, UNEXPLAINABLE DISASTER…
ALL THE NATION LEARNS THAT
THE TEARS AND ASHES ARE NOT ENOUGH TO HIDE THE LOVE, BRAVERY AND COMRODERY THAT
IS SHOWN WHEN A FELLOW AMERICAN IS IN DESPAIR… EPL.
Darren wiped the tears from his eyes when he finished reading. The poem added to his feeling of that day.
Toni walked by and noticed what he
was reading. “Oh that again. The
Merk and Darren didn’t hear her
comment or else they both would have lost it. Toni was down in the
Darren composed himself after
reading the poem and headed back to the hotel to take the family out for the
day to enjoy the sites
They visited The Statue of Liberty, Battery Park and took a sight seeing tour around the island.
In the late afternoon hours, they stopped for a Japanese dinner in Midtown. Jen was tempted to mention her feelings of Toni over dinner but she managed to hold her tongue.
After dinner, they took an elevator
ride up to the top of The Empire State Building to get a bird’s eye view of
After the long evening, they all fell asleep rather quickly, except for Darren. He sat awake in the kitchen area of the hotel thinking about the words of the E. Patch Liddick poem.
The big day had arrived. Merk and Toni split up for the day and planned for their next meeting to be at the altar. Merk went out with his father and brother to have some drinks to calm himself down and pass the time.
“I guess you’ll have to consider this your bachelor party. We really didn’t have an opportunity to get anything together.” Darren commented.
“Don’t worry about that. I didn’t even think of having one.”
Clive raised his glass to make a toast as Ken and the guys who Merk ate lunch with at the Seaport came strolling in.
“Having your last drink before you walk the final mile?” Ken joked.
The guys had a laugh and Merk made the introductions. Not far behind the guys, two very attractive women walked in.
The bartender stepped away from the bar for a moment as the women started talking to Clive. His face turned red as he made some small talk and flirted a bit.
“Man oh man! It’s my last day of freedom and my dad’s getting all the action.”
They all laughed for a moment and then the women began removing their clothing.
“SURPRISE!” The guys yelled out as the girls began to put on a show.
Back at the apartment, Andrea and Toni’s cousins were helping her get ready for her big day. Andrea recalled her wedding day as a tear rolled down her cheek. She told the ladies all about it, including a part about an unwanted guest that attended.
“You look as beautiful as I felt way back then. Everything was perfect, the flowers, the food, the drinks and the music. Clive and I were so happy, up until the moment he looked over and noticed someone he knew that wasn’t invited.
The man was tall and thin. I didn’t get a good look at his face though. I could tell that he had a beard and I thought he was wearing sunglasses. Up until now, I still don’t know for sure.”
“Who was he?”
“I really don’t know. All I knew was that he stayed for a short while and made Clive very uncomfortable, he never wanted to talk about it afterwards.”
They all continued to make Toni look her best.
Jen stayed at the hotel. She was not very happy about the marriage that Merk was getting into but she didn’t plan on interfering, nor did she want to act like a phony and help dress the bride.
Aside from the hidden stomach, Toni looked stunning. Before she knew it she was walking down the aisle to stand beside her handsome groom. Merk stood in front of the priest with the grin of a child on Halloween.
Half way through the ceremony, Clive had to excuse himself. He wasn’t feeling very well. He searched to find a place to lie down for a while.
He assured Andrea that he just needed some rest and he headed to an area in the back of the reception hall to close his eyes for a little while. The hall and the church were in the same building. Clive fell asleep and had a dream about the unwanted wedding guest.
“They can only help you so much. They won’t keep us from taking him.” Besides seeing himself as he looked years ago, those words were all he was able to remember from the dream.
He woke up with some stomach pains and he told Andrea to go back to the hall to enjoy everything. He told her that he would join the fun as soon as he felt better.
Soon after that, Merk and Toni were husband and wife. The reception hall was not big but it was beautiful. Half way through the celebration, many of the guests were growing concerned about Clive.
“I just checked on him a short while ago. His stomach was still bothering him. I don’t think it is anything too serious. One of the waiters told me that he called a doctor just for precaution. Clive told me not to let him ruin my good time. He insisted that I get back to the party.”
“He’ll be fine Andrea, it’s probably all of the excitement.” Jen tried comforting her mother in-law.
Darren grabbed the microphone from the deejay. “Merk had enough of the spot light. It is time to make a special dedication. This one goes out to a great man! A wonderful man! A man I would like to be! To my dad, Mr. Clive Harston!”
All of the guests cheered as Bobby Darren belted out “Sailing”. Everyone looked around to find Clive, he was no where to be seen.
After the first two lines of the song were played, Clive came walking in like a lounge singer with his fingers snapping.
As the song played on, Clive smiled in Darren’s direction and pulled his wife close to dance.
“That kid knows how to make a dad feel special.”
“And he knows how to get a special dad off his sick behind.” She added.
Before the night ended, Ken grabbed the mic and put on one of his routines for the few people that were still there.
“Good evening ladies and gentle dudes and thank you for coming. Please remember to tip your bartenders and bridesmaids before you go.
Isn’t it great how a wedding can bring so many people together? Even if they are people you didn’t need to see ever again. Hey look, Billy and Mary are still here, OTB must be closed.
And right behind them, it’s George and Gail, hey Gail, how’d you get him here? Did you put the remote control down your shirt?”
The people that knew them let out some laughs.
“Oh weddings are so nice, the only bad part is, some poor bastard just got himself married. No, no I’m kidding, marriage is great… for a woman.”
There were more laughs.
“When a man gets married, his wife becomes his sister, it becomes a sin for him to touch her… Ain’t it funny how a wife never wants to touch her husband and at the same time she doesn’t want her husband to touch anyone else?”
He paused for a few more laughs.
“What’s the difference between complete and finished?”
“What?”
When a woman gets married, her life is complete. When a man gets married, it’s finished!
Hey Merk, enjoy The Virgin Islands and get used to the old feeling of being one.”
Once again, Ken left the audience rolling.
Once the party was over and thank you's and hugs and kisses were given, Merk and Toni stopped by the apartment for an hour or two of sleep before they headed to The Virgin Islands for their honeymoon.
8.
Clive, Andrea, Darren and Jen all
headed back to
Darren was still unable to sleep through the nights with all of the old stories on his mind. He made his normal walk around the apartment one night as Jen fell asleep early as usual.
“Merk was right,
It was back during the camp days. Clive, JJ, and some others were on their nightly hike. They often thought of running off to find something better during those hikes but they knew they wouldn’t be able to make it out in the world at their ages.
The guys walked around their usual places. At that time they were aware of where the holes were and they knew not to walk in that area.
“We ain’t supposed to go over there anyway. That place is too close to the forbidden tents.”
“You’re right. We should stay clear of them.”
“Do you guys really believe in the tents curse?”
“I don’t know if I do or I don’t but I’m not going in them tents to find out.”
The kids were referring to an old tale about the three tents on the grounds off to the side where nobody went. It was said that if anyone entered the tents, they would suffer the tents curse.
The kids were very fearful of that. They didn’t know who started the story or how much truth there was to it but they never dared to enter.
Darren came out of his dream sitting at the kitchen table. He glanced out of the window to see the fog and it startled him. He jumped in his seat slightly and then he went to join Jen, who was sound asleep.
Merk and Toni were on their last day of their honeymoon. They didn’t have the greatest of times. They spent a couple of days fighting but they managed to fit in a small amount of romance and fun.
Merk dreaded going back to his job, he knew he didn’t have a choice though. The first couple of day’s back weren’t so bad. After a week or two it began getting worse and worse. He had his usual arguments with Pol Corr and a few of the others. Ken joked around and tried to make him happier, it just didn’t help.
He still didn’t get his chance to confront Stewart and he was burning up more each day. Between all of that and the stress from the job, he was beginning to get skin rashes. Pol Corr asked him to come into his office on one of his worst days.
“Are you unhappy Merk? You’ve been walking around here angry and short-tempered. You have been taking quite a lot of time off also. I never really cared for your production level either.”
“Your little suck ass attitude doesn’t help me get through my long stressful days! If you cared more about getting things done the right way instead of supporting the new set of brainless rules, maybe this would be a decent place to work! And thanks for all of your thoughtful comments!”
Corr took a breath and seemed a little nervous. He knew that he spent more time worrying about senseless issues, such as the distribution of joke e-mails and making sure he employed certain people only because of their sex or religion or other beliefs that didn’t relate to their job performance. The bottom line was, Corr knew nothing about the job. He was hired to make sure no one told an offensive joke or took an extra three minutes on their lunch.
When it came down to getting the work done, Merk was the highest producer in the department. Without him, it would run like a car on one wheel. Corr didn’t like Merk as a person, that’s why he gave him a hard time. He knew that Merk took care of everything that needed to be done job wise, that’s why Corr feared pushing him too far.
“How many times do I have to tell you to watch your tone with me?”
“Tell me again, maybe that will
help! Why don’t you finish the
That night, Merk and Toni had a very important discussion regarding their future. They decided that since Toni made such good money where she worked, Merk would leave his job to raise the baby once he was born. That way they wouldn’t need to hire someone.
Merk was very happy with the solution they came up with and he figured he would just have to stay at the job up until Toni was able to go back. That wasn’t as far off as it seemed.
Some time had passed and Toni’s due date was less than a week away. She was due on November thirteenth.
Clive stood in front of his home, holding his rake as he reflected on his past.
“Honey, it’s about that time. We don’t want to miss the entrance of our first grandchild. Stop daydreaming and step on it!” Andrea yelled while holding the screen door open.
Clive was startled as he was brought back to reality from a visit to one of his old camp days. He was remembering a night out in the woods when the camp director had the children watching the stars.
“All right, all right,
Everything went as smooth as
possible and they arrived in
Darren used up most of his vacation days for the year and Jen was not completely happy about Merk’s new wife so they stayed behind.
Jen cleaned up around the house a
bit while Darren went through some things in the attic. He came across a few
old boxes from his childhood that stirred up some special memories. He went
over all of their old vacations to
Darren put the pictures down and he picked up another box. He took some newspapers off the top. He made his way to the bottom of the box and he was amazed at what he came across. It was Clive’s manuscript that was talked about for as long as Darren could remember. He began to look it over.
He believed that the book was about The Misty Dins. He thought they had their own language. There were mostly English letters accompanied by symbols. Clive wrote part of his book in this language only to show an example of the writing. He re-wrote the same part in English also.
Darren trembled with excitement as he opened the mysterious manuscript. He decided to give it a read before he took any further steps. The entire thing was written in sort of a diary or journal type way. The part that was translated from what he thought was The Misty Dins writing to English intrigued Darren most of all. He began to read a chapter.
9. Jumpin
Today was spent in horror and disbelief. The way these fanatics behave behind closed doors is a sight to see.
I sit in fear of being spotted as they pass around some sort of a jug and they each take a sip. The men wipe their whiskers with torn sleeves and let out creepy belch like sounds. The women emit evil sounding giggles and rub themselves in improper ways. I am unable to see their faces.
It is much like witnessing some sort of a dark mass except it is lacking the ceremonial portion. They choose not to dance nor sing. They choose to sit and stare.
Each breath I inhale I take with caution. Bringing notice to my presence will only threaten my well being.
A man entered the room very quietly. He walked past each man and woman handing everyone of them some sort of a capsule. When everyone was holding one in their hand, the man made a gesture and each one of them ate their capsule.
After a few minutes they all started behaving even stranger than before. They spoke in their language suggesting evil ideas of how to get even with the Cruedeesh Soacioan, which translated, to Cruel or Crewed Society.
They had intense anger towards abiding by rules and regulations set forth by humans that they saw as no better than themselves. Therefore they should not hold more power than them.
One of the members was a note taker. She sat and wrote down the ideas that were brought forward after they took their capsules. They usually would not remember all of the ideas the next day.
Their way of getting back at the Cruedeesh Socacioan was to begin with the children. They would study the children and watch to see which ones did not have parents or had parents that didn’t care for them. They would use this abandonment to their favor.
They came up with bizarre ways to test the children, each one more deranged than the last. What they were really in search of was the next generation of their society. The recruits must be clever, strong and independent. They must be able to think quickly and bring ideas to the table.
That first day, I must have spent twelve hours studying their behaviors. I believe it scarred me for life. So did other things that I witnessed.
I had to wait until every last one of them was out of that room before I made my escape. When it appeared to be safe, I bolted towards the first window I could find. The doors were not safe. They could have led me to any number of places inside the compound.
I was able to make my move and I
ran as fast as my legs would let me. I ended up at a beach type area. It was at
the end of a large lake off of
The cove was like a small hideaway that no one knew. It was the perfect sanctuary to hide from the horde. While I rested my head the sounds of a frightening opera filled my mind. I stayed there for a few hours and rested. I felt like I was safe from The Society there.
Later in the evening, I made it back to the campground with my friends. We never had head counts or attendance taking, so no one really noticed that I was gone. I never spoke a word of what I witnessed from that closet, nor did I tell anyone how I got into that closet.
After a few days of camp type
activities, I became more curious about The Society. I decided to make it back
to that compound once again. It was only a twenty or thirty-minute walk from
the campground, just passed
Those were the falls that formed at the end of the river which ended at the lake by Angwin’s Cove. The story goes that some previous campers named them after the kids that cried as they jumped into the falls. Who knows if there is any truth to it? It sounds like a fun legend though.
I returned to the grounds and found a better spot to sit and spy. I climbed through a basement window and searched for a while. It was more like some kind of a crawl space. The ceiling and the floor only had three feet or so between them.
I found some interesting trinkets in a box. There were empty bottles, knives, wire and an urn.
I noticed a small hole in the ceiling where I could look in to see them gathering for another meeting. They discussed the same type of things as the last time.
I learned something new about them and it frightened me. They spoke about how they attempted to take the lives of members that didn’t work out. They also spoke of where their souls were put to rest if they didn’t get them in time. Pretgetre was the word they called the final resting-place.
The conversation and events became too much for me to listen to. I learned more than I wanted to about these people. I learned more than any outsider ever did. I grabbed the box of trinkets, put it under my arm and made it out of the window. One of the items in the box fell out as I squeezed through the opening. It was the urn, somewhat of an antique. It hit the ground and made some noise, enough to disturb the meeting.
As I ran through the weeds in the darkness, I looked over my shoulder to see a hand pull the window shade to the side. They were watching me head back to the campground.
The next morning I awoke in my bunk. Two people were standing over me. They were holding the box of trinkets that I hid under the bunk. I knew who they were and I was afraid of what they wanted. I couldn’t see their faces.
“Did you enjoy your visit?” One of them asked in a scary but friendly way.
I trembled, unable to gather words to answer him.
“You are welcome to keep the items that you found as long as you cooperate with us. What do you know about us?”
I was so afraid that I had to tell them everything I heard and saw. I felt an uncontrollable wetness in my pants. They appreciated my honesty and made me an honorary member of their group. I didn’t want to have anything to do with them but the fear inside of me made me agree to anything they wanted.
I spent the next three years with them, learning everything about them, attending meetings, learning of their killings, being taught of the capsules and the liquid in the jug, and what and where Pretgetre is.
Here is where the pages of the worlds most dangerous group of misfits unfold. This is a troubling and disturbing group with many secrets.
That is how Clive’s story began. He was able to fill close to three hundred pages with the events and the explanations of the disturbing activities that went on amongst the group for years.
Clive was permitted to leave only under three conditions. He agreed to the conditions and left the grounds at the age of sixteen.
10. A Rare Occurrence.
Darren was shocked that the manuscript was dumped in the attic. Clive told the family years ago that it was thrown away after his final attempt of getting it published.
In early August of 1981, Clive called the publishing company like he told Victor he would on the phone. He asked for Victor only to find out that he too was no longer with the company.
Clive had another small fit and he demanded the manuscript back. He was determined to go through another publisher.
When he finally received the manuscript back, he looked around for another publisher. He told the family that he found one that he wanted to go with and he left early one morning for a meeting. As the hours went by, the whole family became nervous. They didn’t understand why a meeting with a publishing company would go on for so long.
He ended up walking in the house well after seven PM. When he walked in, he was angrier than ever before regarding the manuscript. He told the family that he never wanted to hear another word about it and he was throwing it away. That was when he decided to spend his free time focusing on the Cincinnati Reds and horse racing.
Darren came out of his daydream sitting in the attic surrounded by a mess of his childhood memories. He had what he felt was the greatest idea of his life.
He cleaned up the mess around him,
organized the manuscript and ran down stairs with it. He explained to Jen that
he was going to bring it to a publishing company in
Jen thought that was a great idea. She stayed at the house while Darren headed out to get the ball rolling.
That night, Toni was rushed to the hospital. Her labor pains were increasing. They all went with her. Clive, Andrea and Toni’s cousin Laura sat in the waiting room as Merk accompanied Toni into the emergency room.
A few hours passed and at eleven minutes after eleven PM, Toni gave birth to a baby boy two days before the expected birthday. They named him TJ, short for Thomas Joseph.
After all of the excitement, Andrea rushed to a phone to call Darren to let him know he was an uncle.
Darren was very pleased to hear the news. After Andrea shared all of the details, Darren let her in on his little surprise.
“Please don’t say a word to dad. I think he is going to love what I went and did for him today.”
Darren then explained how he came across the manuscript and brought it to the city to have it published. The man at the publishing company, Ben, really seemed to believe that they had a big hit on their hands.
Ben told Darren that he would be in touch within the week to let him know when his decision would be final.
“That is just terrific. I am very impressed with you doing something like this for your father. I promise I won’t spoil the secret. I just can’t believe that old story was sitting up there collecting dust for all of these years. Wow, what a day, one son makes me a grandma and the other makes his dads dream come true.”
Andrea was very excited. She was dying to share the secret, however she knew she was not allowed to. She fell asleep with a huge smile on her face that night. It was an unforgettable day for her.
A couple of days had passed and Darren received a phone call that he didn’t expect so soon. It was Ben from the publishing company.
“Hello Mr. Harston, I am very pleased to tell you that we are ready to get the ball rolling on your father’s project. As soon as you give the say so, we can begin. Everything seems to be in order, your dad appears to be a pro.”
“That is great! You have my say so. How long will the process take?”
“Since we are so impressed with the material, it shouldn’t take long at all. I can probably have a draft copy ready for your approval in a couple of weeks or so.”
Darren was thrilled. The only one he shared the details with was Jen. She couldn’t wait to see the finished product.
Clive and Andrea finished helping Merk fix up the nursery before they traveled back home. The baby was set up in his new home and the family and friends kept their eyes glued to him since his arrival.
Between the happiness of the new addition and knowing that he would be leaving his nightmare job, Merk was a changed man. He found it so much easier getting through the workdays at that time in his life. He prepared some time bombs at the job that he planned to go off long after he was gone. He hid many of the accounts he was working on in folders on his own computer, not to be shared with Corr or any of his coworkers. None of them were aware that he had plans to leave the company.
Darren called Ben to see how the project was going. He reached a woman on the phone when he dialed Ben’s number.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Ben is no longer
with us. I can check on the progress for you and get back to you if you like.”
She introduced herself as
“This sounds oh too familiar. Can you tell me where Ben went?”
“Um, I’m sorry, I am new here. I really don’t know where he went. I’ll try to find out if you’d like.”
“That would be fine. Once you get the information you can give me a call back but don’t tell anyone else who may answer the phone. I am trying to keep it a secret.”
Darren gave her his phone number. He felt like he
was falling into one of his father’s old stories. It seemed mysterious to him
that another publisher was gone. He also became concerned about
All night long Darren thought about
how he was going to continue with his father’s surprise while making sure
He sat in the kitchen for a couple of hour’s drinking water as he thought about the situation. The fog outside seemed thicker than ever before. The clock on the stove said two AM. Darren’s mind was racing. Between the book, the publishers, the baby and the fog, he just needed to close his eyes for a while and try to sleep. He walked back into the bedroom and crawled into bed next to Jen, who was fast asleep as usual.
In the morning, a few towns over, Andrea was getting out of bed. She was quite surprised that she was awake before Clive. That was a rare occurrence. The only time she gets out of bed before him is when he is sick or if he tells her before hand that he needs to stay in bed for the morning.
Andrea headed into the kitchen. She started breakfast and put on a pot of coffee. She opened up the window shades and squinted as the sunlight bursted through and a small flash of blue light. It was the first time in a while that the fog was gone before noon.
Since she had the early part of the morning alone, Andrea decided to give Darren and Jen a call.
“Hi Jen. It’s me, Andrea. I just figured I would give you a call since it’s not too often I wake up before your father in law. How is Darren’s surprise coming along?”
“From what he told me, it sounds like it is going well. He’s still asleep and you know I can’t interrupt his sleep on the weekends. He hardly gets four hours a night during the week.”
Andrea was concerned about how the book was coming along. Since Darren was finally getting some rest, she didn’t push the subject. She and Jen spoke for a while and after they hung up, Andrea went in to check on Clive.
She stood over him and watched him sleep peacefully as she thought about all of the work he put into the book that was soon to be out on shelves. She put her hand on his face. It was one of her proudest moments of their marriage.
As she felt his skin, she noticed it was abnormally cold and the room was abnormally warm. She pulled the covers off of him and noticed he wasn’t breathing. She became overly nervous as she checked for a pulse and a heartbeat. There was nothing.
Her eyes filled up with tears as she picked up the phone and tried to get the words out to the operator that there was an emergency in the house.
1. What Does She Want Now?
Clive’s funeral was the saddest one the Harston family ever had the displeasure of witnessing. The tears rolled down the cheeks of each family member as the casket was lowered under the ground.
Darren and Merk held on tight to their mother. She took the entire event very hard. That was only to be expected.
Merk was able to get some more time
off of work to go to
Merk felt that was an extremely heartless request. It only fueled his anger towards his job and helped him become more creative in leaving the company in shambles once he had gone.
For the next two days, everyone waited on and served Andrea in every way possible. She had not been speaking, sleeping or eating as much as she should have been. Jen was staying in her bedroom with her at night, trying to help her fall asleep.
Some of the family sat in the television room going through old photo albums and things that Darren found in the attic. He came across the videotape from his old film study group in high school so he popped it in.
The tape showed Clive arranging his chair near the window as Darren told him where to place it.
“Oh wow, I remember this. I was using dad in my assignment, he was going to put on a Dean Martin tape and sit and explain how Dean Martin’s music and comedy were fun for people of all ages.” That was another interest Clive and Darren shared.
The video began with Clive joking about Andrea, he was saying that he promised to stop mumbling about her under his breath so he made cards with dialogue on them to hold up to company for when he felt like saying something about her.
He held up the first card. “What does she want now?” It said in big black letters. Darren began to laugh. Clive thumbed through each card and they all said the same thing. “What does she want now?” They both started to laugh louder. Andrea called out Clive’s name from the kitchen and it looked like it was rehearsed because Clive stuck his face into the camera. “What does she want now?” He asked very loud. Everyone laughed, on and off of the television.
“Oh yea, this is before he quit smoking.”
He lit his cigarette and opened his beer bottle and put the cigarette down in the ashtray next to the beer bottle in front of the camera. The Dean Martin tape had just begun and Clive walked into the kitchen to see what Andrea wanted. The rest of the tape showed the cigarette burning in the ashtray next to the beer bottle with Dean Martin playing in the background. In a strange way it was emotional for the family to watch.
Darren took a close look and noticed a small flash of blue light outside the window on the tape. He didn’t say anything at the time because if it had any meaning he didn’t want to disrupt the family gathering.
“Remember dad’s old joke? He said he told a guy at work that he quit smoking for a year and a half and the guy would reply, big deal, I haven’t smoked for forty-eight years and my next birthday will make it forty-nine.” Darren tried to lighten the mood. They all shared some remembrances and sacked out one at a time.
On the third night, Andrea became very exhausted and Darren helped Jen bring her up to bed. They laid her down and she began snoring even before her head hit the pillow.
“Perfect, this should be a better night.” Jen whispered to Darren as she kissed him goodnight.
“I hope so. Let me know if you need anything, I’ll be talking to Merk, he has some things on his mind.”
“I hope he is all right.”
“Me too.” Darren shut the door and headed into the den where Merk was pouring a couple of cocktails.
Toni stayed home with the baby and Merk seemed grateful for his time away from her. He did miss TJ though.
Merk explained to Darren how the married life wasn’t what it was cracked up to be. He told him about all of the senseless fighting and Toni’s terrible attitude. They spoke about it for close to an hour.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to dump all of my problems on you, especially at a time like this.”
“It’s okay, I can tell you are not as happy as you used to be. I guess dad leaving doesn’t help either.”
They began talking about Clive and all of the great times they shared with him as Merk continued to pour another round. He poured three drinks. One was bourbon, just the way Clive liked it. Merk placed it next to Clive’s favorite chair.
After many tears and a couple of laughs, Darren began to tell Merk about his little secret.
“I guess there is no one to hide it from anymore. Remember the book dad worked on for years and had so many problems getting published?”
“Sure do.”
“I found it and I’m in the process of getting it published.”
Darren explained how he came across the manuscript and filled Merk in on the details. Merk was very happy about it and wanted to help any way he could. He felt that it would be a very nice goodbye gift for their dad.
Merk headed back home to
Darren sat and organized the debits and the credits. He came across the first bill for Clive’s coffin and arrangement fees for the funeral. It was Eight hundred and forty two dollars and sixty-five cents. The number didn’t mean much to him until his next phone conversation where Merk questioned it.
Merk still had his winning ticket stub from Churchill Downs when Clive and him bet Lil Miss Misty and Admiral A. The amount of their winnings was also eight hundred and forty two dollars and sixty five cents.
Both Merk and Darren were a little freaked out by that. Merk thought back to when Clive said that the race was a sign. He looked up and smiled towards where he felt his dad went. After the call, Darren went back to work on the figures.
The property was divided among the family. Darren and Jen planned to leave their apartment and move in with Andrea to look after her. They left the forwarding address with the post office and quickly set the wheels in motion.
Andrea didn’t want to worry about the legal portion of it. She left that up to Darren. He squared all of it away.
Jen helped Andrea put a small getaway room together in the corner of the house facing the front street. They decorated it with flowers, some happy decorations, and Andrea’s favorite photo of Clive that she loved so much. Darren hooked up a CD player for her to listen to her Sinatra disks for when she felt lonely.
Jen walked into the room, as he was finishing up the wiring.
“Wow, nice job. This should make Andrea feel a little more comfortable.”
“Thanks. I’m glad that I can do something for her.”
“Why don’t you go out for a while when you’re done. You could use some time to clear your head.”
“I was thinking about checking out the old neighborhood for places to eat. There used to be a pretty good pizza place not too far from here.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“First I’d like to set up a writing area.”
Darren made his little computer room facing the back yard and the woods. He hoped being in his dad’s house would inspire him to write a best seller.
Although everyone was still distraught, Darren
figured he wouldn’t give up on the project he started for his dad. He called
“Hi Darren. I tried calling but I kept getting your answering machine. I didn’t want to leave any messages because you mentioned this being a surprise.”
“I appreciate that but don’t worry, it’s not a surprise anymore. Were you able to get any information for me?”
“I am very sorry. Ben is gone and nobody really wants to share the information on why he left. All I heard was that he is gone. All of the paperwork for your dad’s book is also gone. I don’t know if he took it with him or not. I do know that a proof copy was sent to printing. I am trying to find out if it is at the printers or if it was with the other paperwork. I am doing my best. Again, I am very sorry.”
Darren was very angry about the
situation, just like Clive was years ago. Darren knew he couldn’t take his
anger out on
Darren thought back to his father’s disappointments regarding the book, now he was feeling the same type of frustration.
He lied next to Jen before they went to sleep and he spoke to her about how he always wanted to be his dad and now he was seeing how frustrating it had to be for his father trying to get that book completed. With a tear in his eye, Darren fell asleep quicker than ever before.
At the same time, back in
He fell asleep in the den and woke up the next morning extra early for work. He was awakened by a replay of the Ranger game. He got ready for work and before he left he went into the nursery to pay little TJ a visit. He stared at him in his crib sleeping so peacefully.
TJ gave him a wonderful feeling. He stared down and thought how he would like to take him away from Toni. He felt that they would both be better off without her no matter where it was.
Everyone at the office noticed that Merk was in a much better mood dealing with the day to day problems. He was upset about the loss of his dad but knowing he would be leaving that office soon made him a different person around there.
He started taking most of the client phone calls that came in. He would be extra helpful and move all of the necessary information from each client from the companies shared computer files into his own personal files.
2. On Into The
Fog.
Darren got home from work a little
later than normal that evening. Andrea was in her new room listening to some
music. Darren walked passed the room quietly so not to disturb her. He found
Jen upstairs.
“Hi sweetheart, how was work?”
“Not too bad, how about you?”
“Pretty good. I was home by noon. Andrea seems like she is getting a lot better. She spoke more today than she has in the last few days. By the way, how are you getting along with the whole thing?”
“What can I do? I have to accept it. I miss him. I really do miss him a lot. If I could just get that proof copy of the book and do something with it, I would feel much better. Did anyone from the publisher’s call?”
“No, I’m sorry, not today. Hopefully they’ll find that copy and call you soon.”
“Yea, hopefully. Is there anything to eat downstairs?”
“I made a tuna salad and some sandwiches, nothing exciting. Why don’t you take a ride and find some pizza like you said you wanted to do this week?”
Darren thought that was a great idea. He was planning to check if there were any new restaurants in the neighborhood. He also needed some time to himself just to drive and think about things.
He left the house a few minutes before eight PM. He drove through the familiar neighborhood and passed by all of the old places that brought back memories of him and his dad. He noticed the church that the family used to go to every Sunday morning. He could feel his dad’s hand around his as he remembered walking across the street and up the church steps. It felt like it was yesterday.
He drove past where the bicycle shop used to be. That was where Clive bought Darren his first bike. He recalled the proud look in his father’s eyes when he let go of the handlebars and Darren rode down the sidewalk by himself for the first time.
As he wiped a tear from his eye, Darren drove onto the highway listening to a Bobby Darren song that made him feel like Clive was sitting right next to him.
The fog on the highway began to get very thick. All of the other cars were suddenly gone. Darren had the whole road to himself.
He drove on into the fog and he became somewhat uncomfortable and nervous. A few beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he glanced around into the dark, dismal surroundings. He wasn’t sure where he was headed, so he decided to turn around at the next exit. The drive to the exit seemed to last forever. The car rolled along through the damp mist.
He finally reached the exit ramp and pulled off into an eerie looking deserted town. There weren’t any lights and the fog was extremely thick. He continued to drive down a long road with acres of grass to either side. There were small, wooden cabin type houses off in the distance that could barely be seen through the fog.
Darren slowly pulled over to try to get his bearings. He got out of the car to take a deep breath. The moon supplied the only light.
Three barely visible men were walking on the grass near the side of the road. Darren attempted to wave them down to see if they would be able to direct him back to the main road. They paid him no mind and they continued to walk aimlessly.
Darren sat back in the car feeling as if he was in the middle of a bad dream. He was unsuccessful in his attempts to wake himself up. He continued to drive through the streets of the little town, as he grew more and more frightened. There were a couple of people standing on the grass in the distance on each block he passed. They did not appear normal. They seemed like they were lost. Darren feared becoming lost with them.
After driving for a while, he noticed the highway not too far ahead, which gave him a great feeling of relief.
Once he reached the highway, he was unable to locate the entrance. He drove back and forth several times before a sign with an arrow finally revealed itself from behind the cloud like air.
The highway brought Darren to a familiar area. He was finally back in his neighborhood. He glanced at the clock on the radio as he turned down his block. It was nine fifty six PM. Before he felt like himself another scare arose.
In front of the house there were two police cars with the lights flashing. All Darren could imagine was something happening to his mom. He feared that the police escorted an ambulance that had already left. As usual he assumed the worst.
He pulled up in front of the house and ran up the steps and through the front door. Jen ran to him and held on to him as she cried.
“What’s wrong? Is mom okay? What is going on?”
“We’re fine! Everything is fine here! Where have you been? I called the police! Where the hell were you? We were worried!”
“What? What do you mean? I took a ride. You knew that. I was gone for two hours.”
“Two hours? Are you trying to be funny? Two hours?”
“Yes, I left before eight, it’s only ten now.”
“Yes, you did leave at eight! Eight Wednesday! Now it’s ten o’clock Friday!”
Confusion took on a new meaning to Darren at that moment. He sat in the living room with Jen and the police for close to an hour. The officers asked him some routine questions concerning drugs, alcohol or banging his head. Darren didn’t have any answers. He just explained the small town that he visited. The policemen never heard of such a place. Before they left, they told Darren to take care of himself and to try to see a psychologist or someone who would be able to make sense out of the situation.
Darren lied awake in bed going over
the new confusion. As usual, Jen was there next to him. Only this time, she too
was unable to sleep. She suggested making another appointment with
Darren phoned his job first thing in the morning to attempt to explain why he wasn’t there for the last two days. The foreman, Henry was pretty easy going, he didn’t understand the excuse but he was aware of the death of Darren’s father so he dismissed the issue.
“Just come on in on Monday if you feel up to it. Don’t worry about us, your health is more important. Almost as important as getting our hands on that priceless rubber” Henry never let an opportunity slip by without mentioning how important that rubber was to their product.
Darren thanked him and told him that he would be there on Monday. Jen already left for work so Darren decided to take a walk through the neighborhood to collect his thoughts.
He walked the streets aimlessly as he came across the church where he went as a child with his parents. Over the last year or so, the church had been going through some changes. Andrea told him that she hadn’t been there since the transformation.
Darren glanced out of the corner of his eye and he noticed a mass book fall from a man's coat as the man walked towards his car.
“Excuse me sir, you dropped your book.”
“Well, thank you. I don’t know what I would have done if I lost this.”
“You visiting that crazy church?”
“Yes, yes I was. What do you know about it?”
“I don’t know too much about it except since that Father Praec started running things, it became a strange little church. That’s the least of the strange things I have seen lately though.”
Darren introduced himself and the man told him his name was Dennis. They spoke for a few minutes. Dennis explained that he was doing some research about the church for an organization that hired him. He referred to the church members as sheep.
Darren mentioned his incident regarding the foggy roads, the strange little town he visited and the loss of his father. Dennis offered his condolences as they said goodbye. Darren continued his walk.
3. It Doesn’t Look Eerie Yet.
While Darren was clearing his mind, Merk was at his desk smiling and feeling good about his plan to leave the company in confusion. His phone rang and he picked it up. The caller was a representative for a so-called musician named Dominion C. He called himself a musician but all he really did was make a lot of senseless rhyming noise with his mouth. Mostly kids without any knowledge of musical talent bought Dominion’s CD’s.
“You’re in for a treat, let me swing you over to Corr.”
“Thank you.”
Merk swung the call to Corr’s office. The voice mail picked up.
“Sir?”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry, I am getting his voice mail. Do you want his direct number or do you want to leave a message? I can try to help you if you want. You’d probably be better off with that. He’s a useless sack of crap who will probably just screw up what you’re looking for anyway.”
The customer laughed and let Merk help him out. He was able to give the customer all of the information he needed.
Some of the big time money makers that had accounts at Merk’s office were hiding some of their extra cash in accounts where the IRS, or in some cases, the FBI wouldn’t find it.
Dominion had drug connections and all sorts of illegal partners around the world. His representatives didn’t want any attention drawn to his antics.
Merk opened up his account on the computer and gave the representative the information he needed and he made all of the necessary changes requested.
He saved the changes on his own disk and left the company file the way it was. The client requested Merk’s phone number so he could deal with him directly from that moment on.
Back in
Andrea shared a story of when they were dating.
“You’re dad used to bring me up to that beach area that he spoke of every so often. We had good times but he always seemed like he didn’t want to be there. He would look over his shoulders constantly.
A few moments later the doorbell rang.
“Stay there mom, I’ll get it.” Darren opened the door.
“Mr. Harston?”
“Yes.”
“Can you sign for your package?”
“Sure, I wasn’t expecting anything.” Darren signed for the package and thanked the man.
“Who was that?”
“The delivery man. Look, I got a package.” Darren unwrapped the box as if it were a Christmas gift. As he realized what it was, he looked at his mom in extreme pleasure and disbelief.
“Oh my God! Mom, you won’t believe this!” He proudly held up his dad’s book for his mother to see. It was the first time since the twenty-year ordeal started that there was actually a printed copy. The proof was delivered just like it was supposed to be.
Andrea looked up with a big smile as a tear ran down the side of her face. “You did it! I can’t believe it! It is beautiful!”
Darren was in a bit of shock. He expected to face one hurdle after another like his father did over and over again. The two of them began to look it over as Jen walked in from work. She was also very excited about the book.
“Does this mean it’s all finished? Can we go out and buy copies?”
“No sweetheart, not yet. I have to
call
Andrea and Jen fully understood Darren’s concern. They were completely behind his decision.
Darren quickly called
Darren put the completed proof copy away in the attic. He felt since it was safe up there for over twenty years, it should be safe for a couple more days.
Saturday morning Darren woke up early, he woke Jen up with what he thought was a great idea.
“Jen, are you up? I want to try something.”
“What is it?”
“Come take a ride with me. I want to show you the place I visited the other night. It’s Saturday, so if we get stuck there for two days I won’t miss work or I can just go in late on Monday.”
“What if we get stuck there for three days?”
“That won’t happen, come on, be adventurous, take a trip with me.”
Jen thought about it for a second and then decided that it might just be pretty interesting to see what Darren described to her.
They both got dressed quickly and headed out to the car. Darren retraced his steps from the other night and entered the same highway. They drove for a few miles without a sign of the small dreary town.
“Are you sure this is the way? It doesn’t look eerie yet.”
“This is the same way I went last time. We should have seen the exit by now. It was pretty foggy the first time. Maybe the fog had something to do with it.”
They drove for a few more miles and they didn’t find what they were looking for. They turned around and tried one more time.
“I really want to find it again but it’s getting close to nine o’clock and if we spend two days away now, we’ll be very late for work on Monday. Maybe we should head back.”
“You’re right. I would have really liked to see what you saw, you’ve got me quite curious about this place.”
“It’s good to know that you believe that I was somewhere strange. I can’t explain it too well but I definitely was somewhere.”
Darren felt a little let down, he was hoping to show Jen the place and he was interested in seeing it again for himself. They headed back home and decided to give it another shot when they had two days to spare.
When they got home, Jen sat with Andrea to talk while Darren went up to the attic to have another look at the book. He told himself that he wasn’t going to read it until it was officially out for the public to read. He feared that there might be parts he would want to adjust or change before it went out on shelves. He knew that it wouldn’t be right to make corrections to his dad’s thoughts so it seemed like a good idea to wait to read it.
He decided to sit in the attic and just look over the part that he already read. Once his urge seemed to be satisfied, he packed it back up and headed down stairs.
Later that night, the only thing he was able to think about was the story. He made his usual trip to the kitchen while Jen slept. Only this time it was a different kitchen. As usual, he poured a glass of water and looked out of the window. This window was facing the woods and the fog was filling the air above the trees.
Some of the people moved out of that town because of the gloomy woods. Darren felt that Clive bought that house just to be close to those woods.
He thought back to some of the
stories that boggled his mind previously. He recalled
He also thought about the necklace of odd shaped rocks that Clive made years earlier.
He wondered if Clive finished any of those stories in the book. He was tempted to go back in the attic to continue reading. He had to control the temptation and get back to bed.
Before he realized, it was almost
four AM. He finally fell asleep next to Jen. He spent most of Sunday there as
well. When Jen woke up, she felt that Darren needed to see
The next day, Merk arrived at work extra early. He spent the morning hours getting his secret plans in order.
He started early moving the files of some of the crooked customer’s accounts to his own disks.
Corr came in a short while later and he appeared to be quite angry. After a half-hour or so in his office with the door closed, Corr called Merk on the phone and asked him to come in.
Merk walked in as if he didn’t have a care or a worry in the world. He left the door open and took a seat.
“Please shut the door Merk.”
“Sure thing.” He slammed the door and noticed the picture that fell the last time was no longer there. He smiled inside.
“See, that’s just one more reason I want you out of this company. Your lack of respect towards me.”
“Hey, you give it, you get it. Now what do you want?”
Corr played back the voice mail
from the day before that Merk left with Dominion C’s representative. Merk never
clicked off Corr’s voice mail and Corr heard the conversation with the
customer. Merk was surprised, he didn’t realize the whole conversation was
taped.
“Sir?”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry, I am getting his voice
mail. Do you want his direct number or do you want to leave a message? I can
try to help you if you want. You’d probably be better off with that. He’s a useless
sack of crap who will probably just screw up what you’re looking for anyway.”
He played the message on the speaker.
“Oh no, am I in trouble for telling someone the truth about you?”
“Yes you are and that wasn’t the truth about me. I want you to pack up your desk and get out.”
“My desk is already packed you sorry excuse for an office manager. The only truth you know about yourself is that you would compromise any intelligent belief from one pull on your strings, puppet boy. I’ll be happy to leave this dump and I’m sure you won’t be far behind me. Adios moron!”
Merk put all of the belongings he needed into a bag that he had waiting, including his disks with the customers updated information. He kept the bag in the drawer of his desk for just such an occasion. He knew he would be leaving, he just wasn’t sure when his temper would push him to it.
Soon after, he returned to the apartment to share the news with Toni.
“I guess that’s good news. The timing was pretty appropriate. I was planning on going back to work in the next couple of weeks anyway. Now that you are certain that you’re not returning, I’ll give them a call to set up a definite starting date.”
“Very good. I’ll go in and tell TJ the good news. His dad is here to stay.”
Merk went into the nursery to check on TJ. He stood over him and watched him sleep peacefully. Merk smiled and felt leaving his job was well worth who he was doing it for.
While Merk was admiring his son, Darren was back at work. Everyone at the factory was extra nice to him. They didn’t bring up his little driving adventure that kept him away from work the last couple of days.
The last time he saw most of his co-workers was at his dad’s wake. They tried not to mention that as well.
“Hey Harston, it’s good to have you back. How’s everything? How’s Jen?” Darren’s friend Dez greeted him.
They were pretty close friends for a long time. Dez’s father became sick many years earlier and left Dez with his questionable Aunt.
“Nice to be back and good to see you Dez. I’m feeling a little bit better, it’s been tough. Jen is doing great. She has been a big help through all of the troubles. What have I missed here?”
“You know how this place goes, you could be gone for a year and come back and not miss a thing. All of the guys missed you. Henry is still in search of the perfect rubber.”
“I missed you guys also. It’s been difficult, I’m glad to be back though. There was something good that happened during all of it. I was able to find something that my father wrote from way back. He tried to get it published for years but he was never able to. Anyway, I spoke to a publishing company recently and it looks like we are going to make it happen. I want you to be the first to read it when it’s done.”
“That is excellent. You know me, I love reading. I can’t wait to take a look at it.”
Dez read at least one book per month. That was one of his favorite hobbies. He really was looking forward to reading Clive’s book.
4. The Gates Of Gloom And Madness.
Merk was home with TJ. He loved his new job as stay home dad. Spending time with his favorite little person in the world and not dealing with the hassle of going into work everyday was paradise for him.
Toni was back at her job for a couple of weeks and she felt like she never left. She came home occasionally complaining about Stewart. That didn’t bother Merk as much as it used to because Toni had been treating him as if he was some sort of strange criminal lately.
Their marriage was slowly going down the tubes. Merk only tried to hold on to her so he could hold on to TJ. That baby became his whole life over those last few weeks. As he was putting him in for his afternoon nap, the phone rang. He ran quickly to answer it so not to let the ringing wake TJ.
“Hello?” He whispered.
“Hi Merk. It’s Jen. Is it a bad time?”
“No, no. TJ just went in for his nap. How are you? I haven’t heard from you in a while.”
“Everything is fine here. Darren is good, mom is well. I just got home from work a little while ago. I was thinking about you. I wanted to see if you were all right over there.”
“I guess Darren told you that things haven’t been so great between Toni and me. I should have realized from the beginning that she wasn’t the one. If it weren’t for TJ, I would consider splitting up. I know she thinks about it too. You work with all of those lawyers, where do you think I would stand if that did happen?”
“Truthfully, it probably wouldn’t
be good for you. Every court in the
Jen became enraged when she shared her views about the justice system. She could never understand why everything in the courts was so unfair. She felt that too many people just stood by and accepted the corrupt ways of the world. She was right about that. Many people just stand idle and watch as criminals run free and jurors award weasels unheard of amounts of cash for ludicrous reasons just so they can get off the case to rush home to question why the world is so screwed up.
“I can see what you mean Jen. The courts are a pretty messed up system. It’s enough to make someone insane.”
“What can you do? As long as there are crimes and marriages, there will be people sitting behind a bench making bad decisions. You’re a sports fan. You know what it’s like when the ref makes a bad call. That’s what it’s like nine out of ten times in a divorce hearing, bad calls. Anyway, Darren is meeting with that publisher, Tyler, to discus dad’s book today.”
Merk was happy to hear that Darren was still working
on the book. He was at the restaurant O’Mally’s near his factory for a meeting
with
“We shouldn’t have any problems duplicating this. I am just concerned now because of what you told me about those other publishers. Do you think I will be safe? Is there some kind of a curse?”
“That is hard to say. I think if you keep it quiet and only deal with people you trust while you take care of this, everything should be fine.”
Darren gave her the only copy of the book. She promised to get it back to him as soon as she was able to duplicate it. Darren was extremely worried about letting go of the only copy. There was no other way to complete his father’s dream.
Darren headed back to the factory
after lunch and
Just like Darren warned her, she spoke to one of the guys who she thought she could trust. His name was Larry.
“Please don’t ask me why Larry but I need to duplicate this book and we have to get it out on the shelves. The whole thing has to be completed quietly.”
“Why?”
“Larry!”
“I’m just kidding. It shouldn’t be a problem. I don’t expect it to take longer than a couple of weeks but I’ll have to start it when things die down in the evening if you don’t want anyone to know about it.”
“That would be perfect. It’s not as much a rush as it is a secret, so if it has to take more time to keep it quiet that will be fine.”
The book was in good hands with Larry. He knew his way around the office and he had the knowledge of all aspects of publishing.
When Darren spoke to
Since Jen wasn’t home, Darren decided to take a ride. He felt his head needed to be cleared. While he was out driving, Merk and Toni were having one of their worst arguments yet.
“Those people are all that you seem to care about! You should go live with them! I certainly don’t need you to live with me!”
“Those people are my family and they were very accepting to you! I don’t know why you can’t accept them!”
Toni complained that Merk thought about his family too much. She really wasn’t interested in him anymore and she was looking for reasons to fight.
“You know what? I do need some time away from this nonsense! I’ll take TJ for a few days to get away!”
“You get away! You’re not taking my son though! He is staying here!” It was obvious that she didn’t mind getting TJ out of her hair but she didn’t want Merk to get any enjoyment out of it.
Merk thought about his conversation with Jen and remembered what she said about the courts and how unfair they can be.
“Okay! I’ll get away by myself.” He tried to control his anger.
Although leaving TJ behind tore a piece of his heart out, he needed to get away for a few days. Toni was unable to be dealt with.
Merk packed up some things and drove to the airport.
He slept on a waiting room chair until a flight to
Darren was driving down the highway once again as the scenery began to look a bit familiar. Fog filled the air and he began to see less and less cars on the road. His hands trembled on the steering wheel as beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
“This looks like a return trip into the gates of gloom and madness.”
In complete fear, he drove along the road without another vehicle in sight. The windshield wipers were swishing back and forth to clear the mist from the glass.
Startled and concerned, Darren dared to take the long off ramp into a cloud of fog. Once again he drove along the lonely local streets anxious to catch a glimpse of something or someone.
He drove along for a short while and noticed some figures walking in the distance. He slowed down as he drove along side of them. It was the same three men from his first visit to the strange place. Darren rolled the window down in hopes of speaking with them.
“Guys? Can you help me?” He hollered and there was no answer, not so much as a head nod or a look. The men continued walking along aimlessly.
“Please! Where am I? Just tell me that.” Again there was no response.
“Ah, what’s the use? Thanks for nothing!” He started to roll the window up.
“You can forget about it if she doesn’t have the trust in you!” A voice called out.
Darren hit the brakes and rolled the window back down. “Which one of you said that? Who needs to trust me? Who? Tell me dammit!”
There was still no response as the men continued on their way.
“Is it Jen? Is it mom? Who is she?” Darren pleaded with the men for any reaction at all. He still didn’t get one. He finally accepted the fact that they weren’t going to answer him and he continued to drive off slowly.
After driving for a short while, he
noticed up ahead what resembled a beach. It appeared to be the end of the earth
and the beginning of the ocean. It reminded him of the lake up in
The water was murky, dark and choppy. Darren heard the sounds of a disturbing opera playing in his mind.
There was no one in sight but he heard a familiar voice in his head over the opera.
“Are you going to take care of
him?”
Darren continued to ask who he was supposed to take care of. Once again there was no response.
“Be careful. This is not the place for you or her.” The waves crashed and Darren seen and heard enough. He ran back to the car and searched for the highway.
5. His Best Option.
When Darren arrived at home, Merk was in the living room to greet him.
“Jen tells me you may have taken another trip to a strange land.”
“Holy cow! What are you doing here?”
“The problems increased. Well? Were you at the place again?”
“Yes, yes I was. Is it still Friday night?”
“No buddy, its Sunday. I got here yesterday morning, I was going to go out on the hunt for you but Jen told me you were probably two days and two hours away again.”
Darren explained his trip to Merk and afterwards, Merk explained his problems at home to Darren. Once Merk was finished telling his brother about the issues involving Toni, Darren thought back to the voice that asked, “Are you going to take care of him?” He figured that it meant that he was supposed to take care of Merk since he came by to stay with them.
Jen came walking into the room. “You scared me to death again and I couldn’t call the police this time. Did you end up there again?”
“Yes honey. I went again but it wasn’t on purpose. I wanted you to come with me the next time. It’s probably better that you didn’t though. This time there were voices behind the scenes.”
Jen wasn’t sure how to react. She
really wanted Darren to try to get in to see
Merk headed up to the room that Jen fixed up for him the night before. Darren and Jen stayed up for a little while in the living room talking. He shared his whole experience about the creepy little village. Jen was concerned about the voices and the things they said.
“Did Merk share much of his story with you?”
“I feel so bad for him. It’s a shame what he’s going through with the whole thing.”
As they were talking, Merk walked down the stairs quietly. Without noticing him, they continued their conversation.
“Did the lawyers at work have any suggestions for him?”
“Just one, and I won’t dare to tell him it.”
“What is it?”
“They said that given his situation, no job and he watches the baby all day, he is going to end up being out of the apartment and paying the rent at the same time. Not to mention paying for anything else that she desires. They said his best option would be suicide, unless he hits the lottery.”
That was enough for Merk to hear. He went back upstairs without the drink he originally came down for.
He laid up in bed all night contemplating his situation. The only time Darren or Jen saw him the next day was before they left for work. He asked Darren for some writing paper and then he went back into the guestroom and only came out once during the day, that was to talk to Andrea.
“Darren tells me that you’re going to be the next writer in the family.”
“Where did he get that idea?”
“He said the only words he heard from you were, can I have some writing paper?”
“Oh that, yea, I’m just writing down some thoughts.”
“Merk honey, I know you’re going through a rough period but for every hole you guys dig yourselves into, you always leave wedges along the sides to help you climb back out. You’re a good person and good will come to you. Your dad is watching you.”
“Thanks mom. That was cute, with the wedges. I’ll have to remember that. You have always been special to me mom and you always say the right things. If everything turns out different and I don’t get a chance to remind you, I’ll say it now. I love you mom. You’re the greatest. Thank you for always being there for me.”
They both shed a tear and held onto each other’s hands for a moment.
Afterwards, Merk walked back into the guestroom to continue his alone time and Andrea headed out shopping.
Back in
“That is a horrible shame. You should call a lawyer right now and get this thing underway. You can’t stay with him. He is an awful person to treat you that way.”
“I guess you’re right. I’m also afraid of him hitting TJ.”
When they ended the call, Toni kept the phone to her ear as she dialed the number to a lawyer, Dan who was an old friend of her family. He assured Toni that everything would be taken care of and he began to put the case together. Dan was a large man with a short temper. He didn’t appear to be the average lawyer. He had a reputation for being paid off in many of his cases. He had somewhat of a dirty background.
When Jen walked in from work, Merk was still in the guestroom keeping to himself. She knocked on the door to see if he was all right.
“I’m fine, thanks for asking. I didn’t sleep at all last night so I’m trying to catch up now.”
“Okay, I’ll let you rest. If you need anything, I’ll be downstairs.”
He thanked her again and put his head back down on the pillow. Even when Darren came home, Merk didn’t get out of bed.
Darren and Jen laid awake for a while talking about the situation. Jen felt awful but she knew there was no way to help him.
“I spoke to Timothy from work
today. He gave me the name and number to a lawyer he knows in
“That was nice of you. He’ll be happy to know that you’re thinking about him. How is Timothy doing? And his daughter?”
“Funny you should ask. After his daughter’s schoolyard incident, the father of the boy that hit her went to Timothy and offered him a baseball that his son caught at the Reds game the other day. The father knew Timothy was a baseball fan so he wanted to give it as a peace offering.”
“That was nice.”
“He didn’t accept it though, he felt that the boy wasn’t completely wrong with his actions and a foul ball caught by a kid means a lot. Even though he said the boy didn’t actually catch it himself, it still has emotional value.”
“That’s still very nice.” Darren thought back to the foul ball that Clive said he threw to a kid while Darren was getting snacks and figured that it was the same one.
They talked for a little while longer before Jen fell asleep.
Darren had too much on his mind and he took a walk into the kitchen. He poured his usual glass of water and gazed out into the gloomy, foggy night air. One of Clive’s stories stuck out in his mind. He drifted back to Kreasherds Kastle.
6. A Gift from Lucifer.
Merk stayed in the guestroom once again as Darren and Jen prepared themselves to leave for work. Darren knocked on the door to check on him only to hear a grunt.
“Okay, you stay in bed, we’ll be home at our regular times. Call if you need anything.”
Darren’s concern grew. He felt that Merk was taking the situation awfully hard. Once the house was cleared out, Merk gathered his things and took a taxi to the airport while Andrea slept. He was unsure of his decision to walk back into the apartment he shared with Toni. TJ was who he really went back to see.
After three hours of waiting for a flight and another three hours in the air, Merk finally picked up his car and drove over to the apartment. Toni was standing in the kitchen talking to Dan as Merk closed the door behind himself.
“Who’s that? Oh, oh perfect. Now I won’t have to have these served to you.”
Toni walked over to him with an envelope filled with court documents and a subpoena. Dan stood in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee as he watched Merk.
“Where’s TJ?”
“He’s with Laura. I didn’t pick him up yet.”
Merk took his court papers and stormed out. He knew exactly what was happening and realized that a motel would be the best idea.
“That’s a good idea. I guess he’s smart enough to back off and make it easy.” Dan muttered to Toni. It was loud enough for Merk to hear but he wasn’t about to make things any worse by entertaining the remark.
He drove around looking for a motel that he would be able to afford for a few nights. He was not in the greatest of financial situations.
Jayke was on the radio talking about imperfect marriages. Merk related to the subject. He heard more than he needed to and he reached to change the station as Jayke went back into his usual talk about life in outer space.
Merk came across a somewhat cheap
establishment in a run down section of
None of the information made any sense to him. It was just a bunch of thereafters, hence forths, section twenty-eight of chapter nineteen there in marriage or marriages set there in so forth and set forth for palimony section B regarding alimony forth right blah blah blah.
He called Darren and cursed over the phone in anger.
“I would have a better chance of translating a Japanese menu to a Russian than trying to figure out this word jumble. What is all of this BS?”
“That’s why we throw our money away on lawyers. They have their own little language that takes thousands of dollars and many years to learn. Then the system makes it impossible to do anything without them. I’m really glad that you called. We were worried about you.”
Darren explained that Jen had
someone that he could go to in
That wish was granted and the case was scheduled to begin in less than a week.
While Merk was back in
Toni was out going over her case with Dan at his office when Merk made his way to Stewart’s office. Before he walked into the office where Stewart was sitting, Merk was surprised for two reasons. The first one was that the office was the same one he remembered Toni walking into with a big smile.
He remembered that Stewart was not in the office at that time because Stewart turned out to be the man that Merk ran into in the hallway and spilled coffee on his sleeve. That was the second surprise.
Stewart stood up. “Can I help you sir?”
“You’re the guy. The office critter guy.”
“Huh?”
“I bumped into you a while ago. You spilled your coffee. You said none of us office critters are perfect.”
“Yes, that was me. How have you been?”
“Not so great. See, I want to ask you something.” Merk explained how he and Toni were married and how they were in the middle of an ugly divorce. He asked him about the things Toni would come home and complain about.
“I’m very sorry sir. There is something I should explain to you. It’s too bad you didn’t try to confront me before you were married. I probably could have saved you an ugly divorce.”
Stewart explained that Toni had emotional issues for as long as he could remember. She made up complaints about different people in the office at least once a week and none of her complaints ever actually happened.
Toni had some type of a disorder where she would accuse others of things that never happened and she would lie over and over to cover the original accusation. Most of the time, they were small things that her co-workers were not concerned about so she was never reprimanded.
After a long conversation, Merk
thanked Stewart for his honesty and he left thinking about having Darren ask
The next day was the divorce hearing. Everything went exactly as Jen said it would. As Merk’s luck would have it, a female judge entered the courtroom. They knew that was a bad sign right off the bat. They were sure that she would side with Toni and they were right.
Merk was instructed to leave the apartment, pay the rent on the apartment and pay an additional two hundred dollars a month intended for TJ’s clothes and food. Merk knew deep down inside if there was any way in the world he could possibly get that kind of money, it would be spent on make up and shoes for Toni.
The entire situation was quite laughable for anyone with the ability of thinking. Merk left his job to raise TJ because Toni was over paid where she worked. Merk was out of a job and now he was supposed to support the one he hated more than anyone in the world and the one he loved more than anyone in the world at the same time.
Barry had a look on his face as if the outcome was what he expected. At the same time, he was extremely disappointed that one person’s life could be destroyed so easily by an unjust decision made by someone who by no means should be deciding the fate of another person. He looked at Merk.
“We’re all created equal, what a bunch of horse crap.”
“I guess you did whatever you could. Thanks anyway.”
Merk shook Barry’s hand as he caught a glimpse of Toni laughing it up on the other side of the room.
She didn’t appear to understand that she was just awarded a gift from Lucifer, meaning only an evil person would be able to accept such an undeserved and unneeded gift from an obviously criminal source.
When the whole sad event was over, Merk dropped his mail in the outgoing box and headed back to the motel to call Darren to let him know he would be visiting again. This time he was driving all the way.
Back in
“Hey Darren?”
“Yea, Merk, what’s up? How did it go?”
“No surprises, they want to take my life, that’s all. By the way, I finally met that guy Stewart. She made it all up. He was sincere. She has been out of her mind for sometime. I wasn’t the only one she was evil to. I only wish I could have seen him the first time I went there.”
“I guess you can’t love a gift based on its wrapping paper. Oh, before I forget, your friend Ken called. He’s been worried about you. He told me since you left, the company went downhill and it closed its doors. Somehow a lot of their clients were expecting changes in their accounts and most of them lost tons of money.
Your pal Corr ended up in prison for fraud, in a cell across from that guy Dominion C. I guess you got out of there at the right time.”
“I guess my time bombs worked. That’s some good news. It helps at a time like this. What is Ken going to do?”
“He’s thrilled. He’s moving down to
“I’m happy for him. Not thrilled for myself though.”
“Why don’t you come stay with us? We’ll hang out together until we figure something out.”
“I was going to stop by for a visit. It’s gonna take a day or two cause I’m driving.”
“Sounds great, maybe you can come pick up dad’s book with me. I just got the call that it’s ready.”
“That sounds great. I hope it came out nice. Darren, I’d like to talk about some other stuff with you when I get there.” Merk sounded very down.
“Not a problem. Anything you need.”
“Thanks.”
Merk prepared his car for the long
trip. He packed up everything he thought he would need, which wasn’t much, a
few articles of clothing and a toothbrush. Before he knew it, he was driving
through
Good old Jayke was on the
radio discussing relationships after an angry caller finished griping about her
husband.
“Yep, nowadays nobody can
get along and live together. There is too much fighting and anger towards one
another. I think that before couples get together they should learn as much as
they can about where their partner is from. There is a lot to be said for where
a person comes from, not only the person but their parents also. Right Patch?”
E. Patch Liddick was
sitting in once again. “I do agree with you on that Jayke. That is a major problem
in relationships. People jump in too soon before knowing what the other
person’s background is all about. That lady who just called in, her husband’s
family could have been involved in serious crimes and she never knew about it.”
“Or they may have been
involved in this trip to Mars scam or disrobing during super bowl halftime.”
“You’re still on that
Jayke? It’s amazing how people can get so upset when an old washed up has been
reveals a little skin during a halftime show but they act like it doesn’t bother
them to hear that trash those horrible performers try to pass off as music. How
hypocritical is it for them to cry about that when all the other young pigs in
the so-called music biz put on a strip routine every time they appear on
television. Years ago football was entertainment for adult men. Now, much like
everything else in the world, it’s geared towards mindless children and wanna
be porn queens. I think those so called football fans should be the ones sent
on the next trip to Mars.”
“I couldn’t agree with you
more Patch. That garbage is far from music. I think that they can’t get the
rock and roll heroes to perform at the super bowl because they don’t want to
share the stage with such talentless, tasteless noise. The Martians would
probably send them back if we sent them out there. I don’t think the Martians
could be as tolerable as many of the fools that live on this planet.”
“Yea, the brain capacity of
a Martian has got to be bigger than the genus’s we encounter around here with
their ridiculous outlooks on banning the death penalty and anti abortion.” The
radio signal started to go in and out.
“Oh damn, just when Patch
was gonna let loose.” Merk slapped the dashboard.
“Speaking of Martians, I am
sure by now you heard about that sighting in the sky over
“Sighting? What sighting?”
Merk changed the station and found a Billy Joel song. He began to think to
himself that Jayke had a point. He thought back and tried to remember if Toni
ever mentioned where she was originally from or where her parents were from. He
was convinced that they never discussed that subject.
Darren was seeing
Back at the Harston house,
Andrea and Jen were fixing up the spare room once again.
“I am glad that he’s coming
to stay with us. It’s too bad that he had to learn about her the hard way. I
knew she wasn’t good enough for him.”
“She makes me sick. If I
ever saw her again, I can’t say what I would do. I will be glad to have both of
my boy’s back at home with me. Merk doesn’t deserve this. I am so happy that
Darren married you and none of these problems could ever happen with someone as
sweet as you.” Andrea kissed Jen on her forehead.
“Thanks mom. She’ll get her
payback. Everyone does. Just think about what happened to her lawyer.”
Jen was referring to Toni’s
lawyer Dan, who talked down to Merk in Toni’s kitchen before the court case.
Dan started a fight with a
man on the street that was less peaceful than Merk. It was two days after the
divorce hearing. Dan stopped short in his car and the man behind him swerved
and avoided hitting Dan’s car. The man nodded his head back and forth and
waited for Dan to continue driving.
Dan watched him in the
rearview mirror and started to drive. As soon as the man accelerated, Dan
slammed on the brakes once again to start trouble. The man nodded again and
raised his hand outside the window. “C’mon, that’s enough!”
Dan got out of his car and
walked to the trunk. “That’s enough? That’s enough huh? You want to see
enough?” He opened the trunk and pulled out a tire iron.
Nervously the man got out
of his car to defend himself. Dan ran towards him and took a hard swing with
the tire iron and missed. The man grabbed Dan from behind and he must have
blacked out because the beating he gave Dan was pretty bad. Dan suffered a
concussion. He eventually lost control of his body from the neck down and he
couldn’t even brush his teeth on his own.
The other man left the
scene and was never heard from after the incident.
7. Land Surrounded By Fog.
8. In
9. I Know Why.
10. This Is Where It’s All At Mom.
For Chapters 7-10 visit authorhouse.com or many other book site outlets.
Book II
SHEEP
Dedication
For
Richard and Danielle
Regardless of how unfair or displeasing
something life hands you may seem, remember,
there is always a deeper meaning for it.
The love and blessings that surround you
will always outweigh the disappointments.
Be strong and embrace the positives.
Chapter One
“Dr. Bleckard”
March 2003
Dr. Albert Bleckard walked down the
aisle toward the stage to accept his award for scientific accomplishments. Dr.
Bleckard, a forty-one year old scientist has been an esteemed member of the scientology
division in
He has been studying human behavior and all types of animals and organisms since he was twelve years old. That made him quite different from the other children his age. Another one of his passions was hypnotism. He became a hypnotist at the age of seventeen.
The crowd cheered as he made his way to the podium. Dr. Bleckard was very well known, adored, and respected in the scientific community. This community may seem boring to many others, but I assure you that Dr. Bleckard will shock the hell out of you with some of his experiments.
With his English accent, Dr. Bleckard opened his speech. He complimented the audience on their choice of clothing and then joked about the looks on their faces. The crowd laughed.
“I cannot thank you enough for your
overly warm welcome and flattering admiration of my work. I don’t want to bore
you like so many others in the field do. I will keep it short and sweet. I know
that many of you enjoyed some of my outcomes, not to mention my mishaps. Let’s
not even bring up the three-alarm blaze outside of
“I would just like to announce that what I believe is in its final stages in my laboratory will shock and amaze the entire world. If all goes according to plan I should be presenting it in the next two to three months.” Dr. Bleckard said his thank you and headed off back stage. The audience was anxious to see what the big presentation was going to be. There was a roar over the crowd.
He loved to leave the audience in
suspense and he usually did. The laboratory he spoke of was located in a
Bert grew up outside of
March 1974
After his mother’s death, Bert and his brother became very depressed. His brother packed up and headed to The States at the age of seventeen. Bert started spending all of his free time at the lab in school. He worked on some of his own projects and kept his head in his books just so he wouldn’t have to face the world outside. He wanted to learn more about the disease that was said to take the life of his mother. That’s when he began his journey into medicine and the human body.
He also began questioning religion and whether or not God existed. Aside from his interest in Science, he also made time to explore other areas of religion and creation. He was drawn to the darker side of religion, which was more mysterious to him.
The other kids in school would notice that Bert was in his own world and they would get on his case once in a while. One day, a week after he turned twelve years old, some of the kids were giving him a hard time in an atrium type yard between a couple of the school buildings. One of the boys started to go through his book-bag. The boy came across a bible. It wasn’t a bible that most of us are used to. It was a satanic bible.
The boy picked it up and realized what it was. Quickly he threw it to the floor and spit on his hands to clean the devil off of them. The boy then cursed Bert.
“What is wrong with you? Are you a bloody fool? You are not supposed to touch that stuff.”
The boy’s name was Scott. As Scott ran away, the other two boys gave Bert the beating of his life. The beating seemed to last for hours in Bert’s mind. When it was finally over Bert gathered his things and headed to the boy’s room to clean himself up.
That beating left a lasting impression on Bert. It increased his interest in the dark bible that the other kids were extremely against. Bert read the book from cover to cover and that made him even more curious about Satan and the dark religion.
Over the course of the next year he read several other books on the subject and he gained a large amount of knowledge about it. Bert also avoided those boys at all costs through the remainder of the school year.
Bert knew in his heart that all of the things he learned about Satanism and the dark religion were wrong, but that only fueled his interest.
February 1977
When he was old enough, in his teenage years he attended a satanic mass. He found out where they were held from some of his reading materials.
Bert was very nervous when he arrived at the church. He stood in front with a strange feeling in his stomach. He noticed other people going inside. They were dressed all in black with cold stares on their faces.
Bert finally built up his nerve to go inside. He walked in slowly and took a seat near the door. There was evil sounding music playing as a tall frightening man in a black robe approached the altar. The man had a similar book to the one Bert used to bring to school. The book was tucked under the man's arm.
The man started to read from the book in a low scary voice.
“Followers, I will lead you on your journey to find a true leader who will not fill your head with lies and deceit.” On that note, he started the ceremony.
The mass lasted for about an hour and Bert made it through the whole thing. He didn’t participate in the drinking of the lamb’s blood or any of the other festivities that took place there.
Bert left with somewhat of an understanding of what it was all about and he didn’t think it was the worst choice that someone could make for a life style. He felt it had some kind of direction.
Bert walked into his house later than he expected he would. His father was up waiting for him.
“How many times do I have to tell you not to come strolling in here whenever you bloody well feel?”
Bert could tell that his father had been drinking again. “I’m sorry father.” Is all he said and then headed to his room. His room was big enough for three kids. Bert and his father lived in a very large house. His father was extremely well off financially. The money in the family was handed down from generation to generation.
Bert’s father had been drinking himself to sleep almost every night since the loss of his wife. This drove Bert and his father further and further apart. Bert understood his father’s depression but he also thought that his father should understand that he was experiencing equal depression from the same loss.
Bert realized that staying with his father was not beneficial to either one of them. He still loved his dad but he started to think about his future and how his father’s money would help him get a start in the world.
Over the next couple of years Bert continued with his interests in Satan and the human mind and body, but he also focused a great deal on his regular school studies. He looked into the route his brother took, he only hoped he wouldn’t run into him in The States.
September 1979
With perfect grades and a couple
hundred thousand dollars of his dad’s money, at the age of seventeen Bert was
able to set up residence and pay tuition at one of the finest colleges in
The college Dean was overly impressed with Bert’s academic performance. Bert received special attention from all of the professors and staff at the college. That made his experience there very comfortable and it allowed him free rein to perform experiments using the school Science lab.
Bert amazed the other students and professors with some of his experiments, his knowledge of science and how he knew his way around the laboratory. Some of the students told him that he would change the future of science and they joked calling him Dr. Frankenstein.
The college also offered many language classes as part of the curriculum. Bert decided to take advantage of the offer and he signed up for a course in Latin. He felt that Latin had a darkness to it and it wasn’t a language that many of the other students were lining up to learn.
There was a strange young man in the Latin class named Pete. Bert took a liking to him immediately. Pete would sit in the back of the classroom before the professor came in and he would hypnotize some of the classmates. They all got a kick out of it.
Pete tried many times to hypnotize Bert but he was never successful. Pete said it had to do with Bert’s overly strong mind. He would mostly hypnotize the girls in the class and have them act somewhat provocative towards the guys. The guys really appreciated it.
Pete was eventually thrown out of the school, but before that he brought Bert to some shows involving hypnotists and he taught him most of his own tricks of the trade.
October 1980
After his first semester, Bert decided
that he needed something a little more than his small house off campus. He
started looking for something bigger where he could set up a lab of his own.
After quite a long search for an appropriate location, his sights were set on a
deserted farmland in
After he sold his house, Bert lived on campus and made trips on the weekends to his new investment. He met with several construction companies to find one to build his dream laboratory and finally went with one, Morris Construction Inc.
The owner of the company was Carl Morris. Bert felt very comfortable with Carl and that was important. Carl was a very hard worker but he was far from the brightest crayon in the box. Bert and Carl went over exactly how and where Bert wanted everything. It took months to get it perfect.
Carl thought that some of Bert’s ideas were strange in the beginning, like garage doors leading into the house. Once Carl had it explained to him that Bert was planning on setting up a laboratory and that there was going to be a lot of equipment moved in, it all made sense.
Bert was still attending college in
One girl named Stephanie tried very hard to get Bert to notice her. That wasn’t very difficult. Stephanie was twenty-one years old, blonde and beautiful. Although Bert was not like an average guy who thinks about women twenty-four hours a day, he did have an interest in Stephanie.
Bert and Stephanie started eating their lunches together, and then dinners. Soon enough Bert started working on science projects with her. He felt that she could be a good partner for some of his experiments.
One night after working late
together, they both felt like they needed to get out for a while. They went to
a bar off campus. After a few drinks, they started laughing and telling each
other about their lives and how they ended up going to school in
Bert suddenly felt uncomfortable.
“Something’s wrong.”
“What is it?”
“I am starting to feel like my father used to look.”
“What does that mean?”
Bert then explained to Stephanie how his father became an alcoholic after his mother’s death.
“We don’t have to drink anymore. We could go back to my dorm room and talk if you want.”
“I have an even better idea.”
“What would that be?”
“How would you like to be the first
to see the place I set up in
“That would be really nice, but do you feel like driving all that way?”
“Yes, I do.”
They left a tip on the bar, got into Bert’s car and headed to the house. During the ride Stephanie couldn’t keep her hands off him. Bert was getting very turned on and he began to touch Stephanie in return.
When they finally arrived at Bert’s place they were overcome with their attraction toward one another. Bert walked her through a couple of rooms as he groped her on the way to the bedroom.
She started to loosen up her jeans to give him a slight peak of her panties as she walked. She held on to one of his hands and gently caressed it over her curves. Bert became flustered. He couldn't make it to the bedroom. He made his way on to his knees and started to kiss her stomach and hips.
They decided enough was enough as they tore each other’s clothes off and made passionate love for close to two hours on the floor.
When that was all finished and they were able to locate all of their clothes, Bert showed Stephanie the rest of the house. She was very impressed.
“You could use some nice curtains and wallpaper.”
“Maybe one day I will let you decorate.”
They talked for a while, after a few hours they both fell asleep.
Chapter Two
“The
February 1981
Monday morning Bert was back at his classes. He was going over some of the papers he had written for his English Literature class with his professor Dr. Arthur Hynes. Arthur was in his early thirties; he was a tall man with a beard and some gray in his hair. He has been married for over six years.
Dr. Hynes was very impressed by all of Bert’s writings. Most of all, he was astonished at the one about Satanism.
“I love what you have done with this one. It is extremely informative and it makes me feel as if I was with you when you experimented with the subject. How were you able to obtain so much information on a subject such as this?”
“When I was younger something drew me towards studying the extremities of religions. I was a bit curious about this one aspect and once I began looking into it, my curiosity just grew from there. Of course that was a long while ago and I filled my curiosity, now I just write about it as I do with all of my studies.”
“I didn’t think that you were a worshiper. You seem to be well beyond that type of evilness. I do find your writing astonishing though. With your permission, I would like to have this manuscript published and made available in our campus library.”
“That sounds fine by me, and if there is any kind of financial gain from it, maybe we can donate it towards the library, or toward some kind of an outreach program that supports children who are unsure of where to direct their faith, or something like that.”
“You never cease to amaze me Albert. That is an honorable suggestion. I will let the publishing company know that they have something very special coming their way.”
Dr. Hynes has been a professor at the college for close to five years. He was very outgoing and a man of his word. If he said Bert’s story would be published, then Bert’s story would be published.
Bert and Dr. Hynes spent a lot of
their free time together discussing literature and other interests of theirs
over the next few weeks. Dr. Hynes invited Bert to join him for a weekend in
Before they left for their trip,
Bert decided to give Stephanie a call to let her know he was going to be away
for the weekend. He had not seen her in a while. He wanted to see if there was
anything special that he could bring her back from
“The damn answering machine again
Arty. That’s the third time in the last three phone calls. Maybe she doesn’t
like me anymore. Hi Steph. It’s me, Bert, leaving another message. I am going
to
“Maybe she’s bored with all of your love for science and constant studying. Girls like that need fun in their life also.”
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe I’ll plan something fun for me and her when we get back.”
When they got to the area, it was exactly how Dr. Hynes explained it, a small piece of paradise for a fisherman.
“Before I show you my boat, I want you to see the cottage where we will be staying tonight. It’s beautiful. It’s well out of the way of the locals and no one really knows it’s here.”
They drove through some back roads with only trees around them, parked the car and walked down a slight hill. At the bottom was a small cottage that Dr. Hynes liked to call his home away from home.
“Make yourself comfortable. Have a drink.”
“I don’t mind if I do. Ahhh, Sprite. Now I’m at home. Hold my calls.” Bert said with a child like grin on his face.
Dr. Hynes showed Bert around and told him how once every year or so he buys all of the supplies he needs to last him for his next twenty trips to the cottage. He showed him where he stashes all of his canned foods, soda, beer, and snacks in the cellar.
“This is a mighty fine set up Arty. I really like what you have here.”
“Thank you. Now it’s about time to
see the main reason we’re here. Get it?
When they got to the boat, Bert was just as impressed as he was with the cottage. Dr. Hynes was humble about it.
“It’s not the greatest, but it’s comfortable, and it gets the job done.”
The boat was aged but it was rather large. It had a separate eating area and bathroom. There was also a small area where two people could sleep comfortably.
The guys took the boat out on the beautiful sea and caught some lobsters and shrimp. Bert was more entertained by just being out on the water than he was by all of the seafood. Bert had been a man of many talents and gifted with knowledge, but this was his first time on a boat, and he couldn’t get enough of it.
He sat on the bow smiling. Dr. Hynes was pleased to make it such a wonderful experience for his favorite student. Before the ride was over, Bert made Dr. Hynes promise that he would take him out there again.
In the morning Bert asked Dr. Hynes to take him down to the village so he could pick something up for Stephanie. He found a charm necklace of a boat with a heart in it. He felt that would fit the occasion. He also bought a Captains hat for Dr. Hynes. Bert gave him the hat on the ride back home.
“You didn’t have to do that. What a nice gesture.” He was very thankful for the gift.
“What could I tell you? I was brought up to be nice.” Bert said sarcastically.
“You may have had it rough, but my parents were no picnic either. They divorced when I was young. We lived on a farm back then. My father was known around the town as the walking toilet.”
“Was it some kind of body odor problem? Those farmers do spend a lot of time around the animals.”
“No, he didn’t smell! He just took his share of shit from people. Wise ass!” Dr. Hynes said, as he cracked a smile.
“Why did they get divorced? You never told me.”
“No, never mind that, you’ll laugh at it.”
“Oh come on. I won’t laugh.” Bert said, as he took a sip of his soda.
“Well, my father caught my mother in bed with the cow salesman.”
Bert spit up a mouthful of soda all over the windshield and choked from laughing. Dr. Hynes lost control of the car and drove over two lanes and off the shoulder into the grass and stopped in a small ditch. Once the dust cleared Dr. Hynes looked over at Bert.
“I told you that you were going to laugh.”
The two of them let out uncontrollable laughter.
“A cow salesman?” Bert asked, as Dr. Hynes started to drive the car back onto the highway.
“Well, he was the guy that came around to see if we needed livestock. I called him the cow salesman.”
“That is beautiful, just beautiful. I guess we know which one was really your father.”
“What does that mean?”
“You couldn’t be the son of a cow salesman, the way you steer.”
“Yea, that was funny, cow, steer, my driving. You are just hilarious. I would be embarrassed to make a joke that bad.” Dr. Hynes replied while they continued to laugh and drive off.
The car was fine; there were just a few dings and dirt marks. Nothing the local car wash couldn’t fix up.
After being back in school for a couple of days, Bert was walking across campus between classes. A young lady named Kathryn approached him. Like many of the other girls at the college, Kathryn was also attracted to Bert.
“Hi Albert, I haven’t seen you in a while, what’s new?”
“Not much Kathy, just the usual. How was your weekend?”
“Pretty good, nothing exciting. So have they found out anything about your friend Stephanie yet?”
“What do you mean, found anything out about?” Bert asked with a confused look on his face.
“Oh no, you didn’t know? I’m sorry.”
“Know what? What is going on?” Bert excitedly asked.
Kathy pulled him over to a bench to sit down. “No one is really sure what happened. Someone reported her as missing. She hasn’t been around for a while.”
Bert put his hands over his face and leaned forward to put his head down. “Oh my God. I can’t believe this. Where was she last seen?”
“Like I said, no one is really sure of anything. There is a private investigator walking around questioning people. He said he was working with the police. I don’t know how that works. He might be able to answer some of your questions though.”
“If you see him get his number for me, I would like to talk to him.”
“You bet, and if you need anyone to talk to or anything, you know where to find me. Hang in there Bert, hopefully everything will be fine.”
Bert seemed to take the news rather hard. That was expected since they were sort of dating, although they were not close enough to be referred to as a couple.
Bert tried to set up a meeting with the investigator. When he finally did meet with him; there wasn’t much information to go on.
The investigator, Dennis, informed Bert that no one knew when she left, or if she decided to leave on her own. None of her family could be reached either.
“You are just about the only one that has any concern about the subject. You would’ve been the one I’d be questioning if it hadn’t been for the messages you left on her machine and all of the professors speaking so highly of you.”
“But please, isn’t there anything we can do? Are you just going to give up?”
“Look, I will keep your number and I will do my best to see what I can come up with but I’m telling you, it’s not going to be easy. I’m sorry.”
Bert pulled the charm out of his pocket and looked down at it with a sad look on his face.
“What’s that?”
“Just something I picked up for her over the weekend. I guess there are no games scheduled for today.”
“What does that mean?”
“My brother used to tell me that the best thing on a day off from school was to make a great big picture of iced tea, cook up a few hotdogs, get real comfortable and sit in front of the television to watch the games all day long. The saddest thing he ever imagined was preparing for a day like that and then reading in the paper that there are no games scheduled for today. So whenever I get upset about something, the words just come out.” Bert explained.
Dennis looked at Bert again. “Once again, I am very sorry.” He walked away shaking his head.
When Dennis got back to his shabby office, he couldn’t stop thinking about Bert and how upset he looked about Stephanie. Dennis wished he could find some way to help.
Over the next few months Dennis tried every option he could come up with to find out what happened to Stephanie. He questioned every student at the college and looked into every place that anyone of them recommended he check out. He still came up with nothing.
September 1981
Dennis was finally able to locate Stephanie’s parents. They were shocked to find out that their daughter has been missing. They haven’t spoken with her since she left their house three years earlier.
Stephanie’s parents explained to Dennis that they had a falling out about her choices before she decided to go to college. Her parents were unaware that she was even going to college.
Now, not only did Dennis feel terrible about how sad Bert was, but he also felt awful about Stephanie’s parents and how they had to find out from him that she was missing.
Dennis eventually reported back to Bert to let him know how hard he tried. Bert was thankful, but by this time he figured that Stephanie would not be returning.
Bert was back to his studies and science experiments. He spent most of his time in his laboratory. When he wasn’t working on his projects he would occasionally see Kathryn.
Bert explained to Kathryn that he didn’t want to get too serious with a woman at this point in his life, mainly because of his studies. He also let her know that even though Stephanie and him only knew each other for a brief while, he still thinks of her often.
Bert stayed in contact with Dennis
over the next few years. They became pretty close friends. Bert also made it up
to
Chapter Three
“Fear of Flying”
March 1989
Since Bert had so much land on his property he got to work on making a lake. He read up on, and studied the construction of tunnels. He built one under the length of the lake. Bert was determined to show the world that there could be a civilization built under the oceans. He spent quite a lot of time on this project as well as working on many other experiments at the same time.
Bert completed his tunnel experiment around the same time that he was graduating and receiving his doctorate degree. He brought Dr. Hynes and Dennis over to see the tunnel experiment and they were extremely impressed.
The only help Bert had building was from Carl Morris of the construction company. Carl was also very impressed with what Bert was attempting to do. Carl helped with the plumbing and electrical that was needed in order to live down there. Carl was convinced that Bert’s idea would be a great thing to unveil to the public. Even if houses and living space were not built under the ocean, it would be a great place for certain types of businesses and things of that nature.
February 2003
A few years after Bert graduated
and after the world knew of his experiments; he was invited back to
Bert was excited about the offer. Besides being able to teach the young minds, he figured this would also give him the opportunity to visit with his father and see his old home.
Bert decided to take Dr. Hynes with him. He figured it was the least he could do since Dr. Hynes brought him to that be