Needles Mark

Warning: Not beta'd and I can't spell. I own nothing no harm intended.

Disclaimer: I disclaim all my bills...what that doesn't work here? Okay I own nothing but my love for the characters.

The arm moves silently in the night descending until the needle it carries make contact .

***

The cool spring breeze passes thru the open window. Gently it moves the thin cotton curtains causing them to bellow and twist in the night. The residents of the house have long since retired for the evening but for some strange reason she wakes. Listening she hears nothing but rises anyway pulling on the worn robe she left at the foot of the bed. Her husband grumbles slightly at the loss of the warmth but doesn't wake.

She doesn't bother turning on the overhead lights as she ascends the wooden staircase. She has made this midnight trip thousands of times. It is true that he is not a little boy anymore, and he doesn't like being treated like one. It is also true that mothers never stops worrying about their babies. Turning the doorknob as quietly as she can she opens her sons door. The room is filled with a eerie green glow. The source of the light comes from his newest acquisition. It is not surprising that it has found its home on his bedside table.

Reaching out she touches his forehead, the low-grade fever he was running at dinner has risen. Gently she brushes the sweaty locks back and places a kiss where her hand has briefly rested. He looks so young that it is hard to believe that he will be turning fifteen soon. They years have passed to quickly.

Once nothing but sports memorabilia covered his bedroom walls, now it competes for space against posters of the hottest swimsuit models and rock bands. There are still a few cherished model planes hanging from the ceiling, and model cars on the bookshelves. It is not enough to ease the fact that the toys and books of his childhood have been replaced by various electronics and car mags.

Running her hand thru his hair one last time she worries that something is seriously wrong.

****

The sudden brightness of the overhead light wakes both of the rooms occupants in an instant. Sitting upright they struggle to focus they're eyes.

"Momma...Daddy" Although the voice had changed over the years the pleading tone of their child begging them to make it better is plain to her ears. She is by his side in seconds, her husband pausing only long enough to pull on a pair of jeans.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong." She can tell he's white as a ghost. Sweating and shivering at the same time.

"My stomach is killing me." He doesn't have the words out of his mouth before a sharp pain in his stomach caused him to double over and grasp his right side, his knees buckling at the same time.

"Hiram, I think it's his appendix."

"I think your right, We need to get him to the hospital. I'll Get him to the truck while you get dressed." With the strength of a man use to doing a hard days work Hiram lifts his son and rushes thought the farm house.

Rushing from the farmhouse moments later she doesn't stop to lock the door. Her baby is waiting, he needs her.

****

Upstairs the green light continues to glow. The arm moves silently in the night descending until the needle it carries make contact with the album and the sound of music can be heard faintly from the discarded headphones.

Authors note: This story was inspired by a memory. Around 1980 my older sister received a stereo for Christmas. It was Awesome...Complete with turntable and 8 track tape player and a set of headphones that looked like they belonged in a shooting range . We would lay in her room with the lights off just listening to albums at night. The only light in the room the green glow from the radio dial. Then last night I was laying in bed listening to a CD and I started missing my old albums and the old stereo, yes I understand CD's are soo much clearer...but for those of us that remember... there is just nothing like the warm sound of an album with all its pops and hisses. Then being the JS fan that I am I could just see Jonathan laying in bed listening to his stereo. The image of the green glow was just to perfect to resist.