"What the heck?" Joe Hardy shoved a lock of blond hair away from his sparkling blue eyes, and peered at the monitor in surprised confusion. Seventeen-year-old Joe had logged onto the Internet to check out the latest chapter in a fanfiction story he had been keeping up with. Clicking on Favorites, he had hit the "fanfic" button at the bottom of the set, just as he had done last night before going to bed. But instead of the sci-fi fanfiction site he was accustomed to seeing, he found a list of authors and stories which seemed to have nothing to do with any form of science fiction.
"What's wrong?" Frank, Joe's brother, walked into the den and leaned his 6'1" frame over Joe's shoulder to look at the screen and see what had aroused his brother's senses. His wavy brown hair tickled Joe's nose, as he got too close.
Joe pushed the offending hair away from his nose, and rubbed a finger across it to stop the itch. "Did you save a new site on the Favorites list?" he inquired, looking sideways at Frank.
Frank turned his head, his brown eyes meeting Joe's blue ones. "Nope," he said. "Is that all that's got you so upset?" Frank smirked and turned away.
"Ha, ha, aren't we superior?" Joe sulked, turning back to the screen and accessing his site. Eighteen-year-old brothers can be a pain! he thought.
"If you're going to be on there for a while, I think I'll go over to Callie's." Frank announced, mentioning the girl he had dated steadily for the past two years. "Jeez, I'll be glad when my computer's back from the repair shop!" he added. "I hate having to use this one all the time!" He glanced back at the computer setup on his father's desk.
"Yeah, sure." Joe mumbled, already caught up in his reading.
Frank shook his head and departed. Joe enjoys the computer so much, I'm surprised he hasn't saved up for one of his own! Then again, he thought, Joe never saves for anything. Money just seemed to burn a hole in his pocket.
About thirty minutes later, the front door opened, and a lovely woman with blond hair and blue eyes entered the house. She dropped a bag by the phone table, and went into the den where Joe sat, engrossed on the computer. She glanced over Joe's shoulder to see what he was reading – and blushed.
"Oh, Joe!" Laura Hardy exclaimed.
"Huh?" Joe jumped, startled, and turned around. He hadn't heard anyone come in. "Oh, hi Mom. Have you seen this site? There are some pretty cool mysteries here."
"Actually, I have." she replied. "I'm the one who book-marked it."
"Have you read them all yet?" Joe asked, looking up into her blue eyes with interest.
"No, not all of them," Mrs. Hardy admitted. "But most of them. There's a new author on the board who seems to be fairly popular with the message board crowd, that I haven't had the time to check out yet."
"Which one?" Joe inquired, turning back to look at the monitor.
"Mystique."
Joe pulled up the story. "'Truth and Consequences,'" he read the title. "Oh well." He clicked on the first chapter.
"Hon, before you do that, could you do me a favor?" his mother requested.
"Name it." Joe said, keeping his eyes glued to the monitor.
"The dry cleaners called me on my cell, just as I was pulling into the driveway." she said. "Would you please go and pick it up?"
"No problem." Joe responded, and started to exit the website.
"Umm…wait." Mrs. Hardy stopped him. "I think I'll check out what's been posted before I get busy."
"Sure, Mom." Joe said, smothering a smile. So Mom likes fanfiction mysteries, huh? It was nice to know he had something in common with his mother other than their fair coloring.
Joe went outside, and climbed into his mother's car. He couldn't pick up dry cleaning on his motorcycle, and Frank had taken the van.
Frank arrived at Callie Shaw's home, and knocked on the front door. In seconds, it was opened by Callie herself, a tall girl with green eyes, and short blond hair that curled under at the edges. Frank smiled at the vision of loveliness in front of him, and leaned to kiss her lips lightly. "Hi, beautiful!" he whispered.
"Hi yourself," she replied a bit breathlessly, when he pulled back. "What brings you over here on a school night?"
"I was lonesome." he admitted, giving her a slow smile and looking deeply into her eyes.
"Joe on the computer again?" Callie asked knowingly. Frank nodded. "My parents are home…" she said, lost in his dark, soulful gaze. "Why don't we go for a walk?"
"Anywhere, with you." he assented gallantly, taking her hand.
"Mom! Dad! I'm going for a walk with Frank, okay?" she shouted over her shoulder. An affirmative reply was given, and Callie closed the door behind her. They walked down the steps, hand in hand.
They strolled along leisurely, in comfortable silence, happy to be in each other's company, until they reached the park. Entering, they made their way to the swings, and Callie sat down on the second one from the end. Frank gave her two big pushes, then took the end swing, and quickly reached the height Callie had been maintaining.
"Isn't it wonderful?" she asked, tilting her head back and closing her eyes, as she held on tightly.
"What…?" Frank murmured. His eyes were resting on a little boy with curly blond hair, that reminded him of a much younger Joe. The child was sliding down the big slide, into the waiting arms of his mother.
"Frank." Callie said again. He looked over and found her sitting up, gazing at him.
"Sorry," he said. "What's wonderful?"
"Never mind," she said, laughing. "What's so interesting?"
"Nothing, really. I was just watching that kid with his mother. Reminiscing."
Callie looked over at the pair under discussion. Suddenly, her brow wrinkled in concern. "Frank, look…" she said warningly.
Frank glanced at the boy and his mother. A German Shepherd dog had appeared on the scene, and was advancing threateningly on the twosome, growling and barking.
Frank jumped off his swing and took off, waving his arms and shouting. The dog turned on Frank, growling. Frank halted and stared at the animal, as the mother and son scrambled up the slide, out of harm's way.
The dog advanced on Frank a few feet at a time, his growl rumbling deep in his throat. Frank swallowed nervously. Wonder if it has rabies, or something? Suddenly, however, the shepherd's ears pricked up, and it turned and ran in the opposite direction.
Frank heaved a deep sigh of relief, and wiped his forehead where beads of sweat had popped out. He hurried over to the slide, and helped the woman and her son to get down.
"Are you two all right?" he asked in concern, as Callie came running up.
"Yes, thanks to you." the woman replied, her hands trembling as she held tightly to her little boy. "Where did that beast go?"
"It wasn't a beast," the little boy corrected his mother. "It was a doggie."
"A very big doggie." Callie agreed. "It took off running for the park's exit." she assured the woman.
"I – I think we'll leave now, in case it comes back," the woman said. "And I think I'm going to report it to the authorities. That's a dangerous animal to have running around loose."
"Good idea," Frank agreed. He and Callie walked the pair to their car, and then started home.
"Callie…about that dog." Frank's voice was thoughtful.
"What is it?" she asked.
"It wasn't a stray," he told her. "It was wearing a red collar."
Joe entered the dry cleaning establishment belonging to Xhnu Wong, and walked up to the counter. "Hi, Lin Su," he greeted the woman behind the counter. "I'm here to pick up our clothes."
"One minute," she told him, smiling at the handsome young man. She walked into the back, but returned empty-handed. "I'm sorry, Joe, but they aren't ready. Probably not for another three hours."
"But Mom said you or Mr. Wong called and said it was ready!" Joe's brow wrinkled in confusion.
"It wasn't either of us." Lin Su assured him. "Why would we call and tell you it was ready, if it wasn't?" she reasoned.
"You wouldn't," Joe agreed with a small laugh. "Hmm, maybe Mom just wanted me out of the house for a while!" he joked. He had the fantastic notion that Laura might have sent him on a wild goose chase so that she could get at the computer before him…or perhaps, someone had called to lure her out of the house. If that were the case…. "Thanks, Lin Su! We'll get it tomorrow." he said, hurrying out of the shop and getting into the car.
Once in the car, Joe pulled out his cell phone and dialed home. "Hi Mom, it's me." he said, when his mother answered. "The laundry wasn't ready." he informed her.
"That's strange." his mother commented. "I wonder why they said it was?"
"Maybe they called the wrong number." Joe suggested.
"Perhaps," his mother concurred. "I thought it was too fast. Well, come home and get started on your homework."
"On my way," Joe said, and hung up. He put the cell phone back in his pocket, and started the engine. Putting the car in gear, he backed out of the parking lot and re-entered the busy thoroughfare. He shifted into a lower gear as he hit the hill leading down to the intersection at the light. He hated this intersection. He often had to wait through two light changes, due to the heavy amount of traffic.
He saw the light changing, and hit the brakes to bring the car to a stop…but the brakes didn't respond. He pumped them – still no response. He saw an 18-wheeler coming up to the light on his right, which was changing to green, and glimpsed a blue Metro in the lane ahead of him. Joe laid on the horn and fought to keep his eyes open, as the light switched and the big rig started moving forward.
Joe dropped the car into its lowest gear and prayed, as he continued inexorably down the hill, his hand going back to the horn as he sped on. The Metro pulled over as far as it could go, and Joe squeaked by it and barreled through the red light as the rig drove through, its nose barely missing the bumper of Mrs. Hardy's car. Joe continued his frantic drive, wondering why a cop hadn't shown up to hit his lights and siren, and clear the way. Never one around when you need one! Flashed through his mind.
Ahead, Joe saw the road divide, and didn't even debate which route to take. The right led to downtown Bayport, where he probably would get stopped, but possibly at the risk of someone's life! The left would take him out into the country. It should be easier to stop, out there. he reasoned.
As he got farther away from town, Joe decided to pull off the road into a field, hoping the uneven ground would help him halt the car. But not far into the field, one of the wheels hit a rock which had been hidden by the tall weeds. The car jumped, causing the steering wheel to spin out of Joe's hands. Mere seconds before he reached it, Joe saw the barn looming up before him. Instinctively he flung his arms up, in a futile effort to protect himself from the impact!
"What's wrong?" Frank, Joe's brother, walked into the den and leaned his 6'1" frame over Joe's shoulder to look at the screen and see what had aroused his brother's senses. His wavy brown hair tickled Joe's nose, as he got too close.
Joe pushed the offending hair away from his nose, and rubbed a finger across it to stop the itch. "Did you save a new site on the Favorites list?" he inquired, looking sideways at Frank.
Frank turned his head, his brown eyes meeting Joe's blue ones. "Nope," he said. "Is that all that's got you so upset?" Frank smirked and turned away.
"Ha, ha, aren't we superior?" Joe sulked, turning back to the screen and accessing his site. Eighteen-year-old brothers can be a pain! he thought.
"If you're going to be on there for a while, I think I'll go over to Callie's." Frank announced, mentioning the girl he had dated steadily for the past two years. "Jeez, I'll be glad when my computer's back from the repair shop!" he added. "I hate having to use this one all the time!" He glanced back at the computer setup on his father's desk.
"Yeah, sure." Joe mumbled, already caught up in his reading.
Frank shook his head and departed. Joe enjoys the computer so much, I'm surprised he hasn't saved up for one of his own! Then again, he thought, Joe never saves for anything. Money just seemed to burn a hole in his pocket.
About thirty minutes later, the front door opened, and a lovely woman with blond hair and blue eyes entered the house. She dropped a bag by the phone table, and went into the den where Joe sat, engrossed on the computer. She glanced over Joe's shoulder to see what he was reading – and blushed.
"Oh, Joe!" Laura Hardy exclaimed.
"Huh?" Joe jumped, startled, and turned around. He hadn't heard anyone come in. "Oh, hi Mom. Have you seen this site? There are some pretty cool mysteries here."
"Actually, I have." she replied. "I'm the one who book-marked it."
"Have you read them all yet?" Joe asked, looking up into her blue eyes with interest.
"No, not all of them," Mrs. Hardy admitted. "But most of them. There's a new author on the board who seems to be fairly popular with the message board crowd, that I haven't had the time to check out yet."
"Which one?" Joe inquired, turning back to look at the monitor.
"Mystique."
Joe pulled up the story. "'Truth and Consequences,'" he read the title. "Oh well." He clicked on the first chapter.
"Hon, before you do that, could you do me a favor?" his mother requested.
"Name it." Joe said, keeping his eyes glued to the monitor.
"The dry cleaners called me on my cell, just as I was pulling into the driveway." she said. "Would you please go and pick it up?"
"No problem." Joe responded, and started to exit the website.
"Umm…wait." Mrs. Hardy stopped him. "I think I'll check out what's been posted before I get busy."
"Sure, Mom." Joe said, smothering a smile. So Mom likes fanfiction mysteries, huh? It was nice to know he had something in common with his mother other than their fair coloring.
Joe went outside, and climbed into his mother's car. He couldn't pick up dry cleaning on his motorcycle, and Frank had taken the van.
Frank arrived at Callie Shaw's home, and knocked on the front door. In seconds, it was opened by Callie herself, a tall girl with green eyes, and short blond hair that curled under at the edges. Frank smiled at the vision of loveliness in front of him, and leaned to kiss her lips lightly. "Hi, beautiful!" he whispered.
"Hi yourself," she replied a bit breathlessly, when he pulled back. "What brings you over here on a school night?"
"I was lonesome." he admitted, giving her a slow smile and looking deeply into her eyes.
"Joe on the computer again?" Callie asked knowingly. Frank nodded. "My parents are home…" she said, lost in his dark, soulful gaze. "Why don't we go for a walk?"
"Anywhere, with you." he assented gallantly, taking her hand.
"Mom! Dad! I'm going for a walk with Frank, okay?" she shouted over her shoulder. An affirmative reply was given, and Callie closed the door behind her. They walked down the steps, hand in hand.
They strolled along leisurely, in comfortable silence, happy to be in each other's company, until they reached the park. Entering, they made their way to the swings, and Callie sat down on the second one from the end. Frank gave her two big pushes, then took the end swing, and quickly reached the height Callie had been maintaining.
"Isn't it wonderful?" she asked, tilting her head back and closing her eyes, as she held on tightly.
"What…?" Frank murmured. His eyes were resting on a little boy with curly blond hair, that reminded him of a much younger Joe. The child was sliding down the big slide, into the waiting arms of his mother.
"Frank." Callie said again. He looked over and found her sitting up, gazing at him.
"Sorry," he said. "What's wonderful?"
"Never mind," she said, laughing. "What's so interesting?"
"Nothing, really. I was just watching that kid with his mother. Reminiscing."
Callie looked over at the pair under discussion. Suddenly, her brow wrinkled in concern. "Frank, look…" she said warningly.
Frank glanced at the boy and his mother. A German Shepherd dog had appeared on the scene, and was advancing threateningly on the twosome, growling and barking.
Frank jumped off his swing and took off, waving his arms and shouting. The dog turned on Frank, growling. Frank halted and stared at the animal, as the mother and son scrambled up the slide, out of harm's way.
The dog advanced on Frank a few feet at a time, his growl rumbling deep in his throat. Frank swallowed nervously. Wonder if it has rabies, or something? Suddenly, however, the shepherd's ears pricked up, and it turned and ran in the opposite direction.
Frank heaved a deep sigh of relief, and wiped his forehead where beads of sweat had popped out. He hurried over to the slide, and helped the woman and her son to get down.
"Are you two all right?" he asked in concern, as Callie came running up.
"Yes, thanks to you." the woman replied, her hands trembling as she held tightly to her little boy. "Where did that beast go?"
"It wasn't a beast," the little boy corrected his mother. "It was a doggie."
"A very big doggie." Callie agreed. "It took off running for the park's exit." she assured the woman.
"I – I think we'll leave now, in case it comes back," the woman said. "And I think I'm going to report it to the authorities. That's a dangerous animal to have running around loose."
"Good idea," Frank agreed. He and Callie walked the pair to their car, and then started home.
"Callie…about that dog." Frank's voice was thoughtful.
"What is it?" she asked.
"It wasn't a stray," he told her. "It was wearing a red collar."
Joe entered the dry cleaning establishment belonging to Xhnu Wong, and walked up to the counter. "Hi, Lin Su," he greeted the woman behind the counter. "I'm here to pick up our clothes."
"One minute," she told him, smiling at the handsome young man. She walked into the back, but returned empty-handed. "I'm sorry, Joe, but they aren't ready. Probably not for another three hours."
"But Mom said you or Mr. Wong called and said it was ready!" Joe's brow wrinkled in confusion.
"It wasn't either of us." Lin Su assured him. "Why would we call and tell you it was ready, if it wasn't?" she reasoned.
"You wouldn't," Joe agreed with a small laugh. "Hmm, maybe Mom just wanted me out of the house for a while!" he joked. He had the fantastic notion that Laura might have sent him on a wild goose chase so that she could get at the computer before him…or perhaps, someone had called to lure her out of the house. If that were the case…. "Thanks, Lin Su! We'll get it tomorrow." he said, hurrying out of the shop and getting into the car.
Once in the car, Joe pulled out his cell phone and dialed home. "Hi Mom, it's me." he said, when his mother answered. "The laundry wasn't ready." he informed her.
"That's strange." his mother commented. "I wonder why they said it was?"
"Maybe they called the wrong number." Joe suggested.
"Perhaps," his mother concurred. "I thought it was too fast. Well, come home and get started on your homework."
"On my way," Joe said, and hung up. He put the cell phone back in his pocket, and started the engine. Putting the car in gear, he backed out of the parking lot and re-entered the busy thoroughfare. He shifted into a lower gear as he hit the hill leading down to the intersection at the light. He hated this intersection. He often had to wait through two light changes, due to the heavy amount of traffic.
He saw the light changing, and hit the brakes to bring the car to a stop…but the brakes didn't respond. He pumped them – still no response. He saw an 18-wheeler coming up to the light on his right, which was changing to green, and glimpsed a blue Metro in the lane ahead of him. Joe laid on the horn and fought to keep his eyes open, as the light switched and the big rig started moving forward.
Joe dropped the car into its lowest gear and prayed, as he continued inexorably down the hill, his hand going back to the horn as he sped on. The Metro pulled over as far as it could go, and Joe squeaked by it and barreled through the red light as the rig drove through, its nose barely missing the bumper of Mrs. Hardy's car. Joe continued his frantic drive, wondering why a cop hadn't shown up to hit his lights and siren, and clear the way. Never one around when you need one! Flashed through his mind.
Ahead, Joe saw the road divide, and didn't even debate which route to take. The right led to downtown Bayport, where he probably would get stopped, but possibly at the risk of someone's life! The left would take him out into the country. It should be easier to stop, out there. he reasoned.
As he got farther away from town, Joe decided to pull off the road into a field, hoping the uneven ground would help him halt the car. But not far into the field, one of the wheels hit a rock which had been hidden by the tall weeds. The car jumped, causing the steering wheel to spin out of Joe's hands. Mere seconds before he reached it, Joe saw the barn looming up before him. Instinctively he flung his arms up, in a futile effort to protect himself from the impact!