bits and pieces final
TRANSCRIPT
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Word Count 7,950Page 1
Bits and PiecesBy Philip Wardlow
Charlies old 1984 Ford Ltd came to an abrupt stop on the dust bowl of a road that went
by the name of Horsehead by the locals or 188th by the not so local residents. The road lead into
the little town of Galatia, Kansas where he lived. The town of Galatia was still some six miles
distant to the north with twice as many miles behind him to the south to anything you would
remotely call a town.
Dammit, and hells bells he thought. I just got this thing a tune up last month. Charlie
tried turning the key in the ignition again. Click, Click, Click. Dead.
Charlie pulled the lever under his dash to pop the hood and got out, not bothering to look
for cars on the road, because there were none, not a soul. This road didnt get much traffic,
especially two hours after the sun had already set. He had a full stretch of road all to himself all
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the way from the Number 4 Highway teeing into the Old 190 Rd that cut the town of Galatia in
half.
He looked around, nothing but corn, rows upon rows on both sides of the road he sat on.
Tall stalks, taller than he was, (and he was six foot-four and just as lean and straight) were just
waiting to be harvested and seemed to be reaching for the stars that dotted the nighttime sky that
surrounded him. He hated corn, in any fashion. He never had a taste for it, especially at this
moment.Fucking corn. He was beginning to rethink the wisdom in traveling this road as he
lifted the hood on his car.
Charlie played the flashlight over the engine block like he knew what he was looking for,
nothing apparent jumped out at him. He jiggled the connections to the battery, good and solid.
Its gotta be the alternator, he thought idly.
A sharp loud keening sound followed quickly by a low rumbling moan came from the
cornfield across the road making Charlie hit the back of his head smartly against the inside of the
hood. What the fu... , was as far as he got with his thoughts before they were interrupted by
another sound from behind coming out of the cornfield on his side of the road close to the car.
Mister? a little girls voice came from out of the corn.
What the hell! Charlie muttered out loud, his heart doubled in speed in his chest. He
moved the flashlight to the rows of corn nearest his car.
Whos there? Charlie yelled back as he edged towards the trunk of his car.
Come out of there, you here? I dont have time to be playing games! Charlie felt like a
fool yelling at the corn stalks. He was starting to feel like he had made up all the sounds and the
voice inside his own head just before he was answered back.
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Mister, have you seen my dog? Suddenly, a little slip of girl, no more than probably
seven years of age Charlie reckoned, walked out between the tall rows of corn. She had short
cropped red hair, with a splash of brown freckles covering a pale white face. She wore a pull
over white nightie which fell down to just above her knees where he saw she must have fallen
down once or twice in, because both her knees were mocked up with dirt. Big brown boots
which seemed two sizes too big covered her feet with no socks completed the look.
Charlie showed the flashlight directly into her face which caused her to raise her right
hand to block the light in her face.
Dog? was all Charlie had heard. Charlie lowered the flashlight to point at her boots.
Yeah, he got out and my dads gonna be awfully mad if he finds out. Hes not supposed
to be out after dark. He gets into too much trouble, so hes gotta stay locked up till mornin. My
dad thinks Im in bed but I saw em get out of his penoh hes gonna get it when I get a hold of
him. She stomped her foot at the last bit.
I dont think you should be walking out and about little lady. Its not safe this time of
night, no telling what could happen to you. Im sure your dog will come back home in due time.
He probably got sight of a yard bird and took to runnin after em. Dont you worry none, get
along home now. The little girl was making him nervous, he didnt need this shit. He just
wanted to get his car fixed and get the hell on down the road. Charlie turned from her back
towards his car and continued to wiggle things inside under the hood.
Car problems Mister? My dads great with cars, he can fix anything. I think youre right
about my dog, he does come back eventually and my dads gonna be upset but not as upset as he
would be if he knew I was out lookin for him. But I can go get em for you, even though I might
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get in trouble, he says we should help people any chance we get. You know, the lord Jesus and
all that stuff. She said from behind him, her voice seeming much closer to him.
Sure enough, Charlie looked to his left and she was pretty much on top of his car.
Do you say pretty much whatever comes into that head of yours? Charlie muttered low
under his breath to her without her catching what he had said.
Step Back. Charlie almost yelled, as he slammed the hood down on his car closing it.
Charlie stood there in the road next to his car doing some heavy thinking, considering his
options.
He could wait and try starting his car in a few of hours to see if the problem fixed itself
except is, he didnt have a few hours and he really didnt think the car would fix itself. He wasnt
about to call a tow service, even if his cell phone did work out here in the middle of Cornville,
USA. He didnt need any undue attention. He knew he couldnt be sitting around all night on
this road, the sheriffs office still sometimes might send a patrolman down roads such as these to
wrangle out teenagers racing cars, smoking pot or drinking on back roads such as this. No he
didnt need that kind of attention right now.
Whats your name? Charlie asked the little girl.
Nuh uh, sorry cant tell you that on a count of youre a stranger.
Well, my names is Charles and if you tell me your name, then we wont be strangers
anymore now will we? Charlie put a smile into his voice.
Well, you got a point there Charles so Ill meet ya half way and Ill tell ya my name -
my Daddy calls me, Smidgen. Thats my not my real name though, I am nota Smidgen - Im
pretty big for my age. Charlie shown the flashlight on her and she was smiling back.
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Too easy, he thought to himself idly and grinned inside; Charlie had been that trusting
once.
Well, I should like to take you up on your dads help if that wouldnt be too much to
ask. Do you mind taking me to him so I can be about my way? Charlie asked her just as nice
as you please.
Sure, we live just up on the next road. I took a shortcut through the corn to get here but
we can walk up this road to get to our property. The wordproperty came out asprop-pretty to
Charlies ears.
Cmon. she said and grabbed his hand in hers and pulled him up the road with her.
*************************
It had been about a fifteen minute walk to their farm, but in that time Charlie was
bombarded with all kinds of questions from the little girl nicknamed Smidgeon. Where you from
Mister? Galatia,up the road. Whats your last name? Wilkins. Do you like dogs Mr. Wilkins?
Sure, long as they dont bite. Do you like corn? Cuz we grow corn, my daddy says people all
over America eat our corn? Nope, never cared for it. So on and so on it went. It had been a very
long fifteen-minute walk to the farm.
The farmhouse sat back from the road a bit, a good seventy-five yards or so, by his
reckoning. A wide graveled road lead up to the place from the main one and in much better
condition he noticed than the one he had just left. The house, to Charlie, was your typical country
home, two storied and white with dark painted trim work and dark shutters on either side of
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every window. The porch was long and wide in the front and wrapped around the house. One
side, at the end had a nice porch swing sitting there.Ideal, he thought.
What looked to be a big oak tree sat in their front yard. The massive oak took up most of
the yard, the tree sat some twenty feet from the home but its upper limbs reached out till they
were almost touching the upper roofs of the second story. The road up to their property made the
turnaround at that tree to exit back to the main road. Charlie also saw jutting up out of the
darkness at the back of their property a massive grain silo, it looked like a giant silver bullet
pointing up into the sky. Adjacent to it sat a giant pole barn with rippled corrugated aluminum
walls with various farming machinery, such as tractors, combines, and a pick-up all parked
alongside either side of it.
Charlie took this all in as he and the little girl slowly walked up the drive to the house.
The front yard was nicely lit by a bright flood light mounted high atop a pole sunk into the
ground smack dab in the middle of the yard. The pole was leaning a fair bit from the vertical
looking dangerously like it was about to fall down similar to the leaning towering of Pisa in Italy,
Charlie thought. Underneath the light, Charlie saw a balding little red headed man digging
furiously around the pole with what looked to be a spade shovel in his hands. As Charlie got
closer he noticed the man might have been little but he had arms like tree trunks as he dug and
flung the dirt out of the hole he had made. He seemed to be sweating profusely because it was
spilling off him like a leaky hydrant. There was a mountain of dirt surrounding the pole where he
had excavated around it. Nearby he saw a wheel barrow and what also seemed to be unopened
bags of cement along with various bits of lumber lying on the ground. Busy in his work the man
hadnt seen him and the little girl approach. Charlie quickly detached his hand from the little
girls. Funny thing for all her talking, she hadnt said a word since she had reached their private
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drive, he had almost forgotten about her and how he would have to settle things at the end of all
this.
Excuse me Mister, is this your daughter? Now most people would have jumped, was
Charlies first thought, the way he did in coming up on the man, but the man just slowly rose up
from his shoveling and just as calm as you please turned to look at him like he was expecting
him to be there or at least didnt have cause to have any fear on his own property for anyone for
any reason. Either way, Charlie thought in that moment that this was one cool cucumber; he
might have some trouble with this one.
You see, my car broke down back over on Horsehead, and I ran into this little one here
who said you might be willing to try and help get my car back on the road. Im thinking its the
alternator or battery or some connection, or something Charlie cut himself off and just gave
the guy an imploring look.
The man took a handkerchief from the inside of his coveralls and wiped the sweat from
his balding head and face. Charlie noticed the pinky finger on his right hand that held the
handkerchief was mostly missing. It seemed to be nipped off just above the second knuckle,
hazards of being a farmer Charlie though idly, you can keep it. The man looked back at Charlie
scrutinizing him up and down. The man might have been all but five four and Charlie towered
above him but it felt to Charlie like he was being looked down upon, at that moment by someone
much bigger.
Smidgeon go in the house, you and me will have words soon enough. The little man
looked at his daughter without blinking but Charlie could tell he was displeased with her.
Yes, Daddy but hes out. He got through the fence pen again like he did two nights ago.
I told you, you gotta make it stronger, hes gettin bigger. Smidgeon began to move towards the
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porch. What she had said seemed to get a reaction out of him this time. He grabbed her hand and
turned towards Charlie suddenly with an oddly inquisitive look on his face.
Whats your game mister? Really? Cuz, I have way of sniffing out the shit from the
roses. Where you from, you talk like youre from around here but then again you dont.
Charlie was starting to get pissed, feeling like he was being interrogated for no reason.
I was just passin through on my way back to Galatia where I live is all, names Charlie,
Charlie Wilkins. Ive lived there all my life; probably know half the people you know in these
parts Im sure. Charlie put on his best relaxed smile he could muster and stuck out his right
hand to the man and looked him straight in the eye.
The man just looked down at Charlies hand like he didnt know what to do with it. He
still held to his shovel with his right hand and with the left, his daughters hand not budging an
inch.
Youre daughter said you might be a good enough Christian and take a look at my car
thats still back on the road and maybe get me on my way. Charlie didnt think appealing to his
Good Samaritan side was going to work looking at the man, but hell it was worth a try.
That seemed to soften him a bit and he let go of his daughters hand.
Well what kinda car is it? I can fix most anything providin its American made? Cant
work on any of that foreign junk ya know. Names Barry, by the way, Barry Keegan. With that
Barry reached out and shook Charlies hand. Charlie came back flexing his fingers. Boy, hes got
a grip on him.
No, No, its a Ford LT just as before back on the road, a sharp loud keening sound
followed quickly by a low rumbling moan came from behind him, but this time it seemed much
closer than before. He had only a moment before everything went black but it seemed to all
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unfold in slow motion; with Barry raising the shovel over his head, a black shadow descending
on Charlie from behind, accompanied by an onrush of wind blowing at the back of his head, the
scream of the little girl from behind her father with her eyes open wide staring at something
Charlie couldnt see, then darkness when the shovel held by Barry connected with the side of his
head sending him to the ground hard.
*******************************
Charlie woke to his head exploding. He breathed in evenly and long until the pain dulled
enough to prop himself up from where he sat. He looked around gingerly because his neck
didnt like certain angles his head wanted to take. He seemed to be lying on some type of air
mattress directly on a slab of cement in some very big almost warehouse like room with very
high vaulted ceilings. Probably the pole barn, thought Charlie through the dullness and pain that
was his brain. He grabbed tenderly at the side where Barrys shovel had connected with his head.
He felt bandages covering it going all the way to cover his right ear as well. He went to prop
himself up to stand, but his body wasnt having any of that as it sent stabs of pain to the back of
his head leading to another series of mini-explosions to bounce and skitter around his skull.
Charlie saw there was a bottle of water next to him on the ground along with what looked
like a generic bottle of over the counter pain pills. Well wasnt that nice of him, Charlie thought.
He twisted the cap off the water and popped four of the pills into his mouth and drank heavily
still being careful to not tilt his head back too far. He noticed blood splattered down the left side
of his shirt sleeve.Fucking great, this was a dogs dinner now wasnt it? For the moment he just
sat there thinking on what all this meant. Charlie, always a cautious man, a smart man, knew
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when it was time to look at the situation and understand it from all angles if he could. First thing
he decided, was to give it another go at getting up and was greeted with billiard balls knocking
around inside his head instead of the mini-explosions from before. He would take that over the
other for now.
He shambled over to what looked to be a big metal door which had a very small window
set near the top. At his height, he had to bend over just a bit to look through it. It was pitch black
outside, not much to see, but through it, he could make out their house in front of the pole barn
he was now in. The front porch was lit by a small light near the steps, and a dim light also shown
from inside in one of the rooms of the house on the lower level towards the back. The front yard
flood light he had seen earlier was now off with the big oak tree just a very dim shadow against
the sky.
Anybody out there! He regretted doing that the moment the first words came out. He
put his hand to the bandaged side of his head fearing that something was spilling out of it.
Shit...shit.shit thats a smart one.
When his head calmed to a dull drumming thud he put his ear to the steel door.
Scritch Scritch Scritch Scritch..a soft metallic scrape reverberated into his ear through the
door. Something was on the other side of this door. He listened closer. It sounded like heavy
breathing, more so the bellows feeding a fire, a hollow but raspy deep inhalation of breath.
Anyone there? Charlie spoke in a low tone right next to the door still holding the side
of his head.
BAM! went the door; BAM! went the door again. Something was trying to get in at
him was Charlies first thought.No Shit.
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Stop it Brutus, just settle down boy. Hes alright, whats gotten into you? Stop getting
so worked up. The little girls voice carried through the door to him.
You alright mister? she asked him, her voice coming through slightly muffled as if he
was hearing through a big ball of cotton. Charlie didnt know if that was because she was talking
behind the door or because his hearing was off from the blow to the head.
No, Im not alright, wheres your damn father? Why am I locked up in this place and
why the Sam-hell did he hit me over the head with a shovel? Charlie fired back at her sounding
angrier than he meant to, but damn it all he had a right to, didnt he?
BAM! the something hit the door again and this time much harder. The steel door held
though. Even being locked up, Charlie was glad for that.
Dont getem riled up Mister, Daddies gone to hitch your car up and bring it back here
to have a look at it for you. He just put you in there for your own safety on account of Brutus.
Brutus? Charlie hadnt caught the name before. Whats a Brutus?
Hes my dog. You were right he did come back just like you said. Brutus doesnt like
you much, not sure what you did to make him mad at you. What did you do? she asked politely
through the door like they were just carrying on a normal conversation and this whole
circumstance wasnt strange at all.
Charlie never got a chance to answer back because he heard the chink chink sound of
metal on metal and the crunch of wheels driving on rock. He couldnt tell how close the sound
was but through the little window on the door he saw a trucks headlights coming down the
private drive. For a moment the lights blinked out on the truck as it got lost behind their house
then popped out again on the backside where it made slow progress to the place he was now
locked up in.
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Charlie heard the truck come to a stop, followed by its headlights being turned off.
Charlie heard the creak of a car door being opened and then slammed shut.
Hes up Daddy. was all he heard the girl say.
Charlie was too afraid of getting close to the door so he only caught mumbled phrases
and clipped words through it with no real meaning behind them. Barry must have been working a
key into what must have been a padlock by the heavy sound it made banging against the door as
he went to unlock it to enter the pole barn.
Take Brutus and yourself back to the front and keepem there till I call yathanks
darling. Im gonna have a talk with Mr. Wilkins now. Charlie heard the padlock being
removed.
Okay Daddy. C.mon boy...lets go se. The girls voice faded away as Charlie heard
her continuing to talk to what must have been her dog, Brutus. Charlie was happy Brutus had
gone bye bye.
Barry opened up the door into the pole barn. Charlie saw he didnt have anything in his
hand, like a gun or that blasted shovel. He could rush him right now but the pounding in his head
was just now starting to let up and he didnt think it best to push it till he knew wouldnt fall over
from a dead feint or in agonizing pain from the monster headache that threatened to grip his
brain at the wrong moment. Besides small or not, the balding red-haired little man looked like he
could break Charlie like a piece of balsam wood over his knee.
Barry shut the door behind him and walked directly up to Charlie, How you fairin, Mr.
Wilkins? To Charlies ear there seemed to be genuine concern in his voice when he asked the
question.
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How do you think? You hit me in the head with a fucking shovel! Charlie glared at the
man hoping for a reaction but none came. None that Charlie could see.
Theres reasons behind everything that happens. Now as to the shovel, well I guess I
was trying to save your life. I just want to give you a fair shake you might say. Brutus is still
young and is prone to over reacting, but hes getting better. Hes learning to look before leaps
most days now. I want this to play out the right way for you is all. A chill ran through Charlie
and he knew it wasnt a cold breeze in the room doing it.
First time I ever heard of being hit in the head with a shovel as someone trying to save
someones life, oughta keep your damn dog on a leash. Charlie uttered a bitter laugh behind the
comment.
Barry ignored him and ran his hand through his balding head. I have to make you
understand something about my situation and have you come to an understanding about
something in yourself. The first part to me always seems like it should be the hardest in all this,
but it never is. People have a knack at seeing the fantastic more so than the lie thats already
inside them that theyve come accustomed to living with all their life.
Just what are you getting at Mister? It all sounds like babbling to my ear if you dont
mind me saying. I just want to get the hell home. Youre lucky Im not gonna sue your ass for
assault and battery. Charlie gave him a hard look this time, people said he could be intimidating
when he wanted to be.
Barry just clenched his massive fists once and smiled to himself. He walked over to a
corner and grabbed two fold out chairs leaning against the walk and then walked back to where
Charlie was standing. He carefully unfolded them and placed them on the floor across from each
other.
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Sit please. Barry intoned in a low voice with a hand on one of the chairs.
What if I dont want to? Charlie asked.
Well I could make you sit, but I would rather have your cooperation. Frankly, Ive a got
a little story to tell and I dont wanna be doin it by craning my neck to look up at your Paul
Bunyan ass the whole time. Barry sat in his own chair not more than three feet away facing his.
Well since you put it that way; Im all for story time. Charlie fell into his chair secretly
happy to be off his feet, but Barry didnt need to know that.
Once again Charlies snide remarks and sarcasm got no reaction out of him. Barry just
leaned
back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. Barry give a momentary wayward glance
upward before he started in on his story.
First try not to interrupt till I finish cuz I imagine you might have a few questions, but
save em till Im done if you wouldnt mindgood? Barry stared intently until Charlie just
nodded his head.
***********************************
It happened about three years ago, what Id like to call the Incident. It was about this
same time round harvest time. The corn was high and plentiful almost like you see it now and
back then my only worries were the weather and the possible blight to my crops. I had been
having a good year and looking to cash in at the end of the year somethin real good. I was
blessed I told myself. It was hard work mind you, up before the chickens even crowed and
settled in to bed for what seemed like to me an hour before I got up. So I rightly thought I
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deserved any blessing, cuz of all my hard work. I only want to mention this partly because I
want you to see where my head was back then before I go on with the rest of the story. I was full
of pride you see and nobody could tell me different, not my neighbors wondering when I was
coming over to visit , not my preacher asking me why he hadnt seen me in church, or my wife
god bless her when she needed my help at home. I had my own stuff to do, the farm wasnt gonna
run itself, sure I could of hired some help. Then I would have just had to pay em. You see I was
a greedy bastard back then and Im ashamed to say that now.
I was out back in the middle of my property working in the middle of the fields, clearing
out one of my irrigation ditches with the back hoe when it flew by right over my head some ten
feet. It was bright as the sun to my eyes and I could feel the heat coming off it as it had passed
over. The sound it made was like a high pitched hissing growl like it was burning up the air. It
cut across ten rows of my corn demolishing them into bits of nothing before it came to a stop in
my field. I walked over to where it fell to and looked down into a hole about twenty feet wide and
half as deep in the ground. At the center of that hole was a round knobby rock, like one of those
geodes you might see with the crystals inside. It was glowing red hot and big as a soccer ball
and almost just as round.Now Im no fool, Ive seen one too many science fiction movies as a
kid, so I didnt go poking a stick at it like those idiots you see, looking for a slime creature to
come crawling up my arm. I went and got my back hoe out and scooped it up and drove it all the
way back to the house and set it behind this pole barn you see here.
Then funny thing is, after that I pretty much forgot about it for a long awhile. Sure, I told
my wife and daughter about what had happened and even showed it to them, then it was on with
my life again. So there it sat for the next two weeks in the shade behind the pole barn. It wasnt
till my daughter came running to get me late one afternoon that I actually remembered it. My
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wife, Maggie, was already standing there behind the pole barn staring down at it when I came
up on it.
I saw that the rock had a crack in it much like an egg would you might say and it was
oozing an oily brown liquid onto the ground. The crack slowly started to get wider and wider
like something was pushing to get out from the inside, it started to remind me a lot of baby
chicks when they start to hatch out. Then we saw something moving on the inside of it but it
didnt look like a little fluffy baby hatchling. For all its slow progress from before, it suddenly
broke free from its shell entirely and there it was. It was a beautiful creature, about the size of
full grown cat or small dog. The skin of it looked strange like rough textured black steel
sprouting fine silver spikes all over its body which was slowly unfolding and filling out from its
round shell it had been in for God knows how long. It had six legs instead of two or four like you
might expect, with three on each side of its body. Nothing deformed mind you, Ive seen many a
calf born with a leg or hoof sticking out of some weird location on its body. No you can tell this
thing was meant to look this way if you know what Im getting at.
Even for being just born it looked pretty strong, its muscles along its back were already
well formed for something so small and was already standing on all six of its legs pretty
confidently. It ambled around a little testing its new legs and stared at us all with very big brown
eyes you could just see held intelligence behind them. To me, it looked like a cross between a cat
and dog. It had a long jaw line like a dog with sharp canines that looked to be made of metal as
well. The tip of its snout looked like a cats along with the ears which both moved on its head as it
listened to sounds around it. It had a long black thin tail tipped in silver like the very end of it
had been dunked in a can of silver paint. The look of it was kind of hard to place with any
known animal; of course it was a breed all of its own. I remember thinkin and sayin out loud to
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my wife and daughter that he was gonna be a brute when he got bigger. My daughter decided to
call him Brutus, he has lived up to that and then some you might say.
Well my daughter wanted to keep it as a pet and was I having none of that. I didnt trust
it, not in the slightest. Every time it looked at me it seemed to be sizing me up, it made feel
uncomfortable. The funny thing is, my wife who loves animals for that matter thought the same
thing about it. Well the issue was taken care of soon after when I came back home to find the
police and an ambulance on my front door surrounding my daughter and wife. A coyote had
gotten a hold of our little girl while she was playing at the edge of the yard near the corn and
tried to drag her into the corn. Well little Brutus, as we called him back then, heard her
screaming and jumped out of its pen which he had never done before and tore into the thing and
dragged if off into the corn somewhere. My daughter and wife knew better to explain the full
details of what had happened to the police. The police just called her lucky to be alive and filed
their report. Since then my daughter and the creature have been inseparable.
Now here in the story is where it goes stranger than it already seems. A few days after
the coyote incident, I had gotten in late one night at about eleven. I came into the house quiet as
you please, everyone was settled in and should have been asleep. Maggie, I figured was fast
asleep like my daughter but then I heard footsteps overhead where our bedroom was, then I
heard something fall loudly to the floor followed by my wife screaming. I bolted up the steps and
burst into our bedroom.
When I entered, I saw she was on the floor in her pajamas leaning her body tight against
the wall between our bed and the night stand table she had pushed over. Her eyes were as wide
as she could get them and a sick grimace of terror was all over her face. I saw that one of her
legs was bent at the knee and tucked up next to her close and the other was laid straight in front
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of her on the floor of the bedroom. Little Brutus was there, very close to her, and his body was
glowing blue all over, pulsing actually, from a bright almost blinding blue light to a dim glow
until the blue light almost winked out but then it came back into full brightness again and
continued the cycle all over. He wasnt Little Brutus anymore, he seemed to have jumped in size
tenfold from the time he had first hatched, he seemed to be the size of Great Dane or Cheetah.
Its body was hunched low to the floor and his jaws were clamped tightly around Maggies ankle
with its metal teeth. It stared straight at her not moving or making a sound. Its tail swished
violently just like a cats does when it gets agitated.
I yelled at it to get off her but the thing ignored me, it just kept looking straight ahead at
her. I was afraid to do more on account of I thought it might snap her foot off in an instant.
Maggie then started shaking her head back and forth like she was saying no to something. I
yelled at her and asked her what was going on. She told me the thing was inside her head. She
said it was talking to her. I asked her what it was saying to her.
She only said one thing to me, Speak the truth and be free. I imagined it was more
than that, but thats all she kept saying over and over again when I asked her.
She kept shaking her head no to the thing. Then she suddenly yelled out to it that she had
nothing to say. Then it bit down on her foot and took off her leg. She didnt scream like youd
expect. She just sat there numbly looking ahead. Her eyes looked distant as if remembering
something then tears began to flow down her face and she began to mumble she was sorry.
The bottom of her leg where her foot should have been wasnt bleeding; no blood flowed
on to the floor. In fact it looked completely healed over like it hadnt happened at all, except
that the foot wasnt there, just a leg ending in a knobby rounded white stump. I think I went
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crazy after seeing that. I jumped on the thing still sitting there crouched on the floor next to her
leg.
It jumped up and knocked me down like I was nothing and turned on me pinning me to
the ground with its front two legs. Its body wasnt pulsing blue anymore it was just a dead
metallic color. It looked me in the eyes like it had been doing to Maggie and bit down on my
outstretched hand grabbing a hold of my pinky finger in its mouth and began to pulse again but
not as deeply or as bright.
Then I heard it inside my own head. Tell me truths you only tell yourself. Speak the
truth and be free, the bigger the lie the more the piece.
What truth, what lie I asked it. I didnt know what it was talking about. Like her I found
myself shaking my head no to it. Then it bit into me. There was no pain, just a euphoria which
pervaded through my whole body and then into my mind, then suddenly my brain seemed to click
into place and images of me flood in. The story book of my life paraded by, every action, every
reaction from the time I was born till now, me growing up as a young child, a teenager to a
young adult till now and all that went with it. I saw a perspective of myself of all the things that
brought me to fruition, who I was at this point, I suddenly saw all sides of the puzzle that formed
me and understood where I stood in the world, the universe for that matter. I saw my pettiness,
my greed for what it was; most of all was my forced ignorance of what was going on at home.
My wife had a greater truth than me that she was forced to see it seemed.
She had been abusing our daughter you see. Her truth had been going too far with
disciplining our daughter. This wasnt the occasional spanking mind you. This was the kind
thats bad enough that you feel you have to threaten your daughter with worst things if she ever
told her daddy about what she was actually doing. She did just enough never to leave a mark or
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a scar but the marks and the scars were there none the less even though you couldnt see em.
Deep down I knew, but I didnt want to see it, so I just kept on not seeing.
She told me later, like me, she had her life laid bare for her to see. For her she said, it
was almost magical in a way, like a lifetime of therapy all rolled into a just a few seconds of
time. Still theres something more there in what the creature does that gets removed when it
bites into you. It takes something more than just your flesh. It seems to take the part you dont
wanna give up thats causing you all this grief, the part you hold on to no matter what.
Ive learned over these last couple of years its harder for some than others. The bad
bits and pieces that make them up are more damaged and numerous than you can imagine and
its hard to fit them all right again but it can be done. Im a witness to it. It all depends on how
badly you want to see the truth I guess and what youre willing to lose to hold on to it still.
My wife died of cancer late last year. You might not believe it but she told me towards
the end it was the best year of her life after what happened. The years before she said had been
like a bad dream she could never wake from. The veil had been lifted she had said. I knew
exactly what she meant. I held her hand as she passed and knew she was at peace.
**********************************
Barry looked across at Charlie sitting in his chair in silence now done with his story.
Charlie was looking down just staring down at his feet in front of him.
Thats a good story Mister. Charlie picked up his head and looked at Barry directly.
Something Barry had not seen before in Charlie entered his face. Malice was the first word that
came to mind. It made Barry turn cold.
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Barry knew it was coming but hadnt anticipated the speed or the ferocity of Charlies
attack. The chair Charlie had been sitting on crashed up side Barrys head and the world
exploded in white.
Paybacks a bitch isnt it? he heard Charlie ask knowing he wasnt expecting any
answer as Barry lay on the ground trying to focus and not lose consciousness.
Barry tried to get up but Charlie delivered a vicious kick to his ribcage. Barrys breath
went out of him and he fought to drag air into his lungs. He could hear his breathing come and
go with a hollow raspy sound behind it.
Charlie circled him with a piece of the chair grasped in his hand. Charlie pushed at Barry
with his foot to roll him over and reached into his pocket and took his keys.
Charlie bent down close to Barrys ear as he continued to regain his breath I see my life
for what it is. You can tell me all the stories you wanna tell me but Im the one thats gonna be
showing you the truth Mr. Keegan. Charlie raised the chair over his head above Barry as if to
smash it into him.
Barry looked up at him. Hes coming for you, were connected me and him. He knows
what I know and I know what he knows Barry whispered between ragged breaths and looked
at Charlie directly into his eyes.
Charlie lowered his arms slowly and walked over to the door and opened it up looking
out towards their house. Barry knew what Charlie saw coming for him.
Charlie dropped the keys and bolted to his left past the perimeter of the pole barn and
plunged into the rows of corn adjacent to it, running flat out as fast he could never looking back.
Brutus lopped past the pole barn almost lazily and plunged amongst the rows of corn in pursuit.
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The night was swallowed in the sounds of crickets chirping, the quiet rustle of leaves
being moved by a soft October breeze and the loud piercing cry of a man in the night with the
cornfields around him beginning to glow a very bright blue.
***************************
There better be a good reason you called me in from my day off Jerry, especially this
early in the morning. Max said as he shut the door of his car that was parked along the dirt road
with all the rest of the vehicles already parked there. God, it was a circus out here, an ambulance,
coroners van, three state trooper vehicles, one of his own local patrolman cars and two press
vans from news three and eight.
The man Max called Jerry, a very round looking fellow who filled out his patrolmans
uniform very nicely walked over to him from his own car parked across the road.
Sorry Chief, couldnt be helped thought we might need your assistance on this one. First
we thought it was just a regular mauling by a coyote or something but it turned out to be much
more than we figured." Jerry guided Max to the back of the coroners van and unzipped the black
bag sitting on the gurney.
Sheesh Jerry! Hes got no head, no arms, no legs, what the hell happened to him.
Wheres the rest of him? Max zipped him back up himself. Jerry then motioned to him to follow
him over to the ambulance.
Its only gonna get weirder; we found his car, at least what we think is his car on the
side of the road not far from where we found him in the cornfield. We tore through it trying to
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find some ID on the guy because his plates were bogus and the VIN number wasnt on the car.
Look what we what found when we got into the trunk. Jerry and he came up on the ambulance
with Medic attending somebody wrapped in a blanket standing back from them about twenty
feet.
Max looked at the woman closely. She had long blond straight hair, about twenty yrs of
age, probably five- foot three and pretty.
Is that who I think it is? Max asked Jerry in a whisper.
Yeah, shes been missing for a couple of days. Shes a little dehydrated and shook up
and probably will be claustrophobic for the rest of her life but shell be okay.
You let the parents know? Max asked
Theyre driving in from Hutchinson, they should be here soon.
You think thats the guys car for sure. Could just be coincidence? Max asked.
Jerry shrugged Dont know. Both witnesses described it as a dark Ford LTD they saw
that picked her up and that the fellow was a white male fairly tall and thin. Add arms and legs to
the guy in that back of the coroners van and you might just get that. Jerry smiled at Max acting
like he had made a joke. Max didnt smile back at him.
Weirdest thing is, theres not one drop of blood around the scene, not a lick and his
wounds are healed like he was born that way but I just know that cant be right. Jerry added in.
Yeah, I noticed that too. Max didnt add anything else to that.
Maybe he had it coming, who knows what he would have done when he got her to
wherever he was taking her. Jerry said as he leaned against his patrol car.
I imagine he might have, there are a lot of sick bastards out there. Maybe he ran into
something a little meaner than himself and it wanted a little piece of him. Max said.
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Perhaps, but it took more than a piece, if it did. Jerry smiled like he was making a joke
again.
Guess it wasnt satisfied with just one bite. Max said, and this time he did smile back
at Jerry.
The End