cimmerianrose
Julia wiped a hand over the shirt sleeve. His essence was everywhere, and yet she couldn't pin-point the one thing that she missed the most. He wasn't gone. She was sure of it. If it was the last thing she did, she'd find him. If he didn't come back, there was a good reason. Julia looked at the ticket in her hand. Nigeria. That was the last postcard she'd received, so that's where she intended to start looking. The horn of a taxi sounded outside. Julia let the sleeve fall back against the side of the shirt, picked up her bag, and walked out of the apartment.
"Your turn."
Jack took the board and spun it slowly in his direction.
"This isn't a good idea," he said, glancing at his friend, Steve.
"Don't be a sissy," Steve sneered, "It's a bunch of hooey!"
Jack sighed and settled his fingers lightly on the heart-shaped disc sitting silently on the Ouija board.
"Okay," Jack whispered.
A cool breeze seemed to come from nowhere and the candles Steve had taken great care to light flickered and danced, sending shadows around the room. Jack looked at Steve with wide eyes.
"Ask," Steve urged, his eyes as wide as Jack's.
Jack nervously licked his lips.
"Are we alone?" he asked.
From somewhere in the room, a low growl seeped out of the darkness.
"Noooo," a deep voice answered, and Jack's fingers moved with the disc to letters on the board.
One letter at a time. Steve mouthed the letters and looked up at Jack.
"D...I...E," he read, "Die."
Paul leaned against the brick wall and chewed on a long straw. He watched the boys across the street huddled together. He'd heard all the accusations before. Now he was hearing them again. It didn't matter how many times he and his mother moved, the rumors and innuendos followed him. It wasn't true. He knew it. His mother knew it. Who was following them and setting the accusations loose wherever they attempted to make a home. It was time Paul found out.
Johnny watched the large grizzly ponder fishing at the edge of the stream. Crossing at this point was now impossible. He was considering moving back into the trees and heading further downstream when the second bear appeared.
The first grizzly gave a warning growl, his teeth shining in the sun with dagger sharpness. The second grizzly was not impressed and lowered his head with his own threatening growl. This was his fishing ground and he would not have another use his spot.
The two enormous creatures approached, hair raised, heads lowered, eyes glued on each other. Johnny took this opportunity to cross. He was just entering the stream shallows when the two animals began to fight for their fishing rights. They danced into the water, attacking each other with a ferociousness that chilled Johnny the length of his spine. He ran. As he stumbled out of the stream on the other side, he turned back to see the two bears still fighting.
His escape across the stream had seemed as scripted as the rest of the day. His problems had just increased two-fold. Johnny gave one last glance in the direction of the grizzlies and ran into the forest. He had a long way to go and only a short time to do it in.
He looked foreign and that was why so many of the girls smiled at him as he walked through the halls of his new school on the first day. Foreign. Girls thought that held a magical formula for a good boyfriend. He wasn't foreign and he wasn't interested. He was here for one thing...to find the boy who had seen his father's murder.
Johnny peeked into the dark room. His flashlight scanned the furniture for a safe pathway and settled on the safe on the opposite wall.
"There it is," he whispered, "Don't touch anything."
"If I can't touch anything, why did we wear gloves?"
Johnny glanced at Hunter and shook his head.
"Just follow me and try not to knock anything over."
The boys slowly shuffled across the room toward the safe. Hunter reached a hand to grab Johnny's arm.
"Did you hear that?!" he whispered nervously.
Johnny paused. The room was quiet. He gave Hunter a slight scowl and they continued to the safe. Johnny handed Hunter the flashlight, pulled a small bag from his belt, and reached to turn the combination lock.
Johnny stopped. The door of the safe easily swung open. The boys peered inside and as Hunter raised the flashlight they were greeted by an empty interior.
"The jewelry is gone!" Hunter exclaimed.
"They got here ahead of us," Johnny nodded, "Now we have to find them and get it back before Uncle Chester finds out what's happened!"
The forest was unusually quiet. Jason had the distinct feeling he was being watched. He moved forward slowly, as silently as he could. He thought about Sarah's warning that she felt something evil in these trees. Now he wished he'd listened instead of laughing at her. Something evil was unfolding around him. He felt it.
Sam could only estimate how far it was from his side of the canyon to the other. The rope bridge swayed dangerously on the rise and fall of the unpredictable winds that flowed up from the canyon floor. He peered over the edge and cringed. The bottom was too far to see and the black shadows seemed to be reaching up for him. He looked back at the bridge. If it didn't hold, he'd be discovering what hid below in those black shadows long before he wanted to.
He knew he had to make a decision. They weren't far behind him. It was now or never. Sam gripped the rope bridge in both hands, closed his eyes, and took a step....
Nip shouldered the bow and jogged out to the kill laying in the meadow. It had been a clean shot and there would be plenty to eat in the village tonight. Nip was hoping this hunt would make his instructor proud.
Nip had been under his watchful eye for seven cycles of the moon and soon he would receive his final lesson. The instructor had spoken of his challenge. Nip was to become a black saber and to prove himself he would be left alone in the wilderness to find an idol placed where he must defend to achieve it. He would be given a time frame to complete his task. He would return triumphant or he would not return at all.
Nip was not afraid for himself, but for the instructor. If he failed, the instructor failed and would be sacrificed to the Gods. He couldn't let that happen.
"Come on, Jake."
John Paul leaned forward and gave the bike a long, hard look. The front wheel was bent, spokes sticking out in all directions. There was no doubt that the wheel was beyond repair.
"Just take it off and go down to Pete's Bike Shop. I know Pete will give you a real bargain on a new tire."
Jake sighed as he looked at the damage.
"I don't have the money to repair this tire. My Dad's going to kill me. I didn't have permission to ride it."
"It's not like you planned for a dog to run out in front of you," John Paul stated, "When does your Dad get back?"
"In two days," Jake replied.
"So we have two days to get this fixed," John Paul smiled, "So let's make plans. Your Dad will never know."
Jake watched John Paul start toward town. Two days was not a lot of time to get money to buy a new tire, but John Paul was in game mode. Game mode was not always a good thing. Game mode could mean a whole lot of trouble.
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writing since 2012 · 75 entries · 75 days shown up
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