(The Awesome Background And Secret Chronicles Of Michael Guerin)
Episode 111
Things That Go Bump In The Night
(Into The Woods)
Frasier Woods. You remember Frasier Woods, don't you, Alex? I thought as much. I recall seeing several red marks on you after the, uh, camping trip. You tried to hide them, but…
"Those were mosquito bites."
No, I know mosquito bites.
"Okay, so I pinched myself… several times… to make sure I was awake. Hey, I was watching the stars with Isabel! I wanted to be sure it wasn't just another dream. I guess, maybe, I got a little carried away."
Yeah… SOMEBODY did. Do you always pinch yourself on the neck? Or, uh, under your shirt maybe… or anywhere else?
"She did not! I mean… I did not… not that I would ever tell you about it… if it ever did happen."
Just checking. So getting back to my story.
"I think I'd like to hear more of their story, Guerin."
Ask Isabel and Alex about it, Kyle.
(Isabel shook her head, and Kyle let out a melodramatic huff) "If you're gonna tease me and then leave out all the good parts, Guerin, I'm outta here!"
You're not going anywhere, Kyle. You still want to know about my secret past. Now where were we? Oh yeah! The incident in Frasier Woods. There was a lot of heat lightning in the sky, but some hikers saw this really bright white light that they suspected wasn't just heat lightning. The Sheriff was informed, and Milton, the owner of the UFO Museum before Brody Davis bought it, heard it on the police scanner. Milton was always listening in on the police radio, because he knew the Sheriff wasn't going to tell him about it if anything "alien-related" ever happened. Right away, Milton sensed that the bright light was important. So did Jim. Milton told Max, because Max was working for him in the museum, and Max told me and Isabel. We realized that we had to get there before either Jim or Milton did and find out what it was.
As luck would have it, our school was having a father-son campout in Frasier Woods that weekend, so Max and Isabel decided to go and take their dad… so they'd have an excuse, just in case Jim saw them and asked what they were doing there. Liz then decided to go camping, too… with her dad… because she was following Max; and Maria went, because, well, Liz wanted her to; and Alex went with his dad… to be near Isabel. It was all real cozy. Yeah, you smile, Alex, but don't tell me you weren't cozy! Mosquitoes, right! Mosquitoes with mighty big lips!
"Michael, are you calling me a blood-sucking parasite?"
No! No, No No, No No! I wasn't saying that, Isabel!
"Good! 'Cause if you were…"
Um… as I was saying, there was this bright light and… and… I forgot what I was saying.
"Love bug bites."
What, Alex?
"They were love bug bites."
(Isabel grinned and snuggled closer to Alex, and Michael took a deep breath) Uh, yeah… whatever. The bright light. Frasier Woods. Um. Campout. Sheriff Valenti… Oh yeah! Jim closed off a 4-square-mile area of the forest near the Indian reservation, not far from the cave, and Milton knew for sure then that the sighting was serious. But Milton and the Sheriff weren't the only ones interested in the sighting. I had a visitor in the night… none other than River dog himself.
"Did you see it? Did any of you see it?"
See what?
"It was real."
Would you quit talking in riddles? What was? The sighting? How do you know?
"I've seen it before."
Sheriff Valenti also knew someone else who was probably going to be real interested… the FBI. And he did not want them to close the woods and keep him out, which they would do once they showed up. They would cheat him out of his opportunity to find out what it was himself. And they never shared their information with him. Of course, to be fair, he rarely shared his with them either. He never told them about me… or about his suspicions about Max and Isabel.
"Get Miller on the phone. Tell him to rush the search. I want every inch of that woods combed before Agent Stephens sends his feebee goons out there."
Valenti was supposed to be camping out with Kyle, but he was actually coordinating the search with his cell phone from the campsite and acting like a guy with two dates who was trying to keep them both from seeing each other. He was suspicious of why Max and Isabel were really there, and he wanted to keep an eye on them, so he pretended he couldn't get cell phone reception where Kyle wanted to put their tent. Miraculously, the reception turned out to be great right next to Max and Isabel's tent.
I wasn't with them, of course… Hank wasn't exactly the camping type… or the fatherly type either for that matter. But River dog showed up at the trailer to get me when it was time.
During the night, Max and Isabel snuck out of their tent and set out to find the place where the sighting had occurred. Liz saw them and followed them. So did Sheriff Valenti. After a while, Liz wound up stumbling into Max and Isabel, and Max ordered her to go back. Fortunately, she refused. I'll tell you why I say "fortunately" in a minute. She said if it affected us, it mattered to her, too.
Next, Maria showed up, much to Isabel's distress.
"Oh, great. That's great. Why don't we just send out a flare?"
And then Liz heard barking in the distance… "Is that coyotes, Max?"
"Search dogs. Come on, we're close. Come on!"
Max and Isabel hurried off with Liz and Maria, but they soon realized that they weren't going to outrun the dogs. That's when Liz came up with her brilliant idea… and the reason I said it was fortunate that she didn't go back before when Max told her to.
"You guys just keep going. Maria and I'll stay here and just let them catch us."
"Liz, no."
"No, Max, it's all right. We'll just say that we got lost in the woods. This is too important. Keep going."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. The important thing is, you just find what you're looking for."
"I will."
"Alright. Go!"
"We're over here! Help! Come find us! Help us! We're over here! We're here! We're right here!"
Maria groaned… "My mom's gonna love this… really!"
Meanwhile, River dog and I arrived and were searching through the woods together, separately from Max and Isabel. And somewhere out there in the dark, Milton was running around with a metal detector looking for what he assumed was a fallen spaceship. In retrospect, I realize now that there was something odd about that weekend all along. Heat lightning in the sky… but Maria was complaining to Liz that she was freezing and that her aqua bra was turning to ice and her breasts felt like popsicles. What? Oh, nobody's going to care now, Maria! You were what… fifteen? I'll vouch that you don't need an aqua bra anymore!
See, the strange thing is… and besides, I like popsicles… there was heat lightning, but it was cold outside. I'm thinking maybe the heat lightning was caused by whatever made the signal… whatever made the bright light.
Unfortunately for everybody, Agent Stephens had already heard about the sighting, and he and a small group of his men were in the woods almost before we were. Almost… but not quite. River dog heard a noise and stopped me, holding up one hand…
"Listen!"
I don't hear anything.
"Listen."
I listened again. All I heard was a tiny pop or snap… like a twig breaking far away.
"Probably just a squirrel… in the trees."
River dog shook his head and pulled me down to the ground. Moments later, Agent Stephens and four of his goons walked by. They were being really quiet. But River dog heard them. As soon as they were past, River dog motioned to me…
"We have to find it… before they do."
He was right; I knew he was right! But I had no idea how to keep Stephens' and his goons from finding it… or how to keep them from discovering Max and Isabel. I just knew I had to come up with something, and fast! That's when an idea came to me.
I told River dog my plan, and he agreed, cautiously. He always seemed to be cautious. I guess it was something a lifetime of experience had taught him. But he did agree, so we put my plan into play right away. I aimed the palm of my hand at the sky and made several quick flashes of light that should have been pretty obvious. Almost immediately, we heard twigs breaking, as Stephens and his men rushed back in our direction. Okay, Max and Isabel would be safe… for the moment. But Stephens and his men were headed in my direction now. Quickly, River dog hid us under a small bluff and covered the entrance with leaves and twigs. He did a good job. Even I wouldn't have seen us! And just in time, as Stephens and his men rushed into sight like bulls stampeding through a china shop, forgetting all about stealth in their haste. They stopped close to where we were. Too close, in my opinion. I was afraid to breathe for fear they would hear me. I could have reached out and touched Stephens' feet. River dog, for his part, appeared to be the epitome of calm. He just blended into the terrain under the bluff, quieter than a mouse. Are mice really quiet? I think that's a myth. Quieter than an… earthworm… a DEAD earthworm! He just seemed to disappear. It takes practice, I guess.
Next, I aimed my palm at a nearby cloud. I could see it through the twigs. After a moment, the cloud stopped moving and rain started to fall. Agent Stephens looked around and then looked up… as the rain fell on him.
"It's raining!"
"I see that," one of the other agents said.
"But it's raining on me! Only on me!" Agent Stephens said calmly.
"Yes sir. Uh, may I suggest, respectfully, sir, that you move."
Agent Stephens stepped to one side, but the rain stayed with him.
"Any more suggestions, Johnson?"
"No sir. Maybe move some more. It has to be a fluke, sir."
Stephens moved again, then jumped, but the rain seemed to follow him.
"Johnson, come here."
"Me, sir?"
"Do you see anyone else here named Johnson?"
"No, sir. I mean, yes, sir… I'm coming, sir!"
Johnson walked over and stood beside Stephens, and the rain fell on them both.
"Carver! You come over here, too."
"Sir, maybe if I rushed and pushed you out from under the rain quickly…"
"Just come over here."
"Yes, sir."
Carver stood beside Stephens and Johnson, and the rain fell on all three men.
"Now I'm going to step this way, and the two of you stay here," Stephens said. He stepped to one side, but the rain seemed to merely spread out over a broader area, falling on all three men. The two men who were not under the rain looked flustered and unsure what to do.
"I think it's this crazy weather, sir," Agent Perez interjected, looking up at the sky. "The weatherman said something about an inversion in the area over the weekend."
"Inversion? or invasion?"
"Sir, I don't think…"
"I do! This is not natural, Perez. But I am not going to die from a little rain… or let it stop me. Let's go."
Stephens turned and started to walk away with Johnson and Carver, all three getting drenched, as Perez and Williams followed at a "safe" --and dry-- distance. But a moment later, there was a clap of thunder, and all five men found themselves suddenly under the downpour. Strangely, it seemed to be localized over them. They could see where it ended but even by walking in different directions, they could not seem to get out from under it. So they finally stopped trying.
"It's got to be right around here somewhere," Stephens grumbled. "It can't be far away. Come on!"
As soon as Stephens and his men disappeared, I crawled out from under the bluff and helped River dog out.
"What do we do now? All I did was slow them down… and get them wet… and mad."
River dog seemed to think. "If I had the power… I would summon the animals… the bears and the coyotes… to scare them out of the woods. But I do not have such powers."
I knew what River dog was suggesting. He didn't have such powers, but I did. Or at least, he thought I did. I wasn't entirely sure of that myself. It's not like I had ever done it before. But how do you know if you don't try… so I concentrated. Nothing.
"It's not working. I can't do it. I can't talk to animals. You should've got Doctor Doolittle."
"I don't know him. Concentrate, Michael… not with words… with thoughts. Think like a bear… like a coyote."
"Easy for you to say…"
I sighed and concentrated. But after several moments, I actually felt my mind touch another mind… and it didn't seem human. It was more… brutish. Well, maybe some humans... But no, this was different. This was… denser somehow… yet strong. I don't know how, but I knew it was a bear. I concentrated, trying to place a mental image of Stephens and his men into the bear's mind and a sense of danger. I repeated the effort several times and felt two more bears and four coyotes. Then I looked at River dog…
"What if I can't control them? What if they eat Stephens and his men then come after us… or Max and Isabel?"
River dog shrugged. "You're asking me? You're the one with the powers."
"Powers, yes… but maybe no brains. I should have thought this out first."
"You will find a way," River dog said, with much more confidence than I was feeling at the moment. It didn't take long for something to happen. As we stood there, we heard the greatest crashing and commotion, and moments later, Stephens and his gang ran by us, without slowing down or even seeing us. Close behind them were three angry bears and four coyotes. I guess if there was one bright spot for them, it was that they were no longer being rained on. Once they moved out of my sight, I couldn't keep the cloud over them anymore.
I looked at River dog and shook my head… "I don't know why I should be concerned for them. If they captured me or Max or Isabel, there's no telling what they would do to us. But I can't just let them get killed."
"The agents? Or the bears?"
"Good point! Both I guess."
River dog smiled. "You have the power, Michael. Remember?"
I nodded and concentrated, trying to get the pursuers to fall back a bit… for their own safety as much as that of Stephens and his men. Stephens' men had guns, and I was sure they would use them if they had to, though it wasn't clear how much effect their small weapons would have on a large bear… much less on three of them. Fortunately, the fleeing agents seemed to have figured that out for themselves. I would never have guessed that they could run so fast. But I also knew that they would be back. Stephens was nothing if not determined. He would definitely be back. But maybe not in time to find anything… if we hurried.
As we rushed to find the place of the sighting, River dog slipped and hurt his ankle. I healed it for him, but only after convincing myself that he couldn't heal it himself. I guess I was kind of hoping, you know. I mean, he came to the trailer to get me. He treated me like… You see, Hank was never… I mean… he could never be… But River dog… I could see him being my real dad… our real dad. He knew so much about us, and he could have been. He could've…
But he wasn't.
A short time later, River dog and I walked into a clearing, near the cave, and we found Max and Isabel.
"What are they doing here?"
They came on their own.
"Alright. This is where it will be."
What are we looking for?
It was Isabel who found the answer… the alien symbol… the same one we had seen before in the cave. It was burned onto the ground. We turned off our flashlights and held out our palms, and it lit up with a light blue glow.
The white light, or whatever the hell that was, caused this, River dog?
"Yes. It's a sign. It was meant for you."
I looked at it and nodded, understanding… Nasedo's here.
At that moment, Sheriff Valenti showed up and ordered us to step out of the way so he could see what was there, but Max used his powers to make the symbol disappear while I blocked his view. Valenti looked at the clean-swept sand then back at us…
"Something was here. What were you looking at?"
Max just shrugged… "We've been lost for hours here. Thank you for finding us."
I didn't know it at the time, but not far from where all this was taking place… not far from where Stephens and his men had been running from bears and coyotes, two people had been sitting together, so absorbed in each other that they hadn't noticed anything that was going on… Isabel and Alex.
"And then to the right of the Milky Way, that's Orion, Alex."
"Oh, wow!"
"And see the north star?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, now look a little to your left… and a little further out… that small group of stars right there, that's the Cygnus Constellation. It's the furthest we can see from here."
"It's amazing."
"What is?"
"Staring at the stars with you. I mean, I used to look up there, and stars were just stars. One was just as good as the next one. Somehow with you… I mean… it's so wondrous, you know? I mean… each star is… is a mystery, you know, and so full of possibility. This is so much better than seeing a movie."
"Thanks, Alex!"
"I'm so glad you came on this trip, Isabel! Without you… it would just be boring out here in the woods."
End of Episode 111
tbc…