mtgent101: John's Lots O Creativity Blog

The Cat's Tongue (Horror Story)

2016-10-01T23:47:00.000-07:00

Originally published on Triond

Tony Wilson sat on the couch and picked up the newspaper. The headlines were about a murder. The killer had not been caught and the police had published a special phone number for anonymous tips.

Tony's cat rubbed against his leg. "Meow."

"Aye, Tiger. What's the matter?" Tony picked up the cat. "You hungry?" After petting the cat for a few seconds, he gently placed it on the floor.

He placed some dry cat food in the cat's bowl and ensured that the other bowl was filled with water. The cat walked up to the bowl and ate the food.

Tony heard his son, Jason, talking to a friend as the front door opened. "Bye" Jason waved and turned toward Tony. Jason removed his backpack and laid it on the chair.

"What's the matter?" Tony saw the tears rolling down Jason's face.

Tony led Jason to the couch where they both sat down. He waited for Jason to stop crying.

Alice came out of the kitchen. She sat on the other side of Jason.

Jason barely voiced the words. "Mom."

"Yes, honey." Alice kissed Jason on the forehead.

"Timmy died." Jason wiped his tears with his shirt sleeve.

Alice and Tony glanced at each other. Timmy was Jason's best friend. Timmy would come over and play with Jason every day.

Tony used the remote control to turn on the television. They listened to the latest reports about the murder. A eye witness claimed the killer was six feet tall. The eye witness only saw a silhouette of the killer but he said it looked like the killer was dressed in some sort of oversize cloak that covered the killer from head to toe.

"Where do people go when they die?" asked Jason.

"They go to Heaven." Alice smiled.

"Can they ever come back?"

"No, honey." Alice kissed Jason on the forehead. "They stay in Heaven and they watch over us from there. " Alice looked tenderly at Jason. "I think heaven is the kind of place folks just don't want to leave."

"Can we see them when they are in heaven?"

"We can always see them with our hearts." Alice suddenly remembered Jason's birthday party. "Would you like a picture of Timmy for your bedroom? Pictures can help the heart remember."

"Yeah. Maybe that would be good."

Alice left the room for a few moments and returned with a photo of all Jason's friends gathered round the kitchen table while Jason blew out the birthday cake candles. She pointed to Timmy. "See? There he is."

Jason grabbed the picture. "Gee. Thanks, Mom! Do you think Timmy would like my having this?"

"Of course, he would!" Alice smiled.

The cat jumped up on Jason's lap and licked his hand. Jason giggled and said. "Awe, go on! Tiger! Stop kissing me. You silly old cat."

Jason fell asleep on the couch. Tony carried Jason into his bedroom. Alice removed Jason's shoes and laid him on the bed. The she covered Jason up to his shoulders with a blanket and kissed him goodnight.

Tony and Alice entered the living room just on time to see the news broadcast about Timmy. The reporter said Timmy's family was killed by a person dressed from head to toe in a long cloak.

"Its good that Jason fell asleep and did not hear this." Alice turned off the television. "Would you like some tea before heading to bed?"

"Sure." Tony entered the kitchen and sat at the table.

Alice poured water into the coffee maker and turned it on. The kitchen window was facing the back yard. Suddenly Alice gasped as she pointed out the window. The moon light shone on a cloaked figure about seven feet tall.

Tony ran into the bedroom and got his gun out of the closet. Then he ran out the back door yelling "Stop!"

The cloaked figure tried to run but fell to the ground. Tony removed the cloak only to find a 14 year old boy on stilts. The boy was laughing.

"That's not funny, Frank Watts!" Tony picked up the cloak. "Get up!" He grabbed the boy by the arm. "We're going to see your dad. Now!"

Alice had been watching from the kitchen window. She ran out into the backyard and approached Frank and Tony. She was about to tell Frank about Timmy.

"Tim ..." Her voice faded as Tony shook his head back and forth.

Then she returned to the house.

Frank Watts was the neighborhood prankster. He had frightened young children on many occasions. On the previous Halloween he had dressed as a bear and recorded the sound of a bear on a digital recorder. Then he had hid in the shadows and played the tape whenever a youngster came by.

Alice opened the back door and entered the kitchen. She sat in the chair and realized her hand was shaking. She thought about the tea. Then she opened the cabinet door and removed some brandy from the top shelf. She put a tea bag in the cup, poured some hot water in and let it brew. Then she poured some brandy in. She sipped it slowly.

She heard Jason moving around. She walked into his bedroom. "What's the matter, honey?"

Before Jason could answer, Alice saw the open window. "Who opened the window?"

She picked up Jason and turned toward the door. That's when she saw the cloaked figure. It was upright in the doorway. The surface of the cloak had numerous knobs designed to hold its victim. It looked more like a large tongue than a cloak.

Alice backed up toward the window. She turned and held Jason out the window, looking at the ground five feet below. She did not drop Jason for fear he would get hurt. She screamed as the cloaked figure grabbed her leg and pulled both her and Jason back into the bedroom.

Alice and Jason laid on the bedroom floor. She was unable to free her leg. She let go of Jason and told him to run. The cloaked figure wrapped the cloak around her and pressed the cloak against her face. She let out a smothered scream as she felt excruciating pain.

Jason darted around the figure and grabbed a souvenir miniature baseball bat from his dresser. He repeatedly hit the cloaked figure with the bat. "Leave my mom alone!"

Tony was outside the front door. As he opened the front door, he heard Jason. He ran into the bedroom. He released the safety pin on his gun and shot the cloaked figure. The cloaked figure lay lifeless on Alice.

Alice laid there after Tony pulled the cloaked figure off her. She had been stabbed several times. Tony phoned the police and an ambulance.

The police arrived and removed the cloak from the killer. The ambulance arrived a few moments later and took Alice to the hospital. Alice's operation lasted seven hours. Doctors expected her to survive.

Headlines appeared in the local newspapers and on the Internet. The story described Alice's horrible experience and the heroic efforts a her five year old son Jason. From that moment on, Alice referred to Jason as "My little hero."

Phantasm

2016-01-08T23:17:00.000-08:00

PHANTASM

Let me tell you a story about a guy named Joe. Joe was the last surviving member of his family. His parents passed away many years ago and his brother passed away within the past two years. Joe did not seem lonely at all. He was quite content to live by himself and rarely had any visitors. Often he would be in his home for days without any contact with the outside world.

When Joe went out, he would visit the local donut shop and converse with a few old friends. He often talked about how rich he was. But people misinterpreted what he meant. One day he told his friend, Ralph, that the riches he was talking about were not temporal goods. Ralph did not believe him. The rumors about Joe being rich were widespread. People heard that he had a wall safe. As these rumors spread from person to person, the story become more and more exaggerated until some people said he kept $500,000 in thousand dollar bills in that safe. Ralph believed the rumors and made plans with his friend Frank.

The road was pitch black. The only light was the light of the half moon and a living room light in the house across the street. Joe's house was dark. Only a night light was illuminated.

Ralph walked around the side of Joe's house and removed a window cutter and a suction cup from his tool box.

Joe did not hear the window cutter cutting a large hole in his living room window or the suction cup used to pull the window out. He was in his second floor bedroom. He was viewing videos of his family. He was laughing and talking even though no one was present in the room.

Ralph peered in the window. There was nothing unusual about the room. The wall to wall carpeting looked new and was clean. The couch sat in against the far wall. A beautiful coffee table was on the far side of the room. An ash tray on the coffee table contained three cigarette butts. A pack of cigarettes and a cigarette lighter lay beside the ash tray. A shot glass and a bottle of liquor lay next to the cigarette lighter. The couch was behind the coffee table. Two pillows were on the couch. On the wall above the couch was a framed picture of Elvis Presley with a guitar in his hand and a microphone in front of him.

Ralph climbed in and walked slowly and quietly to the front door. He was wearing gloves. He remembered that the front door squeaked. He removed a small container of oil and a cloth from his tool box. He dabbed the oil on the hinges. Then he unlocked and opened the door.

Ralph's accomplice, Frank, entered the living room. Ralph gently closed the door and proceeded to the far end of the coffee table. He removed the shot glass from the table and placed it on the floor. Then they moved the table to the center of the room.

Ralph and Frank removed the pillows from the couch and stood up on top of the couch. They worked together to remove the framed picture from the wall and gently lean it against the same wall near the floor. Then Frank got back on the couch and inspected the lock on the wall safe. He picked the lock with a pin and opened the safe. Frank searched through the papers in the safe. He uttered a four letter word and said, "It's not here!"

Frank closed and locked the safe. Then they hung the picture on the wall. That's when they heard footsteps. The sound appeared to be coming from the kitchen. They withdrew their guns and slowly approached the kitchen entrance. As they reached the kitchen entrance, they saw the back door. It was closed. The kitchen table was surrounded by four chairs. A box of donuts and two cups of hot steaming coffee were on the table. Beside each cup was a napkin. They heard the sound of someone shutting the refrigerator door.

Ralph and Frank looked at each other. They stood perfectly still and silent. No sounds came from the kitchen for the next few minutes. Frank peered into the kitchen. He pointed his gun at the refrigerator only to find no one was there. Where could the person be? Inside the refrigerator? He opened the refrigerator door. There was nothing inside except a quart of milk, some cold cuts and a loaf of bread.

Ralph was perplexed. "I don't get it."

Frank put his gun away. "Lets get out of here."

As they came back into the living room, Ralph spotted a shadow moving across the window he had cut a hole in. Ralph pointed his gun toward the window, but Frank grabbed Ralph's arm and pointed to the front door.

Someone was knocking at the door. Ralph fired his gun three times, leaving two bullet holes in the front door. The front door opened. Nobody was there. The porch light went on. The kitchen radio started blasting music.

The third bullet hit Frank. Frank fell to the floor with blood seeping out of his shoulder.

A neighbor heard the gunshots and called the police.

Ralph saw depressions in the shape of the shoe appear and disappear on the wall to wall carpeting. Then he heard a soft taunting voice, "The coffee and donuts are waiting for you. Come and have some."

Ralph fired his gun in the direction of the footsteps. He felt something grab his arm, but he did not see anyone. Something was pulling him toward the kitchen.

"Let me go!" Ralph yelled as he flailed his free arm. His arm was released.

Ralph was perspiring. His hands were shaking. His face was pale. He dropped his gun. It didn't make any sound when it hit the plush carpet.

In the bedroom, Joe was laughing as he watched his favorite video. He mumbled something about how wonderful it was to live with his deceased family members.

Between the bed and the wall there was a blank outlet cover with two screws holding it to an outlet box. It was about twelve inches above the floor, but it did not contain an electrical outlet. It did not contain any money either. It contained something much more valuable. It contained all Joe's memories of the good times he and his family had on a single electronic chip. This chip provided the medium of communication between Joe and his deceased family. And every time Joe watched the videos, the spirits of his deceased family would roam the house.

Joe heard sirens as the police car pulled up in front of the house. He turned off the monitor and walked down the stairs. He walked across the living room and opened the front door. The police entered and placed Ralph and Frank under arrest. Frank was sent to the hospital for a few days. Then the police sent Frank and Ralph for psychiatric evaluation after hearing their mumbling about ghosts.

Consequences of a Malicious Act

2016-01-08T23:08:00.000-08:00

Sam Maxwell was sitting on the couch reading a newspaper. He periodically glanced at his cleaning robot. Sam was proud of this robot. It was his first prototype and it was selling like mad. He had designed this robot to handle all household chores except preparing and serving meals. His second design was a landscape robot that took care of the lawn and bushes and also shoveled the snow. His third design was the kitchen robot who prepared and served meals. The kitchen robot was malfunctioning.

Sam's laptop was on the coffee table. It was powered up and displayed the design of the coordination unit inside the kitchen robot. The coordination unit coordinated the software unit with the mechanical movements of the robot.

Sam had detected malicious viral activity in the coordination unit. Sam figured that the virus probably infected the computer before the software was transferred from the computer to the robot. The aim was clearly sabotage. Sam suspected that the culprit was a disgruntled employee who had been fired six months ago.

The doorbell rang. The cleaning robot opened the door and invited Sam's good friend, Jack Wilson, in.

Jack had designed the maintenance robot which was capable of repairing all other robots. It was also capable of finding it's way to any home. This was the maintenance robots first repair off the site.

The first thing Jack noted was the cabinet blocking the kitchen door, but he did not say anything.

"Hi Jack", Sam closed his laptop and rose from the couch. He extended his hand across the coffee table. After shaking hands, Sam offered Jack the reclining chair adjacent to the couch.

Jack thanked Sam and sat down. "Hi Sam, How are you?"

"Fine. And you?"

"I'm okay." Jack took out his remote control and activated the maintenance robot which was in Jack's truck. "So what is the problem?"

Sam lifted his leg up and rested it on the coffee table. Then he pulled up his blood stained pants and unwrapped a nasty cut on his leg. The blood had begun to clot. Sam pointed to the cut.

"How did that happen?" asked Jack.

"I requested a cup of coffee. The kitchen robot came out and attacked me." Sam took the remote control out of his pocket, "I deactivated the robot, but it can reactivate itself at will."

"That's what I figured when I saw your kitchen door."

They heard a loud noise. The kitchen robot had slammed it's mechanical arm against the door.

Then they heard the doorbell ring.

The cleaning robot opened the door. The maintenance robot came in and proceeded toward the kitchen door.

"We have to manually remove the power source from the robot."

Immediately after the maintenance robot moved the cabinet over, the kitchen robot pushed the kitchen door open real hard. It tackled the maintenance robot and both fell to the floor.

Sam limped over to the kitchen robot and laid over it. He grabbed the kitchen robot's arms.

The kitchen robot stood up and bent over while yanking it's arms forward slamming Sam on the floor beside the maintenance robot.

The maintenance robot grabbed the kitchen robot by both arms and pushed the robot against the cabinet.

Sam was stunned. It took him a few moments to rise to his feet. The kitchen robot grabbed Sam's legs and slammed Sam body against the floor again. Then the kitchen robot started twisting Sam's leg.

"Jack, Jack, Where are you?" Sam yelled.

The front door opened and Jack came in. He pointed a gun at the kitchen robot.

The kitchen robot released Sam and grabbed the maintenance robot, using it as a shield.

Jack hesitated. The history of the maintenance robot flashed through his mind. He recalled the years of research, the repeated request for government funding, the assembly of the maintenance robot, the programming and testing of the robot. Not knowing about the virus; Jack assumed that after this incident, there is no way he would receive funding to build any robot.

Jack lowered the gun.

The kitchen robot lowered the maintenance robot to see what Jack was up to. Jack quickly raised the gun and fired in an attempt to disable the robot's visual cortex. The bullet went through the kitchen robots head and into the door. The kitchen robot fell to the floor.

The maintenance robot quickly rolled the kitchen robot over and loosened the cover on the kitchen robots upper back. Then the maintenance robot reached in and removed the power source.

Sam sighed in relief. Suddenly the kitchen robot grabbed Sam's leg and squeezed. Sam yelled in pain. Jack fired the gun again and the kitchen robot released Sam's leg.

Sam looked at Jack. "Residual energy."

Jack shook his head in agreement. He took out his cell phone and dialed the police. He told them to send an ambulance.

The Light House

2014-09-13T21:45:00.000-07:00

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

The work day was almost over. The last tourists were leaving the lighthouse and traveling down the dirt path toward the beach. Rocks protected both sides of the path from the water. The hundred year old lighthouse belonged to the local historical society. Every day from 8:00 AM to 4:00 AM, Mr Hansen would give tourists a little education of the history of the lighthouse. The tourists could view excerpts from the logbooks and the old lantern. They would learn about the duties of the lighthouse keeper before lighthouse were under the control of the Coast Guard. Mr Hansen was 85 years old. He worked at the Lighthouse before the Coast Guard donated it to the Historical Society. Now Mr Hansen would clean up the place. But today was different. Today Mr Hansen would remain at the lighthouse beyond 5:00PM. As the tourists traveled up the beach to the road, a truck pulled up and parked. Several men got out of the truck, walked across the beach and started down the path to the lighthouse. Mr Hansen was about to have visitors: Some had been invited. Others had not.

A few blocks from the lighthouse, a boy's voice filled the air with happiness. "Schools over!" Little Tommy ran home from school with joy and enthusiasm seldom matched by an adult. He was anxious to show his mom his report card because he got good grades in all subjects. "Yahoo!!" He jumped over the low fence surrounding the freshly cut lawn and ran toward the front porch. He jumped on the porch skipping a few steps and opened the door. "Mom! I'm home!" He yelled waving the report card.

His mom was in the kitchen making a salad. She wiped her hands with a towel hanging on wall and took his report card. "Very good!" she said, "Very good." she paused, "You are not suppose to wear your bathing suit to school."

Tommy looked surprised.

"Its sticking out of your pants." She tried hard not to laugh.

This summer promised to be very hot. And Tommy would take advantage of the good beach weather. Today he looked forward to walking the path to the Light house after 4:30 PM and listening to the stories told by Mr Hansen. Tom's family knew Mr Hansen well.

He looked at the clock. It was 4:00 PM. He started for the door.

"Eat first," his mom said as she served dinner, "Call your brother and wash your hands."

"Ricky." he shouted.

His younger brother came out of the bedroom.

"Ricky got a good report card too." Mom said, "Right, Ricky?" Mom turned off the stove burner.

Ricky smiled and sat down. "Hey!" he yelled.

Mom turned and looked at Ricky.

"Tommy put more peas in my dish." Ricky complained.

"Tommy, you have to eat your peas." She turned to tend to the dirty pans.

Ricky ate and started walking away from the table. Tommy threw a pea at Ricky. It missed and landed in the sink.

Mom turned around and sat next to Tommy. "Eat your peas." She watched him until all the peas were gone. "Thats better. Now you can go out and play. Don't go swimmng without a life guard." she tapped Tommy on the shoulder as he and Ricky walked toward the front door. "And I mean a real life guard. Not Ricky. Understand?" She gave them a big towel.

Tommy and Ricky shook their heads up and down.

"Good!" said Mom, "Now go out and have fun!" she smiled as she watched her two boys jump off the porch and run down the sidewalk towards the beach.

Mom picked up the phone.

Mr Hansen had talked to Dad the other day. Tommy didn't understand much of it but he understood that Mr Hansen might have another job. Tommy wanted to ask Mr Hansen if he'd still be around to tell all those exciting stories. But he knew he shouldn't. Instead he asked mom who assured hm that Me Hansen would only be away for a short while.

One the beach, three men were roping off the area where the path led out to the lighthouse. One man took a folding chair and set it down at the foot of the path. The other men went back to the small grey car and sat in it. After a few moments, the car proceeded down the road and out of sight. The man sitting in the chair was very tired. The lifeguard's chair was about 500 feet from the path to the lighhouse. It was empty.

In the lighthouse, two men forced Mr Hansen to sit in a chair and tied him to the chair and gagged him. One man took out a pistol and pressed it up against Mr Hansen's chin, warning him to be perfectly quiet. Sweat was dripping from Mr Hansen's chin. The men looked out the window. On the horizon, a tiny object appeared on the water. A boat.

A half block down the road from the beach, Tommy and Ricky were running around and laughing. They were slowly approaching the beach. When they reached the beach, the man guarding the path to the lighthouse was asleep in the chair with his hat shading his face.

Back at home, Mom hung up the phone wondering why Mr Hansen had not answered. She did not want the boys playing on the beach if Mr Hansen was not there. She came out the front door of the house and started walking down the sidewalk towards the beach.

Tommy and Ricky ignored the sign and jumped down into the sand and over the rope surrounding the area.. They ignored the sign which said: "Keep Out." They walked toward the rocks that led out to the light house. A man was sitting in a chair in the sand. He was sound asleep with his hat on. The two boys giggled at his snoring.

"I got an idea." whispered Ricky. Ricky picked up a crab and placed it on top of the man's hat.

They both gigled some more. Then the two boys continued traveling on the rocks towards the light house. They would periodically look back at the man and giggle some more. They reached the Light House and heard some angry voices inside. Perhaps they should head back. But they didn't.

They were about to peer in the window when a loud sharp reverberating sound filled the air. They looked at each other surprised.

"A firecracker?" asked Ricky.

Tommy shrugged his shoulders. They peered in the window and saw Mr Hansen slumped over in the chair. What were they to do? They saw the boat approaching the lighthouse. They had no choice but to hide someplace so that nobody would see them. But where? The only place to hide was under the water. There were no bushes or rocks near the lighthouse. Only a steep slope on all sides of the light house. The only rocks were on both sides of the path to the lighthouse. So the boys retreated to the water. They selected a spot where they could not be seen from window or door. Hopefully they also would't be seen by the occupants of the approaching boat.

Tommy and Ricky ducked under the water and stayed submerged for as long as they could. But they had to come up for air. Their only hope was that the people would not see them surface. Tommy got an idea. They swam underwater alongside the rocks until they reached a large rock. They hid behind the rock. But it was to no avail. One of the men in the boat spotted them and yelled at them. Then two men came out of the lighthouse and yelled at them. Tommy and Ricky dived into the water and began swimming for shore. Suddenly Tommy went under. He tried to come back up. He surfaced for a moment and then went back under. The boat was approaching. One man jumped out of the boat and went underwater searching for Tommy. The other man grabbed Ricky and told him to calm down. The first man found Tommy just as Tommy inhaled some water. The man lifted Tommy up to the surfaced and put him in the boat beside Ricky. Tommy was coughing up water. The men got on the radio and called for an ambulance.

The guard had woken up to the feeling of a crab crawing on his hand. But somehow it was no longer funny to Ricky. They had Tommy and Ricky sit in the sand. They went to their car and got a few large blankets. They covered each boys from shoulder to foot in the blanket. Then the ambulance and the police arrived.

"Didn't you see the sign?" The policeman asked.

Ricky shook his head back and forth.

"You can read it from here." The policeman pointed to the sign. "What does it say?"

"Keep out." Ricky answered.

"Next time you see a sign and a rope like this, what are you going to do?"

Ricky lowered his head. "Going to keep out."

"Thats right," said the police officer, "These signs are posted for your safety."

Mr Hansen came walking down the path and approached the two boys. "It's okay. I know these boys."

"Mr Hansen! We thought you were ..." Ricky voice faded and hehugged Mr Hansen.

Mr Hansen smiled and said, "No. No. Nothing like that. We were rehearsing a scene."

"Rehearsing a scene?" Ricky asked.

"Yeah. For a movie."

"You're making a movie? Really? Could I be in it?" Ricky was jumping up and down.

"Sorry but the movie has no youngsters in it."

Ricky's face dropped.

"But I'll tell you what. I spoke to the director and he said you could watch us make the movie."

"Cool!" said Ricky

"But you have to behave and not run around while we are working. Understood?"

"Yes!"

The ambulance technicians were strapping Tommy in the stretcher while his mom was consoling him.

And in the process Tommy learned about the job opportunity that Mr Hansen talked about. Tommy realized their oversite. They had looked inside the light house window but never saw the man in the small mobile vehicle supporting a camcorder on a tripod!

When Tommy's mom and dad arrived at the hospital, they were very happy that he was okay. But they were also very angry that Tommy once again had broken the rules. They did not have to worry. This scary experience would stay with Tommy a long time. Tommy would never again swim without a life guard present . And he would never again ignore beach signs. He had learned that it was easier to listen to mom and dad than it was to learn from his own experience.

Shadows: An Alien Phenomenom

2014-09-13T21:24:00.000-07:00

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

"I don't understand. It was here last night. I saw it," Jim's long blond hair swayed as he shook his head back and forth. Jim walked around the small opening in the woods. There were no soft bare spots to indicate that some alien spacecraft had been buried there. The whole area was grassy. They was in the middle of a two mile wooded area one mile outside the city.

"Are you sure it was here?" asked Gary.

"Of course I'm sure!"

"Maybe it was just a dream."

"A dream! What! You don't believe me?"

"I'd like to believe you but it just doesn't add up. You think someone took it?"

"Too big. It was buried in the ground with only the tip showing."

"What was it?"

"I don't know! How many times do I have to tell you?"

"Okay. Okay. Calm down. We'll figure this out," Gary paused, "Let's go get some breakfast."

They started walking up the dirt path toward the small cabin. A shadow swung across the cloudy sky.

"What was that?" Asked Gary.

"Whatever it was, it was moving too fast to see."

They walked past the tree stump to the front door.

They opened the cabin door. Jim turned on the radio. The soft rock and roll music filled the air. Jim often came up to this cabin to get away from the busy city life.

Jim sat in the chair and relaxed while Gary took out a frying pan and some eggs.

"This may sound crazy but ..." Gary's voice faded, "You think they're related?"

"You mean that thing in the ground and that thing that swung across the sky?"

"Well, yeah."

"I have no idea."

Gary paused, seeking a way to change the subject. "You said your uncle owns this place."

"Yep. He told me I could come up here anytime I want."

"Where'd you live before you moved into the city?"

"Here and there. My mom and I lived in many places, Jim paused, "First time my uncle showed me this place, I loved it."

"I can see why."

Gary jumped as a shadow whisked across the window. Jim jumped from his chair.

"What the hell was that?" Asked Gary.

They both went to the front door and opened it. Gary went outside and looked around.

"It doesn't make sense." Jim sat on the tree stump.

"What do you mean?"

"Shadows are caused by objects blocking a light: In this case, the sun."

"So?"

"So, where is the sun?"

Gary looked up in the sky. It was cloudy. No sun.

"I think we should leave," said Gary.

"I'm calling my mom," said Jim as he searched his pockets for his cell phone, "Where the heck is my phone?"

"Look!" said Jim.

Something huge and dark was in the trees. The boys heard a loud rumble. They raced into the cabin and shut the door.

"That was no shadow!"

Jim was searching the bedroom.

"What are you looking for?"

"My uncle always kept a gun up here."

"What kind of gun?"

"I don't know. I don't know anything about guns."

"What did he do with the gun?"

"Hunting. But that was before developers started buying up the land."

"Have you ever fired a gun?"

"No."

"Great," Gary came in the bedroom. He spotted a lock on a closet door. "Did he have kids up here?"

"Yeah. He had two boys. Why?"

"Boys grown up now?"

"Grown up and moved out."

"Got the key to that lock?" asked Gary.

Jim looked at the lock. "No. Why would the gun be locked up now?"

They heard a noise.

"Sounds like it came from the front door," said Gary.

They hesitated for a moment.

"Let me in!" the voice said, "Hurry!"

Jim rushed to the door and opened it. His younger brother Tom pushed him aside while rushing in.

The dark thing was moving closer.

Jim closed the door and leaned a chair against it.

"Are you okay?" asked Jim.

"Yeah," said Tom, "What is that thing out there?"

"I don't know," said Jim, "What are you doing here?"

"How are we going to get home?"

Gary came out of the bedroom with a rifle and a box of bullets. "Hope your uncle doesn't mind. I broke the lock."

"That's how," Jim answered Tom.

"Anyone know how to use this?" Gary was inspecting the rifle.

Jim and Tom shrugged their shoulders.

"Great."

The room slowly became darker. Jim turned on the ceiling light.

"What's going on?" asked Gary.

"It's getting dark outside," Tom pointed to the window.

"We have to get out of here," said Jim, "Now! Use the back door."

The boys went running through the back hallway and opened the back door. As they distanced themselves from the cabin, they looked back. The sides of the cabin were covered with darkness, but the back was not. In a wild panic, the boys ran into the woods.

After running a half mile, they stopped to catch their breath.

"Where are we?" asked Gary.

"I don't know," answered Jim.

"We left everything there," said Gary, "We have to go back."

"No," said Tom.

"We don't have anything," said Gary, "Not even a compass and we are not on the path we walked to get to the cabin."

"Yeah we do," said Jim searching his pockets, "Oh no! My compass! I must have dropped it while we were running!" Jim paused, "We'll have to find our way back," said Jim.

"More likely, we'll walk in circles." replied Gary.

They looked up at the clouds.

"Looks like we're in for some rain," said Jim, "Maybe Gary is right."

"But that thing!" said Tom.

"May not even be there anymore," said Gary, "Lets go back and find out. Hopefully we'll find our way back before it starts raining." Gary wanted to say, 'if we find our way back at all,' but he didn't.

A shadow crossed the ground. The boys ran for a short while and then slowed down.

"So much for it not being around," said Tom, "Are we headed in the right direction?"

Gary and Jim shrugged their shoulders. They walked for an hour and stopped.

"Where are we?" asked Tom.

Gary felt a wet spot on his forehead. Then another and another. The rain came down. There was no shelter except the trees.

The boys got under a large tree.

"If we see that shadow again," said Gary, "No panicking and no running."

"What!" Tom exclaimed.

"That shadow is our only chance to get out of here." replied Gary.

They heard a loud sound.

Tom looked around anxiously.

"That was not the thing," said Gary.

"How do you know?"

A lightning bolt hit the ground along with a loud sharp thunder.

"That's how." said Gary.

During the next lightning strike, They saw the large dark thing. It had surrounded them.

"I think I'm beginning to understand," said Jim, "Whatever this thing is, the shadows are it's scouts. The shadows tell it where we are."

"Nice theory," said Gary, "Lets see if we could walk through it."

"Are you kidding?" asked Tom.

"Do we have a choice?" asked Jim, "It's closing in on us."

In seconds the boys were buried in the darkness within the thing.

--------------------

Jim's mom was in the kitchen, talking on her cell phone.

"Honey, I'm worried," she said, "I sent Tom out to get Jim and they haven't returned yet."

She heard dad's soothing voice, "Don't worry, sweetheart. Call Bart and ask him to check his cabin. That's probably where they are."

"Honey, can you take some time off and check? I tried ringing Jim's cell phone. He's not answering."

"That's strange," replied dad, "Okay. I'll be taking off in five minutes," dad paused, "Phone Bart."

Ten minutes later, Dad and Bart came in the front door.

"Home already?"

"I assume you want to come," said dad, "Was Gary with Tom?"

Mom shook her head.

"Better call his parents," said Bart.

Bart, mom and dad arrived at the cabin ten minutes later. Mom got out of the car first.

"Jim, Tom," she yelled while looking around.

No answer.

They tried to open the front door. It wouldn't open.

"That's strange." said Bart.

"There's Jim's phone," said mom as she walked over to the tree stump and picked up the phone.

They walked around the back to find the door wide open.

"Jim always leaves the door wide open," complained dad. He heard music.

"They broke the lock and took out the rifle. Seems like they left in a hurry. Here's the compass I gave Jim." Bart picked the compass up off the floor. Bart looked around and walked out the back door.

"Looks like they were trying to keep someone out," Mary pointed at the chair leaning against the front door. She turned off the radio.

"We'd better start searching for them," said dad, "Block the front door. Run out the back. Seems like they are in trouble." Dad took out his cell phone to call for help.

Nobody noticed the dark thing sinking into the ground down the dirt path.

-------------------

The lights came on. The boys looked at all the bright spots on the walls. Then they saw the shadows come flying in. The shadows dispersed across the room: Each one appeared to be in a different section of the walls and landing on one bright spot after another.

A portion of one wall became translucent and the boys were able to see the path to the cabin. A few minutes later they were able to see the cabin. They saw Jim's mom and dad through the cabin window. Then they saw Bart in the back of the cabin. Soon they were able to see the complete wooded area. They saw hundreds of people arranging several search parties. The people became smaller and smaller until they looked like tiny dots. The boys were mesmerized by the beautiful view of the wooded area and the city. Then their view was obscured by clouds. At length, they found themselves looking at the moon, the earth and the stars.

"Where's Gary?" asked Tom.

"I don't know," responded Jim.

------------------------

Bart came back in the cabin. He yelled for Jim's mom and dad, but there was no response. Then he saw Gary standing by the front door.

"Gary, are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Where's Jim, Tom and their parents?"

"They're on the spaceship."

"What spaceship? You're talking crazy."

Gary didn't respond. He knew that no one was able to see the spaceship except those the alien wished to show it to. It was visible to Tom, Jim, and their parents; but not visible to any one else.

"Well?" Bart sounded impatient.

Gary paused. Then as he saw a shadow moving across the wall, he said, "If you don't believe me, explain that." He pointed at the shadow.

------------------------

Jim, Tom, mom and dad stared in awe at Pluto. They were on their way to another world in another galaxy. They were the first people to visit that world. Many more shadows would visit Earth. And many more people would visit the world of the shadows.

Hostile Aliens

2014-09-13T14:54:00.000-07:00

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

The elderly gray haired lady had lost some dexterity in her fingers and used a cane to walk. But she still managed to get around. She lived in a small one floor house about a tenth of a mile outside a small town filled with retirees. She had an old Chevy parked in the driveway. Every evening she would retire to her favorite rocking chair in the living room with some cold wine.

She was sitting in her rocking chair in the living room when she heard a window shatter in the bedroom.

"What the heck -- " she asked herself softly while putting her feet into her new slippers. She rose from the rocking chair, drank the remaining wine and put down her glass. She grabbed her cane.

It wasn't the cost of replacing a window that annoyed her. Her deceased husband had left her in good financial shape. It was the fact that someone had broken one of her windows. There were no children living in the area. Who would commit vandalism? She had no enemies and had been very kind and generous to the people in town.

She walked out of the living room and by the oak chest in the hallway. She peered through the kitchen at the bedroom door. To her surprise, it was shut. The phone was mounted on the wall within her reach. She picked up the receiver and listened. No dial tone. She put down the receiver.

Most people would have ran outside seeking help. But not Ann. Ann was a proud old lady determined to resolve all her problems by herself. This was her property. She was proud of it and would not yield it to anyone. As one would have guessed, she had a gun. It was actually her husband's gun properly registered. She never gave it up.

The problem was that the gun was in the bedroom. That did not deter Ann. When she heard noises coming from the bedroom, she opened her cabinet draw and pulled out a steak knife. Then she slowly approached the bedroom door.

Should she ask who's there? It would seem kind of foolish. She thought about it for a moment. Then she decided that surprise was her best tactic. She quietly approached the bedroom door. Putting her ear to the door, she heard nothing. "Maybe who ever came in left." She thought.

She grabbed the door knob and slowly turned it. After taking a deep breath, she swung the door open. The bed was undisturbed. Her first task every morning was to make up the bed. She peered into the bedroom. The dresser and mirror were also undisturbed. "So what was the noise all about?"

Then she noticed the broken glass on the floor. Pretty curtains covered the window. She got on her hands and knees and peered under the bed. "Need a flashlight." She put the knife on the dresser, opened the draw and took out a battery powered flashlight. She got down on the floor, laid her cane beside her and shined the light under the bed. Shoes were lined up in one neat row.

She slowly got up, leaving the flashlight on the floor and holding her cane in one hand while balancing herself against the bureau. The window. She moved toward the window and pulled the curtain aside. She always loved the view from this window. She often wondered why the builders didn't put the living room here with large sliding glass doors. The view was beautiful. Lots of grass on land that sloped down toward a small fresh water pond.

Suddenly she heard a noise from the bedroom closet. "Of course'" She thought. "Dumb, dumb, dumb. Where's the gun?" She opened the dresser and pulled out the gun. She viewed the cylinder. Empty. The bullets were in the closet. "This prowler is not so dumb." She slowly opened the closet door. All her clothes were on hangers. Again, nothing was disturbed. She looked under the clothes. "No feet down there."

She closed the closet door, ignoring the insect that came crawling out on the floor. She shrugged her shoulders and approached the window. That's when she noticed the tiny round object in the grass. She peered at it but was unable to make out the details.

Having satisfied herself that there was no one in the bedroom, she decided to go outside and examine the round object in the grass. She put on a light sweater and went out the front door. She went round the side of the house. There it was laying in the grass. Shaped like a disk it was hard to spot because it was the same color as the grass. She had never seen anything like it before. She looked around wondering where it came from. She never looked up. Nor did she ever suspect that her prowler was so small. Even after seeing the saucer, she was totally perplexed. Not recognizing it for what it was, but very curious about the beautiful shiny object, she bent down to touch it.

"Ouch!" she said allowed. She looked at her finger and shook it. "Wow! That’s hot."

Hot it was and so would any object be that just came through the earth's atmosphere. She turned and started for the front door when a strange sound behind her made her look back. Insects, just like the one she saw in her bedroom were coming out of the little saucer. One reached her ankle and bit it. "Ouch!" She pushed it off and ran for the front door. After opening the door and entering, she shut the door and raced to close all the windows. The strange insects were climbing up the sides of the house searching for a way in. She could see then crawling on the windows. A few were coming in beneath the front door.

She opened her kitchen cabinet and sprayed one directly with a bug killer. It didn't affect this bug. She grabbed the insect and tried to crush it. It was hard as a rock. She threw it down kitchen sink and ran the water. A few minutes later the bug came up the drain. Another came up her leg and bit her beneath the knee cap. She pulled it off and threw it against the wall. Then she noticed the swollen areas on her leg.

She opened the cabinet door and took out some vinegar. She picked up an insect and put it in the vinegar. The insect crawled out. More and more insects were entering the house. She searched the cabinets for something else that might kill the insects. She pulled out a jar of olive oil and poured some over an insect. The insect stood perfectly still.

"That's it! Oil!" She gathered all types of oil she could find. That's when she found a spray can of lubricant. She started spraying the bugs. Direct hits. As the insects came in she sprayed them one by one. But how could she ever be sure she got them all? An while later, there was no pressure in the spray can. She shook it and tried again. No spray. More insects were entering the house. She took a bottle of olive oil and poured a ring on the floor around herself while she was near the window. The insects could not get near her. She had time to think. She could use the oil to get to where she wants. But what then? The olive oil would run out faster than the spray can. She had to use it sparingly. She also needed something else. She walked to the cabinet pouring a little oil on each insect that approached her. She took out a package sugar frosted cereal and put some on the floor. The insects ignored it.

"They like blood?" She made her way to the refrigerator. She took out a raw chicken and allowed a few drops to hit the floor. The insects went after it. She got a book of matches from a cabinet mounted on the wall. She walked out the door with the chicken and the oil. She placed the chicken in the grass a short distance from the saucer. The insects came from all directions to devour the chicken. She made a ring of oil around the chicken. Then she lit a match. She tried to ignite the oil. She ran to the car, opened the trunk and took out a can of dry gas. She poured a small ring of dry gas around the chicken outside the ring of oil. Then she ignited it. Now she rushed around breaking twigs off low branches of trees and throwing them in the fire. The ring of fire slowly closed in on the insects killing all the insects that had been attracted to the raw meat.

But where there any more? Where were they? She searched around the house looking at the grass and at the house, but spotted no insects. She went inside and grabbed a jar of coffee. She emptied the jar into the garbage pail. She searched every window. Finally she found a live one. She picked it up, put it in the bottle and twisted the cap on but left it a little loose.

She got in the car and started the engine. As she drove down the road she asked, "Do you lay eggs?"

Of course, the trapped insect did not respond.

She stopped at a gas station and purchased a few cans of motor oil. She turned on the car radio as she drove away. She heard reports of these insects in other areas.

"They have a problem." She said. "I have the solution."

The Vortex At Pine Creek

2014-09-11T13:00:00.002-07:00

Originally published on Yahoo Voices.

Logan and his younger brother Nathan loved riding their trail bikes. Sometimes they would ride up and down the dirt path which paralleled Pine Creek. The path was three miles long. It stretched from an area of slate rock down to a large pond at the bottom of the hill. A wooded area was on one side of the path and the creek was on the other side.

There had been rumors of large wild animals roaming the woods. But like any other rumors, these rumors became exaggerated as they were passed from person to person. Logan found these rumors hard to believe because he and Nathan had ridden their trail bikes through these woods for years and had not encountered any wild animals larger than a fox.

Logan was seventeen years old. He was an honors student and was entering his senior year at the local high school.

Nathan was a thirteen year old honors student and was entering his freshman year at the same high school.

It was a warm, dry summer day. Logan and Nathan were riding their bikes down the path alongside Pine Creek.

Logan braked his bike to a stop. Nathan stopped alongside him.

"Why did you stop?" Asked Nathan.

"Look." Logan pointed to animal tracks.

The animal tracks were in a small area containing a few shrubs and dirt. Logan got off his bike and walked over to the tracks. Each track consisted of three claws. The tracks led across the path and down the small slope into the creek. A densely wooded area lined the other side of the creek.

Logan looked up at Nathan. "Come over here."

Nathan walked over and examined the animal tracks. "Weird. What would make those tracks? A large bird?"

"I don't know. It would have to be a pretty big bird. I think it is an animal of some sort."

"Maybe a bear?"

"A bear track has three short claws and a heavy pad."

Logan took out his cell phone and snapped a few pictures of the tracks.

"You realize it could be a prank."

Then they heard a loud roar.

"I don't think so. Let's get out of here!"

They jump on their bikes and raced down the trail toward their home. The roar became softer and softer until they heard nothing.

That evening they were up in their bedroom. Logan got on the Internet and searched for animal tracks consisting of three claws. He stumbled upon a site named 'Reptiles Today and Yesterday.'

"It looked exactly like that!" Nathan was pointing to the tracks. "That's a T-Rex. Isn't it?"

"A T-Rex?" Logan paused, "Maybe the tracks are an elaborate prank. But what about the roar?"

"If the tracks are real, we should be able to find out where the animal went and where it came from."

"Good idea!'

The next morning they rode their bikes up the trail to the area where they saw the tracks. They found the tracks and followed those tracks toward Pine Creek. They walked up and down the edge of the creek but did not find where the animal came back on land. Then they followed the tracks back into the woods. There they found a narrow path of human footprints paralleling their race down the hill the night before.

"It hasn't rained for three days. All tracks should still be here." Nathan said. "but they aren't."

"This isn't making any sense."

"Look!" Nathan pointed to the transparent silhouette of a six foot tall reptile. "Let's get out of here!"

The boys hopped on their bikes and raced a short distance down the path. Logan glanced back and realized that the reptile was running through the trees without breaking any branches. "Stay still. It can't harm us. It's kind of like it's in another dimension or something."

The reptile was unable to grab them or any other object. It lost interest and began walking away.

They followed the reptile through some thick brush and down to Pine Creek, The boys did not note the circular ripples extending from the center of the creek to its edges.

The reptile hesitated before entering the creek. The boys followed the reptile across the creek and watched the reptile materialize into a solid form. It was a young T-Rex. It turned and saw the transparent silhouettes of the two boys. The boys ran and quickly realized they were transparent because they were able to run through trees. The T-Rex chased them to the creek but did not follow them across the creek. On the other side of the creek, the boys materialized into solid form.

For the first time, the boys were able to see the T-Rex and the T-Rex was able to see the boys. The boys also observed the expanding circular ripples in the center of the creek.

"What is that?" Logan pointed to the expanding circular ripples.

"I think it's some kind of vortex."

"It's more than a vortex." Logan responded. "It might be a vortex into another dimension."

"That's why we look like ghosts to the T-Rex when we are in it's world and the T-Rex looks like a ghost when it is in our world."

"Who is going to believe us?."

"Nobody." Nathan paused, "Suppose one of us walks across the creek and the other takes a picture with his cell phone?"

"Hang on to that idea. Why hasn't anyone reported seeing a prehistoric dinosaur or anything like it before?"

"Maybe they heard the roar and never saw anything."

"Or maybe the vortex opens and closes." Logan looked at Nathan. "What if the vortex closes while one of us is on the other side!"

"The vortex won't close!"

"You don't know that for sure."

"What if we throw a nice thick branch across the creek and take a picture of the branch. Wouldn't that prove to others that the vortex exists?" asked Nathan.

"A video would be better than a picture." Logan replied. "That way they could see that the branch is real and then they could see it become transparent as it travels across the creek."

Logan got on his bike. "I'll be back." He rode his bike down the path and returned a half hour later with a video camera.

Logan filmed Nathan picking up a large thick branch and throwing it across the creek. When the branch reached the center of the expanding ripples, it hung in midair. Half of the stationary branch looked real and the other half was transparent. Two minutes later, half of the branch fell into the creek and the ripples diminished to nothing.

For several moments, the boys stared in awe at the creek. They were attempting to assimilate what they just saw.

Now the water was calm and the vortex was gone. But Logan and Nathan had visual proof of what they experienced.

Logan walked back to his bike. Then he realized that Nathan was still looking across the creek.

"Nathan, Let's go."

Nathan did not respond.

"Nathan, Are you okay?" Logan paused, "What's wrong?"

Nathan shook his head from side to side and said, "Oh man! That could have been one of us!"

How To Avoid Accidental Plagiarism

2014-09-09T08:43:00.000-07:00

Originally published on Yahoo Voices with the title 'Are Free Plagiarism Checkers Worth Using?'

All the Internet publishing sites I've come across have a zero tolerance policy for plagiarism. That's what triggered my search for plagiarism detecting programs. This article focuses on free on line plagiarism checkers. It is also intended to make people aware of how easy it is to accidentally commit plagiarism without having any knowledge of having done so.

Why should a contributor be interested in the on line plagiarism checkers? Here are two examples that justify the search in my mind.

There is many old songs, prayers and poems named "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep." Some people may assume that these are in the public domain because they were written long ago. But a simple search on the Internet verifies that at least one version may be protected by copyright. That version exists in the New England Primer.

http://neprimer.com/

The same situation exists with any classic novel. Though the novel may have been public domain at one time, one might want to check a recently published edition of the novel to see if it is still in the public domain. I prefer the safe route and follow any quote with information about the book as well as the title and the author.

Many sites claim their on line checkers are free, but once you register with the site, you find out that they mean a free trial period. I considered the use a free online plagiarism checker to check my content before I submit it for publication.

The simplest free on line plagiarism checker is at

http://www.articlechecker.com/

It simply tells you whether plagiarism exists within your article. It uses two search engines Google and Yahoo.

The second free on line plagiarism checker I tried is

http://www.duplichecker.com/

This plagiarism checker gives the user a sentence by sentence analysis and reveals which sentences are exact duplicates of sentences in other articles or blogs. You can select one of three search engines: Google, Yahoo or MSN. You can also choose whether you want to test quotes or general text. If you choose classic check, you will find a detailed search for like phrases and sentences in other articles.

The third free on line plagiarism checker I tried was

http://www.dustball.com/cs/plagiarism.checker/

It analyses text segments and reports whether they are okay or not. Apparently, it does not check every sentence in your article.

In my opinion, duplichecker is the best of the three free plagiarism checkers. One important note. None of the free plagiarism checkers I've come across check for paraphrasing. The only hint you'll receive is a url that appears numnerous times in the results of the plagiarism checker.

I would recommend purchasing a plagiarism checker if they were not so expensive. The prices for using a plagiarism checker is $8 a month and up. I've seen shareware for as little as $50 but I wouldn't recomend shareware nor freeware because there is no gaurantee concerning the thoroughness of the search. Some of them only use one search engine. I don't think that is adequate.

If you can't afford a plagiarism checker service or you can't justify the cost based on your income from writing, then the free on line plagiarism checkers are better than nothing.

Most importantly, after you have written an article, review your resources to ensure that you did not accidentally commit plagiarism.

The Haunted

2014-09-07T17:37:00.000-07:00

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

The evening sun was shining nearly horizontally down the dirt road in Salsbury. Salsbury was a small town with a population of 25. Everyone knew each other. A slim leather faced man came riding into town and tied his horse to the post. He was hungry and broke. He looked up and down the deserted road. The folks of the town were in their homes eating their suppers. The slim man entered the store. He saw the bearded owner behind the counter reading a newspaper. No one else was in the store.

He took out a gun and pointed it at the owner. He directed the owner to put all the bills from the cash register into a paper bag. The owner dropped the newspaper to the floor and opened the cash register drawer. He did not glance at the gun sitting on a shelf below the counter top. He had bought the gun because he had been robbed too many times and wanted something to defend himself in a robbery. He slowly put the money in a paper bag and handed it to the leather faced man..

The leather faced man backed toward the door warning the owner not to do anything foolish. He was distracted by a horse-driven wagon passing by.

The owner knew this was his only chance. He reached down and quickly grabbed his gun, keeping it below the counter top. He fired one shot.

The robber suddenly grimaced in pain, fired a bullet and fell to the floor. The owner collapsed behind the cash register.

Fifty years later that road was paved with asphalt. The store was still standing and was operated by the owner's son, Fred, who was ten years old when the robbery took place. The town was rapidly growing. New homes were being built everyday. Fred had heard that a family was moving into a newly built home on Abbey Hill. He hadn't met them yet.

Abbey Hill was a half mile away. It wasn't a large hill. People were busy every day chopping down trees on that hill. The new home owner, Jim, had a job working for the Goldman construction company. His current work was just beyond his back yard. Jim's wife, Mary, was not fond of the new home. For some reason, she was uncomfortable staying there. Jim thought perhaps it was just being in a new place. But it was much more than that ...

In the evening Mary was in their bedroom. "Jim! Jim! Come here quick!"

Jim came up the cellar stairs and ran down the short hallway to their bedroom. He turned the door knob but the door wouldn't open. "Take the stuff away from the door!"

"I can't!"

Jim ran down the hallway and opened the back door. Then he ran around the corner of the house and peered in the bedroom window. Mary was pinned to the wall. All the furniture was piled up against the bedroom door.

"Stop fighting it." Jim yelled as he attempted to open the window. It wouldn't open.

Mary stopped struggling. After a few moments she found herself free to move around the room.

Jim tried to open the window again. It opened without a problem. After climbing in the window, he asked, "What happened?"

"That's what I'd like to know."

Suddenly they heard a lot of loud noises coming from the kitchen. Mary looked at the furniture.

"That will take too long." Said Jim, "Stay here."

Jim climbed out the window and ran to the kitchen window. He looked in to see all the appliances up side down. He didn't believe his eyes. He ran back to the bedroom window. "Come on out now."

Mary climbed out the window. "What are you planning?"

"I don't know. But one thing is for sure. We can't stay here." He looked at his wrist watch. "It's six o clock. Let's go."

Mary wanted to ask where but she figured he did not know where to go.

"What do you think happened?" Asked Mary.

"I think we have a ghost."

"From what I've read, ghosts can't move furniture" Mary commented, "Whatever it is, we have to get rid of it."

They were walking around the block.

"Or find out what it wants."

"How?"

"I'll tell you soon as I find out."

"You really know how to make a girl feel better." Mary paused, "Where are we going?"

"The library."

They walked five blocks to the library. As they entered, Mary asked, "What kind of book are we looking for?"

"Communicating with the dead."

She gave him a quizzical look. "Do you know what you are doing?"

"Absolutely not."

Mary stopped. "You search for a book. I'm going back home."

Jim looked at her.

"It's a two pronged approach. You do research. I try to communicate with the ghost." Said Mary.

"Let's do both together." said Jim.

They found information about contacting a clairvoyant or a psychic. They also found information about how to make contact with the dead.

"We need a history of the area." said Jim, "Let's see what I could dig up at the local bar." He handed Mary ten dollars and pointed to a diner a block away. "Go there and get something to eat. I'll be there in a half hour."

As usual on a Friday night, the bar was loaded with people. Jim started chatting with folks while drinking a beer. He didn't ask any questions. He just made comments about how peaceful and quiet the town was. He mentioned all the violence in the city he came from. That's when someone mentioned the robbery of the hardware store.

"You may not believe this, but other than a small fight here or there, this town has been pretty quiet since that robbery. I was ten years old when it happened. My dad was at the store." The man was drunk. "As I understand it, my dad shot the robber and the robber shot back as he was falling. My dad passed away. The robber -- folks didn't give a rat's ass about him. They buried him."

"Where?"

"Abbey hill. He didn't deserve any respectful wake or funeral after what he did. They just buried him. No gravestone. No nothing."

"Did anyone try to contact his family?"

"Like I care." The conversation continued for another twenty minutes. Jim learned that the town was new at the time and had no real law enforcers.

Jim was twenty minutes late arriving at the diner. He saw Mary at a table. Mary's dish was empty.

"What did you find out?" asked Mary after gulping down her soda.

"A lot. I'll explain it on the way home." Jim ordered a steak.

One hour later, they came out of the diner and started walking home, not being sure of what they would find.

After telling Mary about the conversation at the bar, Jim said, "But something isn't making sense."

The lock on the front door wouldn't work.

"It does make sense." said Mary, "It doesn't want us here."

They walked around the house searching for a way in. All the windows were boarded up with wood.

They went to the back door. The back door lock wouldn't work either.

"Get the ax out of the garage." Mary said.

Jim was able to get into the garage. He came out with the ax a few minutes later and started chopping down the back door. They entered the hallway and went to the kitchen. All the appliances were back in their respective places.

A light hovered in the corner beside the refrigerator. A bearded man in the light was barely visible. He signaled them to exit and disappeared.

Jim hesitated. Then they heard a rumbling in the cellar.

"We should leave." said Jim.

"Why?"

"Because I never told you how we should deal with a poltergeist."

"You mean that ghost isn't the only one here?"

"Right." They walked out the back door.

"How do you know?"

They stood in the backyard.

"The ghost told me." Jim said as he looked at their house.

"You mean the ghost is trying to protect us from the poltergeist?"

"Exactly."

"I think I'm beginning to understand. The poltergeist is what's left of the one who robbed the hardware store fifty years ago." Said Mary.

"And the ghost is the store owner. They are locked together because the robber never even got a proper burial. No one cared."

"Could we dig up the body and -- "

"We'd have to move the house."

"Oh shit!"

They entered the hallway through the back door and opened the first door on the right. They climbed down the cellar stairs and Jim collected several of pieces of wood, a board, a brush and some paint. First, he whitewashed the board. Then he used the black paint to write a name date of birth and date of death.

"How do you know that?" asked Mary.

"The ghost let me know." He paused, " It's getting cold in here. We'd better hurry."

"It talks to you?"

"Sort of. Not really talk. He just lets me know things."

A wind started blowing down the stairway. The wind became stronger and stronger until they couldn't stand without hanging on to the stair rail. The hail began. Jim and Mary felt the sharp cold stings as the ice hit their face and head. Jim was struggling to hold onto the board. wood and the stair rail. The cellar floor was getting icy. One of the water pipes cracked and water started dripping on the floor. Jim's foot slipped as he climbed onto the first stair. He scrapped his knee against the edge of the stair. He struggled up to the second stair, keeping his head low. He hung onto the rail with one hand and the board and wood with the other hand. His fingers and toes were aching.

Mary reached out and grabbed the hammer and nails. She fell down. She tried to get up, but she kept sliding and falling back down. She crawled to the stairway and raised herself up, holding on to the rail with one hand. She was breathing heavily.

They got half ways up the stairs when Jim slipped, tumbling backwards into Mary. The wood, board, nails and hammer fell to the cellar floor as Mary and Jim grabbed the rail with both hands. Her feet slipped out from under her and she slid down the rail to the first step with Jim following her.

"This isn't gonna work." said Jim.

"Don't we have a tarp down here?"

"A tarp?"

"Yeah. Remember? From when we use to go hiking."

"We threw it out long ago."

The ice was building up on the cellar floor.

"We can go out that way." Mary pointed to the cellar wall.

Jim looked and realized that Mary was becoming confused. He needed to find shelter. He scanned the cellar for anything that would give them some shelter from the biting wind.

"There!" He said, pointing the work bench. It was a heavy wooden work bench. Jim picked up the board and they slowly made their way toward the bench. Jim knocked all the stuff off of it and tipped it over. The he moved it so it was blocking the wind. They knelt behind the bench and waited. They hugged each other to stay warm. That's when Jim remembered the cellar windows. They were a small windows eight feet above the cellar floor. They couldn't escape through them, but the air outside was warmer and dryer than the air inside. Jim picked up a piece of wood and threw it hard toward the window. The window shattered. The wood fell to the ground. One by one, he smashed all the cellar windows.

It didn't help. His clothes were freezing. The pain in his toes and arms was subsiding. He was losing consciousness. He struggled to stay conscious but failed. Mary and Jim fell over and lay on the icy floor. Jim became conscious for a moment to see a bright light where the workbench use to be. The bearded man was smiling at him. Then the bearded man disappeared.

Jim remembered his playing with the other kids in his backyard. He remembered his first day in high school. That was the first time he saw the bearded man. Only for a moment. He didn't know who it was until today. He was becoming very confused.

Suddenly two warm loving arms brought Jim back to the present. He looked down at the hands and saw a puncture wound in each palm. The hail stopped. The wind stopped. The warm loving hands lifted him and Mary up the stairs and out into the back yard. The ground was dry and warm. The paint, wood, brush and board were on the lawn alongside a hammer and some nails. Jim repainted the sign, nailed a piece of wood to it and hammered it into the ground.

Mary woke up and read the sign aloud. "Richard Koenig. Born 1820. Died 1875." She kissed Joe.

Then they went inside the house. Everything was calm.

For some reason Mary and Jim were no longer troubled. The sign became a town curiosity, but no one took it down. Only three people in the town understood the meaning of the sign: Jim, Mary and the ghost of a bearded man.

Witchcraft In Salem

2014-09-07T01:59:00.000-07:00

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

In the year 1692, the witchcraft trials of Salem erupted. At that time, it was not known as Salem, Massachusetts. It was Salem village now known as Danveres, Massachusets. It was said that several young girls were accused in person to have met and celebrated the witches sabath, which is a covenant with Satan. That covenant stated they signed 'the devil's book' in blood. The devil's part of the bargain was to take their souls and bodies in return he would make anyone they considered their enemies suffer. And they themselves would lack no good thing in this world.

Remember that Abagail Williams, who was only a child of eleven, was one of the accused as well as several other girls. These children accused neighbors and their wives of attending the witches sabath. Whole families joined the panic by testifying against each other and others in the village. During the trials, the girls were known to have convulsions. Whether these convulsions were real or pretended, we do not know. Those in authority considered this proof that they had made their pact with the evil one and were condemened to death.

Children as young as 9 years old were convicted of withcraft. The witch trials were so common that no one was safe: Even those known to be pillars of the Church and in good standing with their communities.

Were these unfortunate people witches? Doubtful. It is now known that Salem and similar villages in the area made thier bread of rye. This in itself is not problem, but the swampy ground and moist environment often breeds a type of bacteria that is known to cause convulsions and delusions. These loaves of bread would be baked and sometimes held in non-refrigerated cabinets for weeks, allowing the bacteria to grow. It is more likely that these youngsters were less under an evil spell than a unknown bacterial infection. At least that covers the convulsions and delusions.

The Reverend Cotton Mether presided over many of the trials and was a proponent of the witchcraft devil connection. He published several books: One of them being 'Wonders of the Invisible World' in which he mentioned the devil's he percieved walking about the streets.

The witchcraft frenzy was sadly endorsed by the Reverend Mather and others of his ilk. This endorsement kept the panic going. Even well known and reputable merchants were not above suspicion. Many left the country, if they could do so, to escape accusations. It is known that one merchant, Philip English, and his wife were charged with witchcraft, arrested, and thrown into a Boston jail. They somehow escaped from the Boston jail and ended up in New York city.

Left To Die

2014-09-07T01:52:00.000-07:00

Originally titled 'The Hole' and published on Yahoo Voices

The blazing sun tortured the partially dehydrated man laying in the sand. A trail of blood drops revealed the path Jim had crawled. Jim grimaced and placed his hand on his side. Under his hand, his shirt was soaked with blood. He was breathing heavily and used his other hand to wipe the sand off his sunburned face. There was nothing but sand for as far as he could see. No water. No shade. No sign of civilization. 50 yards behind him was the convertible he could no longer drive. The driver's door had several bullet holes in it. The car could provide no shade for him. The sand was almost unbearably hot.

The people who took revenge for a crime Jim did not commit had disappeared 24 hours ago. They left him without water and without food. They left him to die, but he was determined to live. He remembered exactly how it happened...

Three days ago, he was at his girl friend's house to gather his belongings. Their relationship had ended with loud arguments, punched holes in walls and warnings from her brothers to stay away from her. He knocked on the front door. Judy did not respond. He did not have a key. He walked around the house tapping on every window and calling for her. He figured that she was not answering the door because she was angry at him. He stood outside the bedroom window for a few moments before walking back to his car. Perhaps it would be better if he came back another day. A neighbor peered out her window as he drove away. She went to the phone and called the police.

Inside the second floor bedroom, Judy's beaten body laid on the floor. The room had been ransacked and the box of expensive jewelry was missing. The closet had been ransacked and the clothes Jim wanted to retrieve were missing.

He had known her brothers to be hot tempered. He had been in more than one scuffle with them. So he chose a time when they were not there to get his stuff. It normally to an hour to drive across the small desert to her house.

After Jim had left, the police and her brother's appeared at ther house. Her brothers also knew that Jim drove the same road across the desert to go to work. They waited for him,chased him and shot him.

The sand blowing in his face interrupted his memories. The hot breeze was welcome. Ten yards ahead of him, something was in the sand. He could not see it but he could hear it. The sound of a piano. Jim thought he was hearing things. He pulled his body forward to the spot where the sound orignated. There he found a hole big enough to lay in. The wind was increasing and the blowing sand was stinging his face. He crawled into the hole and laid there. He fell asleep and woke up an hour later.

He sat up and looked around. He was feeling good. He remembered his wound and wondered why it did not hurt. He put his hand on his side. His shirt was dry. No blood. The air was cool and the breeze was refreshing. He was not thirsty. He was not hungry. He crawled out of the hole and immediately felt excruciating pain in his side. He felt his side and looked at the blood dripping off his hand. He crawled back into the hole and looked at his hand and shirt. The blood had disappeared and the pain was gone. He laid there and drifted into unconciousness.

Jim looked down at a truck that came down the road and stopped by Jim's car. The man in the truck saw the body in the sand and used his cell phone to call the police. Everything was okay. Jim was feeling wonderful as he watched the ambulance come and carry his body away.

One Out Of Many

2014-09-07T01:38:00.000-07:00

This post was originally published on Yahoo Voices

ONE OUT OF MANY

Normally Henry resented beggars. He disliked having to walk by loitering beggars near a grocery store entrance. They were begging for money. But he’d always be in a charitable mood and toss a beggars a few quarters. He would not respond to the ‘thank you.’ One time he almost got into a fist fight when a beggar cursed him for not giving enough.

But this one afternoon was different. Henry was returning home from work. He was hot and sweaty. His pants and shoes were streaked with outdoor porch paint. His jacket bore the name of the company he owned. His long grey hair swayed in the cool breeze. He was wearing a baseball cap to hold his hair in place.

He stopped at a corner in the busy area waiting for a chance to cross the busy street. He spotted two people sitting on the ground enjoying the shade provided by the building: A scrawny middle age man and a skinny small boy. The first thought that entered his mind was ‘more beggars.’

The small boy was quietly playing with his toy soldiers. The middle age man was looking straight ahead. As Henry crossed the street, he observed more details. The middle age man’s clothes were thread bare. The shoes of both the man and the boy were thoroughly worn out. On each side of the pair were small cloth bags: the kind you would purchase to hold your laundry. As he walked closer to them, they paid no attention to him. But when he reached them, he caught the innocent longing look from the young boy: An innocent plea for help.

He stopped and looked directly at the boy. “Hi,” he said.

The boy responded meekly with the word “Hi.”

The scrawny man looked up at Henry and asked, “Could you give my boy some money for food? He has not had a bite to eat today.”

The boy’s pleading eyes made Henry look away for a moment. Should he ask questions, walk away or give the boy money? He reached in his pockets searching for his cell phone. ‘Dang it,’ he thought, ‘I left it at work.’ There was a drug store a few doors away. ‘They have a phone.’

He pulled a dollar out of his pocket and held it out for the scrawny man to grab.

“Not me,” the scrawny man said, “Give it to Jimmy.” He moved his head in the direction of the small boy.

After the small boy took the money, the scrawny man said, ”Jimmy.”

Jimmy looked up and said, “Thank you.”

Henry did not respond. He walked to the drug store and found the public phone booth inside. That boy needs a good home where he can be nourished properly. He phoned the police.

When he came out of the drug store, he looked back where the scrawny man and the boy had been sitting. They were gone. Henry ran to the corner and looked in all four directions. How could they disappear so fast?

The scrawny man and the boy had darted through store and exited on another street. They walked quickly down the street and got into a car. The scrawny man turned to the boy who handed over the hundred dollars they had collected that day. Then he drove the boy home and knocked on the boy’s door. The boy’s parents handed the scrawny man his rent. He gave them back $15 and thanked them for the use of their boy. Then he got back in the car and drove 20 miles. He turned into a driveway beside a raised ranch on two acres of land.

After he entered the living room, he made a phone call and arranged for another boy to be with him the next day. He would train the boy, teaching him the longing look while having the boy stand in front of a mirror.

Political comment:

This one beggar spoils it for the many who truly need help.

The Loot

2014-09-03T00:33:00.000-07:00

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

His body had been trapped underground in a wooden box for years. The wooden box was sealed air tight and was protected from the soil by a thick coat of varnish. Noises were emanating from within the box. But the noises could not be heard from the dirt surface above.

Several miles away, two robbers had broken out of prison. They had spent a year digging a tunnel from their cell to an area just beyond the barb wire fence. The area was beyond a small hill where the lights of the prison would not shine on them A friend, Mr. Stevens, had parked the car on a side road near the prison. They got into the car and drove off.

Two years before, these two robbers had robbed a jewelry store. Unfortunately in the robbery, during their brief struggle with the store owner and his helper, the helper had been killed and the robber's masks had been ripped off their faces. So they had taken the store owner with them to the burial site and had buried him with the jewelry in the wooden box. They had buried the store owner alive. Now, they wanted to collect the stolen jewels in the buried wooden box.

A quarter mile away from the burial site, two boys, Bill and Frank, were throwing a baseball back and forth in their small back yard.

Bill noted something in the remains of a bird nest on a ground just beyond the yard. At first he ignored it and continued playing. But later, he picked up the old yellowed sheet of paper.

"What did you find?" asked Frank while using his hands to shade his eyes from the rising sun.

Bill carefully opened the yellow piece of paper. "It looks like a map of some sort."

Frank approached Bill and looked at the map. "That road right there." He used his forefinger to point out the road. "Isn't that Farm Hill Rd?"

"Not sure." Said Bill. The writing was faded. "Can't read it."

"Remember where we use to play cowboys and Indians? I think it was at that corner." He pointed to the intersection shown on the map. "And that other road must be Park St."

The boys use to live on Park St across from the wooded area. Recently their family had moved to White St where they lived now.

"That's right!" Said Bill. For the first time that morning, the boys were getting excited. "I'll bet the X is a buried treasure!"

"What makes you think that?"

"Mr. Stevens mentioned something about it to dad. But dad knew Mr. Stevens to tell tall tales. Especially when he was drunk." said Bill, "And Mr. Stevens was so drunk that day, he collapsed on his own front lawn. Dad had to carry him onto his porch."

Mr. Stevens was their neighbor when they lived on Park St.

"What kind of treasure?"

Bill shrugged his shoulders. "Beats me!"

"Let's go find it!"

"Are you kidding?"

"No. We have the whole day and nothing else to do."

They went into the old garage and grabbed a shovel and a hoe. They ventured out into the woods to find the spot where the treasure was buried.

They reached the area marked on the map and started breaking up the ground with the hoe.

Meanwhile the robbers parked at a diner a quarter of a mile away. They ordered scrambled eggs and coffee. Then they went to a hardware store. They noted that the store had no customers.

The clerk was in the isle with his back to them. Without looking at them, the clerk said, "Be with you in a moment."

They grabbed a hammer and hit the clerk over the head. The clerk fell to the ground unconscious. They opened the cash register and took all the money. Then they grabbed a shovel and hoe.

Back at the spot marked on the map, Bill and Frank were digging. They heard a noise.

"What was that?" asked Frank.

Bill shrugged his shoulders and continued breaking up the ground. Frank used the shovel to remove the loose dirt. After digging a deep hole, they uncovered a small portion of the surface of a wooden box.

"We found it!" Said Frank.

They raced to uncover the rest of the box.

"Have to widen the hole." Said Frank.

Bill used the hoe to break open the box. Then they removed the loose pieces of wood.

They stared at the gold jewelry inside the box.

"Forget it!" Said Bill, "It's all girl's stuff!"

"Maybe not." said Frank as he began sifting through the jewelry. "Rings, chains, crosses... Ah! Here's a watch!" Frank pulled out a wind-up pocket watch.

"Let's go." Said Bill. "This thing gives me the creeps."

Frank looked surprised.

"Didn't you hear that?" Asked Bill.

'I heard something. Probably other kids in the area." Frank placed the watch in his coat pocket.

Bill climbed out of the hole.

Frank handed Bill the shovel and hoe. "Give me a few minutes."

"Okay."

Frank looked down at the jewelry. He was about to stick his hand in it when suddenly a bunch of it moved.

"Get out of there now!" Yelled Bill as he raised the shovel by the handle.

Frank stared at the jewelry as it began shifting position. He turned and started to climb out of the hole when he felt something grab his leg. He looked down and panicked. He clutched the ground with his hands. "Help me!"

Bill was staring at the half decayed hand gripping Franks leg.

Frank was kicking the hand with his other foot. "Don't just stand there. Help!" yelled Frank as he was slowly pulled into the hole.

Bill lifted the shovel over his head.

A second decayed hand reached out of the box.

"Noooo! Let go of me!"

The robbers parked their car at the corner. They took out their shovel and hoe and started heading for the treasure.

They heard Bill yell, "Let go of me!"

"What was that?" Asked one robber.

"Sounds like it came from there." The other robber pointed into the woods. They heard another yell. They took out their revolvers and raced into the woods. Then they stopped about 50 yards from the hole. They released the safety pins and slowly approached the site. They hide behind some bushes and peered at the hole.

"Someone got here before us." whispered one robber.

They stayed still for a few moments. There was no sound from the hole. No movement either.

The robbers slowly came out from behind the bushes and approached the hole.

The two boys were on their hands and knees in the hole. Their faces were pale as they looked up at the two robbers.

The robbers laughed as they pointed their revolvers at the boys.

"Who were you boys yelling at?"

Suddenly, the decayed man came up behind the robbers and grabbed them by their throats. He swung the robbers around as they fired two shots from their revolvers. "Get out of the hole." He told the boys. "Throw the watch back into the box."

The boys climbed out of the hole and threw the watch back in.

"Now get out of here!" said the decayed man.

The boys picked up their shovel and hoe. They walked a short distance and then looked back.

The two robbers were struggling to free themselves from the decayed man who had a grip on robbers' throat. They kicked his legs and managed to aim their revolvers at the decayed man. They fired two shots.

"You can't hurt me. I'm already dead!" The decayed man chuckled as the robbers repeatedly kicked his legs. "I guess you don't remember me. You buried me alive in that box a year ago. And now you've come back for the jewelry you stole from me. I tell you what. Let's enjoy the jewelry together." The decayed man jumped into the hole without letting go of the two struggling robbers. "Together forever!"

The huge piles of dirt around the hole caved into the hole as the robbers screamed. Within seconds, the screaming stopped. The dirt became hard packed like no one had touched it.

The boys stared in horror. Finally Frank spoke. "We'd better get the shovel and hoe back before Dad finds then missing!"

"We're going to have a hard time explaining this if he finds us."

"We can't let him find us! If we did up that box again, that dead man -- or whatever he is -- will kill us!"

The boys raced through the woods toward their home.

Back at the boy's home, their mother, Mary, turned off the stove burner. She looked at her husband, Jim.

Jim was putting on his jacket.

"The boys should have been home by now." Said Mary.

"I'm going to look for them."

Jim kissed her and went to the front door. "I have my cell phone. I'll call when I find them."

"Shouldn't we phone the police?"

"Not yet. I know the two areas they hang out."

Jim opened the door to find his two boys standing there. There clothes, face and hands were dirty.

"What have you boys been doing?"

"Treasure hunting!" said Frank

"What?"

"You know -- like in Treasure Island."

"Okay. Up to the shower! Both of you."

The boys went upstairs. Jim saw a crumpled piece of yellow paper on the stairs. He picked it up and opened it. " He smiled to himself, crumpled the map and threw it in the garbage. "Treasure hunting. Right!"

How I Cope With Anxieties and Depression

2014-08-31T13:04:00.000-07:00

Many people suffer from anxieties and depression. My anxieties started when I was a young adult. The general symptoms of anxieties are worries and fears that magnify problems and events out of perspective.

My periods of depression started when I was in my fifties. My depression symptoms were uncontrollable long term feelings of hopelessness, despair and confusion. I use the word uncontrollable because everyone suffers from temporary feelings of hopelessness, despair and confusion but most people recover from those feelings. I don't know what triggered my depression or if anything triggered it. Both my anxieties and depression slowly got worse over the years.

As I aged, I also became more angry and frustrated. I would use vulgar language often when things were not working out. I would sometimes smash some inanimate object.

My anxieties and depression were affecting my performance at work. My supervisor recommended that I seek help. I knew he was right. During my annual physical, I asked my doctor to prescribe medication for my anxieties and depression. He prescribed ten milligrams of an antidepressant .

The antidepressant alleviated the vast majority of my anxieties and helped with my depression. The side effects of the antidepressant were sweating and lack of alertness. The sweating I didn't mind. But I did mind the fact that I wasn't as alert as I use to be. I still became frustrated and angry at times. I still used vulgar language a lot. But I didn't feel like I want to smash some inanimate object.

I eventually discovered that part of my problem was my allergies. I suffered from allergies all year long. When my allergies were acting up, I was even less alert. My allergies also affected my memory. I would repeat things I wanted to remember over and over again but could not retain the information. I asked the doctor for something to relieve my allergies and he recommended a mild antihistamine. Regular allergy medications resulted in nose bleeds. I started taking the mild antihistamine every day without nose bleeds.

While taking 10 mg of antidepressant plus the antihistamine, I was very tired. I would sleep ten or twelve hours a day. I wanted to be more productive. I decided to lower my intake of antidepressant to 5 milligrams a day in an effort to become more alert. It worked. I am more alert and productive than I've been in a decade. I only need eight hours of sleep a day. And my anxieties are still manageable.

Anxieties and depression can affect one's daily performance and even result in poor performance reviews at work. Depression is often accompanied by anger which also must be managed. I reduced my dosages of medication to a level wherein I could be alert and control my anger and my anxieties.

I am not stating that anyone should reduce his or her prescribed medication. I urge anyone who is thinking about reducing any prescribed medication to consult with his or her doctor and follow the doctor's recommendations.

A Daily Devotion For A Needy World

2014-08-31T12:47:00.000-07:00

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

---

For those who functionality is hindered by daily confusion, I pray that the Lord remove their confusion so they see clearly what life has to offer.

For those who are emotionally disturbed, I pray that the Lord give them relief so they might know love as it truly is.

For those who have problems focusing on their tasks, I pray that the Lord help them focus so their tasks they might complete.

For those who were abused during their childhood, I pray that the Lord give them the truth of his mercy and guide them through life.

For those who abuse others, I pray that the Lord teach them the gentleness of His own hand.

For those who suffer from delusions, I pray that the Lord help them learn the goodness of reality.

For those who suffer from mental illness, I pray that the Lord clear their minds and their hearts.

For those who live in fear, I pray that the Lord whisper the words, "No need to fear for I am by your side."

For those who suffer from bipolar disorder, I pray that the Lord give them the balance of His peace.

For those who do not believe in the Lord, I pray that the Lord reveal Himself to them.

For those whose activities are filled with iniquities, I pray that the Lord guide them back to His grace.

For those who do evil, I pray that the Lord open their hearts to the grace of His goodness.

For those who believe in other gods, I pray that the Lord grant them the knowledge of His glorious Existence.

For those who do not know the Lord, I pray that the Lord open their eyes so they might become accustomed to his light.

For those who suffer from cancer, I pray that the Lord grant them healing to cure body and soul.

For those who suffer from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, I pray that the Lord mend their broken lives and perceptions.

For those who mourn the loss of a loved one, I pray that the Lord give them His comfort and grant them the knowledge that their loved one, in His presence, lives on.

For the world that suffers in hurt, violence and hate; I pray to the Lord that they might know the enormity of His love.

For those who don't understand the plight of the needy, I pray that the Lord soften their hearts, open their minds and give them His compassion for all.

Tribute to our Fallen Soldiers

2014-08-30T22:20:00.001-07:00

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

Names etched in stone

Those who did not come home

to enjoy tomorrow

Their families in sorrow

No greater a sacrifice

then to give up one's life

for our country, for you and for me

The people they fight for

Risk their lives day and night for

Some give up a life for

and demonstrate our might for

the world to see and victory

and for our privilege to be

those who are free.

They gave proof of the cost

via the lives that were lost

for us to see

that the liberty gained

was not for free

May God bless them all

and grant them eternal life

Bless each surviving brother and sister,

husband and wife

Let them stand tall

in our memories

and let us never forget

the battles they won

and the families they left

Comfort them now and

for the rest of their years

Movie Review: Alice in Wonderland

2014-08-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

Walt Disney originally released Alice In Wonderland in 1951 was an introduction to Charles "Lewis Carroll" Dodgson's tale. Tim Burton's "Alice In Wonderland" can be considered part 2 of the 1951 film.

This tale of Alice's adventures in Wonderland is based loosely on Lewis Carroll' classic. Mia Wasicowska won three awards for her performance as Alice and was nominated for four other awards. Johnny Depp was nominated for four awards for his performance as the Mad Hatter.

The story was derived from Alice In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass. For those who are not familiar with these two classics, here is an excellent source of summaries and analysis of these two classics.

http://www.literature.org/authors/carroll-lewis/alices-adventures-in-wonderland/index.html

The plot of the movie is derived from the Jabberwocky poem and the Oraculum. The Jabberwocky poem tells of a young boy who slays the Jabberwocky. The jabberwocky is a huge terrifying creature that breaths fire and obeys the Red Queen.

The Oraculum is a compendium of Wonderland containing all events that happened and will happen up to and including Fabjous Day. Fabjous Day is suppose to be the fabulous, joyful day the Red Queen is removed from power.

The Red Queen gained power during Griblig Day. Griblig day is a day of grumbling and discontent. It is the day the Red Queen gained power and kicked out her sister, the White Queen. The Red Queen terrorized the people with the Jabberwocky.

The Red Queen also terrorized the people with the Jubjub bird and the Bandersnatch. The Jubjub bird is another dangerous creature that the Queen uses to terrorize the people.

The Frumious Bandersnatch is a fuming, furious creature that guards the only sword that can kill the Jabberwocky. The sword is called the vorpal sword and is a sharp, deadly sword. But the only person who could successfully kill the Jabberwocky with the vorpal sword is the boy in the sketch in the Oraculum.

The Red Queen's Knave is the Knave of Hearts. He is a deceitful, dishonest person who obeys the Queen's orders. The Red Queen is the Queen of Hearts. She beheads people for the smallest reasons like stealing her tarts. She is a terrible nasty Queen with a childish attitude. Death of her people means nothing to her. The threat of death and the terror of the Jabberwocky is her key to power. The people will live in terror and fear until the Red Queen is removed from power. The Red Queen's soldiers are red playing cards.

Alice is 19 years old. She had dreams about Wonderland when she was a little girl. But on this day, the day of her engagement, she is not happy. Her parents chose her mate for her. This is the day of her engagement. However, she does not care for the man chosen for her. And when that man asks her if she will marry him, she tells him that is what everyone expects her to do.

During this engagement party, she sees the White Rabbit with a watch in his hand. The White Rabbit leads her to a hole by a tree. A hole Alice accidentally falls into. It is the porthole to Wonderland. The people of Wonderland are in trouble and need urgent help from the boy who will slay the Jabberwocky on Fabjous Day. But is Alice that person slaying the Jabberwocky in the Oraculum? Alice thinks not.

Alice is befriended by two short boys named Tweedledee and Tweedledum. She meets the caterpillar named Obsolem. Absolem is the absolute authority on the Oraculum and becomes one of Alice's mentors. She meets the Chesire Cat. The Chesire Cat can smile and can vanish. The Chesire cat helps Alice realize her fate.

Alice is also befriended by the Mad Hatter. The Mad Hatter use to be the Hatter for the White Queen who was defeated by her sister, the Red Queen on Griblig Day. The White Queen's soldiers are chess men. The Mad Hatter and his two friends, the March Hare and the Dormouse have tea every day. The Mad Hatter is certain that Alice is the little boy who slays the Jabberwocky on Fabjous Day. Alice disagrees.

During this experience in Wonderland, Alice learns to live up to her responsibilities and she becomes a woman in her own right. She returns to the real world to settle the issue of her engagement.

This movie was very entertaining. It had a lot of action and will hold the interest of children. The climax was very satisfying. An opening for a third movie about Alice in Wonderland occurs when Alice tells the Mad Hatter that she will be back.

Movie Review: The Karate Kid 2010

2014-08-30T21:55:00.000-07:00

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

'The Karate Kid' 2010 staring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan is a remake of the 1984 classic movie 'The Karate Kid' staring Ralph Macchio and Pat Marita.

This movie is very entertaining and worth watching even if you saw the original. It follows the general plot of the original, but is not an exact duplicate.

The movie starts with a boy name Dre and his mom moving to China. At first Dre experiences the usual relocation problems; missing his old school buddies and entering a new school and a new home. However, Dre soon finds a new friend. Her name is Mei Ling and she likes him. While talking to her, they are approached by a boy named Cheng who wants Mei Ling to stay away from Dre. A fight breaks out between Dre and Cheng. This fight provides the viewer with the nature of both Dre and Cheng. Dre fights like an 11 year old with no Kung Fu training. Cheng is a brutal fighter and a Kung Fu tournament champion. He throws Dre to the ground, wherein Dre lands on his back, at least several times. Each time Dre gets back up and the fight continues. Dre won't give up until he cannot get up. This fight sets the stage for the rest of the film.

Cheng's Kung Fu coach is Master Li. Master Li teaches his students to attack their opponent when their opponent is down. He instructs them to have no mercy.

Dre has no King Fu teacher and no place to turn. He refuses to confide in his mother. He does visit a Kung Fu training center only to find Cheng there. After that, Dre's desperation plays a part in a verbal argument with his mother. Dre needs to learn Kung Fu to protect himself from Cheng who has been bullying him ever since that first fight. But Dre has no one to turn to for help. Or at least, that's what he thinks. He knows the maintenance man, but does not know that the maintenance man, Mr Han, has been watching him.

The acts of Cheng and his friends are nearly maniacal. A fight scene later in the movie reveals how maniacal. Dre is down on the ground in great pain and unable to get up. Yet Cheng moves toward Dre to hit him again after reminding one companion that Master Li said 'No mercy!'

Mr Han is a non-violent person who learned Kung Fu from his father. With Mr Han's help, Dre learns Kung Fu. The story's climax is the King Fu tournament. It is a better climax than the climax in the original movie.

I found the movie very entertaining. It almost becomes the classic story of good against evil. It is a story of a young boy who doesn't quit; a young boy with the courage and determination to pick himself up and try again no matter how many harsh blows life deals him. It is the story of the courage, tenacity and strength one needs to be a success in what often is a heartless, cold world. And that is why I think this movie is well worth watching.

Book Review: The Yahoo Style Guide

2014-08-30T21:45:00.000-07:00

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

I have been searching for a book on internet publishing for a long time. Every time I came across one at a book store, I would sit and read portions of the book. But I haven't found any I wanted to purchase until recently.

As soon as I saw the advertisement for the Yahoo Style Guide I knew I wanted it. I reserved the book at a local book store and used two gift cards to reduce the price down to $4.00. That's a bargain for this particular soft cover book.

When I got home, I immediately start reading it and applying what I learned to my website. I am very pleased with the information in the Yahoo Style Guide. It is a comprehensive guide covering every aspect of Internet publishing in great detail.

Among the areas of Internet publishing the book covers is increasing the views of your web site. It gives many details including easy navigation through the web site, sentence structure, words and phrases to avoid, punctuation, user interface text, style, common pitfalls, selecting the right keywords, SEO, etc.

And the book doesn't gloss over any topic it covers. It goes into great detail at every level of Internet publishing and gives examples to illustrate each point. The examples are clearly laid out. The book points out bad practices in Internet writing and gives detailed examples on how to correct the bad practices. It lists phrases and words to used in place of those phrases which should not be used.

If you want a book that is well organized, well written and easy to understand then this book should be on your 'must buy' list. It will help the reader figure out why his or her articles are not getting many views. It will also help the reader figure out why his or her website is getting few views. This book shows you how to write for a global audience.

And the only requirement to improve your Internet publishing abilities is to sit down and read the book and apply what you learn. That's right. I said read, not study. Read, learn and apply. Good luck!

Our Christmas Story

2014-08-30T09:16:00.001-07:00

I remember when I was a child. I was so excited on each Christmas Eve that I rarely finished my meal. That was the only day of the year when my mom and dad didn't insist on my finishing my meal. All I could think about was the Christmas presents sitting under the Christmas tree. No, Santa Claus had not come yet. But my mom and dad always had some gifts for us to open on Christmas Eve. Those were the gifts from mom and dad. Our gifts (my brothers and I) from Santa Claus would arrive sometime during the night.

As I grew older, I became more and more aware of family problems that sometimes could not be set aside on any day, not even Christmas. My dad had suffered a nervous and mental breakdown at the end of his duties in the US Army during the Second World War the problems due to his experiences during the war and his breakdown were almost always present. He did his best for all of us and did exceptionally well bringing in an income when I consider how difficult it was for him to work and how easy it would have been for him to sit back and collect disability.

When my wife was a child, she always had a joyful Christmas. Her mom and dad would not talk about problems during Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. About a week before Christmas, her dad and mom would take her to a local Christmas Tree Farm to pick the perfect Christmas tree for cutting. They would tie the tree to the top of the car. Joyce was so excited she could hardly hold it in. She would assist her dad cutting the trunk of the tree to the right size to fit in the family tree stand. Then the family would settle down and decorate the tree. The family tree was not just a decoration for a few days. In fact, the tree became almost a family pet that was watered and fussed over; sometimes for over a month and mourned when taken down.

So the Christmas season difficulties that arose when we got first were married were almost unavoidable. Joyce was extremely enthusiastic about Christmas. She truly enjoyed decorating, wrapping gifts and Christmas shopping. Christmas was often not a happy occasion for me. I was far less enthusiastic then Joyce. This Joyce could not understand not knowing my background. We got through Christmas, but I had disappointed Joyce. My lack of enthusiasm was a downer for her.

Joyce would put a Christmas reed on the front door. She would set up a Dickens Christmas village on a table in the dinette. She would set up the Christmas tree and the Nativity scene on a folding table in the living room and have various Christmas decorations on the walls. I had never seen this during my younger years and thought it was a bit overdone. It wasn't. At least, it wasn't for Joyce.

I remember the year we had seen Jurassic Park. I had bought a toy T-Rex. It was just the right height for the Dickens Christmas village. So, while she was not looking, I placed it in the Christmas village. We also had a toy hippopotamus. I placed that in the line waiting to see the baby Jesus in the nativity scene. The expression on Joyce's face when she saw them made the whole joke worth it. When she protested, I said, "Well, they're God's creatures too!"

Creature In The Attic

2014-08-30T01:09:00.000-07:00

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

Tommy and Jimmy were sound asleep. It was 2:00 AM. A thumping sound began in the attic. Tommy woke up, listened for a moment and then woke up Jimmy. The two boys sat up in their bed listening to the thumping.

"What's that?" asked Tommy.

"I don't know." Said Jimmy, "I never heard it before."

"Neither have I. Do you think we have an animal up there?"

"I don't think so. How would an animal get in?"

"Maybe Jerry is hiding one up there?"

"If mom finds it, she'll be angry."

"Let's go up and take a look."

"Okay. I'll get the flashlight." Jimmy left the room and returned a few minutes later with a flashlight in his hand.

Then the two boys headed for the attic door. The opened the door. It was very dark. Jimmy turned on the flashlight. Slowly they climbed the stairs. The thumping sound stopped. Once they were in the attic, Jimmy scanned area with a flashlight.

"You think we got a ghost?" Tommy asked.

"Maybe." Jimmy answered in a trembling voice

"We could talk to it if we had one of those boards."

"No way."

"Why not?"

"Mommy said we should never use one of those boards because it is a sin."

"What's a sin?"

"A sin is when you make God angry."

"Honest?"

"Yeah."

"So what should we do?"

"Maybe we should ask Mom."

They went down the stairs and knocked on mom's bedroom door. Their mom, Mary, opened the door.

"What's the matter?" asked mom.

"I'm hearing sounds in my room." said Tommy.

"Maybe you were just dreaming?" Asked mom.

"No I wasn't. Jimmy heard it too."

Mom looked at Jimmy. "Okay, boys. Let's go to your room."

They went to the boy's bedroom and the boys jumped into bed.

"There's no sound now." She said. "Now I want both of you to go to sleep." She kissed each boy. "It's probably just an animal."

After mom left, their older brother, Jerry, came into the room. "Hey guys. What's happening?"

"We're hearing noises in the attic." said Tommy.

"You are?" asked Jerry.

"Yeah." Said Jimmy, "Maybe a ghost."

"Ya think we got a ghost? Why would a ghost be up stairs?"

Both boys shrugged their shoulders.

Mom suddenly appeared behind Jerry. "Everyone to bed. No more talk."

The thumping started again. Mom frowned, grabbed the flashlight and approached the attic door. She opened it and slowly went up the stairs.

Tommy, Jimmy and Jerry approached the attic door. The thumping was getting louder and louder. The floor vibrated with each thump. Suddenly a loud scream. They heard someone scrambling down the stairs.

Mom came out, slammed the door behind her and leaned against it. "Jerry, get some wood, nails and hammer from the garage." Her face was pale. Her hands were trembling.

"What happened?" asked Jerry.

"No time for questions. Go!"

Jerry ran. A few moments later he came back with the wood, hammer and nails. Something started banging on the door as mom nailed the door shut.

"Okay." She said, "Everyone outside."

The boys went down the stairway to the first floor. Suddenly the wall near the attic door shattered as a large claw came through and grabbed mom's arm. She screamed and hit it repeatedly with a hammer until it let go. Then she scrambled down the stairs tripping on the last step.

"Are you okay?" asked Jerry.

"Yes. Go! Go!"

The claw and a hairy arm was tearing apart the wall near the attic door.

Mom and the kids raced for the front door. She tried to open it. "It won't open." She then tried to open a window.

Something was coming down the stairs. Jerry grabbed a chair from the kitchen. "Get out of the way." He flung the chair smashing the window.

"Okay. Jimmy and Tommy first." said mom.

Jimmy and Tommy climbed out the window followed by Jerry. The mom climbed out with the flashlight. They ran as a claw reached out the broken window. When they reached the corner, they stopped and looked back. Nothing was following them.

"What was that?" asked Jerry.

"I'll tell you this much." said mom, "That's no ghost!"

She hugged Jimmy and Tommy and then hugged Jerry. "We need to decide what to do." She paused, "There's the diner ...." Her voice faded. The kids wouldn't sleep well tonight anyway. "Let's go."

They walked to the diner, entered and sat at a table.

After ordering food, mom asked to see the manager. Her brother, Fred, came walking out of the kitchen. "Hi Mary. How are you?'

"Not so good." said mom, "Fred, we need your help."

"I'll help if I can. What's the problem."

"You have some time?"

"Yeah."

"Sit down."

Fred pulled up a chair and sat at the table.

Mary told him what happened.

"Do you know where this creature came from?"

"I have no idea." said mom.

"Can you describe the claw?"

"All I was interested in was getting the boys to safety. I wasn't about to stop and take a good look at a claw coming out of the wall!"

"Hmmmmm." Fred scratched his chin, "How large was the claw?"

"About the size of a twelve inch pizza would be my best guess."

Fred was silent for a few minutes. "When have you been in that house now? A week maybe?"

"More or less."

"Could you describe what you found when you moved in?"

"What we found?"

"Yeah. I'm interested in the attic."

"Nothing." said mom,"Nothing unusual"

"Mom." Interrupted Jimmy.

"Hold on, honey. This is important."

"Mom, the cross."

'Jimmy, I said to -- "

"Let him speak." said Fred. "What cross?"

"Oh it's really nothing." said mom, " Seems the last owner left a crucifix up in the attic. But let's get back to that creature or whatever it is."

"That's exactly what we're doing." said Fred. "Where was the crucifix?"

"It was on top of a wooden box." said Jimmy.

"A wooden box?" asked Fred

"Yeah." Said Jerry, "I think the box was nailed to the floor."

"And one more thing." said Tommy, "There was this white stuff all over the floor."

"What stuff?" asked Fred.

"I don't know." said Tommy.

"What did it look like?" Asked Fred.

"Ummmmmm" Tommy was thinking.

"Salt," said Jerry, "Mom asked us to clean the attic. So we swept up the salt."

"Did you remove the crucifix from the box?" asked Fred.

"Yeah." said Tommy and Jimmy.

"Where is it now?" asked Fred.

"In our bedroom." said Tommy.

"Why are you so interested in a crucifix and some salt?" asked mom.

"Because it may reveal how your problem came about."

Silence. Fred kept scratching his chin. He looked like he was in deep thought.

"You know something we don't?" asked mom.

"Listen." said Fred. "We don't have much time."

"Much time for what?" asked mom.

" To get rid of that creature before more appear." answered Fred.

"Now you're scaring me. Before more what appears?" asked mom.

"I'll explain later." said Fred. He gave some directions to his crew and then turned to Mary and the kids. "Come with me."

They left the diner and got into Fred's sedan. He drove them to his house. He went inside and got a crucifix, a large container of salt and a gallon of water. From there he drove to the church and brought the salt, water and crucifix inside. A few moments later he came back to the car and drove to another home a block away from mom's house. A few moments later Fred and another man came out. Fred got into his sedan and the man got into his truck. The man followed Fred to mom's house.

They parked and everyone got out.

Fred turned to the kids. "Stay in the car."

Then he turned to mom. "Mary, this is Joe."

Mary and Joe greeted each other.

"Okay." said Fred, "Before we get started, let me explain what we are about to do. When the kids swept up the salt and removed the crucifix from the wooden box, they unwittingly freed the creature. The creature came up through a portal which you know as a wooden box."

"So you had the crucifix, the salt and the water blessed." said Mary.

"Exactly." said Fred. "We have to trap the creature near the box. Then comes the tough part. We have to force it back down the portal, cover the box and place the crucible on top of it." He paused. "Mary, this is an extremely dangerous task. I prefer you stay with the kids."

"Fred, thanks for the consideration. But I've never backed down from anything and I'm not about to back down now. I want my home back."

They each took a crucifix. Joe had two and gave one to Mary. Then Fred and Joe each took one box of salt and Mary took the holy water. They opened the front door. The house was quiet. Joe put some salt in the area by the door. Fred checked the kitchen and put salt across the kitchen entrance. Each of the three now carried the crucifix and a container of salt. They checked every closet, every room and every hallway. After each area was checked, the blessed Dead Sea salt was spread across the entrances. Finally they reached the attic door.

They opened the door and slowly climbed the stairs, spreading some salt on each step. Then they looked around the attic. There was no sign of the creature. They walked over to the wooden box and placed the cover back on it. Fred placed his crucifix on the cover and turned to face the stairway. Suddenly the creature appeared seemingly out of nowhere and swung it's arm hitting Fred in the head. Fred flew across the attic and landed on the floor unconscious. Joe and Mary held their crucifixes in front of themselves. A piece of wood flew across the room hitting Joe in the head. Joe fell to the floor unconscious. Mary was alone now. The creature stood before her. It was bent over because of the slanted roof. It looked somewhat like a human except for it's rugged leather skin, huge eyes and large claws.

Suddenly the creature hit Mary's hand with another piece of wood. The crucifix fell to the floor. The creature grabbed Mary by the arm and dragged her away from the crucifix as she screamed.

Outside, Tommy, Jimmy and Jerry were waiting inside the car.

"I don't like this." Said Jerry. "They have been in there for too long."

"What do we do?" asked Tommy.

"Maybe we should call the police." said Jimmy.

"The police can't help us. We need a priest." said Jerry.

"We do?"

"Yes. Lets go to the church." said Jerry.

Jerry got out of the car. "Come on! Let's go."

Jimmy and Tommy got out of the car. "Where?"

"There's a church about three blocks away." said Jerry.

They ran to the church and looked to the priest's residence.

They found it and knocked on the door. Father Benjamin opened the door.

The three kids spoke at once.

"Hold on. One at a time." He turned to Jerry, "What is this about?"

Jerry explained it to the priest. The only reason the priest believed the boys was because of the petrified look on their faces. Father Benjamin blessed himself and the boys. He excused himself saying he'd be right back. He came back with a blessed crucifix and holy water. "Let's go." They got into a car.

When they reached the house, the priest asked, "Did you say this creature was in the attic?"

"Yes." they answered.

"Okay." He said, "I hate to say this but I need your help." He pulled three more crucifixes out of his pocket and gave one to each of the boys.

"What are the chains for?" asked Jerry as he saw the priest pull four chains out from under the seat. Each chain was two feet long.

"If this creature outsmarted your mom and her companions, we need to be creative. Do they have holy water?" asked the priest.

"Yes." said Jerry.

"You have any water?"

"There are two buckets of water in the truck." said Jerry.

"Good." The priest got out of the car. Jerry opened the truck door which was unlocked. The priest blessed the water and then blessed the chains. "Okay." he said, "If you encounter the creature, dip the chain in the holy water and hit the creature with it."

"I'd rather throw the whole bucket of holy water on the creature." said Jerry.

"Don't miss." said the priest.

As they stepped on the front porch, the priest asked, "Has this creature ever come out of the attic?"

"Yes," said Tommy, "When it chased us out of the house."

They repeated the actions of their mom and companions, checking each room and closet on each floor. Finally they were at the bottom of the attic stairs.

They slowly climbed the stairs. The priest was the first one up the stairs. The kids followed. They found Fred and Joe unconscious on the floor.

"Where's mom?" Asked Tommy.

"Over there." The priest pointed to the corner. He cautiously walked over to checked her. "She was knocked out. I think she'll be okay."

The kids sat the buckets of water on the floor between them They dipped their chains in the water. The priest did likewise. They waited.

"What is it waiting for?" asked Jerry.

"For us to put down our guard." said the priest. "This is a smart creature."

"So what do we do?" asked Jimmy.

Before the priest could answer, the creature jumped out from behind the boxes and threw a wrench at him. The wrench hit the priest's arm and the priest dropped the cross. The creature reached for the priest as Jerry picked up the bucket of holy water. He dumped it on the creature. The creature screamed and dropped the priest. Jimmy and Tommy picked up the second bucket of holy water. As the creature lowered to the floor, they dumped the second bucket of holy water of the creature. Then they dumped the rest of the holy water, left by Mary, Fred and Joe, on the creature. The creature screamed constantly as it slowly melted down to nothing.

Father Benjamin blessed himself in thanks. Then he went to the aid of the three people on the floor. He took out his cell phone and dialed 911. He calmly stated that there were several injured people who apparently have head injuries and then gave the address.

Then he turned to the box and prayed a prayer of protection. Then he piled the remains of the salt on the box. Then he placed a crucifix on the box. He turned to the boys and said, "That should keep the portal shut."

The ambulance arrived. Father Benjamin, the boys, Joe, Fred and Mary were taken to the hospital. They were all fine. Father told Mary to paint a warning sign on the side of the wooden box in the attic.

Father smiled at the boys, "Keep the crucifixes, boys. Ya never know when you're gonna need them!"

Back at the house, things were not quiet. In the attic, sounds of the creatures within emanated from the wooden box. But the box remained sealed below the crucifix.

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"What's that?" asked Tommy.

"I don't know." Said Jimmy, "I never heard it before."

"Neither have I. Do you think we have an animal up there?"

"I don't think so. How would an animal get in?"

"Maybe Jerry is hiding one up there?"

"If mom finds it, she'll be angry."

"Let's go up and take a look."

"Okay. I'll get the flashlight." Jimmy left the room and returned a few minutes later with a flashlight in his hand.

"You think we got a ghost?" Tommy asked.

"Maybe." Jimmy answered in a trembling voice

"We could talk to it if we had one of those boards."

"No way."

"Why not?"

"Mommy said we should never use one of those boards because it is a sin."

"What's a sin?"

"A sin is when you make God angry."

"Honest?"

"Yeah."

"So what should we do?"

'Maybe we should ask Mom."

They went down the stairs and knocked on mom's bedroom door. Their mom, Mary, opened the door.

"What's the matter?" asked mom.

"I'm hearing sounds in my room." said Tommy.

"Maybe you were just dreaming?" Asked mom.

"No I wasn't. Jimmy heard it too."

Mom looked at Jimmy. "Okay, boys. Let's go to your room."

They went to the boy's bedroom and jumped into bed.

"There's no sound now." She said. "Now I want both of you to go to sleep." She kissed each boy. "It's probably just an animal."

After mom left, their older brother, Jerry, came into the room. "Hey guys. What's happening?"

"We're hearing noises in the attic." said Tommy."

"You are?" asked Jerry.

"Yeah." Said Jimmy, "Maybe a ghost."

"Ya think we got a ghost? Why would a ghost be up stairs?"

Both boys shrugged their shoulders.

Mom suddenly appeared behind Jerry. "Everyone to bed. No more talk."

The thumping started again. Mom frowned, grabbed the flashlight and approached the attic door. She opened it and slowly went up the stairs.

Mom came out, slammed the door behind her and leaned against it. "Jerry, get some wood, nails and hammer from the garage." Her face was pale. Her hands were trembling.

"What happened?" asked Jerry.

"No time for questions. Go!"

Jerry ran. A few moments later he came back with the wood, hammer and nails. Something started banging on the door as mom nailed the door shut.

"Okay." She said, "Everyone outside."

"Are you okay?" asked Jerry.

"Yes. Go! Go!"

The claw and a hairy arm was tearing apart the wall near the attic door.

Mom and the kids raced for the front door. She tried to open it. "It won't open." She then tried to open a window.

Something was coming down the stairs. Jerry grabbed a chair from the kitchen. "Get out of the way." He flung the chair smashing the window.

"Okay. Jimmy and Tommy first." said mom.

"What was that?" asked Jerry.

"I'll tell you this much." said mom, "That's no ghost!"

She hugged Jimmy and Tommy and then hugged Jerry. "We need to decide what to do." She paused, "There's the diner ...." Her voice faded. The kids wouldn't sleep well tonight anyway. "Let's go."

They walked to the diner, entered and sat at a table.

After ordering food, mom asked to see the manager. Her brother, Fred, came walking out of the kitchen. "Hi Mary. How are you?'

"Not so good." said mom, "Fred, we need your help."

"I'll help if I can. What's the problem."

"You have some time?"

"Yeah."

"Sit down."

Fred pulled up a chair and sat at the table.

Mary told him what happened.

"Do you know where this creature came from?"

"I have no idea." said mom.

"Can you describe the claw?"

"All I was interested in was getting the boys to safety. I wasn't about to stop and take a good look at a claw coming out of the wall!"

"Hmmmmm." Fred scratched his chin, "How large was the claw?"

"About the size of a twelve inch pizza would be my best guess."

Fred was silent for a few minutes. "When have you been in that house now? A week maybe?"

"More or less."

"Could you describe what you found when you moved in?"

"What we found?"

"Yeah. I'm interested in the attic."

"Nothing." said mom,"Nothing unusual"

"Mom." Interrupted Jimmy.

"Hold on, honey. This is important."

"Mom, the cross."

'Jimmy, I said to -- "

"Let him speak." said Fred. "What cross?"

"Oh it's really nothing." said mom, " Seems the last owner left a crucifix up in the attic. But let's get back to that creature or whatever it is."

"That's exactly what we're doing." said Fred. "Where was the crucifix?"

"It was on top of a wooden box." said Jimmy.

"A wooden box?" asked Fred

"Yeah." Said Jerry, "I think the box was nailed to the floor."

"And one more thing." said Tommy, "There was this white stuff all over the floor."

"What stuff?" asked Fred.

"I don't know." said Tommy.

"What did it look like?" Asked Fred.

"Ummmmmm" Tommy was thinking.

"Salt," said Jerry, "Mom asked us to clean the attic. So we swept up the salt."

"Did you remove the crucifix from the box?" asked Fred.

"Yeah." said Tommy and Jimmy.

"Where is it now?" asked Fred.

"In our bedroom." said Tommy.

"Why are you so interested in a crucifix and some salt?" asked mom.

"Because it may reveal how your problem came about."

Silence. Fred kept scratching his chin. He looked like he was in deep thought.

"You know something we don't?" asked mom.

"Listen." said Fred. "We don't have much time."

"Much time for what?" asked mom.

" To get rid of that creature before more appear." answered Fred.

"Now you're scaring me. Before more what appears?" asked mom.

"I'll explain later." said Fred. He gave some directions to his crew and then turned to Mary and the kids. "Come with me."

They parked and everyone got out.

Fred turned to the kids. "Stay in the car."

Then he turned to mom. "Mary, this is Joe."

Mary and Joe greeted each other.

"So you had the crucifix, the salt and the water blessed." said Mary.

"Fred, thanks for the consideration. But I've never backed down from anything and I'm not about to back down now. I want my home back."

Suddenly the creature hit Mary's hand with another piece of wood. The crucifix fell to the floor. The creature grabbed Mary by the arm and dragged her away from the crucifix as she screamed.

Outside, Tommy, Jimmy and Jerry were waiting inside the car.

"I don't like this." Said Jerry. "They have been in there for too long."

"What do we do?" asked Tommy.

"Maybe we should call the police." said Jimmy.

"The police can't help us. We need a priest." said Jerry.

"We do?"

"Yes. Lets go to the church." said Jerry.

Jerry got out of the car. "Come on! Let's go."

Jimmy and Tommy got out of the car. "Where?"

"There's a church about three blocks away." said Jerry.

They ran to the church and looked to the priest's residence.

They found it and knocked on the door. Father Benjamin opened the door.

The three kids spoke at once.

"Hold on. One at a time." He turned to Jerry, "What is this about?"

When they reached the house, the priest asked, "Did you say this creature was in the attic?"

"Yes." they answered.

"Okay." He said, "I hate to say this but I need your help." He pulled three more crucifixes out of his pocket and gave one to each of the boys.

"What are the chains for?" asked Jerry as he saw the priest pull four chains out from under the seat. Each chain was two feet long.

"If this creature outsmarted your mom and her companions, we need to be creative. Do they have holy water?" asked the priest.

"Yes." said Jerry.

"You have any water?"

"There are two buckets of water in the truck." said Jerry.

"I'd rather throw the whole bucket of holy water on the creature." said Jerry.

"Don't miss." said the priest.

As they stepped on the front porch, the priest asked, "Has this creature ever come out of the attic?"

"Yes," said Tommy, "When it chased us out of the house."

They repeated the actions of their mom and companions, checking each room and closet on each floor. Finally they were at the bottom of the attic stairs.

They slowly climbed the stairs. The priest was the first one up the stairs. The kids followed. They found Fred and Joe unconscious on the floor.

"Where's mom?" Asked Tommy.

"Over there." The priest pointed to the corner. He cautiously walked over to checked her. "She was knocked out. I think she'll be okay."

The kids sat the buckets of water on the floor between them They dipped their chains in the water. The priest did likewise. They waited.

"What is it waiting for?" asked Jerry.

"For us to put down our guard." said the priest. "This is a smart creature."

"So what do we do?" asked Jimmy.

Then he turned to the box and prayed a prayer of protection. Then he piled the remains of the salt on the box. He turned to the boys and said, "That should keep the portal shut."

Father smiled at the boys, "Keep the crucifixes, boys. Ya never know when you're gonna need them!"

Back at the house, things were not quiet. In the attic, sounds of the creatures within emanated the wooden box. But it remained sealed below the crucifix.

How to Overcome a Phobia

2014-08-30T00:44:00.002-07:00

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

When I was young, I had a phobia of dogs. Every time I panicked because a dog ran towards me barking, I would get angry at myself for me reaction to the dog. This article describes how I overcame my phobia. I hope it helps other people who are dealing with phobias and fears.

How does panic become a spontaneous reaction to an event? It actually doesn't suddenly happen. Consider a woman who is afraid of mice. She screams and jumps up on a table or chair every time she sees a mouse. Each time this happens, she is training her mind and her body how to respond to the event. Soon the response becomes spontaneous. She does it before she realized what she is doing. The whole situation appears hopeless to the person suffering from a phobia. Facing the phobia only causes more panic.

I found that people who try to persuade others to face their phobias forget to give the most important instruction. Then they are surprised when the person panics again. That most important instruction is one simple word: Relax.

This one word provides a hint. One effective way to overcome a phobia is to reverse your reaction to the object of your fears. You need to re-train your mind and body how to react to the situation that causes you to panic. Here is how I did it with dogs. I did it in accordance with the instructions from a Psychologist.

I would sit down in a chair and repeatedly tell myself to relax. I would take even breaths and hold my hands up in the air. Then I'd try to visualize the word relax in my mind. My hands were a good indication of how relaxed I was. Relaxation is the key to reversing your spontaneous reactions because your mind is most susceptible to new ideas when you are relaxed. When I was totally relaxed, I would imagine that a dog was approaching me. This took a lot of effort at first. Sometimes I would close my eyes and visualize a dog I had recently encountered. I would imagine the dog barking and growling at me. If I got anxious or if my hands started shaking, I would tell myself to relax. I would tell myself to stay calm Once I was totally relax I would say to myself. "The next time I encounter a dog I will relax. I will not panic. I will not run away. I will relax." Then I would repeat the whole process over and over again.

Every day I would repeat the process for about 15 minutes. I was training my mind and my body how to react to a dog. Eventually relaxation became a spontaneous reaction to encountering a dog. Three weeks after I started this therapy, my girlfriend opened her front door to find me sitting on the porch petting the dog I had feared so badly in the past. Yes, my legs were shaking. But I was not panicking.

I also learned that there are certain commands almost every dog understands. One day I was walking in a local park when a dog came running toward me barking. I stopped and stood perfectly still while the dog ran past me and then turned around to repeat the run.

"No!" I yelled in a sharp loud voice, "Sit!"

The dog sat down and moaned. The the dog got up.

"No! Sit!"

The dog was confused and sat down again. Every time the dog got up to charge me, I repeated the same command. Eventually the owner came and took the dog away.

I learned another method of handling dogs from my dad. One day when two Doberman pincers were running towards him, he picked up a piece of metal and started banging it against a metal fence. Dogs hate the sound of metal against metal.

A friend of mine use to carry a small plastic bottle of ammonia when he rode his bike. If a dog came after him, he would spray the ammonia on the ground. The smell of ammonia would confuse the do and the dog would walk away.

I began to apply the method to other situations where I became nervous or uncomfortable..

Book Review: Oliver Twist

2014-08-30T00:32:00.001-07:00

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

In the late 1960's I enrolled in a home study course in short story writing at Famous Writer's School in Westport, CT. I did not complete the course due to financial issues. I completed only half of the course. However, I learned one important lesson. If you want to become a good story writer, you should study the techniques of the masters. I don't think anyone would question the assertion that Charles Dickens was one of those masters. And it is very evident in his timeless novel Oliver Twist.

Yet, you may doubt my words about studying the masters when you realize that the character Oliver doesn't seem real. His personality doesn't come to life like the other characters in the novel do. At least, not in the first few chapters. I think this was deliberate. Other than Oliver, characterization is a strong point in Charles Dicken's novel. Every character has his or her own set of issues. And the climax of the story blossoms out of the nature of the characters. That's good story writing.

If you love kids and you read the first several chapters orally, your eyes may tear and your feelings may pour out. The very first chapter reads like a protest. If you don't know about the orphans of Dicken's time, it may seem inhumane. And inhumane it was during the time of Charles Dickens.

The first chapter is about Oliver's birth and his mother's death. Dicken's illustrates the view of orphans by referencing the new born child as the one whose name was mentioned in the chapter heading. He ends the chapter with a statement that if Oliver as an infant was aware of what he was in for, he would have cried much louder. The girl who gave birth to this child had no identification on her. Hence Oliver was eventually sent to a workhouse.

The children in workhouses were abused and neglected. They were orphans and as such were looked down on, fed very little food and worked like slaves. Many young children died from malnutrition before they reached the age of twelve. The adults who ran the workhouses thought that feeding the kids too well raised a spirit of rebellion in the children.

Mr Bumble is the beadle of the orphanage. He has worked his way up to this status. Mr Bumble enjoys big meals while the letting the orphans starve. Although his character is amusing, his treatment of the children is reprehensible. He really does not care if the children live or die.

Of course, the unforgettable scene in the book is the one where Oliver and other children cast straws to see who should ask for more porridge. Oliver is the unlucky one who goes and asks for more. And that is the beginning of the search for a way to rid the workhouse of Oliver.

Oliver is the helpless one in this book. He suffers abuse after abuse. He is indeed the innocent one. Mr Sowerbury purchases Oliver from the workhouse. He runs a funeral service and has Oliver lead the funeral procession. His worker Noah Claypole is jealous of Oliver and insults Oliver's mother. Oliver attacks him and is punished. Then Oliver escapes.

But his escape is like going from the fat into the frying pan. Oliver is befriended by a kid nicknamed the Artful Dodger. That kid is a thieve trained by an old man named Fagin. The Artful Dodger has a personality unlike the other characters in the book. He is cocky and somewhat comical. He is the best pick pocket of all the kids employed by Fagin. He introduces Oliver to Fagin.

The character of Fagin comes alive in the book. The ominous introduction to Fagin in the book is another technique of good story writing. Fagin is a style of speaking that allows you to know when he is speaking. You don't have to read the words "Said Fagin." to know that Fagin is speaking. Fagin is only interested in one thing: money. It is his motivation for turning Oliver into a thief. He sends his boys out every day to pick pockets and for their work, he provides them with a roof over their heads, clothes, food and a bed to sleep in. He pays Bill Sikes for house robberies with money. He is a charming, yet despicable character. Fagin keeps the kids in line with threats of death and with the fear that they will end up hanging if the gallows if they go to the authorities.

Eventually the tragic character of Nancy is introduced. She instantly takes a liking to Oliver. Nancy was taken in by Fagin when she was nine years old and trained to pick pockets. And she does not want Oliver led down the same path. Her boyfriend Bill Sikes is a ruthless house robber. He abuses Nancy. Nancy feels trapped in her situation and after learning the reasons behind Fagin's interest in Oliver decides to risk her life to save Oliver from a life of crime.

Mr Brownlow is a kind gentleman who takes Oliver in after Oliver is falsely accused of pick pocketing him. He cares for Oliver while Oliver is sick. He sends Oliver to return a book to the library. But Oliver is grabbed by Nancy and Bill Sikes. They return Oliver to Fagin.

Noah Claypole eventually gets employed by Fagin.

Monks is a mysterious character who has an interest in Oliver. He offers Fagin money if Fagin succeeds in turning Oliver into a thief.

Don't think you know the story because you've seen the musical Oliver!. That musical doesn't tell the complete story. Oliver's early years are presented in fairy tale form rather then the somber tone set by Charles Dickens. And the ending of the movie is nothing like the ending in the book. Half of the book is missing from the movie.

Bill Sikes forces Oliver to participate in a house robbery. During the robbery, Oliver is shot. The residents of the house use their dogs to track down the fleeing robbers. Oliver is abandoned in a ditch during the escape.

At this point Dickens leaves you hanging by switching scenes. He leaves you racing through 50 or 60 pages trying to find out what happens to Oliver. The romance of Mr Bumble provides some comic relief. The theft and plotting that took place at Oliver's birth is detailed in these pages. The reader learns that certain items were disposed of to hide the identity of Oliver.

The next morning, the weak Oliver who could barely stand makes his way to the house he and Bill Sikes attempted to rob the night before and collapses at the front door. This may not make much sense except that Oliver was in great pain and had lost much blood from the bullet wound and knew of no other place to go. One of the residents recognizes Oliver as the boy involved in the house robbery and wants to turn Oliver over to the authorities.

If you are interested in writing fiction, I recommend that you study the methods of character development used by Charles Dickens. I agree that his sentences were long at times, making it somewhat difficult to understand. But for me, the characters came alive. I did not read this book in one sitting.

Book Review: Lord of the Flies

2014-08-30T00:23:00.001-07:00

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

The first time I heard about William Golding's Lord of the Flies, I was a junior in High School. My cousin gave me the book to read. He said it was a real good story. I agree. One day, I took a walk to the local park and sat on the bench. I read the whole book in one sitting. I liked it. I did several book reports on this book in school and in college.

Lord Of The Flies is a story of a group of children being taken to safety during a world war. The plane never reaches it's destination. It crashes near an island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, all adults on the plane die and the children are left to fend for themselves on the Island.

Two kids, Ralph and Piggy find a conch which they use to call a meeting . The conch is the symbolic representation of a civilized society. At the meeting, Ralph is elected chief and Ralph appoints Jack, the head of a choir, as head of the hunters. The group decides to build a signal fire using Piggy's spectacles. This first fire, that spread to trees on a small plateau, was the scene of the first death.

Jack and his hunters have seen pigs on the Island. They decide to hunt and kill the pigs for food. When they encounter the first pig, Jack hesitates to stab it because he is not use to the site of blood. But Jack and his hunters soon overcomes this obstacle. At some point, Jack and his hunters paint their faces because they think the pigs see them

Piggy suggests starting a signal fire so they might be rescued. Piggy also states that maybe their moms and dads know where they (the kids) were going, but nobody knows where they are because they never got there! Perhaps that is why when Jack was on his first hunt, he borrowed some boys who were on the top of the "mountain" (on the island) and left the signal fire unattended.

Everything goes fairly smooth until the little kids start talking about a beast on the island. At first, Jack, Ralph and Piggy dismiss this as the little kids having nightmares. But the stories of a beast persist.

The fear of this beast becomes the turning point of the story. Fear drives people to do many things they later regret; especially those who become use to the shedding of blood. Everything comes in steps. First, hesitating to spill blood, then killing the pigs for food, then ...

Piggy claims that there could not be a beast because if there was a beast, nothing in the world would make sense. When Simon, a member of Jacks choir, is ask what he thinks the beast is, his answer is that maybe it is just the kids: All the kids including Simon.

One evening, Ralph says a prayer that there be a sign from the adult world before he goes to sleep. His prayer is answered. There was a sign that night, but the sign was misinterpreted. A dead parachutist lands on top of the mountain. The twins, Sam and Eric are one level below the top maintaining the signal fire. They hear a noise and peek at the next level to see the dead man in a parachute. But what they think they see is a beast that bulges: The bulge caused by the parachute being blown by the wind. They become petrified, panic and run down the mountain to tell the other kids what they saw.

This marks the beginning of the end. The conch is used to call a meeting and the frightened twins tell their story. Jack, Ralph and the hunters go up the moutain to find the beast, but run away in a panic when they see it. At a second meeting, Ralph insults Jack. Jack and his hunters leave to set up their own place to live. Piggy tells Ralph to blow the conch and call them back and try to unite the kids. Piggy said that if Ralph doesn't try to keep everybody together, they will all become savages. But Ralph doesn't blow the conch. He says that if he blows the conch and the others don't come back, they will all become savages anyway.

As Jack an his hunters walk along the beach, they start to chant "Kill the beast, cut his throat, spill his blood!" Soon it will become much more than a chant. Soon more blood will be spilled and not all of it will be the beast's or a pig's.

The meaning of the title of the story Lord Of The Flies comes out in one scene in the story. Simon decides to go up the mountain. Ralph, Piggy and the twins do not follow. Simon finds a nice thick bush and crawls under it. He watches Jack and his hunters carry a pig to a spot not far from him, cut off the pigs head, stick a stick sharpened at both ends into the ground and place the pig's head on the stick. They offer this gift to the beast so that it might not bother the kids. The Jack and his hunters leave the scene, but Simon remains where he is.

What follows is an exchange of words between Simon and the pig's head on the stick. The pig's head on the stick is referred to as the Lord of the Flies. The Lord of the Flies asks Simon who he thinks the Lord of the Flies is. Simon replies that the Lord of the Flies is a pigs head. The Lord of the Flies states that Simon is all alone with only the Lord of the Flies to protect him and claims it is the beast! The Lord of the Flies is amused by the fact that the kids think they can kill the beast. Then the Lord of the Flies states that it is the reason why things are falling apart on the island. It gives Simon credit for having known that the Lord of the Flies is part of everyone on the island. This scene confirms that the beast is a part of every kid on the island and warns Simon not to tell the others or the kids will "do" Simon. But Simon ignors the warning.

This scene reveals that the Lord of the Flies is much more than just a pig's head on the stick: The Lord of the Flies is evil. To figure out who the Lord of the Flies is, we turn to mythology. In mythology, there is an evil god named Beelzebub. Beelzebub represents decay, destruction, and demoralization: Exactly what took place on the island. The English translation of the word Beelzebub is "Lord of Flies."

I skipped many details in the above description of the story and I'll not tell the remainder of the story so the reader can read the book.　

The Movie 'Imagine:' Biography of John Lennon

2012-05-23T14:44:00.002-07:00

Here is an article describing the feelings I had while watching the biography of John Lennon in the movie 'Imagine.'

http://socyberty.com/crime/the-movie-imagine-a-biography-of-john-lennon/