My piece of blog fiction continues…
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DARKENING
STURGEONS
Chapter Five
by John L. Harmon
The
spectacled man, rims as thick and dark as his mop of hair, maneuvers slowly
around a particular tree in Stickler Woods, holding a black gadget in his left
hand. A faint hum emits from the
technological contraption, accompanied by an occasional flickering light. He intensely watches the visual information
until satisfied. With a click of a
button, he powers down the gadget and strolls over to his blond coworker.
“Atmosphere complete?” the woman inquires, making certain everything is
accounted for.
“Yes,” the
man answers, hunching down in tandem with his coworker to deposit black gadgets,
and several vials from lab coat pockets, into the metal containers.
“Good.”
Standing
up together, they hover over the remnants of a quickly discarded picnic. A soft blanket, half-unrolled, lays near a
turned over basket, forgotten and dirty.
The contents of the picnic basket have spilled about, giving them
something to ponder.
“Bananas…”
they say simultaneously, curiously.
“Should we
bag them?” he asks.
“No, we
should leave them for the police.”
“If you
insist.”
A knowing
glance passes between the scientific duo before heading, in unison, to their
large white van. Easy silence surrounds
them as they buckle up and drive out of Stickler Woods onto paved road. Their direction is conspicuously aiming for
Sturgeons.
“Are you
on watch tonight, Christine?” the man breaks the silence from the passenger
seat.
“Yes,” she answers, not giving much thought to his question until she hears an approaching vehicle. “There is much to see in this town, Samuel.”
“Indeed,”
he replies, flashing that becoming smile and giving his glasses a nudge
up. His blue eyes zero in on an
extremely beige hat before the SUV shoots past in a black blur, cherries on.
Acting
Chief Deputy Clyde Woodhouse, he broached that subject yesterday afternoon,
fiddles with the passenger side seatbelt strap, contemplating the large white
van that just sped by. Well, not the van
so much as the blond woman driving it.
The glimpse was fleeting and uncertain, but enough to leave him
beguiled.
Acting Sheriff Benjamin Straker sits
stoically behind the wheel. He once
again noticed the large white van and its out of county license plates. This time, however, he also noticed the two occupants,
but he barely gave it a thought, for his mind is currently in a quagmire with
this new incident playing off of yesterday’s.
Tracy
Newcastle showed up at her house in such an incoherent and disheveled state
that her parents rushed her to the hospital and called the police to report an
assault. After the doctors examined the
young woman and medically calmed her down, it was Ben’s turn. Her story left the Acting Sheriff perplexed
and left Mr. and Mrs. Newcastle completely distraught. Not helping their parental trauma was the
fact a streak of their daughter’s perfect blond hair had turned a startling
white.
Driving
into Stickler Woods, Ben wonders what information he will have for Tommy
Schroder’s parents. Is Tommy still there
or has he vanished like Bob Kinney? The
dragging of Lake Pontoon turned up nada, not even a sickly-green rowboat, giving
him doubts about what they will find in this preliminary search.
“Distract
me, Clyde,” the Acting Sheriff orders, pulling the SUV to a stop.
“Huh-wha…?” Clyde inquires poetically.
“I need to
clear my head so I can focus,” Ben explains.
“How was your date last night?”
Clyde,
continuing to fiddle with the seatbelt strap, eagerly provides some details,
“She was smart, sizzlin’, and direct. We
had a real good time.”
Ben nods
in silent approval. He is glad something
good happened in Sturgeons among the tragic strangeness of the last 24
hours. It is exactly what he needed to
hear.
“Now let’s
find Tommy Schroder.”
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Click CHAPTER SIX to continue.
Until next time, Readers, be well and Freak Out,
JLH
Always looking forward to the next chapter!!
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