#thestreetsofwildernessp2

[chefprefers]

Joanne’s Beast

Chapter Four Joanne's beast

When Joanne looked over at Sandy lying on the ground, a race of uncontrollable thoughts went through her. Her emotions were flooded with thoughts of what had happen and how can this happen.

When Joanne was in nursing school before her marriage, she dedicate a lot of her free time to the church. She was involved with the church programs and helped out where ever she could. She was a good typist, so she often typed letters the church administration. She would attend all the church's services and functions. This is where she met her future husband Jim. Jim had left home at sixteen and took comfort in the church community. Still in school, he had no money, so people at the church would assist him in offering room and board for helping around the home.

During Jim's upbringing, his family became unstable where his parents would argue and fight. Jim's father was a loving father to his children but ever since he had come back from the war, he wasn't same. He had become an alcoholic and was drunk all the time. Jim couldn't deal with this, so he left the family home. Jim wasn't stupid and knew that he had to finish his schooling, work to pay his way and pursue his passion for sport. He dreamed of being an elite athlete and somehow making a living from sport. He was very handsome and was determined and focus driven. These attributes were what Joanne fell in love with. Joanne was brought up in a nice loving family home. Her father ran a canning factory in Melbourne and was quite well off. They would often go with their extended family on exotic holidays to the Mornington peninsular southeast of Melbourne. She loved her extended family of aunties, uncles and cousins. Even during her nursing school era, she would look forward to her summer trips away with them.

Since Joanne got married, contact with her extended family seemed to stop. She got pregnant straight away with Jamie and also with Jack and Jessie within four years. Jim had finished his degree in education and had taken a job with the board of education as a physical education teacher. A teacher's salary wasn't enough to feed a family of three, so he took a lot of extra teaching work. This would take Jim away from his family for few days sometimes weeks. Joanne resented this, however her love for him was strong and she was determined to kick on and keep a lot of her troubles away from her extended family. When Sandy came along, Jim took a two year coaching job up at Papau New Guinea and left them back in Melbourne. Jim would often be caught up in his work and neglected his family. Joanne would continually badger him for money and to return home. Since Jim was handsome and his line of work attracted women, Jim had an affair four years ago. When Joanne found out later, she threatens to leave him but she loved him and hoped their relationship would improve; she wanted to make it work. She had regretted that decision back then and she was regretting it now. Jim's behaviour continued. Since coming to America, he was seldom at home and again Joanne was left on her own managing the family and with no support.

Joanne was frustrated with her life and what had become of it. She kept these frustrations bottle up inside her and somehow her frustrations would appear in the most unusual way. She would sometimes laugh at the most inappropriate moment or she would forget about the most important things or yell at the kids for most trivial things. When she was yelling at the kids, she manages a certain octave in her voice and shows a demeanor in her facial expressions. This would make them submissive. Joanne would reach this octave often. Her kids would call this "the Beast".

When Joanne's beast appeared on the back step, she had no trouble telling everybody to piss off out of the yard. Greg and Brad made a run for it and Tracy and her brothers knew that the fight was over and they also left promptly.

Jessie was already with Sandy when Joanne cleared the yard. Jessie looked down at Sandy's leg and saw no blood or anything unusual with it. He was holding it and looked in pain. Sandy tried to get up again and screamed. The scream caught Joanne's attention from her rage. Joanne came over and kneeled down to take a look. She had finished her nursing schooling but never really had a chance to put it into practice since she got married. She saw nothing unusual and picked him up and brought him inside the house. She sat him on the couch where he was crying uncontrollably. She attended to him but didn't know what was wrong. She could take him to the hospital, but she didn't have a car or afford an ambulance. Since they had been only in the US for two months, she didn't understand how the medical system worked here. They had no money and was cautious about getting caught it in the medical bills. She understood the Australian system and the medical system there was for the privileged. They weren't privileged so she decided to wait.

When Tracy and hers brothers were walking back home, she became emotional and weary and began to cry. Tim was also emotional and put his arm around her. Tracy would get her revenge.

[chefprefers]

Cpl Craig’s Nightmare

Chapter 10 Corporal Craig’s Nightmare

As he looked around, there was a large pile of potato sacks in the centre of a dark room. He couldn't help but pickup a sack and throw it onto his shoulders and carry it along and throw it in to the dark pit. He kept doing this over and over. After some time, when he approached the pile, he noticed movement within the bags. It was as though, the contents of the inners were moving around inside. He was curious and felt around the outer surface of the bag. He was searching for the opening but couldn't find the seam. He gave up and picked up the sack and continued to finish moving the bags to the deep dark hole. As he was carrying it, he could now feel the movement on his back and then he felt a probing scratch on his shoulder, as though he was being scratched by a claw protruding though the canvas material. He dropped the bag and as it hit the ground, it disintegrated and the content of the sack could be seen. Skeleton looking rats with wet decaying flesh hanging from their bodies disburse in every direction. His first reaction was to try and contain them but then he became aware that he was the target. The rats began to craw up his leg. He tried to jump away but found they were already up to his waist. He tried to shoo them, but they kept coming. He let out a screamed and he kept screaming.....

**

Terry Craig was hunched up at the top of his bed when he opened his eyes. He was screaming at the top of his voice and once he became aware of his dream, he settled down. His wife, Tina was already awake from the tossing and turning of his unconscious movement. Tina had touched him on the shoulder, but her touch had somehow made him react as though she was the monster and he was trying to get away from her. Her feelings were hurt. She'd felt like getting out of bed and running into the next room, but somehow she knew that it wasn't her fault, it was a nightmare. These nightmares were concerning her. She was worried that it would affect the kids. Terry had been jobless and wasn't concerned about getting another one job since he left the army. He had other things on his mind.  He had to come to terms with no longer being a Corporal in the Marines and dealing with being Terry the civilian. His behaviour in the household, was taking its toll, not with her but with the kids. She noticed the boys were shying away from him and Tracy, who was lately transforming into a woman, was worst affected. She didn't like what Tracy was becoming. Tracy appeared to have a chip on her shoulder about something and she couldn't figure it out. Tina had thought that maybe Terry was possessed by an evil spirit. What was this evil spirit? she thought. During his time in the Marines, he would come home and be happy to see them. But ever since he came back from Vietnam, his happiness is somehow lost. She was reluctant to bring it up with him because it was hard to discuss anything with him. These nightmares were getting worst, so she decided to share her thoughts with Father Owen in the morning after Church.

Tracy was awake in the other bedroom and heard the commotion. She knew that her father was having bad dreams. They were once watching TV and her father had falling asleep and she remembered how he was jerking around in the chair and suddenly woken up. She remembered the look in his eyes as they opened, it was as though he was scared of something. It was a look that she will never forget. Her mother said that he was fearful of rodents and then asked 'if you see any rodents in the yard, let me know, so I can dispose of them'. Her mother knew that rodents triggered a fear in Terry and if she kept them away, he would stay calm. Tracy believe that this nightmare was triggered by an event that took place last night. When Tracy came home from her Halloween excursion, she heard her mother talking on the phone with her grandmother about the incident. She mentioned that there were these kids in Halloween costumes and one was disguised as a big rat. When Terry answered the door with a bowl of candy, he dropped it when he saw one of the kids in a giant rodent outfit. He went upstair to his bedroom leaving the eager kids standing outside the doorway confused. Her mother then had go to the door, hand out the candy and send them on their way. Tracy straight away thought of Jack. Remembering earlier this week when Jack and his friends were playing hide and go seek in her yard. She had come across a squirrel and she knew she had to get rid of it. So she picked up a bat, caught it and killed it. Jack didn't understand why she killed it and called her a thug. She couldn't explain to him because he wouldn't understand. She thought Jack was cute and was hoping to go out with him. But ever since that moment she had grown to dislike him. She wondered whether the giant rat was Jack and it was him seeking revenge for all the times he had missed the bus that week. As she lied there on her bed, she was convinced that it was Jack and started to plot on how to get him back.

[chefprefers]

The Abandon House

Chapter Nine    The Abandon House

Corporal Craig was on a flight home from Vietnam. He was at the window seat looking over the rice fields of Cambodia. He knew somewhere down there, somebody was getting shot. He was sure glad he was up in the plane far far away rather than that poor soul down there. Good luck to them, he thought. He’d witnessed a lot of injuries and deaths. At first, he thought a lot about what he saw and he couldn’t sleep. His body wanted to sleep, but his mind kept him awake. One soldier advised him that the only way to function out here was to become numb. 'Don’t think about it’ he remembered hearing. He’d witness senseless killings, mines detonating, rockets exploding, mass graves and the fall of law and order. One thing he couldn’t shake was having flashbacks and frightening thoughts. Every moment down there was life or death and somehow he’d escaped it. He would be finishing up with the Marines on his return. He will receive a military honour and then be on his way. However, the only thing on his mine was getting back to see his family again.

Jack waited until dark before going to Greg’s place. Greg had mentioned that the best time to trick or treat was after dark. Before that, it was for little kids. It took Jack over 20 minutes to walk to Greg’s place. It would normally take ten but the costume he was wearing wasn’t design for walking. Jessie had come up with a real beauty of an outfit. However, it broke down in the practical part. He had partly taken it off, so he could walk the distance and when he got to Greg’s front porch, he put it back on. He rang the door bell when he was ready.

Greg’s mother had opened the door and she had a bowl of candy in her hands. She poked it out the door and said 'There you go.’ Jack just stood there waiting for a reaction. He was half expecting Greg’s mother to be spooked and shriek 'What is this!’ No, it didn’t go like that at all. She just handed over the bowl offered candy. Jack hadn’t been shown the ropes on what goes on with Halloween, so he didn’t know what to do. Finally, he confessed that he was here for Greg. Greg’s mum looked up and Jack took off the mask for a second. 'Oh, Jack, well well,… GREG!’ She yelled 'Jack’s here to see you’. Greg could be heard behind running down the stair and he poked his head around the door. 'Oh my lord what are you?, he queried, a giant rat or something?’ Jack was confused because he wasn’t a giant rat. He proclaimed 'No, I’m a Kangaroo.’ Greg was curious. 'What’s a Kangaroo?’ Greg’s mum interjected’ Don’t you know what a Kangaroo is? It’s an Australian marsupial animal.’ 'Ah, an Australian what? Greg cackled. 'Never mind, let go!’ Greg passed his mum and came out to porch. He was wearing black pants and a black shirt. Jack asked 'What are you supposed to be?’ Greg was carrying a mask and put it over his face. The red mask looked like a devil with fanged teeth and a burnt singed forehead. 'I’m the devil’ he proclaimed. Jack was amused 'Cool’ he approved. Greg added that they had to meet up with Brad at the corner at any minute, so they were off.

When they got to the corner, Brad was waiting for them holding a guitar. Brad had on a fake bushy beard and wearing a large brown buttoned up overcoat. Jack had it admired the costume and asked Brad what he was supposed to be. Brad responded with opening up his overcoat revealing his body dressed in beige pants and a shirt. There seemed to be a long stuffed sock hanging from his midriff. 'I’m Jim Morrison on stage’, he announced. He had seen on the news recently that Jim Morrison, the singer from the Doors, had been arrested for a gig he did in Florida when he exposed himself on stage. Both Greg and Jack having seen the footage, laughed. Brad turned to Jack and asked 'What are you suppose to be, a rat or something?’ Greg included 'Yeah, a giant rat’. Jack was getting impatience with this costume, not only because it was hard to get around in, but it looked stupid. He wanted to take it off and leave it on the street. He responded by saying that he was trying to be a Kangaroo. Brad laughed 'Oh, those bouncy animals that you see on Wild Kingdom, Cool! Man, I love that show.’ Jack was relieved and took it as a sign of acceptance, so he decided to keep wearing it. Brad stated 'Do you know what this means’ Greg responded 'Yeah, later though, lets go man!

The entry to the house was dark, the foyer led into a hallway which exposed burnt out house studs. It appeared as though the house had been recently on fire. Every step they took, the floor creaked, like the house was playing an eerie song. Sandy could just hear drumming in the background, as though somebody was playing the bongo drums in the other room. Since his father was away a lot, he continued to ask male strangers on whether they were his father. So he wasn’t fearful of strangers and the old lady appeared to be nice enough. So, he continued to walk down the hallway. At the end of the passage was an archway. Flicking light could be seen through the opening. The lady was walking backwards still beckoning them to come. His eyes were focused on the light as he struggles with his crutches. He was hoping that he could sit down soon. When Sandy reached the entrance to the room, it opened up into a large lounge room. The flames in the fire place projected a calming atmosphere. In the centre of the room, there was a large three seater couch facing the fire and a slate covered coffee table in between. The old lady indicated for them to sit down on the couch. Sandy was relieved so it didn’t take much convincing. Jamie was focused on the interior design of the room. So he sat down as though he was following the leader.

Jamie was intrigued on the layout. The fireplace had a vintage clock hanging over it. The hour hand was positioned on roman numeral five, the minute hand on three and the second hand was not moving. The timed displayed was quarter past five. Jamie knew of this time, because it was the time in which the Washington to Boston train passes by. It’s a large train which makes allot of noise. Jamie was recollecting that the time must be at least 6pm. So it must be broken.

Jessie stayed at the archway. She didn’t want to enter the room and kept anxiously looking back towards the front door. On the coffee table, there was a large bowl in the middle. The old lady point towards the large bowl. Jamie reached over and picked it up and looked inside. Sandy leaned over and peeked into the inners. Jessie although behind them could just make out Sandy’s reaction on his face. His eye lids opened up wide and he had a smile from ear to ear. It was he had scored the jackpot. He reached in and grabbed a bunch of candy. She could just make out the labels on the packets. They looked like candy cigarettes, candy necklaces, Lemmonheads and even Redhots. Sandy continued to grab and stash the lollies into his bag. Jamie was doing the same.

Jessie was weary and stayed at the door. Once they had emptied the bowl, the old lady walked over to the fire place and picked up a stoking iron. Jessie became alarmed and quietly ran over to the couch and signalled for them to leave. Jamie concurred and helped Sandy get up. Sandy’s lolly bag was full and too heavy for him to carry. Jessie grabbed it and ran around the couch to protect him from the old lady. The old lady had her back to them and was busy stoking the fire. Jessie saw an opportunity an caroused both Jamie and Sandy back to the hallway. Jessie looked back to see the old lady still poking at the fire as she walk out the archway. She seemed to be unaware of their sudden exit.

Sandy was in the lead thumping down the hallway with his crutches. He pushed the front door open with his right crutch. It swung open wide and they stumbled through the door down to the pathway. The door sprung back shut with a BANG! They all jumped from the sudden sound and looked back as though there was a dog nipping at their heals. It was dark outside now, so it was hard to see the pathway to the street.

When they got to the street, they looked back an saw no one chasing them. The house seemed to be invisible from the darkness and appeared abandon. Jessie proclaimed 'That place gave me the creeps.’ Jamie became aware of what she meant and agreed 'Me too.’ Satisfied with their takings, they headed back home.

When they were nearly at their driveway, they met up with Jack, Greg and Brad coming the other way. Jack asked Jamie 'How did you guys go?’ Jessie replied 'Halloween gives me the creeps’ 'Why’ Greg asked 'Well, we’ve just come from the craziest house, you know the house with the steeples’ Brad said 'Oh, you mean the abandon house’ . Jessie continued 'Not really, there was this old weird lady who invited us in and sat us down in this strange room.’ 'Really?’ said Brad 'That house has been abandon for years, nobody lives there.’ Jessie and Jamie both look at each other and responded as a chorus 'REALLY?’

[chefprefers]

Stranger Things

Chapter Eight   Stranger Things

  Tracy woke up the next morning from a night of helping her father at the church. She didn’t hear Tim come in last night because she was already asleep. It was the first thing she thought of when she open her eyes. How did Tim go last night? She got up out a bed and went to his room. She tapped on the door and all she heard was ‘What!’ from inside the room. She opened the door and saw that he was still in bed with the covers over him. She went to sit on his bed. She reached over and shook him. Tim groaned ‘What do you want?’ ‘How did you go last night?’ she asked. Tim opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling and was wondering what she was asking about. Tim had a view targets last night and Tracy’s beef with Jack wasn’t important to him. He thought that Tracy’s grudge holding was becoming a regular occurrence. Tracy was a good sister, very supportive always pleasant to hang around with, although lately, she hasn’t been herself. Something had changed ever since Dad returned from his last trip. Life in the house was different, his Dad was out of work and he needed another job. He finished up at his last job three months ago and searching for a another job was hard. He seemed to be hot tempered more then usual. His mother was finding it hard coping and they argued a lot. Tim didn’t understand why. Since he was the oldest, he felt his Dad was picking on him a lot more then his younger siblings. He just managed to get out of going to the church last night by providing a lame excuse that he had to study. His Dad didn’t seemed to be rational enough to work out that it was a Friday night, so he got away with it. He also felt that he was aggravated as well. His temper was building and so to get rid of Tracy from the bedroom, he assured her that he got Jack’s house good. She smiled and asked. ‘Who are you going out with tonight?’ he again, wanting her to leave murmured ‘You know, with the boys’, She pleaded 'Can I come with you guys’. 'Yea, OK, just get out of here.’ he insisted. She smiled again and left.

Sandy was finding it hard using the crutches dressed as a Mummy. He was deprived in so many ways. Although, he knew the outcome. His sister Jessie had mentioned that if they go and knock on the neighbours doors tonight, they would receive candy. He was all for that. His sister was dressed as Shirley Temple. She was always fascinated by the black and white TV series. Since she was in the America, she could fit the part. She managed to curl her hair and wear a white frilly dress. The black shoes were the give away. Jamie was along side them wearing a made up cowboy hat. He had seen the movie 'The Alamo’ who starred John Wayne. He fell in love with John Wayne movies. He once heard John Wayne say 'When in Rome’ he asked his mother what that meant and she told him. 'Where you are is what you become’ He thought about that for awhile and decided to be a cowboy tonight. It wasn’t quite the West, but it was close enough. When they came to the first house, Jessie hesitantly rang the door bell. The door opened and a lady stood there and waited. Jamie and Jessie looked at her and then at each other. 'Well’, insisted the lady. 'Aren’t you going to say trick or treat?’ Jessie was shy and whispered 'Trick or Treat?’ The lady smiled and presented a plate of apples. Jamie looked down at the plate with disappointment and muttered “Apples?’ Jack had mentioned that they would be presented with a bag lollies. This wasn’t going well. They each took an apple and thanked her as they walk back to the street. At the next house, Jamie decided to ring the bell. They waited for a bit. Since it was still day light out, there weren’t sure whether anybody was home. Jamie pushed the doorbell again and nobody came to the door. It felt a bit awkward since they were told that there would be a lot of kids around with costumes and they didn’t see any kids on this street. Jessie was wondering whether this was another one of Jack’s pranks. They would go to the next house and see. It wasn’t very far to the next house however Sandy was struggling with his crutches, so they took their time. When they got to the front path, they looked up at an old Victorian house. It appeared to be nobody home. The grass was taller than Sandy and the front porch had sagging floor boards as though nobody had done any maintenance for years. There were no cars in the driveway and the front door screen was wide open. The front door was closed although it certainly looked like it was hit hard from the night before with tomatoes and eggs strains on the door. When Jessie reached the porch, she was hesitant to step up. Jamie was fascinated by the house because it presented multiple A frame conical roofs. The roof over the porch had a steep pitched slope rising to a peak. On the corner of the house was a turret structure. Something you would see on a church. At the peak of the conical roofs were knob looking pinnacles. The porch was surround by wrought iron railing. Jamie trotted up the stairs and quickly rang the door bell. He couldn’t hear the bell, so he knocked on the door. By this time Sandy had managed to get up to the final step with Jessie helping him from behind. There was a sound of faint foot steps coming from the other-side of the door. The foot steps stopped. Jessie was getting the creeps and turned her head towards the street. Her thoughts were of running back home. She turned to Sandy and noticed his predicament wasn’t good. She decided to be brave and wait. Finally, they could hear the front door lock unlatching. 'Click clack’ and the door was released. The door slowly opened. A hand could be seen around the doors edge to open it wider. The hand was gnarled like the limbs of an old oak. The door opened to expose an small old lady still in her white frilly nighty. She had long black hair which covered parts of her face. She appeared to be old although her face was tight with anxiety. Sandy found this amusing and blurted out 'Trick or Treat!’. Both Jamie and Jessie shaken by the outburst, looked over at Sandy and eyed him to be quiet. The lady slowly waved her hand as though she beckon them to come inside. She said no words just silently insisting. Jessie wasn’t entertained to the idea but before she knew it, Sandy was at the doorway. Jessie looked over at Jamie. Jamie gave her that 'I don’t know shrug’ and went to follow Sandy. Jessie was upset with herself for offering to take Sandy out for the night and followed Jamie into the house.

[chefprefers]

Cabbage Night

A Short Story By Andrew Cheffers

Chapter Seven Cabbage Night

When Jack got home from school, he had an idea of what to wear. He asked his sister Jessie to help him with his costume. Jessie loves dressing up and she has a knack for design and colour coordination. She was the right person to asked, but he was afraid she would decline since he teased her a lot. Her reaction was of jubilation and you could see the thrill in her eyes. She reacted Wow! I love dressing up. When he told what he wanted as a costume. She laugh and said “Ok that might be a little hard but I’ll see what I can do.’ She asked if she could come along. Jack replied that he was already going out with Greg and Brad and that she would be better going with somebody else. She was curious about Halloween, since their family had never heard of it before. She decided to go with Sandy and take him down the street hoping to get some candy. She went to asked Jamie to come along and he agreed enthusiastically . Sandy’s costume was easy, since his leg was in a cast, she would dress him as a Mummy. Jamie was a little bit more different although she had an idea for him. Then she had to come up with something for herself although she had only one thing in mine. That night, she scrounged around looking for costume garments. By the end, she had it all under control ready for tomorrow.

Later that night, Jame and Jack were lying in bed ready for sleep. Their bedroom was on the top floor adjacent to the bathroom which was at the end of the hallway. As you look down the hallway towards the bathroom, Jessie and Sandy’s bedrooms was on the left and Jamie and Jack’s room was on the right.  As you entered Jamie and Jack’s room, Jack’s bed was on the inner wall on the left and Jamie’s bed was on the opposite wall on the right next to the south window. The south window faces the street. Their bedheads were against the west window which faces the side yard. There was a bedside table between them with a light. They had just turned off the light and they lied there quietly. It was time for Jamie’s game. Since it was dark in the room although there was some moon light, he would lie there waiting for that familiar clicking sound.

When they first arrived at the house, he would hear it and become scared  of it. However, it was happening every night, so eventually he got used to it. Like the train noise, it became a obsession. After five minutes, he started to hear the clicking noise. His game was to try to locate it in the dark. It seemed to move around a bit. He would try to triangulate using his two ears and the source of the noise. He would hear it, then turn his head towards it and turn on the light to see if he could see it. He eventually worked out what it was. They were cockroaches. Sometimes he would turn  on the light to catch the cockroaches in it’s tracks.  They were really fast so he could never get up in time to kill it. He found doing this was a good way to occupied his mind since he found it hard to go to sleep. Generally, the clicking noise could be heard within the walls. But occasionally, they were out in the room. He noted that there were a lot in the inner wall near Jack’s bed. Jack found it easy to go to sleep so he probably never noticed the noise.

On this occasion he could hear the clicking noise coming from Jack’s bed. Oh gees, he thought. It wasn’t too long before Jack jumped out of bed said ‘What was that? Jamie turned on the light and said ‘That’ as he pointed towards the floor where it fell. Jack looked down to see the cockroach running under the doorway. ‘That little thing just ran across my face’, he continued. ‘What the hell, I hate this place’ and there was a pause ‘By the way, how did you know what it was?’ Jamie just gave him that familiar ‘I don’t know’ shrug. Jack squinted at him for a little while trying to work out what that meant. He eventually got back into bed and lied down again. Jamie turned out the light. Jack had told Jamie earlier that night about the hall monitoring incident he had with an older boy. Jamie lied there thinking of how badly Jack’s week had been. It could get worst if he wore Halloween costume tomorrow. He was glad his costume was only a cowboy. Just then he heard a thump and then another one! Jamie thought it came from outside, but he wasn't sure. He leaned up and looked out the window. He could only see a faded empty street. Then BANG! Jamie was so startled from the noise that he jumped out of his bed. Jack stirred and said What was that? Jamie still staring at the window could just make out a clump of goo on the window outlined from the street light. He went to turn on the light, Jack having noticed that Jamie was looking out the window, stopped him and said ‘Let’s take a look’. They both kneeled on Jamie’s bed and peaked out the window. As they did, they both saw two bodies running down the street. Jack said Who was that? and Jamie answered ‘I think we both know who that was’ and they both said at the same time ‘Tracy’. Jamie turned, he could barely make out Jack's face in the dark and  said ‘You better patch things up with her or otherwise..’ and Jack conceded in saying ‘I know’.

The next morning Greg was at Jack’s door ringing the bell. He noticed the egg shells on the stairs as he walked up . He looked up and saw the coverage of egg goo on the house. On his way over here, he’d noticed a few houses along the streets that had been hit as well. Gee, you certainly didn’t want to piss off the neighbourhood kids in this area. He thought to himself. His mother was waiting in the car ready to take the boys to their soccer game. Jack and Jamie had joined up with Greg on a soccer team. The team was organised by the Boys Brigade. The Boys Brigade is a local youth group that is affiliated with the Presbyterian church.  Jack and Jamie only played Australian Rules football in Australia, so soccer was a new game for them. Greg was happy to have Jack and Jamie on his team because last year, they lost every game.This year they haven’t lost a game yet. Jack and Jamie’s influence had certainly made it better team. Jack could control the ball well and played in the centre. Jamie wasn’t very good, but could run a lot and he was left footed to cover the left side.

Jack opened the front door with Jamie close behind. Jack stepped out and noticed the egg shells. ‘Wow!’ Greg reacted by saying You’ve guys got bombed. Jack responded ‘Yeah, we could hear it last night.’ Greg continued ‘Good old Cabbage night will get you every time’.  Jack was curious and said ‘Cabbage Night?’ ‘Oh’ Greg replied. ‘I forgot to tell you, it’s the night before Halloween, it’s the night where you can go around and bomb your hated neighbours.’ Wow! Jack responded.  Greg continued ‘Normally, they go for the mailbox by lighting up a cherry bomb in it’.  then POW! off goes the lid.’ Jack let out a little giggle. He was imaging the mailboxes exploding like the Roadrunner had blown up the Coyote in the cartoon. Beep! Beep! Funny enough he heard Greg’s car horn at the exact time he thought of the Road Runner. Greg rolled his eyes and mentioned that his mother was waiting for them.  ‘Lets go kick some ass’ he impatiently said. When they got in the car, Greg uttered to Jack, ‘so what are you wearing tonight?’ Jack gave him a cheeky smile. ‘You’ll have to wait and see’.

Next Post Chapter Eight The Abandon House

[chefprefers]

‘You Betcha’

A Short Story by Andrew Cheffers

Chapter Six ‘You Betcha’

Jack was feeling confident as he was walking down the school halls. He had become the class president and now he was in charge of the Glenolden Public School hall monitoring program.  He was scheduled for the last two classes. Friday afternoon tended to busy in the halls, so he nominated to take it to avoid being bored.  If nobody was around to harass, it was no fun. As he was walking on his third circuit, he saw an older boy walking towards him. He put up his hand to stop the student. The student was in the seventh grade and bigger than Jack. Jack asked for his hall pass and the boy replied, ‘Oh, I was just going to the bathroom’ Jack said ‘You need to have a hall pass, buddy! The student apologised and said he would go and get one. The student walked back the way he came. Jack couldn’t hold back the smug as he continued on his circuit. At the next turn he saw another boy coming towards him. Jack hadn’t met him before but he looked to be in seventh grade. Jack indicated to stop. Jack said confidently ‘Hey Buddy!, you got your hall pass?’ The boy looked at him and smiled. The boy reached down into his pocket and said ‘Yeah sure’. The boy took his hand from his pocket and swung it around and POW! down went Jack. The student spread eagled over Jack and said ‘THAT WAS MY HALL PASS, BUDDY!’ and walked off. As Jack laid there looking up at the ceiling, he thought ironically, how is it that I avoided being punched all week and then I walked straight in to it.

When school finished, Jack caught the school bus home with Greg. As always, they both sat together at the back. Jack asked ‘What costume are you going to wear tomorrow night? Greg sarcastically replied ‘I was thinking maybe dressing up as a Squirrel and then go knock on Tracy’s door.’ Jack looked at Greg for a moment and then they both laughed. Greg continued ‘Yea, Brad and I will probably knock on the doors of  Logan, Boon and Stuart Ave. Those streets generally  give out the most candy.’ ‘Cool’, Jack responded ‘Lets do that, I’ll walk to your place and then we can go from there.’  They both agreed.

Tracy was up in her room getting ready for the big night out. She had organised her friends to meet up at the park. It was something she did every year and this year she knew the place where they were going to start. It was time to meet up, so she opened the door and quietly went down the stairs.

She was aware that her father was home and he wasn’t in the best of moods lately, so he might not let her go out on a Friday night. Her father hadn't been the same since arriving from his last trip. Before he went away, he was really good to them. They would often go out together on weekends and attend church gathering. They would go to church each Sunday and assist with any functions during the week. When he was away, her mother would continue attending church functions, but not in a rudimental way.  She was more relaxed to their form of religion. So Tracy often found to have more time on her hands.

As she got to the front door, she heard from behind her “WHERE ARE YOU GOING? She was startled from her father’s voice. She turned and answered, ‘I’m just going out with my friends’ ‘No your not, you are coming with me to the church hall to set up for All Saints day’ he responded. She protested by saying ‘But Dad, my friends’.

She knew the church was important to her father and last Sunday they were told at the sermon that the church was holding a fundraising Fate at the local park. This year All Saints day was on a Sunday, so it would work perfectly if the fate followed the service. They had asked for volunteers to donate items and setup stalls. Her father had a large collection of Army figuring in the basement and he was keen to get rid of them. So he thought it would be a good idea to sale them off. Tracy knew about this but was hoping that they would setup tomorrow instead tonight. Her father was pretty insistent about what was important. Tracy really missed having her Dad around. But since his last trip, he seemed to be angry and be agitated over the most trivial things. For most of her life, he was good to her and he made her feel special. But lately, she felt that he was angry with her and she couldn’t work out why. She also noticed that when he fell asleep in front of the TV, he would wakeup suddenly and cringe up like he was trying to get away from something. It worried her and there was nothing that she could do to help him and she tried so often. Since the mood in the house was somber, she also became angry and short tempered.  

The anger was in her voice when she replied, Ok Dad, I’ll go. She walked past him and said ‘Let me know when you want to go’ and went back up stairs. She got to the top of the stairs and froze, she thought, ‘how was this going to work?’ How can she get a message to her friends. Then she had an idea and went to Tim’s room and tapped on his door. She heard “What?” She open the door and poked her head in. ‘Dad’s not letting me out tonight, are you going out?’ ‘You Betcha’ Tim replied. ‘Do you know who the target is tonight?’ Tim again responded ‘You Betcha’. Satisfied, she nodded and closed the door.

Coming soon Chapter Seven Cabbage Night

[chefprefers]

The Doppler Effect

A Short Story by Andrew Cheffers

Chapter Five The Doppler Effect

After three days, Joanne had finally surrendered to take Sandy to the hospital. He'd somehow broken his leg by trying to kick at Tracy and missed. The doctor had said that it was a green stick fracture. At the dinner table after they came back, Joanne had explained that your leg can break in a number of ways. She picked up a string bean from her plate and demonstrated. One way is that you can slightly bend it and it will give way. Another way is if you bend it fully, it will break into two. Although, if it doesn’t fully break, it splinters and that is what you call a green stick fracture. Jack was imagining the splinter inside Sandy’s leg and said eewww!

The next morning, they were sitting down at the breakfast table having Frosted Flakes, a treat which Sandy received after having his leg put in a cast. During the three days of lying on the couch watching TVs suffering. The TV commercials had bombarded him with all sorts of stuff. They would show action packed Matchbox cars and racing tracks, toy soldier figurines and yummy cereals. His favourite cereal commercial was Tony the Tiger. He was always saying “They’re Grrr....eat"!

Jack was excited that it was the last day of the school week but was feeling tense. He was wondering how he was going to get on the school bus. Tracy had sent out word to her friends that Jack was her target. Since Tracy went to the Catholic school, next to the public school bus stop, she would wait from him before school with her posse. The day after the fight in the yard, he thought he could avoid her since they went to different middle schools. He didn’t expect her to be waiting for him at the bus stop. When he saw her from a distance waiting for him, Jack decided to avoid the confrontation and miss the bus. He then had to walk the three miles to school. The next day he was hoping that she wouldn’t be there. He missed the bus again and again yesterday. He was getting tired of walking the three miles and so today, he had to time his run to bus perfectly. He would hide in the bushes and when the bus came, bolt towards the bus hoping to get on without harm. Jamie would have been in the same predicament, but the high school bus stop was a block before.

It was time to go to school, so Jack and Jamie picked up their bags and went to the front steps. When Jack opened the door, he couldn't see the front yard. A very dense fog had set in that morning. Jack had never seen such dense fog. It was so thick that you couldn’t see more then five feet in front of him. A instant sign of relieve came over him, when he thought that he could use the fog to his advantage getting on the bus. Jack and Jamie walked on the sidewalk in the right direction. When they got to Ridgeway street, Jack turned to Jamie and said “Lets cut across the railway tracks instead of going over the bridge”. It was a five minute longer walk if they went over the bridge, so Jamie agreed. Ridgeway street runs in parallel with the Washington-Boston railway line. Trains along this line run up to 60 mph. The railway line has a perimeter fence but Greg had told Jack of a way to get through without too much trouble. Both Jack and Jamie knew the way but it was difficult with the fog. Ridgeway street was Tracy’s street, so Jack had to be careful. The fog would hopefully help them. When Jack and Jamie got to the tracks, they stopped to look down the line to see if it was clear, they heard a train rumbling and could see a train headlights in the distance. Jack turned to Jamie and said it looks like it’s all clear. Jamie looked up towards the headlights and was puzzled. When Jack went to cross, Jamie grabbed him to stop him from going any further. Just as he did, the train rushed past.

Jamie had been fascinated by the trains ever since he arrived. He had come down here often to watch the trains whiz past. He wasn’t particularly interested in the trains, but the noise it makes as the train rushes by. He was engrossed on how the sound of the oncoming train has a higher pitch then when it pulls away. He worked out that the pitch of sound tends to peak as it goes by and as the train pulls away, the pitch gets lower. Jamie, that day, had looked up at the oncoming headlight and heard the train noise reach that familiar pitch, so he was alarmed and reached for Jack.

Jack turned to Jamie and said “How did you know?” Jamie just responded with a shrug.

Jack had always thought his older brother was odd. He was very quiet and was day dreaming all the time. He often had to snap his finger to break him out of his trance. At times, Jack wondered whether Jamie was living in this world. When he saw his brother shrug, he thought maybe he has special powers or something. His brother was confusing and he couldn’t figure him out so he accepted his response and they crossed the tracks together.

When they got to Jamie’s bus stop, Jack said “Seeya tonight Oh and thanks for saving my life”. Jamie responded “No worries, I owed you” and they both smiled.

Jack walked to his bus stop quietly. When Jack got within 20 feet of the stop, he could hear Tracy and her friends talking. He was still hidden from the fog, so he waited. When he heard the bus come to a stop, he ran for it. Tracy saw him just as he got on and yelled “I’m going to get you, Jack!”. Jack was feeling happy with himself outsmarting Tracy and her group. He saw Greg and went to sit with him. Greg said “Gee, maybe you should get on at my stop” Jack said “Nah, I’ve got it covered”. To change the subject Greg asked “What are you wearing tomorrow night?” and Jack gave him a confusing look. Greg continued “You know, Halloween! “Haven’t you heard of Halloween?” Jack asked “What’s Halloween?” Greg laughed “Geez, you Australians are really stupid, don’t you know Halloween? It’s when you dress up in a costume and go around to people houses and asked for candy.” Jack was intrigued, so he asked, How does that work? So Greg went on to explain the three days of All Saints. All Saints day is normally on November 1st, this is the day when your expels your demons. The day before, Halloween, is where you allow your demons to appear and you go around at night and spook the neighbours. Jack listen on and asked “So what’s the third day?” “Oh!” Greg said “That’s Cabbage night” Just then the bus stopped and they all got off. Greg said “I’ll tell you about it later. I gotta go, seeya!” Jack was curious about the third day, but was more interested in Halloween. “Collecting candy umm!” He had an idea. 

[chefprefers]

Jamie’s Revenge

Chapter Three  Jamie’s Revenge

Corporal Craig was traveling in the Deuce an a Half army vehicle towards another mission. He was sitting across from his Sargent who he really despised. The mission was to assist in the clean up of the Battle of Hue. The Battle of Hue was the bloodiest and longest battle in the Vietnam war which involved the South Vietnamese and the Americans verses the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese. When Corporal Craig first enlisted in 1960, he signed up for eight years in the Marine Corp Infantry Unit. He was assigned to the 27th Marine Regiment. Over the eight years, he went from Private to Corporal. He was single out at times being the oldest in the troop. His superiors were often jealous because most of the men looked up to him and he became the hidden leader in the troop. His rise in rank was slow having been dealt with idiots above him. Cpl Craig was no-one to worry, he was easy going and didn’t let that sort of thing bother him. There were other things that bothered him.  Being the father of four, he was twisted from being apart from his family and dealing with the atrociousness of war. Each clean up mission was affecting him greatly. His troop would show up at a battlefield site being overwhelmed by the stench of decay. In fact, ever since he had arrived in Vietnam, the combination of military smells, sweat, sewage and decay never left the air. Most of his missions would be assigned to bury and burn the dead. He often would be freaked out when he picked a corpse with a partner and the limbs would somehow come apart. He then would have to get closer and pick another part of the corpse and carry them the distance to the fire pit. He had to make careful steps, since the field were infested with living rodents and animals feeding off the dead. He had six months to bide his time and then he would hopefully be back with his family.

**

Sandy was in the kitchen looking through the cupboards searching for can a spinach. He couldn't read the content but he knew what the can looked like from the Popeye cartoon. He couldn’t find the exact one, but he did find a can with green leafs on it. He grabbed it and went outside to give it to his brother. When he got to the back steps, he saw the girl looking up and somehow she was being sprayed by a stream of water. Sandy looked up and saw Jamie pointing his weenie out the bathroom window urinating. The girl got really mad and yelled bad words up at Jamie. She then looked down and grabbed the ten speed near the hedge, pick it up and threw it at the house. Sandy, seeing his favourite toy being thrown, became angry and threw the green leaf can at the girl, but it missed. So he ran up to her and tried to kick her in the leg. The girl saw Sandy coming and averted being kick. When Sandy’s leg missed the target, his leg went snap. The snap could be heard around the yard. Both Jack and Tim stopped wrestling and looked up, Brad had the middle brother in a hold and they both looked over at where the sound came from. Greg and the younger of the two brothers stopped boxing. Sandy fell over and when he tried to get up again, the pain in his leg was so great that he let out an o’mighty ear piercing scream.

Joanne and Jesse were inside watching the end of Here’s Lucy when they heard the scream. They both looked at each other and knew straight away that’s not normal and it sounded like Sandy. Joanne had never heard Sandy scream like that and was concerned. Both Joanne and Jessie went outside to the backyard. When Joanne got to the back steps, she was alarmed on how many un-familiar kids were in the yard. She looked over at Sandy, who was lying down underneath where Tracy was standing, holding his leg, then Joanne started to feel her rage grow and her internal beast appeared.

Next Chapter Joanne’s beast

[chefprefers]

The Fight

Private Craig was finding it hard to keep up with the marching troop. He had a huge blister on his toe. They had been marching for the last two hours without a break. The drill Sargent was watching the troops like a hawk. Any blemish and they were punished. The task was to march for seven hours straight. There were sections of Fort Edward where you were exposed to extreme sun and heat. It was the last task he had to do to get accepted into the Marines. If he failed, he would be back on the street. The Marines were his only chance to prove to his family that he could do it. The father of four had joined in his thirties. He was no longer a young vibrant teenage in respect to his colleagues. He was streetwise which helped the mental side but he was finding it hard in the physical side. He just had to grit his teeth and March. The sweat was pouring down his forehead by the third hour and some way through the fourth hour he looked down sees blood in his boot. Three hours to go, he had to make it. A young soldier in front stepped out and put his hand up. He was quitting. The soldier to side of him grabbed him and walked to coerce him back to marching. The soldiers knew the punishment and it wasn't pretty, if they stopped they would be hosed. Being hosed is when you are marching along being hosed down by water. Sometimes they would strip you to your underwear. That is something that Private Craig didn't want. So he kept on marching. ** The house Jack's family rented was on a corner of a four way intersection. The front room was leased out to a hair dresser. The house had two floors and a basement. The top floor consisted of three bedrooms and a single bathroom. The bathroom was at the end of the hall where the bathroom window looked over the small backyard. The backyard consists of a single apple tree which is bordered by hedges to the side street.

Sandy was standing on the side street in which he manage to slip through the hedges. He was looking down the street at his oldest brother walking towards him. Jamie kept looking back at his followers. His followers were looking for Jack, and Jamie was the bait to expose his whereabouts. Tracy and her brothers were walking Jamie to his house in his underwear.

Jack and his friends were hidden in the neighbours bushes watching as Jamie and the posse walked by. When they saw them turned into Jack's yard, Jack had no choice but to protect his brother. He turned to his friends and said we are going to have to do something. They all nodded and ran towards the yard.

Joanne was fascinated by American television. Jim had somehow burrowed a colour TV from his office. When he arrived for his first day at the dormant swimming pool, there was a colour TV in the corner. He was surprised that it was colour. Last year Temple University had upgraded its Communication and Media Department with replacing all its black and white TVs with colour. Jim didn't need it, so he found a use for it. Television in Australia was still black and white and wasn't introduced until 1975. Television became Joanne's obsession. She would be home all day in this cockroach invested house and the only thing she could do was watch TV. She watched American TV programs such as Here's Lucy, The Brady Bunch, Bewitched and I Dream of Jeanie. Even though the new season of these programs were shown on prime time. The earlier seasons were shown during the day. These programs normally started showing around 3pm about the time when the kids came home. Jessie, her daughter, would often run home from school to watch them with her mother. Joanne had seen these programs before but not in colour, so she looked forward to watching them again. When Jack and his friends ran into the backyard, his mother and Jessie were focus on watching Here's Lucy in colour. Joanne heard the boys outside but didn't take any notice. Tracy's oldest brother Tim had the hose in his hand looking to turn on the faucet when Jack ran into the yard. Jack saw Tim and went straight for his stomach. He knew if he went for Tim, the other brothers would watch on and not take notice of Brad and Greg coming from behind. Tracy had Jamie in a Nelson hold position waiting for Tim to hose him down. Jamie was tall and thin and wasn't very strong, so he tended not to stick up for himself. He was unaware of the aggression around him and had to be told what was going on. He was playing along with Tracy's game, but when he saw his younger brother Jack attack Tim, he knew this wasn't a game. He felt Tracy's grip loosen when she saw Tim go down. Jeremy pulled his arm around and put Tracy in a headlock. He tried to hold her down but she was strong. She was getting the upper hand. Jack grabbed the hose and started to spin it around hoping to keep the other brother's away. Brad and Greg went after the other two brothers while Jack tried to keep the oldest at bay.

Sandy having followed the boys into the backyard stood by watching all the wrestling. It was like he was watching a Popeye the Sailorman cartoon, each time a punch was thrown he would yell out "Pow! --- Wham! Pow, Pow!" He thought that Jack needed a can of spinach, so we went inside to find one.

Tracy's best hope in teaching these boys a lesson was to take charge. She finally got out of Jamie's headlock and managed to get the upper hand. She looked over at Tim and saw that Jack had whacked him in the head with the hose. Tracy let go of Jamie and went for Jack. Jamie, still in his underwear, took this opportunity and ran for the house. He slammed the door behind and went upstairs to the bathroom. He had an idea, so he opened the window that overlooked the backyard and yelled out to Tracy. Tracy was angry and when she looked up she was treated with a warm surprise.

Next Chapter Jamie’s Revenge

Reference image from www.pinterest.com/pin/563724078334538395/

[chefprefers]

The Streets of Wilderness Part II

A short story by Andrew Cheffers

Chapter One  Outnumbered

Jack was desperate and the only thing he could do was swing the garden hose around. There were three boys surrounding him aiming to give him a hiding. Jack had insulted Tracy and the three boys were Tracy’s brothers. He called her a thug, Jack couldn’t resist, Tracy sometimes did violent things and he didn’t understand why. She lived down the road and they met playing hide and go seek two months ago. Tracy was the same age as Jack and they both became friends because she thought Jack was cute and had a strange accent and Jack thought that he needed friends in this neighbourhood to avoid not getting beaten up.

Earlier on this autumn sunny day, they had been playing hide and go seek in Tracy’s yard. During one of the games, Tracy came across a squirrel while hiding under her porch. She quickly ran to the garage and grab the baseball bat. She went back to the porch to chase down the rodent and smashed its head with the bat. Jack had saw this and thought this was in humane, so he called her a thug. When Tracy heard this, she became angry calling out to her three older brothers to come out of their hiding places. Jack’s other friends, Greg and Brad, also came out of hiding.

Greg was tall and lanky kid and he was in the same class as Jack. Jack had become the grade 6 class president within two months of arriving from Australia. He became president not from being popular but because on the day of the school elections, he handed out candy to everybody. It came at a price, because he had to reach into his saving to buy the candy from the local store. Jack liked Greg because he was tough and he wanted Greg to be part the hall monitoring program. Jack had crossed sides with Greg once before in the playground. Jack was playing marbles with Greg and they had a dispute in which ended up in a fight. After pulling each other to the ground and wrestling for a while, it became a stalemate. They both respected each other ever since and became good friends. Greg was friends with Brad who knew Brad from Elementary school. They were close and so were their families. Brad was a chubby kid but nobody would tease him because he was also tough. Jack thought befriending Brad would be useful one day and today was the day.

Tracy’s brothers were bigger and older then Jack, so Jack had to watch his next move as the brothers surrounded him. Tracy was angry and wanted Jack to apologise. Jack was fascinated by the cute little creatures and they reminded him of the possums at home. He looked at Greg then Brad and they also were disturbed by the bashing. Jack held his nerve and refused to apology and bravely called her a thug again. The brothers also became angry they knew the reason for Tracy killing the rodent and it was unjust for Jack to call her any names and went to attack. Jack went for the younger one and pushed him to the ground, Greg stepped in an shepherd the older brother from getting at Jack. The middle brother went at Jack and Brad grabbed him and put him in a head lock. Jack turned only to have Tracy grab him and pin him down to the ground. Tracy was strong and probably the strongest out of the brothers.  Greg, after checking the oldest aside, saw Tracy on Jack, pushed her off. Jack got up and went at the oldest brother who was tailing behind Greg. Jack collided with the oldest and he was losing his struggle. Tracy had got up an hit Greg in the stomach and Greg went down. Brad was also losing his head lock with the middle brother and was being over powered and losing the fight. Jack knew that with three vs four they would be out numbered and the ultimate of surprise was gone. He pushed off the oldest and yelled out to the other two to follow and ran out the yard. Greg and Brad followed with Tracy and brothers in toe.

Jack’s family had arrived six months ago from Australia. His father, Jim had received a doctoral scholarship from Temple University in Philadelphia. They had settle in Glenolden, a suburb south of Philadelphia . Glenolden consists of mostly low income earners and was 95% white. Jim had come to Philadelphia six months before his family and received $3000 grant to move his family and live for the next year. Jim had to find a job and get a place before he could move his family of four kids from Australia. The study was hard and the money they only had came from the grant. Jim found a place to rent in Glenolden. Rent was cheap in Glenolden but it came at a cost. Whatever furniture they had was borrowed from the university or came from the local dump. The neighbourhood was poor, so there wasn’t much picking from the dump. They only had one car which Jim used most of the time. Joanne, his wife, found it hard to get around without a car. She only had access to the car on the weekends. Food from the grocery store was purchased once a week. Feeding a family of four was problematic. Jim’s doctoral program went for three years and the grant money was running out when his family arrived. However, Jim got quite lucky because his lecturer scored him a job as a life guard at one of the university’s pools. On his first day, he showed up to find no pool and he assumed that he was given the wrong location. The building consist of an empty hall with a concrete surface. He went back to the lecturer to find out where the pool was located and he responded. “Yea that’s the place Jim, the university had concreted over the pool last year to make it into a resident. The construction doesn’t start until next year, so enjoy the peace and quite for now.” So Jim showed up everyday going into the pool office and quietly studied for the next year.

Jamie was wondering where his younger brother Jack was, he was supposed to be home from school by now and he hadn’t seen him since walking to school that morning. He ventured down the street towards the school hoping to come across his whereabouts from home and once he got to the next street corner, he was surprised to see Jack running up towards him from the side street. He wasn’t alone and there seemed to be some kids running behind him. Jack ran past him with Greg and Brad. He recognised Tracy coming from behind them with her brothers. Tracy recognised Jamie as Jack’s older brother and came to a stop. Her brothers also stopped and under Tracy’s direction, they grabbed Jamie. Jamie didn’t know what to expect, so he didn’t see the signs of aggression. He thought they were just fooling around so he played along. When they had him pinned to the pavement. Tracy thought of an idea. Jack having seen Jamie as he past him looked back and saw Greg and Brad just behind. He also noticed that Tracy had stopped where Jamie was standing. So that gave Jack and his buddies enough time not to duck into the bushes of his neighbour’s front yard unseen. Sandy at age five, the younger brother of Jack, was in the backyard trying to work out how to ride the ten speed. He had seen his older brothers ride it, so he wanted to try it. They found the boy’s style bike at the dump. It was in pretty good nick except for the seat had a split in the leather down the middle. It was slightly uncomfortable when riding because the crack would pinch you and after a while you stood up to avoid the pinch. Sandy didn’t know this because he could hardly reach the peddles from the bar across the frame. At first he thought he could just pick it up and get on but he found that impossible. So he worked out, that if he stands the bike up near the back stairs he could just reach the peddle at the peak of it’s rotation. So he would push off using the top peddle from the back stairs and fall down when the bike came to a stop. He didn’t care if he fell, he was happy just riding the bike for the short period. Sandy heard a voice call out down the street, it sounded like his older brother Jamie, so he went to investigate. Sandy wondered down the street towards the noise. He saw a bunch people walking towards him and noticed Jamie was in the lead.   What Sandy saw was something that he would never forget. He saw Jamie walking in his underwear.

Next post Chapter Two: The Fight