Proper Perspective

Merril

Graham was off somewhere talking to Carolyn, the town's only legit sheriff. He had called her right after he yanked us all out of the cornfields. We only had one legit sheriff because the town was so small. I guess there were advantages. Which I didn't know at the time but you know the expression they say.I actually didn't know that one either.

When I first saw the circle, I was confused. Your initial reaction to something like that is not easily defined. I mean, the kids always overreact and Graham always underreacts. Gwen's the only one who I can look to for the straight reactions. And that is a sad thing to say but it's worse to say that she practically raised herself after our already broken home broke up. That poor girl is fifteen, living on a farm with all males except for a single girl who's nowhere near puberty. No mom to constantly confide in and no real sign that she could confide in me.

But when I saw her face out in the fields.I didn't know what to think. She quickly took my hand and led me out to our little rent and board, bed and breakfast sized crashpad and expertly climbed up onto its' roof. I wrenched myself up the gutter and after tearing five different ligaments, was level with her. It was still early so you had to shield your eyes from the sun.

But when we were that high up, you could see the entire field. You could see the full design of the crop circle. There was an entire design of circles and lines, all intertwining and interlocking in a somewhat architectural pattern. Both of us knew though, squatting down, staring out at it, that this was no everyday design made by squeaky voiced honor roll students. This design was completely perfect. The stalks were bent over but not broken. It couldn't have been done by hand; no, it was too perfect.

"Have Bo and Morgan been up here?" I asked her.

She was gripping as much roof as she could and squinting out at the fields. "I would never let them up here," she replied. "Bo would give me a lecture."

"Do they know what it looks like?"

She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a folded paper. I took it and was amazed to see an accurate sketch of the sign. I peered at a tiny scribble at the top right hand corner and asked her about it.

"Bo wanted to draw us, too" was all she would say.

I stared at the paper for the minute and tried to think of something to say. I came up with nothing.

"You draw really well."

She stared at me with this incredulous look on her face. "You're so." she started, clenching her fists for an adjective.

"Pensive?" I tried.

"Jesus Dad, have you even seen what's in our cornfields? Try and put this in the proper perspective." She sighed and started to shimmy down to the grassy ground.

I looked out at the fields again and then looked down at her just as she hit the ground. Leaning over the edge I yelled down: "All I'm saying is that you put it to excellent use!" She didn't say anything but just kicked at the ground. Her sandal came off and she scrambled to get it.

"Gwen! Are you listening to me?" I yelled again. My hand slipped off the edge and I did an awkward twist to stay on the high roof. I landed on my side. Ow. "Gwen!!"

"You'd better stay up there until Mom stops talking to Graham, unless you want to screw things up more!" Now she was looking up at me with a look of anger and fatigue, like she knew what she was saying but just didn't care anymore. She turned on her heel, sandal still in hand and stalked over to the swing set across the vast lawn where Bo and Morgan were feeding Houdini.

I sat up and stared out at her. Oh yeah, it cut deep. I ran my fingers through my hair and realized I was sweating.
Bo
My big cousin Gwen was walking over to me and Morgan. She was carrying her blue sandal in her hand. I remember when my dad gave her those for her birthday. We had chocolate cake and there were ballons all over. I popped a red one.

She was looking sad. Uncle Merril was sitting on top of his roof wiping his head and looking at our drawing. "Why's Uncle Merril sitting on your roof for?" I asked Gwen. She came and sat down beside us. She looked angry.

"He's thinking hard," she said to me. She smiled but it wasn't as big as it usually was.

"He's scared about the circles, Bo. Figure it out," said Morgan. "And drink your water." My glass was at my feet. The grass was poking up around it in funny shapes. I could feel it on my legs. Morgan was sitting cross-legged too.

"It's contaminated," I said. It was! It tasted funny, like grape yogurt. "You want it, Gwen?" I asked her. She looked thirsty.

"No, thanks."

"Did you and Uncle Merril have a fight?" I asked. "Is he scared about the fields?"

Gwen sighed. She tossed her head to the side and all her long brown hair fell into her face. It was as long as a rope swing. She looked at me and gave me a bear hug, which are my favourites. "No, he's not scared. You know how he always likes to sleep really late? Well, it's too early for him."

"We woke him up, didn't we?" asked Morgan.

"Don't worry about that," said Gwen. She reached over and patted Morgan on the back. I did it, too. "You two don't need to worry about us, okay?"

I smiled. Gwen looked like her mommy. I think she was inside talking to Dad. I liked her. She always let me hold her police badge and ride up front when no one was looking.

"Drink your water," sighed Gwen.

"Give it to Houdini," Morgan said. "He hasn't drank anything all morning."

I reached towards his water bowl. He was sitting on his stomach, paws out front.

He raised his head really suddenly and growled deep. I could see all his teeth. I jumped back and kicked my water glass by accident. It knocked all over his nose and he stood up, still baring his teeth.

I started shivering. "Morgan." I said. Tears started in my eyes.

Gwen grabbed my arm. Houdini was growling like a bear. The three of us stood up and started backing away from the dog. I looked at Gwen and she looked at me. She was scared too. Morgan started breathing hard. I don't think he had his puffer with him.

White stuff started coming from Houdini's mouth. Gwen squeezed my hand so hard that it started to hurt. "Morgan, Bo," she said. "Listen to me very carefully."

"Gwen!" someone cried. I turned my head and saw Uncle Merril running towards us. He stopped when he saw Houdini.

"Uncle Merril! Don't move!" yelled Morgan. He held up his hand like one of those crossing guards. He was still looking at Houdini. Houdini wasn't attached to his chain. What if he got loose and started to run around the yard? He looked really scary growling like that. I wished he would stop.
Graham
I knew Carolyn was watching me as I paced around the inside of the circle. We had explored every inch of the design. Merril didn't understand it so he pulled the kids out to the yard, dragging the dogs with them. Then he raced up to his house. To avoid Carolyn, I think. She came over and didn't understand what we found either. No one in Pennsylvania would. I wouldn't let this get out.

She wasn't so sure, though.

"Don't you want to find out what this is? Who made it?" She put her hands on her hips and turned her back to me, shaking her head. One of the smartest people I knew and she couldn't help. "Father, please."

"Why are you calling me that? My name's Graham."

"Father Graham, then?" She turned around and stared right at me. "Nothing is keeping you."

"If this gets out," I said, raising my hands, "this would fufill the desired part of this hoax." I looked around at it. "I mean, if no one knows then no one gets famous, right?"

She didn't buy it. In her 35 years, she was almost smarter than me. "Who would have done this?" She stopped and closed her eyes. She started again, using a more professional tone. "Do you have any idea who would do something like this?"

I shrugged. She tapped her foot.

We stood there like silent lunatics who didn't know what was what, until I heard a shriek come from behind me.

I whipped around. I could hear the rest of the family now. They were all out in the yard. "Father?" She was right behind me now. I started walking through the stalks towards where the sound had come from. Carolyn was right behind me. She was still talking, like she was on a homicide or something. She chose to take it all serious and here I was, babbling to keep CNN out of it. I didn't want anything to do with the media, whatever sized box it came in.

We stepped into the yard. The first thing I saw was Houdini. He was growling and foaming at the mouth struggling to get off his chain. It wasn't very strong, tied to a 4 foot pole sticking out of the ground and ready to give.

The second thing I saw, was that he was barking to an empty yard. Didn't I just hear a shriek? My eyes wandered over to the verandah and up the steps to the living room window. I saw Bo's tiny face peering out the window at us.

"Stay here," I said over my shoulder. I almost heard a nod as I edged my way to the front steps. They were 20 feet away from me and 30 from the dog. He was barking louder than anything and pawing at his chain. Foam was actually dripping from his mouth. I knew I had to check on the kids. Where the hell was Merril?

I turned around when I reached the first step and that's when I heard the chain snap.

I tore up the stairs and promptly tripped over my feet. The dog wasn't even within 10 feet of me when Carolyn shot it.

It really was like time standing still. Our dead dog was lying on the lawn and my brother's ex-wife was the murderer. She stood, gun outstretched and face determined. I was still lying on the porch, my left kneecap starting to lose feeling. I heard the screen door burst open behind me. I didn't turn around to see who it was. They stood silent, seeing what I was.

Carolyn looked at whoever it was behind me. She didn't say anything, just continued to wear this mute expression. I felt hands under my arms, pulling me to my shaky feet. "Thanks," I muttered.

"No problem."

I turned around to face Gwen. Her eyes were red and she was clutching a red-stained cloth. Her face crumpled up as she stared out at her mother in horror and grief. "You shot our dog!" she yelled. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Carolyn slowly lowered the gun. Her expression wouldn't change. "Did you see what it was going to do?" she said. I heard her voice shaking. "It was rabid."

"This isn't some movie!" Gwen exploded. Her hands were covered with red, too. "What the hell did you do?"

I turned my head to look through the window. Bo was still staring out at us, crying. I ran inside to the living room and saw her perched on the top of the couch still in her blue dress. She looked at me. "What happened to Houdini?" she whispered.

"Oh, honey.". I walked over to her and scooped her in my arms. She put her arms around my neck and buried her face in my shirt. I just held her and stared outside at Gwen and Carolyn going at it. Gwen had a bun in her hair which was slowly coming out in wisps of sharp, hot anger. Carolyn had put the gun back in its' holster and was crossing her arms, trying to calm her down but she was completely off the wall, screaming so I could faintly hear.

I lowered my head to Bo's ear. "Baby, where's Morgan?"

She didn't say anything for a second and then looked at me. Her big beautiful eyes were filled with pearly tears and I bit my lip. "Houdini bit Uncle Merril and we ran inside," she stuttered. "Please tell Aunt Carolyn and Gwen to stop arguing, Daddy."

I stroked her hair and she rested her chin on my shoulder, still sniffling.