The year is 3068 on planet Pledian. That is located in the galaxy Zargon which would make it the year 2106 on Earth. My name is Max.
Two years ago there was a revolution on one of our three closest neighboring planets. One is a hydro-planet (Plartisian) where we have placed a treatment plant for our own planets water supply; this was not affected by the war. Another is rich in precious metals (Cryoniplian) where we have also placed a mine to help our government afford to trade with other worlds in our system; this planet was eventually lost to the rebels. The final neighbor (where the revolution actually took place) is a prison colony for white collar criminals (PX12). It is really more of a resort than a prison, and no one ever gave a thought to having trouble from the inmates there. All of the problematic inmates are sent to an unoccupied system that is so far away that by the time they got there (if they survived the lengthy trip) they would be too old to ever make the trip back.
Our failure to properly respect the fact that these people are still criminals is where we failed. Had we taken more safety measures we would not be in this position. Now we are in negotiations with our own banished citizens to save our economic health. The Rebels hold our monetary reserves, not for their own gain, but are threatening to destroy them altogether if the judiciary figures responsible for their imprisonment aren’t handed over. Some of these people are high powered members of our government, and not likely to surrender themselves under any circumstances. These people have escape plans. It is the regular citizens (like me) who face starvation, invasion from other worlds and ultimately death due to the failure of those figures to turn themselves over.
There is one thing that makes me unique among my people. Ninety-eight percent of our population is passive. This is genetically engineered. We have determined throughout history that world peace will never happen unless it is assisted by science. We keep only two percent of our people armed and trained for defense against other worlds. To that end, we have very few violent criminal acts (which are perpetrated by the occasional rouge soldier). In fact our last violent crime was committed almost ten years ago. Back on point, I am responsible for tactical training of every member of our defensive corps. I am the only individual who holds the license or knowledge to prepare or combat what our military knows.
The rebels have given us a twelve hour deadline to meet their demands. We are to make delivery to Cryoniplian where the Rebels have openly moved their aggressive force. They are comfortable moving all of their fighters here because this planet is their hostage, and because they control what you would recognize as a type of fusion bomb. The only difference is that if they set this bomb off, it is big enough to turn this entire planet into vapor. My dilemma is trying to devise a Counter-Rebellion to take Cryoniplian back. The problem I face is that my government will not assist me in any attempt to re-take the planet. I will truly be on my own.
That is why I have directed this to the people of Earth. You are either the “problematic” inmates banished from our planet, or the descendants of those inmates (your constant abduction stories are the result of mind erasing failures). I don’t know if there is a single person among you who still cares, but if you have received this communication…it means that I have failed. Your true home has been lost to the Rebels, and there is no telling what has become of it now.
The Assault
“I hope no one picked up my trail.” Max had infiltrated planet Cryoniplian’s atmosphere. His anti-detection monitor had not alerted him which means that no electronics equipment had picked him up. As long as no one had actually spotted him by eye, then he could still count on the element of surprise. He would need that and perhaps a small miracle to deactivate the device before being caught and killed.
Max set off toward the complex to the East. Lucky for him he used to train his recruits here two generations ago. He could not afford to lose any time, but before he got too far from his transport, he stopped to check his PDU (personal defense unit). You might view it as a suit, but it is really more of a vehicle. The unit is designed to serve three purposes. The first is camouflage. The unit adapts to its surroundings and becomes virtually invisible. The second is armor. The unit can fully protect its occupant from every type of munitions developed to date. The third is stamina. The unit will take whatever force exerted by its occupant and multiply it by 100. This means that if you expend the energy to lift one pound, the unit will lift a 100 pound object. This allows for more intense fighting, and longer periods of marching. Therefore we have no need to develop assault vehicles. We just arm our foot soldier with a cannon and send him (or her) marching.
Finally, Max reached complex. He had approx. two hours before the device would detonate. Max monitored the guard movements for about fifteen minutes. “I am surprised at the remedial approach to security” Max thought to himself as he watched the patrol pattern form. Then just as he was about to move in, he saw it. There was an automated robot on the roof armed with an electromagnetic cannon. “That would be inconvenient” Max new that he would not be seriously harmed by the cannon thanks to his PDU, but since it was made out of metal alloys, he would be displaced, and there is no telling where he would end up, or how badly the suits camouflage feature would be damaged. Max quietly loaded one round into his .308 sniper rifle. Max knew that no one had used such a primitive weapon as a firearm in almost 100 years, but he was counting on the accuracy factor as well as no one recognizing the loud annunciation from the weapons muzzle. Max took careful aim at the robots access panel and fired the shot. The robot made no moves, and there was no way for Max to know if his round had disabled the robot, but no one else could tell either. Max waited for a moment while everyone scrambled into action, then in the chaos he slipped in a doorway not six inches from a guard.
Once inside, Max activated his blueprint display and began trying to locate the device. “Two doors down and to the left; that’s where I would put it.” Just as he turned the corner, Max walked right into another guard. In a single continuous movement Max gouged the man’s eye, stepped right through the man’s knee and placed him in a reverse headlock and crushed his neck. Suddenly the man’s partner rounded another corner and ran right at Max. Max caught the man behind the neck and head butted the guy’s nose flush with the rest of his face. Max then trapped the man’s right arm under his left and shoved the man’s head back with his right palm. Max ran directly toward a wall forcing the man backward and then without warning brought his elbow around and knocked the man’s Adams apple halfway around the man’s neck.
“Hope nobody misses them.” Max took a quick right hand turn through a doorway, and there in front of him was the device. Max quickly switched displays to his bomb blueprint. He reached to cut the green wire when he realized, “There is no disarm on this. They never intended to turn it off. Well, they didn’t plan on me.”
Suddenly, Max felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck followed by tunnel vision. Finally, everything went dark, and Max lapsed into unconsciousness and dreamed.
“Corporal Myles” the nurse called. A man grasped the Corporal’s arm and led him from the waiting room into an observation room where he restrained the Corporal to the table. There was a panel of high ranking military personnel seated in front of the table. Then a General began to speak.
“Let the record show that on this twenty-first day of May in the year of our lord two thousand and three, Corporal Myles is being court-martialed for the murders of three members of his unit. Doctor, please explain to me why I should not have a firing squad formed right outside of this building for this man.”
“Sir, Corporal Myles is suffering from the worst case of dementia I have ever seen. He is not living in our reality. His crimes are not crimes. They are courageous acts performed by a good soldier. The circumstances just didn’t occur in our reality.” Max Myles had been a decorated soldier with eight years of meritorious service. No one could understand what had caused him to fire upon the roof sentry and to break the necks of the two soldiers assigned to fire watch in his barracks. It just hadn’t made any sense.
“I don’t buy that Psych. mumbo-jumbo Doctor. This man killed three of this country’s soldiers without provocation. We sentence this man to be hanged by the neck until he is dead.”
Corporal Max Myles was led to the gallows. He was offered a hood, but refused. The trap door was sprung, and Max felt the Earth drop from underneath him…suddenly, Max woke up!
Friday, March 03, 2006
Monday, February 27, 2006
Confidential - Leaders Log
This was recovered by Battle Group Destiny and is translated to the best of our knowledge. This document is top secret and contains the last 12 hours of the Pledian Leader's Log. From our interpretations the Leader had brought his armada to invade Earth.
4:32 pm
I have just received orders from home. This planet, Earth as they have referred to it, has some value. It appears that the inhabitants are docile and of a non-military form. My superiors would like me to lead an invasion. It should not be too difficult as my soldiers are hardened from weeks of war. The inhabitants are to be eliminated as we can use Earth as a way station. I need to visit this Earth in preparation.
4:33 pm
Earth is cold, much colder than my recent exploits. I do miss Pledian so. It has been over 300 years since I have last visited my family. With seclusion on they are not allowed to travel to my current vector. Earth seems to hold no promise. It is a dying planet. It will surely parish in the next millennia without intervention. But why does the Council want this planet. What does it have to offer? It seems too insignificant to waste a trip on.
4:59 pm I have had an incident. I have come into contact with one of the inhabitants from Earth. I don't know what to make of it. My translator worked fine, and the cloak has worked as well. She thought I was one of her own. They don't seem to be wary of my presence. I was invited into a dwelling with them to consume food. Earth food does not taste very good. I think I may have a glitch in my sensory translator. The sense of taste is not translating from Earth food to Pledian food. I must have my engineers look at this. Soon.
5:54 pm
I have spent time with this one known as Tabitha. It is a female of the species they call Human. They claim to differentiate them selves from the rest of the inhabitants by a matter of what they call reason. Tabitha claims that none of the other animals on Earth can perform this action. I must investigate this thing reason.
6:22 pm I understand now. What they are calling Reason is what we call Mq Implants. She claims that it is a gift from their Upper Being. She says that hey were given this Reason and placed in charge of Earth to rule over all the other animals. But she didn't know how this Upper Being implanted it. She said that it is always there. They must implant it during the gestational period.
7:45 pm
I have left Tabitha now. I must venture to another part of this world. She talked about something she called art. I must investigate it as all Earth Humans seem to have a deep passion for it. She said that Humans use their soul to create it. But also from my understanding the soul is also implanted. But she said that not every Human has one. All are born with it and somehow certain Humans loose theirs. I don't understand how you could loose an implant unless it was somehow cut from your body.
9:23 pm I am in a place they are calling an art museum. Someone told me that this is where humans like to collect their objects of art. It does not look like any other dwelling. I am finding that not all dwellings are alike. They have classified them and made them have specific purposes.
9:24 pm I made a miraculous discovery. Art has stirred emotions and feelings in my core like nothing ever before. Apparently there are many different forms of this art. The one I am looking at now is called painting. They take a liquid and use primitive tools to apply the liquid onto something flat. But they way they apply it is very strange. Some paintings are bright and beautiful. They make me think of the plasma sprays in Galgon. Some are dark and threatening. They make me think of battle. Some are curious and don't seem to reflect anything but chaos and disorder.
10:05 pm The art museum I was in has closed its doors. Therefore I am expanding my research into other forms of art. Another Human told me of a kind of art called music. They say the Music Museums are open throughout the night. I will interface with another Human who calls himself Dan on this subject. He said that he was to go visit another dwelling in a short while that has people that he calls "bands" that will be performing music.
12:35 am
The Human Dan and I are in a dwelling called a club. He said that music is broken down to different types. He said this type is called techno. When the Humans talk of music they are talking about Sound Wave Distortion. They have mastered ways to control it using finite skills. We have had weapons that use sound waves before, but no one has ever thought of using it for art. But then again, we have never had something like art. I have an emotion I have never had before. I think Dan called it “like” in his native tongue. He said that it means you experience something and you want to experience it again. Much like when you are making your first kill I suppose. That feeling you get as you decimate your enemy and dominate your surroundings. You want to do that again. Well, art generates similar but different feelings. I want to research some more of this art.
2:49 am
Dan has taken me to another club. This one is classified as a Jazz club. He said that this music is much different than the techno music. I would agree. However different they are I am enjoying both. They have different features. While we were traveling to the club Dan showed me another kind of music called classical. I believe that I may like classical best of all. He said that the best classical music was created hundreds of Earth years ago. That over the years the skills used to create this masterful work of art was somehow lost. I don’t understand why. Why would you let this art form die? It is possibly the most beautiful thing I have ever experienced. Every sound wave stirs emotion in my core. I do not know how to explain it, but it is causing my to consider several different positions I had not thought of before.
3:01 am
Dan has let me link into the Human communication network. I am discovering all sorts of new art types. They are broken into many different categories, using many different mediums. They have another form called “sculpting”. They use material to make something that is an inanimate object. But is to represent something else. Much like that of the paintings, but this one is not flat. It has multiple dimensions. Dan has several sculptures, but I found pictures of some on the Internet that I must see for myself.
4:15 am
I have decided that I am leaving my position as Leader of my brigade. I cannot participate in the conquering of a race that has produced so many beautiful things. I will try to blend
This is where the “Leader” stopped. We don’t know what happened to him. We have been trying to track down Tabitha and Dan to get more information on him, but we cannot find any trace of the two. We do know that most of his time was spent in New York. We can only assume that the “Leader” was either taken out by his superiors or he was discovered and is still ingrained in our society. Regardless, we can only assume that because of what he described here that an alien invasion was thwarted.
Some of the concepts may be incorrect as they were translated with what little we know about their symbolic language. From the text we have found we can estimate that their language has over 50,000 different symbols.
This report has concluded that this document and translation are authentic. It was recovered from a foreign starship that we captured on the outskirts of our solar system. The alien crew seemed distraught and uncoordinated as they were boarded without any resistance. The marines could not find anyone that seemed to be their leader. They must have had some sort of suicide pill or something of the sort. 10 minutes after their ship was boarded, they all died.
4:32 pm
I have just received orders from home. This planet, Earth as they have referred to it, has some value. It appears that the inhabitants are docile and of a non-military form. My superiors would like me to lead an invasion. It should not be too difficult as my soldiers are hardened from weeks of war. The inhabitants are to be eliminated as we can use Earth as a way station. I need to visit this Earth in preparation.
4:33 pm
Earth is cold, much colder than my recent exploits. I do miss Pledian so. It has been over 300 years since I have last visited my family. With seclusion on they are not allowed to travel to my current vector. Earth seems to hold no promise. It is a dying planet. It will surely parish in the next millennia without intervention. But why does the Council want this planet. What does it have to offer? It seems too insignificant to waste a trip on.
4:59 pm I have had an incident. I have come into contact with one of the inhabitants from Earth. I don't know what to make of it. My translator worked fine, and the cloak has worked as well. She thought I was one of her own. They don't seem to be wary of my presence. I was invited into a dwelling with them to consume food. Earth food does not taste very good. I think I may have a glitch in my sensory translator. The sense of taste is not translating from Earth food to Pledian food. I must have my engineers look at this. Soon.
5:54 pm
I have spent time with this one known as Tabitha. It is a female of the species they call Human. They claim to differentiate them selves from the rest of the inhabitants by a matter of what they call reason. Tabitha claims that none of the other animals on Earth can perform this action. I must investigate this thing reason.
6:22 pm I understand now. What they are calling Reason is what we call Mq Implants. She claims that it is a gift from their Upper Being. She says that hey were given this Reason and placed in charge of Earth to rule over all the other animals. But she didn't know how this Upper Being implanted it. She said that it is always there. They must implant it during the gestational period.
7:45 pm
I have left Tabitha now. I must venture to another part of this world. She talked about something she called art. I must investigate it as all Earth Humans seem to have a deep passion for it. She said that Humans use their soul to create it. But also from my understanding the soul is also implanted. But she said that not every Human has one. All are born with it and somehow certain Humans loose theirs. I don't understand how you could loose an implant unless it was somehow cut from your body.
9:23 pm I am in a place they are calling an art museum. Someone told me that this is where humans like to collect their objects of art. It does not look like any other dwelling. I am finding that not all dwellings are alike. They have classified them and made them have specific purposes.
9:24 pm I made a miraculous discovery. Art has stirred emotions and feelings in my core like nothing ever before. Apparently there are many different forms of this art. The one I am looking at now is called painting. They take a liquid and use primitive tools to apply the liquid onto something flat. But they way they apply it is very strange. Some paintings are bright and beautiful. They make me think of the plasma sprays in Galgon. Some are dark and threatening. They make me think of battle. Some are curious and don't seem to reflect anything but chaos and disorder.
10:05 pm The art museum I was in has closed its doors. Therefore I am expanding my research into other forms of art. Another Human told me of a kind of art called music. They say the Music Museums are open throughout the night. I will interface with another Human who calls himself Dan on this subject. He said that he was to go visit another dwelling in a short while that has people that he calls "bands" that will be performing music.
12:35 am
The Human Dan and I are in a dwelling called a club. He said that music is broken down to different types. He said this type is called techno. When the Humans talk of music they are talking about Sound Wave Distortion. They have mastered ways to control it using finite skills. We have had weapons that use sound waves before, but no one has ever thought of using it for art. But then again, we have never had something like art. I have an emotion I have never had before. I think Dan called it “like” in his native tongue. He said that it means you experience something and you want to experience it again. Much like when you are making your first kill I suppose. That feeling you get as you decimate your enemy and dominate your surroundings. You want to do that again. Well, art generates similar but different feelings. I want to research some more of this art.
2:49 am
Dan has taken me to another club. This one is classified as a Jazz club. He said that this music is much different than the techno music. I would agree. However different they are I am enjoying both. They have different features. While we were traveling to the club Dan showed me another kind of music called classical. I believe that I may like classical best of all. He said that the best classical music was created hundreds of Earth years ago. That over the years the skills used to create this masterful work of art was somehow lost. I don’t understand why. Why would you let this art form die? It is possibly the most beautiful thing I have ever experienced. Every sound wave stirs emotion in my core. I do not know how to explain it, but it is causing my to consider several different positions I had not thought of before.
3:01 am
Dan has let me link into the Human communication network. I am discovering all sorts of new art types. They are broken into many different categories, using many different mediums. They have another form called “sculpting”. They use material to make something that is an inanimate object. But is to represent something else. Much like that of the paintings, but this one is not flat. It has multiple dimensions. Dan has several sculptures, but I found pictures of some on the Internet that I must see for myself.
4:15 am
I have decided that I am leaving my position as Leader of my brigade. I cannot participate in the conquering of a race that has produced so many beautiful things. I will try to blend
This is where the “Leader” stopped. We don’t know what happened to him. We have been trying to track down Tabitha and Dan to get more information on him, but we cannot find any trace of the two. We do know that most of his time was spent in New York. We can only assume that the “Leader” was either taken out by his superiors or he was discovered and is still ingrained in our society. Regardless, we can only assume that because of what he described here that an alien invasion was thwarted.
Some of the concepts may be incorrect as they were translated with what little we know about their symbolic language. From the text we have found we can estimate that their language has over 50,000 different symbols.
This report has concluded that this document and translation are authentic. It was recovered from a foreign starship that we captured on the outskirts of our solar system. The alien crew seemed distraught and uncoordinated as they were boarded without any resistance. The marines could not find anyone that seemed to be their leader. They must have had some sort of suicide pill or something of the sort. 10 minutes after their ship was boarded, they all died.
Friday, February 24, 2006
Premise: The Vacation
You must write about a vacation in the desert that an older couple takes. It takes place in the present. The story must happen between Friday and Sunday.
The Super Hungry Vacation
I am posting this for my four year old:
An older couple, about a 6 year old and a 7 year old, they go out into the desert. When they are in the desert they hear a loud loud noise.
And they saw big eyes. After that they saw big giant feet. And after that they found out it was a big giant dinosaur.
And they run as fast as they could. And they came landing in quick sand!
And they drowned in the quick sand. The mother and the father found them with their head sticking out of the quick sand. The parents pulled them out and took them home out in the desert picking wild flowers and wild berries and wild fairies.
The End!
-Brooklyn
An older couple, about a 6 year old and a 7 year old, they go out into the desert. When they are in the desert they hear a loud loud noise.
And they saw big eyes. After that they saw big giant feet. And after that they found out it was a big giant dinosaur.
And they run as fast as they could. And they came landing in quick sand!
And they drowned in the quick sand. The mother and the father found them with their head sticking out of the quick sand. The parents pulled them out and took them home out in the desert picking wild flowers and wild berries and wild fairies.
The End!
-Brooklyn
Vacation in the Desert
“Beth, can you hand me that pair of socks?” John asked his wife as he filled his small suitcase to its capacity. He had to find some way to get the golf shirts to fit in along side his sleeping shorts and over night bag.
“Did you tell the Andersons we were leaving?” Beth asked.
“Yes dear. Josh said that he would feed the dogs. They didn’t have anything special going on this weekend.” John responded, yelling as Beth exited their master bedroom. It always took him less than half an hour to get completely packed and ready to go for the weekend. His wife was less efficient.
As the Carpenters arrived the resort style hotel welcomed them. As they pulled their L.A. plated Mercedes under the portico the bell hops rushed to greet them. Their luggage and golf clubs were quickly loaded on a cart and wheeled inside.
“Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter. We have a reservation for the weekend.” John hurriedly said to the front desk clerk.
Oliver St. John was the front desk weekend manager. “Yes Mr. Carpenter. Suite 305. Jenny will take you and your luggage to the room. Jenny, suite 305 please. Enjoy your stay!” John quickly asked, “How is the Sun Devil this time of year?” Oliver replied, “Wonderful! The weather has been so nice lately. I haven’t played myself, but I have heard from several guests who said it is in the best shape they have seen it in a while.” “Great! Thanks!” John and Beth followed Jenny to the room.
“When is our tee time?” Beth asked John. “I went ahead and got an 8 AM tee-off. I know it’s earlier than you’d like, but it won’t be so hot later on. Phoenix gets up to well over 95 during the late afternoon you know.”
Beth complained, “We should have flown. I wish we would have flown. Next time we come out here, let’s just fly. It’s not that expensive.” “I know dear, “John replied in his most sympathetic voice possible. “ Next time, we’ll see about it. For now, let’s go down to dinner. I’m starving.”
As the couple entered the restaurant they were greeted by the always pleasant host. “Good evening! Back again I see! Back for more golf this season?” gushed Mr. Clancy.
“Hello Mr. Clancy,” Replied Beth, “I see you finished the remodeling from last year. It looks wonderful. Such rich and vibrant colors.” “Why thank you Mrs. Carpenter! I am so glad we are finally finished. It was truly a growing pain. But we are now done and our little place can now seat over 350 at once!”
Mr. Clancy motioned to a handsome young man in a suit and tie, “Patrick, please take the Carpenters to the Mezzanine. Table 42. And Mr. Carpenter, would you like a bottle of our newest wine import? It’s a ‘98 Torubeck Shiraz.” “Sounds divine, “John said with a smile on his face. He loved red wine.
The next morning John and Beth were sitting on their balcony over looking the atrium. It was pleasant out here, especially with the sound of the water falls below. It provided an oasis in the desert that they both enjoyed. John and Beth had been visiting here for years, and were planning on buying a condo as soon as John retired in 4 years.
John had his nose buried in the morning paper. “Now this is odd” he said. “What’s that honey,” asked Beth. “This article in the Sun Times. It’s about a missing man. Says here that he could be linked to the three other missing since June 1st.”
That caught Beth’s attention. “Really? What else does it say.” “Says that one was in town for a tournament and the others are all residents.” But isn’t that odd that so many would show up missing in such a short time frame?” John never removed his gaze from the paper, “Sign of the times, that’s all.”
“You lead off sugar” John said. “Show me how to hit this one!”
“Oh sure, thanks. Mulligans on the first hole, right?” asked Beth.
“Absolutely. Absolutely!” said John.
After 12 holes John was barely hanging on to a two stroke lead. Beth had played very well today. However, John knew for sure that his luck was up. Beth was a much better golfer than he.
“I love this hole” John said as he peered down the fairway. “I don’t quite know how they keep this so lush and green in the desert, but it sure is nice.”
“There are some natural springs on this course. They pump those for irrigation and in certain places, like this hole, they are built right up against where a spring comes out.” Beth said.
She continued, “This dog legs left here. I don’t think you can make it over that group of shrubs and trees, but you want to be just to the left of it.”
“Got it? I lost it!” John said in frustration. “You’re good! Just in the right spot. You are just to the left. Perfect!” Beth replied with exhilaration.
“Great, let’s see what you’ve got old lady!” John agitated Beth. “Hey! Quiet in the gallery please!”
As Beth swung her club over the top of her left shoulder she knew she had sliced. She watched in disappointment as her Callaway ball bounced directly in to the rough she had warned John about. “Crap!” she murmured.
As Beth walked into the tree covered area she could here the trickle of water. It was pleasant here. Much cooler than the 92 degrees in the sun she had been dealing with for over an hour.
Suddenly Beth’s hair on the back of her neck stood up. She felt as if something was watching her. She peered around the wooded area to see if she noticed any animal tracks in the mud. “Just find the ball” she thought to herself. Finally she found her small white ball and scampered out of the wood.
“What’s wrong dear?” Asked John.
“Nothing. Just kind of freaked myself out I guess.”
The next morning the two were out on the golf course again. This time Beth was in the lead. Both were in good spirits.
“Your right John, this hole is nice. Its too bad there aren’t any houses on this side.”
John replied, “It’s probably because of the terrain. They’d have to tear down some of those nice hills, which are pretty rough. Any it might have something to do with the spring system.”
As John swung he knew right where it was headed. The same place that Beth had almost lost her ball yesterday.
“Ah great.” John sputtered frustration in his voice.
“I guess it’s your turn” said Beth.
After five minutes of waiting Beth called out, “John! John, What’s taking you so long?” No reply. “No screwing around John!”
Beth moved quietly towards the wood hoping to hear John rustling around. She carefully stepped down towards the sound of the spring bubbling, her eyes scanning the foliage. She wasn’t more than a foot or two away from the water when a sharp pain struck the back of her head.
John struggled to open his blurry eyes. He instantly knew something was wrong. He quietly tried to focus on where he was. He wasn’t in the wood anymore. He was indoors. He wondered if he had another heart attack. Realizing that he had pain coming from the back of the neck, he thought that maybe he had passed out, hitting his head. Then he heard an unfamiliar voice.
“Why did you bring him back here?” one voice said with urgency in it.
“I didn’t know what else to do, Day. The lady, she got away. She worked her self loose and hit me with the bat. She knocked me clean out. When I woke up, I saw she was gone. I’d already had him down in the basement, but she was gone.”
“Ok, ok. Just let me think a minute. Did anyone see you come up here? How long ago was it?” asked Day.
“I got ‘em at 10. I was in the bunkhouse by 10:30. I guess it probably happened before noon” replied Johnny.
“She’s probably already told the cops by now. We have to get rid of him, but not here.” Day replied.
A fear went through John like he had never felt before. He knew what was being planned. At least Beth got away.
He struggled against his bindings. It felt like some kind of tape. Sticky. Tight. It seemed to cut into him, but the pain didn’t matter right now.
When Day grabbed his arm he realized that his captive was now awake. “He’s awake now Johnny! You see what you did? Your irresponsibility is going to cost us!” Johnny secured John’s legs and they began to hoist him up. John realized that his legs here not tied and began to purposefully kick kid Johnny. He caught him square in the chest and propelled him backwards.
Johnny’s luck had run out. He tripped as he was falling backwards and while his enormous weight was being flung downward, he hit the corner of Day’s workbench. The blood splattered at first, but then slowly oozed out.
“Johnny! No, Johnny!” Day screamed as he dropped John and bolted for his brother.
“Johnny! What have you done?” Day wept as he held his brother’s limp body. Johnny was all he had left in this life. He and Johnny had taken care of the grounds at the golf course since their parents had died and the new owners had take control. Their parents had left an enormous debt, but the kind proprietors had agreed to keep them on.
“You, “ Day said as he turned his attention toward John, “what is it with you people?”
“What do you mean?” John managed.
“My parents took care of you people from California for years. They barely keep this golf course together while racking up the debt trying to please you. You come out here in your fancy cars, your expensive golf clubs. You throw money around like it was nothing. But then you get so demanding. You only go to the cheap places but you demand the best of everything, for nothing.” Day rambled, slurring his words as they mixed with the tears now streaming down his face.
“We like it out here!” Said John. “We were wanting to live out here. You have a beautiful place, you’ve done a good job with it. Just let me go, I can’t talk to the police for you. I’m a lawyer. I can help you!”
Day was incensed. “Shut up!”
He yanked John to his feet “That’s the problem. You rich people think you can just come in and buy stuff up. I live here. Johnny lived here! This was our place, not yours!”
Day forced John towards the door. John protested, “Look Day, think about what you are doing! You can’t kill me; you don’t want that on your conscience!”
“Shut up! Move! Until know we had already taken care of 7 others, one more won’t matter now!” Day shouted.
The door of the small house burst open and Beth could see John with his hands tied behind his back.
“There he is!” Beth told the officer nearest her. “I can see him!”
“Mr. Morrison, please put down your weapon and let Mr. Carpenter go. You have no way out. Please do not make it worse for yourself by causing any harm to Mr. Carpenter.” The officer shouted over the bullhorn.
The lead negotiator commanded again, “Mr. Morrison, please put down your weapon.”
John tried to appeal, “Day, give it up man. You can’t go anywhere. Don’t make it worse by hurting me!”
Day was even more emotional now. “Shut up! Everyone shut up! Get the hell out of here! This is my place! You don’t belong here.” Day raised his Desert Eagle pistol and took aim at one of the several squad cars that had closed off his street. Just then John heard a snap and then the air being sliced as the bullet pieced Day’s chest, just above his heart.
“What are you doing?” Beth screamed.
“We had to take the shot ma’am. He was about to open fire on us.” The officer explained.
John was flooded with emotion as Day fell limp next to him. Then a sharp pain jolted his own body. As he turned toward the others the last image he saw was that of his wife.
The medical examiner was comforting Beth, “It was definitely a heart attack Mrs. Carpenter. Having the heart attack a few years ago, he just couldn’t take it all.”
“But he was free. He’d already gone through so much, just a few seconds later and everything would have been alright” Beth said as she began to morn her life long friend and husband, John Carpenter.
“Did you tell the Andersons we were leaving?” Beth asked.
“Yes dear. Josh said that he would feed the dogs. They didn’t have anything special going on this weekend.” John responded, yelling as Beth exited their master bedroom. It always took him less than half an hour to get completely packed and ready to go for the weekend. His wife was less efficient.
As the Carpenters arrived the resort style hotel welcomed them. As they pulled their L.A. plated Mercedes under the portico the bell hops rushed to greet them. Their luggage and golf clubs were quickly loaded on a cart and wheeled inside.
“Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter. We have a reservation for the weekend.” John hurriedly said to the front desk clerk.
Oliver St. John was the front desk weekend manager. “Yes Mr. Carpenter. Suite 305. Jenny will take you and your luggage to the room. Jenny, suite 305 please. Enjoy your stay!” John quickly asked, “How is the Sun Devil this time of year?” Oliver replied, “Wonderful! The weather has been so nice lately. I haven’t played myself, but I have heard from several guests who said it is in the best shape they have seen it in a while.” “Great! Thanks!” John and Beth followed Jenny to the room.
“When is our tee time?” Beth asked John. “I went ahead and got an 8 AM tee-off. I know it’s earlier than you’d like, but it won’t be so hot later on. Phoenix gets up to well over 95 during the late afternoon you know.”
Beth complained, “We should have flown. I wish we would have flown. Next time we come out here, let’s just fly. It’s not that expensive.” “I know dear, “John replied in his most sympathetic voice possible. “ Next time, we’ll see about it. For now, let’s go down to dinner. I’m starving.”
As the couple entered the restaurant they were greeted by the always pleasant host. “Good evening! Back again I see! Back for more golf this season?” gushed Mr. Clancy.
“Hello Mr. Clancy,” Replied Beth, “I see you finished the remodeling from last year. It looks wonderful. Such rich and vibrant colors.” “Why thank you Mrs. Carpenter! I am so glad we are finally finished. It was truly a growing pain. But we are now done and our little place can now seat over 350 at once!”
Mr. Clancy motioned to a handsome young man in a suit and tie, “Patrick, please take the Carpenters to the Mezzanine. Table 42. And Mr. Carpenter, would you like a bottle of our newest wine import? It’s a ‘98 Torubeck Shiraz.” “Sounds divine, “John said with a smile on his face. He loved red wine.
The next morning John and Beth were sitting on their balcony over looking the atrium. It was pleasant out here, especially with the sound of the water falls below. It provided an oasis in the desert that they both enjoyed. John and Beth had been visiting here for years, and were planning on buying a condo as soon as John retired in 4 years.
John had his nose buried in the morning paper. “Now this is odd” he said. “What’s that honey,” asked Beth. “This article in the Sun Times. It’s about a missing man. Says here that he could be linked to the three other missing since June 1st.”
That caught Beth’s attention. “Really? What else does it say.” “Says that one was in town for a tournament and the others are all residents.” But isn’t that odd that so many would show up missing in such a short time frame?” John never removed his gaze from the paper, “Sign of the times, that’s all.”
“You lead off sugar” John said. “Show me how to hit this one!”
“Oh sure, thanks. Mulligans on the first hole, right?” asked Beth.
“Absolutely. Absolutely!” said John.
After 12 holes John was barely hanging on to a two stroke lead. Beth had played very well today. However, John knew for sure that his luck was up. Beth was a much better golfer than he.
“I love this hole” John said as he peered down the fairway. “I don’t quite know how they keep this so lush and green in the desert, but it sure is nice.”
“There are some natural springs on this course. They pump those for irrigation and in certain places, like this hole, they are built right up against where a spring comes out.” Beth said.
She continued, “This dog legs left here. I don’t think you can make it over that group of shrubs and trees, but you want to be just to the left of it.”
“Got it? I lost it!” John said in frustration. “You’re good! Just in the right spot. You are just to the left. Perfect!” Beth replied with exhilaration.
“Great, let’s see what you’ve got old lady!” John agitated Beth. “Hey! Quiet in the gallery please!”
As Beth swung her club over the top of her left shoulder she knew she had sliced. She watched in disappointment as her Callaway ball bounced directly in to the rough she had warned John about. “Crap!” she murmured.
As Beth walked into the tree covered area she could here the trickle of water. It was pleasant here. Much cooler than the 92 degrees in the sun she had been dealing with for over an hour.
Suddenly Beth’s hair on the back of her neck stood up. She felt as if something was watching her. She peered around the wooded area to see if she noticed any animal tracks in the mud. “Just find the ball” she thought to herself. Finally she found her small white ball and scampered out of the wood.
“What’s wrong dear?” Asked John.
“Nothing. Just kind of freaked myself out I guess.”
The next morning the two were out on the golf course again. This time Beth was in the lead. Both were in good spirits.
“Your right John, this hole is nice. Its too bad there aren’t any houses on this side.”
John replied, “It’s probably because of the terrain. They’d have to tear down some of those nice hills, which are pretty rough. Any it might have something to do with the spring system.”
As John swung he knew right where it was headed. The same place that Beth had almost lost her ball yesterday.
“Ah great.” John sputtered frustration in his voice.
“I guess it’s your turn” said Beth.
After five minutes of waiting Beth called out, “John! John, What’s taking you so long?” No reply. “No screwing around John!”
Beth moved quietly towards the wood hoping to hear John rustling around. She carefully stepped down towards the sound of the spring bubbling, her eyes scanning the foliage. She wasn’t more than a foot or two away from the water when a sharp pain struck the back of her head.
John struggled to open his blurry eyes. He instantly knew something was wrong. He quietly tried to focus on where he was. He wasn’t in the wood anymore. He was indoors. He wondered if he had another heart attack. Realizing that he had pain coming from the back of the neck, he thought that maybe he had passed out, hitting his head. Then he heard an unfamiliar voice.
“Why did you bring him back here?” one voice said with urgency in it.
“I didn’t know what else to do, Day. The lady, she got away. She worked her self loose and hit me with the bat. She knocked me clean out. When I woke up, I saw she was gone. I’d already had him down in the basement, but she was gone.”
“Ok, ok. Just let me think a minute. Did anyone see you come up here? How long ago was it?” asked Day.
“I got ‘em at 10. I was in the bunkhouse by 10:30. I guess it probably happened before noon” replied Johnny.
“She’s probably already told the cops by now. We have to get rid of him, but not here.” Day replied.
A fear went through John like he had never felt before. He knew what was being planned. At least Beth got away.
He struggled against his bindings. It felt like some kind of tape. Sticky. Tight. It seemed to cut into him, but the pain didn’t matter right now.
When Day grabbed his arm he realized that his captive was now awake. “He’s awake now Johnny! You see what you did? Your irresponsibility is going to cost us!” Johnny secured John’s legs and they began to hoist him up. John realized that his legs here not tied and began to purposefully kick kid Johnny. He caught him square in the chest and propelled him backwards.
Johnny’s luck had run out. He tripped as he was falling backwards and while his enormous weight was being flung downward, he hit the corner of Day’s workbench. The blood splattered at first, but then slowly oozed out.
“Johnny! No, Johnny!” Day screamed as he dropped John and bolted for his brother.
“Johnny! What have you done?” Day wept as he held his brother’s limp body. Johnny was all he had left in this life. He and Johnny had taken care of the grounds at the golf course since their parents had died and the new owners had take control. Their parents had left an enormous debt, but the kind proprietors had agreed to keep them on.
“You, “ Day said as he turned his attention toward John, “what is it with you people?”
“What do you mean?” John managed.
“My parents took care of you people from California for years. They barely keep this golf course together while racking up the debt trying to please you. You come out here in your fancy cars, your expensive golf clubs. You throw money around like it was nothing. But then you get so demanding. You only go to the cheap places but you demand the best of everything, for nothing.” Day rambled, slurring his words as they mixed with the tears now streaming down his face.
“We like it out here!” Said John. “We were wanting to live out here. You have a beautiful place, you’ve done a good job with it. Just let me go, I can’t talk to the police for you. I’m a lawyer. I can help you!”
Day was incensed. “Shut up!”
He yanked John to his feet “That’s the problem. You rich people think you can just come in and buy stuff up. I live here. Johnny lived here! This was our place, not yours!”
Day forced John towards the door. John protested, “Look Day, think about what you are doing! You can’t kill me; you don’t want that on your conscience!”
“Shut up! Move! Until know we had already taken care of 7 others, one more won’t matter now!” Day shouted.
The door of the small house burst open and Beth could see John with his hands tied behind his back.
“There he is!” Beth told the officer nearest her. “I can see him!”
“Mr. Morrison, please put down your weapon and let Mr. Carpenter go. You have no way out. Please do not make it worse for yourself by causing any harm to Mr. Carpenter.” The officer shouted over the bullhorn.
The lead negotiator commanded again, “Mr. Morrison, please put down your weapon.”
John tried to appeal, “Day, give it up man. You can’t go anywhere. Don’t make it worse by hurting me!”
Day was even more emotional now. “Shut up! Everyone shut up! Get the hell out of here! This is my place! You don’t belong here.” Day raised his Desert Eagle pistol and took aim at one of the several squad cars that had closed off his street. Just then John heard a snap and then the air being sliced as the bullet pieced Day’s chest, just above his heart.
“What are you doing?” Beth screamed.
“We had to take the shot ma’am. He was about to open fire on us.” The officer explained.
John was flooded with emotion as Day fell limp next to him. Then a sharp pain jolted his own body. As he turned toward the others the last image he saw was that of his wife.
The medical examiner was comforting Beth, “It was definitely a heart attack Mrs. Carpenter. Having the heart attack a few years ago, he just couldn’t take it all.”
“But he was free. He’d already gone through so much, just a few seconds later and everything would have been alright” Beth said as she began to morn her life long friend and husband, John Carpenter.
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