Bones

Chapter 1: Boys Will Be Boys

Every story has a place and a beginning. The Ohlone Indians were said to believe that the world was once covered with water except for the mountain peaks now known as Pico Blanco in the south near the Big Sur coast and Mount Diablo in the north on the edge of the great Central Valley. On these mountain peaks lived three beings; Eagle, Coyote, and Hummingbird. Eagle was strong, wise, and powerful; he spent his days hunting. Coyote and Hummingbird were of a different sort. Old Man Coyote was full of tricks and very irresponsible. Hummingbird was efficient and usually able to get the better of Coyote in most things. It is said that Muwekma, the first people, descended from Coyote. It is entirely commonplace for Old Man Coyote to get himself mixed up in any kind of story including this one you are about to read.

Henry and Darius were sitting on the porch sorting through a pile of baseball cards. Henry held up one the cards and frowned. “I’m not sure about this guy. Remember that drug investigation story we saw on the news? He’s a free agent now and Dad said no one will want to sign him because he makes trouble for other players” “Well, I like him and I think he will be back” Darius responded. The boys were arguing the merits of certain players for inclusion in their newly created Wall of Fame. They had lately acquired a four by six foot bulletin board made of cork and they intended to mount the cards on the board for display on Henry’s porch.

They were both nine years old and besides being next door neighbors, both were assigned to Mrs. Studebaker’s third grade class at Bufkin Elementary school. Darius’ family had recently moved to the area from Illinois right after the school year started. On his first day at school, Henry had volunteered to be the “buddy” who would help Darius understood what was expected of him in class.

“Darius, what do you know about baseball anyway? Your team hasn’t won a World Series in what, a hundred years?” Henry was smiling when he said this and Darius didn’t bother to respond. He had taken the suspect player’s card from Henry to examine the statistics on the back of the card. “We’ll put him on the board. It was my turn, right?” “Sure” Henry said and the matter was resolved.

From a distance the boys could see two figures approaching on dirt bikes. “Do you know those guys?” Darius asked. The newcomers arrived at Garrett Ranch Court and began amusing themselves by jumping the curbs and bouncing back on to the street. Finally they cut across the grass island in the middle of the street and came to a skidding halt in front of Henry’s driveway.

Scott and Wayne were also third graders at Bufkin Elementary school but they were in Mr. Wilson’s third and fourth grade combo class. Henry had once been friends with Scott but lately they had become rivals. Mr. Wilson’s boys had recently defeated Mrs. Studebaker’s team in a softball game on the lunch hour. Although the Wilson team had the advantage of fielding some older fourth grade players, the boys would not consider this on account of pride and class spirit. The final score was all that mattered and the Wilson team was winning by a score of eight to four when the bell rang at the end of lunch period. “Too much emphasis on competition” Henry’s Mom had said when she heard about it. Henry’s Dad was more interested to know if the Studebaker team had pulled together and tried their best. He wouldn’t admit it, but he loved competition and Henrywas growing up to be the same way.

“What’s up?” Wayne said with a really smug look on his face. “I think I’ve got more cards at home than what you have in that shoe box” said Scott. “Didn’t Henry lose some of his cards in that marble game last week?” said Wayne as he held his hand up in the air to receive a high-five slap from his buddy. Henry and Darius stayed quiet and waited. It was becoming obvious to them that there was probably some other reason for this visit. Scott and Wayne wouldn’t usually come down on to Garrett Ranch court; instead they preferred to ride their bikes along the railroad tracks. On this day, they had come to establish some new bragging rights.

Wayne nudged Scott, “Are you going to tell ‘em?” he asked. “We were at the creek in that spot near the field, you know, behind the church. So Wayne was digging and look what we found!” Scott held his hand in a fist and opened his palm, revealing a couple of stones that had obviously been worked into a pointed shape. “These are real Indian arrowheads!” Henry and Darius both leaned forward to have a look, but Scott pulled his hand away and then he reached into his pack. “There’s more. Look at this” he said. What Scott held in his hand now caused both Henry and Darius to take a step back. It appeared to be a large fragment of bone, perhaps a piece partial skull. Was it human? Henry and Darius weren’t sure but they reacted with a sense of excitement mixed with fear. “Are you crazy?” Henry said. “That kind of thing doesn’t belong in your backpack! “ Darius told them. Scott and Wayne both smiled. “We’re thinking about going to the newspaper people to tell them how we found Indian bones and arrowheads. Totally cool!” Wayne boasted.

While Wayne was speaking, no one had noticed a small boy approaching from behind. Suddenly the newcomer grabbed the bone fragment from Scott’s hand and ran away.

Donnie was smaller than most third graders, but he usually found a way to make a big splash whenever he got involved with anything. He had moved to the ranch with his Aunt a couple of years before and the rumor was that his parents had split up before he was born and that he didn’t even know his Father. He lived with his Aunt and his cousin Jeb, a teenager who was old enough to drive a car and smoke cigarettes. Donnie was now stooped behind a tree in his backyard and showing off the item he had just stolen to his friend Melanie. “Eeeeew” was her first reaction, but she couldn’t take her eyes off it either. “It’s part of a human skull and we need to find the rest of it. We’ll have the best Halloween display in town!” Donnie told the wide-eyed young girl. Melanie started jumping up and down excitedly as she spoke: “Yeah that was funny. Those boys were so mad but they couldn’t catch you. That was funny!” Donnie had told his cousin that the other boys were picking on him. Melanie was still gushing with goofy laughter about the situation. “Jeb was, like ah, getting in their faces and scaring them, wasn’t he?” she said. Donnie became serious. “They went away but they might come back later when Jeb isn’t here. We need to think of some story to tell. Hey maybe if we find the rest of the skull, we can say it belonged to us and they had stolen it. It belongs to me, you know it.” “OK” Melanie responded lamely. There was a flash of concern on her brow but she knew Donnie was testing the limits and he usually managed to survive without any serious scars. Donnie was good at collecting lectures but the whole process would usually turn out to be waste of time for everyone involved. In fact, it was to his advantage that he didn’t understand half the things that people tried to tell him.

After Wayne and Scott had left, Henry was unsure what to do. They couldn’t let those boys take credit for knowing anything about American Indian history. “They won’t even know how to explain what they’ve found anyway” Henry thought. “Hey Darius, we need to go to the creek ourselves and see what else may be there.” Darius nodded in agreement. “I know a secret path” Henry told him. The boys decided that they absolutely must go to the site right away. They both dreamed of obtaining a collection of arrowheads and beads. “But Henry, don’t you think it was wrong for them to dig up the bones? That may have come from a person’s grave” Darius asked. The boys exchanged worried looks and then glanced over at Donnie’s house. “He’s crazy” said Henry. “It won’t do any good to talk to him about it. Besides if he thinks we are interested in this bone stuff, he’ll only want to find a way to draw more attention to himself no matter what kind of trouble it causes.”

The creek was actually not far from the Garrett Ranch housing development, but they would need to use a shortcut to get there, otherwise, they would have to go out on the main road and risk being observed by other children. Henry and Darius had hopes of keeping their journey a secret. The shortcut involved hopping over a fence from someone’s backyard and then passing through a small farm that was behind the Garrett Ranch complex. Henry had explored the territory and knew there was a gate leading into the farm just behind that fence. His Dad had told him that at one time the Garret family and the farmers were next door neighbors. The gate provided a private entrance to the farm from the Garrett property. It had been abandoned when the old ranch house was torn down to make room for the new housing community. Henry had never been on the other side of that fence and he wasn’t sure if it would be OK to walk through the farm either, but it was the fastest way to get to the creek. He was worried about missing out whatever mysteries lay out in that field that Scott and Wayne may have overlooked.

Henry and Darius gathered some tool in their backpacks and were about ready to leave when they were interrupted by Melanie and Donnie. “What are you doing?” Melanie asked in her usual manner. She always sounded as if she was accusing someone of a crime, but it was really just her way of butting in on other people’s business. She didn’t really consider Donnie to be a close friend, but he could be counted on to make something happen even on the most boring day. “What are you doing!” she demanded again. Melanie could tell that Henry and Darius were packed up to go somewhere.

Henry paused a moment and whispered to Darius who then addressed the other children. “Why don’t you come with us? We’re going on a treasure hunt. Donnie, you can bring that bone thing with you.” Darius was smiling because he knew Donnie would take the bait. “Yeah, maybe we’ll find the rest of that skull for you” Henry added. Donnie and Melanie were both jumping with excitement like preschoolers at a party. Donnie could easily imagine that he was going to be the coolest boy in the third grade. “Besides” he thought, “I’ll need some way to keep Scott and Wayne off my back”.

Chapter 2: King Tom

On the other side of the Garrett Ranch fence and behind the gate there was a small farm of about ten acres and on that farm lived one of the most fearsome creatures a group of suburban school children were ever likely to encounter. Meleagris Gallopavo is the scientific name for this creature, but his owner named him King Tom. King Tom was a turkey. He was born in the wild and had come to this farm to forage and gotten separated from the flock when a coyote attacked them. The farmer’s wife had found him in the orchard and raised him from a small chick. Eventually he was let loose from his cage and allowed to roam free. King Tom enjoyed himself so much that he never bothered to leave the farm from that day onward. On this particular day, the farmer and his wife were busy elsewhere while King Tom was patrolling the property as he usually did.

King Tom stood about four feet tall. He had grown to massive girth and weighed more than fifty pounds. He was about twice as large as any wild turkey. His feathers and body were dark shades of black, brown, and grey. His feet were clawed and very sharp. The crown of his head and forehead were white and his nape was blue. His two most striking features were his throat which was bright red and his eyes which were blacker than coal. These eyes were wild and when disturbed, they conveyed the thickest concentration of anger that ever existed in a single creature.

Tom’s job, as he saw it, was to protect the farm and himself from any intruders. He paid special attention to driveway in the front and the fence along the back. It had been many years since he’d encountered any person along the back fence but he had managed to scare off raccoons and even a coyote once. Watching him from afar, you wouldn’t immediately know that King Tom had a propensity for violence. He appeared to be a large ground-walking bird that simply went about foraging for acorns, berries, leaves, or the occasional small insect. King Tom was very mischievous though. He walked about slowly, stopping often to lean down and pick something off the ground to eat. He didn’t appear to be alert, but behind those eyes lurked a mastermind of danger.

The four children found easy passage through a neighbor’s yard, where they helped each other climb over the back wall. In a moment they had arrived and were now looking into a different world than what they were used to. The old farm house was about fifty yards distant and from where they stood they could see the back porch. The back portion of the farm was mostly just an old apple orchard with various ladders and baskets strewn about. They could see an old truck parked around the side of the house, but no sign of movement. The farm was a very quiet place. There was a wire fence between the wall and the orchard. Just as Henry had mentioned, there was a gate that led into the orchard.

Donnie led the way toward the gate, followed closely by Melanie with Darius and Henry lagging behind. Donnie was eager to get across to the creek and Melanie followed close behind him. Suddenly Henry stopped in this tracks. He was staring at something in the driveway. King Tom had noticed the children immediately and was moving nonchalantly in their direction. Donnie opened the gate without care. Both he and Melanie began walking through the orchard. Henry and Darius were still behind the gate. “Do you see it?” Henry asked. “Yep” Darius replied. “I don’t think we ought to go in there. Hey Donnie, come back! Melanie stop!” Neither paid any attention to Henry’s warning. Henry continued to plead with them, but he was also remembering something his Mom had told him. She said that not to follow other children into dangerous places or not to stick around if it looked like they were about to try something that was obviously stupid.

Donnie was soon looking straight into the eyes of the largest turkey any of them had ever seen. King Tom was only about fifty feet away and he slyly lowered his head and made a garbled noise that sounded like “tut, gut, tut”. “Ha! I’ll whack him if he comes any closer to me” Donnie announced loudly. He had been taking karate lessons for a few months and now assumed a fighting stance he’d been taught. “Ai-Yaaaaaah!” he yelled. King Tom was not impressed. He lifted his head up and prepared to charge. A light went on in Melanie’s head and she began moving away from Donnie. King Tom started beating his wings rapidly and came at Donnie like airplane going down the runway. It was a powerful sight to see! The big bird was partially airborne and had become a ferocious ball of energy. Donnie tried to kick but old Tom easily overpowered him and knocked him down. For a few horrifying seconds King Tom stood above Donnie, grabbing and clawing his long hair. Donnie rolled over and managed to get up. He tried to run but King Tom was on him again in a flash, this time tearing at his pocket and ripping off a piece of his jeans. Although everything happened quickly, Darius noticed that the bone fragment had fallen out of Donnie’s pocket in the scuffle.

Melanie ran back toward the gate screaming like a banshee. Unfortunately the noise attracted the attention of old Tom. He whirled about and came after her. Henry picked up a rock and threw it at the crazed turkey, but his aim was off. Another throw and this time it was on target! The rock made a loud thunk as it hit the side of the turkey. King Tom was now standing between Donnie and Melanie, looking confused. Seeing an opportunity, Darius opened the gate and came into the orchard. He stood there waving his arms and hollering. “Come on! Bring it on!” Darius yelled. Henry was astounded! He would have to find a way to save his friends. He groped around on the ground, hoping to find a few more large stones!

Melanie tried to make a run for the gate and almost made it, but King Tom raced after her and managed to catch her with one last lunge. “Help!” Melanie screamed and she cried uncontrollably while King Tom grabbed at her ankle and then tore a shoe off her foot.

Darius ran over to where the bone fragment had fallen and picked it up. “I have to return it” he was thinking and his faced was glazed with a robotic expression. Donnie was standing nearby petrified while watching as the wild turkey appeared ready to gobble down one little girl. When the shoe came off, Melanie was momentarily free from the turkey’s grasp. King Tom gave the shoe a mighty shake and flung it aside. Suddenly everyone could hear a loud “thunk”. Henry had scored another direct hit on the turkey and was now throwing stones one after another from the area near the gate. His father would have been proud if he could have seen how these dire circumstances had brought out evidence of a potentially great baseball pitcher.

Melanie made it safely to gate minus one shoe. She stood beside Henry and the two of them were screaming at King Tom. Donnie made a mad dash toward the gate but King Tom was just too fast! The turkey pushed at Donnie from behind and momentarily trapped him by grabbing his jeans. When a large shred ripped off, Donnie broke free and finally made it to safety behind the gate.

King Tom stood near the gate and stared down his enemies. Henry had run out of rocks and was unsure what to do next. Darius was in the orchard alone with only one thing in his favor. Old Tom had forgotten about him. Instead of turning back toward Darius, the turkey charged at the fence, chortling at the other children and scaring them back. However a turkey might reason things, King Tom was obviously pleased with his performance. Though he might have taken a few lumps, he’d given these intruders something to remember. Look at them moving back away! “Get outta here!” he chortled in the international language of turkeys. After one last ferocious call, King Tom turned and very casually began walking toward the house. There was a woman in the backyard calling to him. “Tom! Yeeeeeeeeeeew! Tom! I’ve got feed for ya!” the woman shouted.

Darius walked over near the gate, picked up Melanie’s shoe, and joined his friends. “Wasn’t that cool?” he told Henry and then took the bone fragment out of his pocket and showed it to him. “Finders keepers” Darius said when he noticed that Donnie watching. “I think we better go back home now” said Henry. For once there was no argument.

Chapter 3: Coyote Comes In a Dream

Later that afternoon, there was a knock on Henry’s door and the little black mutt Kirby ran toward the front of the house barking his head off. Henry came to the top of the stairs and looked out the window. It was Darius, but he didn’t wait there long enough. Darius was afraid of dogs. It didn’t matter what kind of dog it was or who it belonged to, the presence of a dog always made him nervous. Dogs could sense this fear. With some of them, the prey instinct would take over and the dog might growl or bark at Darius, thus completing a cycle that ended with Darius being scared out of his wits.

“Hey Darius!” Henry yelled from an upstairs window. “I’m coming down. Wait!” When Darius had gotten a sufficient distance from the house, he stopped and waited for Henry to join him. “When are we going to the creek? I don’t want to keep this thing.” Darius was carrying the bone fragment with him. “We should bring it back and bury it” he practically demanded and Henry wasn’t sure what to do. There really wasn’t enough time for them to try and go to the creek now. “Darius, it’s really too late.” Darius looked nervous. “Please Henry, can you take this skeleton bone? It scares me to even think about it”. Henry thought for a moment before answering. “We can’t risk that my Dad will find out. He’s already upset. Melanie’s parents were here earlier and somehow it became my fault that something happened to her and Donnie.” “I know” Darius replied. “Donnie is never responsible for anything.” Henry nodded in agreement and then suggested they would ride their bikes to the creek the next morning. “Well Henry, my Dad is coming home tomorrow afternoon, so we’ll need to get back before my Mom is ready to drive to the airport.” Darius walked back toward his home and went around the house through the back gate. He very carefully hid the bone fragment beneath some leaves in the backyard and ran inside the house. There were tears in his eyes.

That night, Darius had great difficulty in trying to sleep. His mind was full of fear and now he wished with all his heart he had not gotten involved. When he finally fell asleep, he had a dream of a fierce coyote that was stalking him. It chased him through a field of tall grass and when Darius came to the edge of a creek, there was no where else to run. He used his remaining strength to climb on top of a large rock and he clung there completely out of breath. The coyote growled and advanced menacingly toward him and then it leaped up, attempting to grab his leg and pull him from the relative safety of the rock. Suddenly Darius lost his grip and fell. He quickly rolled on to his stomach and buried his face and closed his arms around his neck to protect his face. The coyote snarled and bit at his fingers and then everything became quiet.

The images in the dream changed and the coyote was loping across a field. Several times it stopped to look around, as though anticipating an intruder. Darius heard the voices, but could not understand them. He was filled with apprehension and then he had a sensation of his body being restricted. Darius was unable to move his arms or legs! “I’ve been swallowed whole by the coyote” he thought and it seemed that he was now only a brain without a body.

He tried to remember his Mom and after a bit he could hear her voice. It was a voice filled with worry and words of warning about things that little boys should not do.
The last images of the dream involved a group of people gathered around a fire. Everyone was shouting and the coyote was there too, lying outside an encampment in the tall grass. Its eyes were glowing as the wind moved the blades of grass across its face. Its long nose sniffed at the breeze and its ears stood attentive to any sound.

Darius woke up frightened and shivering uncontrollably. First the thoughts of the creepy skeleton to keep him awake and now this wild dog haunting his sleep! He wanted to go to his Mom for help but he believed she’d be disappointed if she found out he had been involved in an incident with the other children. Hadn’t she mentioned on more than one occasion that he should stay away from Donnie? Darius got up out of bed, still trembling as he fumbled through the process of getting dressed. He came downstairs to the living room and curled up on the couch with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

It was only after his Mom had come down and fixed him a bowl of warm oatmeal with raisons that he was finally able to steady himself. The oatmeal was delicious and there was fresh orange juice too! Darius was grateful for this place of refuge. He wished his Father were home. Wouldn’t it be nice if they could team up with Henry’s family and go hiking? Unfortunately, his father was almost completely out of the family picture these days. The family had moved from the Midwest after his father accepted a position as an executive at a large software company. Right now his father was back east and had been on a business trip for over a week. Even when he was at home, he got up early for work and didn’t usually return home until at least eight in evening. He seldom shared dinner with his wife and son these days. More often than not, his busy schedule also included going in to work on the weekends with the only accommodation being that he might eat breakfast with the family on Sunday mornings. There was always a crisis at work or a new project to push through. He was definitely not the same man that Darius had admired for jogging along the shores of Lake Michigan when they lived near Chicago. Darius used to ride alongside on his bike and amazed at how difficult it was to keep up with his father. Now it seemed to Darius that his father was becoming slower, fatter, and grumpier every time he saw him.


Chapter 4: The Dig

Earlier that morning a research team from Pacific Western University arrived at Broadway Baptist Church. The team consisted of members of the faculty from both the Physical and Cultural Anthropology departments along with a group of student volunteers. They had received permission to excavate the field beside the church in hopes of recovering evidence of an aboriginal settlement in the area.

Around the same time, Darius went out to meet Henryin front of the Garrett Ranch tower and they prepared to go to the area near the creek that Wayne and Scott had described. Darius was carrying the “skeleton”, as he now referred to the bone fragment, in his backpack. Darius was now convinced that it would be bad for all of them if they did not return the skeleton back to where it came from.

Donnie stood on this front porch directly across the street and watched Darius and Henry. He could not resist an urge to taunt them. “I can tell Henry’s Dad what you are doing and you guys will be in trouble”. Henry knew that Donnie was bluffing. He would not really consider approaching a grown-up person to tell them anything beyond “I don’t know” or “I didn’t do it”. “Why don’t you ask your Aunt to bring you out shopping? Don’t you need a new pair of jeans?” Darius asked him. “Looks like that turkey did a good job with your hair Donnie” Henry said. “Are you kidding, his hair always looks like it was styled by a turkey!” Darius added and the boys shared a good laugh. Ignoring Donnie, they rode off down the court on their bikes and turned on to Broadway Boulevard... They jumped over the railroad tracks and raced as fast as they could toward the creek bridge and took the creek path that ran behind Broadway Baptist church.

When Henry and Darius arrived near the field, they were stunned to find a large group of people gathered around a stack of equipment and tools. “Uh-oh” Henry said. “Maybe we’ll be more trouble now. We better leave before they see us. “No!” Darius shouted. “We have to return the skeleton, even if we have to ask these people for help”. Henryknew that his friend was determined enough to go on without him, so he decided to press on. The boys rode straight up to where the group had assembled.

Two of the men were discussing something and one of them was waving his arms as he spoke. “Before we begin, I want to make sure you understand the county law concerning the recovery of artifacts. If there is any evidence of ceremonial burial, we’ll need to inform the county as well as the Muwekma tribal council!” The other man was much older and Darius noticed that he looked like a real archeologist. The older man answered in a very dismissive tone. “Professor Murphy, as long as this doesn’t impede on the real work being done here, I’ll leave it to folks like you to sort out the politics”. Professor Murphy was disappointed at the other man’s lack of respect for the cultural viewpoint. “Professor McAllister, I don’t know if its true, but I heard that one time a Muwekma tribal elder grabbed a shovel away from an archeologist and threatened to clobber him with it. You might want to treat this subject a little more seriously”. The two men stood facing one another and neither was sure where the confrontation might be headed.

“Wait! Please! Wait!” Henry shouted. The group was startled by the sound of the young boy’s voice. “We need your help” Darius pleaded. He produced the bone fragment and held it up for Professor McAllister to look at. “It‘s this skeleton sir, some boys found it right here in this field. Can you help us?” Professor McAllister was the kind of man who believed that emotion should not take the place of reason and the desperate look in the little boy’s face was enough to convince him he should try to understand what had made him so upset. He took the bone fragment from Darius who continued speaking with a choked voice. “Mister, I think this is part of a human skull, isn’t it?” Darius and Henry waited anxiously to see what the verdict might be. Professor McAllister examined the bone fragment for a moment and then smiled at them. “Boys, this is definitely not part of a human skull. It more likely belongs to a coyote. It’s not something to get worked up about, ok?”

The professor then turned and addressed the students, ignoring Professor Murphy who always managed to antagonize him with issues that were not related to science as he saw it. He held the bone up for his students and pointed out some of the features that indicated origin. Although he had the reputation as one of the foremost researcher scientists on the west coast, Professor McAllister enjoying working with his students and showing them a practical application of the scientific method.

After Professor McAllister had passed the bone around and completed his discussion, Henry came over and tapped his shoulder. “Are you looking for Indian bones?” Henry asked him. “Well, it’s definitely not bones I’m interested in. We’d like to find out more about how the people lived in this place a long, long time ago”.

The boys asked the archeology students to keep the bone fragment and for a little while, they stayed around to watch the progress of the dig. Ultimately they found the whole process to be very tedious without yielding even so much as another coyote bone. The boys could not understand why Professor McAllister obsessed over every minute detail of the excavation.

On their way back home, Darius told Henry about his dream of being swallowed by a wild dog. “So maybe it had something to do with that coyote bone” Henry said. “It sounds scary to me too. I’m glad we were able to leave this kind of thing for Professor McAllister to deal with. He didn’t seem to worry much about it, did he?” Darius was deep in thought. “Darius?” Henry wanted to know if his friend was going to be ok. “Henry, you are right, but I’m still afraid of nightmares and dogs too.” As they rode back home, Henry was thinking about the awful dream. “Darius, I have something that may help you.”

After they had returned home, Henry came met Darius outside and he was carrying something that looked like a large spider web. It was made with thick string and sticks with two feathers. Henry handed it to Darius. “This is a Dream Catcher. Put it near where you sleep and any bad dream will be caught in the web and die in the morning when the sun shines on the web. The old coyote will not come back to disturb your sleep”. Darius took the Dream Catcher and held it toward the sky, looking through the web and out into the distant hills. He wasn’t sure if it would work, but it looked cool anyway. “Where did this come from anyway?” “I got it from an Indian in the market at the pow-wow near Gilroy last year” Henry answered. “Darius, maybe you can come with me if we go back again. We can get Indian fry bread with strawberries and cream and watch the ceremonial dances. You’ll really like the drummers too!”.

Chapter 5: Little Dogs

The next afternoon was a typical Sunday on Garrett Ranch Court. All the children were busy riding their bikes and playing at games on the grass. “Henry!” It was his Mom calling out. “It’s time to leave now”. Henry raced over to join her. He was so excited he could hardly contain himself. Today was the day he had waited for since he was a toddler. He was going to have a puppy of his own! His Dad came out and joined them at the car. They were just about ready to take off when Henry spotted Darius coming out of his front door. “Wait!” he shouted. “Mom, Dad, lets ask if Darius can come with us. Can we?” Receiving permission to pursue this idea, Henry exited the car. “Darius, we are going up in the mountains to get the new puppy for me. Would you like to come with us?” Darius had never had an opportunity to see a litter of puppies before. His Mom came out on the front porch and the boys asked her if Darius could come along with Henry’s family. “It wouldn’t hurt for him to get a little more used to the dogs”, she said. “Sure, you can go”. The boys climbed into the back of the truck and off they went!

They took the freeway exit toward Mount Hamilton and drove up the twisting road for a few miles before turning down a side road that dead ended near a little mountain farm. “Here it is!” his Mom announced. A friendly looking woman with long grey hair came out to greet them and led them back near the barn. There inside a straw bed were two of the coolest looking little dogs Henry had ever seen. “They are part Australian Cattle and part Terrier” the woman told him. “But I thought there was just one” Henry said. “One for you” said the lady, “but you’ll have to pick him out. The other will need to go to someone else if we can find a good owner.”

Both of the puppies looked identical except for the grey and black spots that were patterned differently over a brown and somewhat shaggy undercoat. They were both male and one of the little pups leaped forward and stumbled onto Henry’s knee, making an easy choice for him. “I choose this one!” Henry announced. “Wait! I’ve got an idea. Mom do you think Darius should have a puppy?” Henry’s Mom considered the idea for a moment. “Well, Henry’s Dad, what do you think?” Henry’s Dad smiled and told the often repeated story of how he had been afraid of dogs when he was a boy until he had one day received the gift of a small puppy to be his pet. “What do you say, Darius?” Darius did not answer with words but he was busy playing with the other puppy.

Henry’s Mom called Darius’ Mom and after a rather lengthy discussion, an understanding was reached. “She has agreed to this. But you need to promise that you will help Darius. Won’t you do that?” Henry agreed and they loaded two puppies in one crate and drove back down the winding mountain road toward home. Darius had a look of wonderment on his face and could not take his eyes off the crate in the back of the truck. “Wow, Dad is going to be surprised!” was all he could think to say.

The End

Created by Bill Keys
billgkeys@yahoo.com
facebook.com/bill.keys

Autumn

Autumn

He waits in the gray quiet of dawn,
On a road bordered by green corn fields,
The headlights of a yellow bus approach.
He sinks low in the seat to avoid the stares.

California lingered on his mind like a stream,
Eight-lane highways crammed with cars,
The wild pacific crashing against the seacoast,
The golden color of summer in the hills.

Afternoon and the bus stopped by the roadway,
He stalks an empty path through the fields,
Companioned with an angry wind,
This strange wonder of not belonging.

He carries a pellet gun into the woods,
Aiming to kill and thinking himself alone,
But the barrel jams, breaking the coil,
An old crow taunts him from the fence.

He thought of the sharp templed preacher;
Hair slicked back and mouth contorted,
Hysterical voice on a rampage,
Chasing through the long Sunday morning.

Twilight and he emerges on the gridiron,
The line coach whistles the scrimmage,
He takes the ball and crashing forward,
Falling to the touch of cool green grass.

Regaining his feet, he comes back,
Pushing and shoving against the red jerseys;
Fighting back with desperate energy,
Until the greater number swallows him.

That night he wakes from a long dream,
His body shivers in the darkness;
He heard an owl weeping in the woods;
He stood up and looked out the window.

One by one the stars fade in the blue night.

Created by Bill Keys
billgkeys@yahoo.com
facebook.com/bill.keys

Henry and Star

This faded picture
Fingered with light touch,
My Grandfather,
With his Stevens fedora,
His eyes in the shadow of the brim,
Mounted on the horse called Star,
Dusty fields for background,
In Oklahoma

No, it was Cherokee Nation then,
Living a rough and ready life,
Ranch work; sunlight and moonlight,
But the story took another path,
Flames of greed across our nation,
The land divided against our will,
Lost to the lawyers at last,
In Oklahoma

The family straggled westward,
Became migrant workers,
Picking fruit in California,
Until the war brought better work,
A welder in an Oakland shipyard,
And war ended and he returned,
Spent the last days dying young,
In Oklahoma

Ask what there is to know,
Even Grandma won’t say much,
“Born in Indian territory”
Before Oklahoma
“Half Cherokee”
“Those were hard days”
Focus on the tattered image,
Horse and rider cast a long shadow

by Billy Keys
billgkeys@yahoo.com
facebook.com/bill.keys

Skunk

It was a hot summer in early August and I had a short break between jobs. It was very relaxing and I had just enjoyed a weekend vacation at Lake Tahoe with my wife and son. The one dividend from hot summer days is how pleasant the late evening can be outdoors. So it was for me around 10 pm each evening when I took the Guru dog for a walk. We took a path leading into a small industrial complex which was generally abandoned in the evening. There are just a handful of small electronics companies on a side street that made a circle from the main street down near a creek and back. It’s about a half mile perhaps to make the circle and come back home.

One evening we were surprised by a skunk which came from behind a large tree and approached us near the road side. The dog and I were both startled and we moved into the middle of the road to avoid this potentially dangerous critter. I’ve heard that in addition to being able to throw out nasty fumes, skunks are one of the animals more likely to be a rabies carrier. This particular skunk held his ground and we went around him. I thought this was one of those once in a long while experiences like the day an opossum traveled through our backyard, but this was not to be the case. For several evenings, the skunk would pop out somewhere along our path and then follow us in parallel. Being a sort of thin creature with a long body it had the effect of a jack-in-the-box and almost never failed to startle us those first few times. Although I had begun to grow used to this spectacle, I was a bit miffed that this skunk was not afraid of us.

One evening I caught a major tactical advantage and actually saw the skunk before he could come out to surprise us. I picked up a small rock and tossed it, not intending to harm him but only to let him know this was our path and requiring that he give us some respect. The rock landed sufficiently close to the animal and he did appear startled but he recovered quickly. The skunk looked around, saw the dog and I, and came immediately toward us. It was time to retreat. Again! Back to the middle of the road we went and the skunk did the same thing he always did which was to come out toward the road and then move back into the grass, apparently going along his merry way.

After a week or maybe two, I felt we had begun to know this skunk well enough and we seemed to have gotten used to one another since everyone’s behavior had become predictable. I had begun to wonder if the small creature was lonely and only came out to have a look at us, thus avoiding another uneventful evening. It became a nightly ritual. The Guru dog and I would see the skunk somewhere along the road, always a different spot it seemed, and we would just slow down to watch him. The skunk moved about in a determined way but he always seemed to be taking his own sweet time. In fact, he seemed quite incapable of running in the sense that we’d normally expect from small, furry animals. Guru and I came to enjoy watching the skunk walk or rather bounce along the ground. Nothing smooth about this guy’s way of getting around.

This nightly ritual ended shortly after I returned back to work. My wife and son were away on vacation, and I was busy at a new job with my mind all cluttered up with vague half understood information. The Guru and I didn’t go out for a couple of evenings. I did decide to go out for groceries on a Friday night though. I had not driven too far when I saw something on the road. The skunk had been completely crushed near an entrance to the freeway. I turned my head away from the sight. How did I know it was “our” neighborhood skunk, I wonder? Well, my thought was confirmed in a sad way. When we resumed our nightly walks there was no longer any small skunk to greet us.

Some days my mind is full of sentimental thoughts. It was just a fleeting connection but Guru and I spent several nights scanning the roadside, casually expecting our new found friend to reappear. I even felt a bit sorry that I’d ever attempted to chase the little skunk away. Skunk carries not a hint of dignity in human terms. This one didn’t have a name and I’ve barely mentioned its existence to anyone before this.

Created by Bill Keys
billgkeys@yahoo.com
facebook.com/bill.keys

Guru

No, he's not quite the spectacle that normally comes to mind when you think of Gurus. He's not pompous, self-righteous or even very demanding. He's often tense and sometimes even the word "fearful" would not do justice in describing how uncomfortable and scared he can become. He lifts a little white paw (the other three are black) an inch or two off the ground to steady himself and seems to be praying the danger to pass. A real guru (dog trainer) once explained to us that the motioning of his paw was in fact his attempt to steady himself and prevent an all out panic episode.

Perhaps his most characteristic moment was captured for all time in a photography studio a few years back. After trying to take his picture for many excruciating minutes, the photographer was beginning to lose patience. "Sit", we told him and every time the camera was aimed his way, he would head for the nearest exit only to be caught and put up on the stage again. Well, finally the message got through to him at least in the sense that he'd discovered that staying put was less scary than what happened when everyone including strangers threatened to chase him down! So there he sat, the camera raised into position, the owner imploring "sit", and the little black dog with the white "T" on his chest and one white paw managing finally to keep his butt firmly planted. Only he couldn't help himself, the front legs had begun to move away and with that the front part of his body (head, neck, etc.) began to move away like a slinky dog while the back half (tale, rear-end, etc.) obeyed the "sit" command. And so it was that the photographer snapped the wonderful picture for posterity.

Oh yeah, why do we call him Guru? That's not his real name. He was named Trinket by the woman who had assisted at this birth. She was a British woman with a taste for saving odd stray mutts and other dogs. We call Trinket "Guru" because every morning he gets up from bed (our bed!), jumps down to the floor and begins a long, slow stretch of the frot legs and then reverses to do the same with the back legs. Perfect yoga poses these are and I'm just in awe of his ability. He's 11 years old and still very young looking and spry. He's our little Guru.

by Billy Keys
billgkeys@yahoo.com
facebook.com/bill.keys

Sparrows

Hear them chirping in the thicket,
They emerge along the fence,
Descending like ask-gray sparks,
Scattering to find the crumbs.

His wife by the window watching,
A fleeting smile to mark the moment;
One slice of bread is enough,
A miracle for this multitude.

A long good-bye and a short embrace,
They feel the pull of the rush hour,
In the sullen daze of the long commute,
Lingers the song of sparrows.

Created by Bill Keys
billgkeys@yahoo.com
facebook.com/bill.keys

Cosmos

A trio of ducks flew low over the Feather River.
They landed abruptly, feet first, heads held upward.
Indelicately splashing the shallow water.

Last hues of light over the mountains.
Darkness slowly settled along the bank,
Yellow moonlight floods across the water.

Rattling of leaves, swaying of branches,
A soft white feather from a nest,
Descent prolonged by the stirring wind;

Calm like awareness of breath,
Quiet like a meteor streaking,
Alone like the millions of stars.

Stars born with all desire and purpose,
Stars burning with essential elements,
Stars that are the genesis.

The beginning and the end,
A blinding flash of light,
Explosion and whirlwind,
Terrifying force of creation.

Galaxies are fleeing,
Withering away in light years,
Earth in her last dance.
With a certain smiling arrogance
An axe to the mother-root.

Shiver with the fate of man,
Pull the blanket tight around,
Shut the eyes against the night.
Waiting for the birds of morning.

Created by Bill Keys
billgkeys@yahoo.com
facebook.com/bill.keys

Fish

Chapter 1 – The Fish Expert

Every story has a place. One such realm is our solar system. Eight planets circle around a huge spinning ball of hot gas that we call the Sun. Earth is the fifth largest planet and third closest to the center. Earth is 70% covered by water including four major oceans. There are seven land masses called continents which are divided into two hemispheres east and west.
In the Western Hemisphere on the continent of North America is a country called the United States of America. Along the Pacific Coast of the U.S.A., you will find the state of California.
Henry is an eight year old boy living in California. From his home it's about an hour's drive to either San Francisco or Monterey bay. Nothing could be more wonderful for a young boy with a great fascination for one subject, Fish. He always had abundant energy for reading books, searching the internet, or visiting the seashore to research his favorite subject. He even managed to spend a whole night inside of the Aquarium of the Pacific in Santa Cruz where he sat enthralled for hours at the sight of giant tuna, sea turtles, rays and sharks circling through an enormous tank.

"Did you know", said Henry, "that fish use their gills to extract oxygen. This allows them to breathe underwater." Anyone who knew Henry eventually became aware of his unnatural fascination with fish. In fact, most people referred to it as his obsession. His classmates, friends, and even his own family had endured Henry 's endless explanations for how each species of fish had evolved to live in some specific habitat of San Francisco or Monterey bay. He could provide a classification for just about any fish living in the bay and he could even talk about species of fish that most people had never seen or even heard about.

Chapter 2 – An Annoying Project

Henry’s teacher in the third grade was Ms. Edna Magilicuddy, who had recently celebrated her twenty-fifth anniversary at Bufkin Elementary school. Ms. Magilicuddy was well aware of Henry’s interest in fish and she had been trying to steer him toward some activity which might prove beneficial. “I know”, she said to Henry one morning, “why don’t you learn about the Choices for a Healthy Ocean program at the Aquarium and you can tell us which species in our own area are endangered because of over fishing and other problems caused by humans”. Henry had heard about this concept called extinction. It was sad to think about any specifies in these local waters that stood in danger of disappearing forever. “I’ll find out what can be done and tell people what they need to know. We can all gather together to do something!” Henry was charged up and after a visit to the Aquarium in Santa Cruz over the weekend, he came back with the Choices for Healthy Oceans Guide and a link to a website where he could launch in to more research activities.

In the next few weeks, Henry put in many hours at school and at home on his report which he called Choices for a Healthy Ocean. He had a Cause and he was bound and determined to see this through to action. Unfortunately, very few third graders or for that matter very few people anywhere could share the young boy’s enthusiasm for the subject. What once had been an admired trait had begun to wear on everyone's nerves. No one cared anymore how many books he read or how many scientific facts he could remember. All that anyone knew was that they just plain wanted Henry to shut up! Even Miss Magilicuddy had tapped him on the shoulder at school one day and politely asked him to be more attentive to other subjects. His parents began to dread when he would emerge from his room each day, his brain stuffed with more facts and figures about fish. One by one, his friends stopped accompanying him to bus stop in the morning or coming by to play with him after school.

Chapter 3 – Scootering

So it was that a spirit of ill will began to shape itself around the little boy and most people sought to avoid him. Henry had hardly even noticed at first, until he realized that lately he’d been spending a lot of time in his room daydreaming. It had been quite a while since the last time anyone had interrupted his studies with a request to come outside and play. “Maybe”, he thought, “I’ve just been feeling a little bit lonely”. Henry turned off his computer and trudged slowly down the stairs. He was quiet like a stone but remembered to throw out some parting words to his Mom and Dad. “I’m going outside to play!” Henry stepped into to the garage to get his scooter and put on his helmet. In a moment he was rolling down the driveway. “Oh yeah!” The rush of air and the sound of the wheels rattling on the pavement felt really good to him. It was the perfect anecdote for boredom or even for hurt feelings.

Henry raced down the court which ran nearly a hundred yards toward the main street. Garrett Ranch Court was actually built on the site where Travis Garrett’s ranch had once stood. The old water tower from the ranch still remained and had been designated as a city landmark complete with a plaque honoring the contributions of the Garrett family and connecting them with various events in the city’s history.

There were twenty-one brand new homes built in an oval pattern around the water tower and there were plenty of families and lots of children living in this new development that locals fondly referred to as "the ranch". The road ran along in an oval shape passing each house. In the middle was an island with some rocks, landscape plants, and a couple of patches of grass where children could play. In front of nearly every home, the developers had planted a sycamore tree to match the very old specimen which grew beside the water tower in the center of the island. After seven years, the young trees had already begun to spread their large leaves through the sky and all about the ranch. It was early November and the leaves were falling and swirling through the air and settling gently on the ground, sometimes only rise again in the next gust of wind.

If anyone had been watching, they may have also observed some very strange happenings at that moment when Henry rode out on his scooter. It was quiet except for the sounds caused by the wind. Not a single one of the neighborhood children was outside as might be normal for a weekday afternoon, but Henry was too busy to notice.

A flock of ravens settled in the tall pine trees beside the railroad tracks. From this vantage point, the birds looked down upon Garrett Ranch. Presently the flock descended across the tracks and over the rooftops, landing in the sycamores and effectively surrounding the small boy. There they waited silently, not a one of them cawing or taking wing.

Henry turned around when he reached the entrance to ranch and came back down the court. He used his foot to push hard against the pavement and able to gain a considerable amount of speed. With a strong burst of wind at his back, Henry was now flying down the street with very little effort. As he kicked and propelled his scooter, Henry was becoming mesmerized by the flurry of leaves floating in the air in all directions. It seemed that the laws of gravity had been suspended and all that was left was to admire this colorful dance of falling leaves.

Henry thought about what it might be like to surf on the breeze like a sycamore leaf and that thought led him to try ever more daring turns and jumps. The little scooter rattled up the sloping curb at each driveway, sending him airborne and landing on the road again with a satisfying clack of the wheels on the pavement.

Henry rode around the oval curve and headed back toward the center of the ranch where the water tower stood. He felt another burst of wind but this time it was in his face. Henry decided to try and jump up on the curb that bordered the center island. Cool! He straddled the curb and then jumped, shifting his weight in attempt to get back on the road. Suddenly his flight was interrupted! The little boy and his scooter were frozen, suspended in mid-air. Henry’s mind was transported to a dreamy state where there was no past, no future, and nothing you can touch…only images there were and sounds…thoughts, and a heightened awareness of emotion.

An angry sound thundered from above and then a streak of lightening angled down, striking the ground near the old sycamore tree and creating a screen of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Henry could see the figure of an old man. The man wore a blue robe decorated with moons and stars. His eyes were grayish blue and seemed to sparkle with madness. The old man's hair and beard were like white flames and in his hand he held a silver rod with a star on the end. His eyes were blazing right at Henry and he raised the wand skyward and began chanting in some mysterious language. With some great effort the old man pointed the wand at Henry and discharged the spell. A laser like beam emanated from the rod and enveloped the little boy and in a flash he was free again.

The scooter skidded across the curb as Henry twisted his body, trying to regain balance but he was too close to a lamppost. His shoulder and the side of his helmet crashed against the side of the pole. The impact separated the boy from his scooter and Henry tripped over the curb and landed in the grass. The scooter landed in the street.

As he lay there on his back, Henry could see a brilliant burst of color above and he realized it was the sycamore leaves falling from the sky. Orange, green, brown, and other shades softly falling and suddenly there were black shadows and the shapes of birds swooping over him. The ravens were cawing and cackling insistently, circling above the water tower and the sycamore tree. The ravens seemed to be taunting the small boy and Henry held his arm up as if to shield himself from them. He felt a dizzy and tired. Without thinking, he settled back in the lush green grass where he quickly fell asleep.

When Henry woke up, he remembered nothing about the incident with the old man. He was puzzled when he looked up and saw a flock of ravens circling above him. They lingered only for a few moments and then the flock was heading southward across the railroad tracks. Henry pulled his helmet back in place and rose to his feet. His scooter lay nearby in the road and he was happy to find that it had not been badly damaged. Just a few scratches here and there he thought as he examined it. “Good” he thought. “I won’t have to tell Mom and Dad about this.” He rode back to his garage, put his things away, and walked upstairs to his room. Everything seemed about the same as before, well almost everything! When Henry switched on his computer, he noticed something very peculiar. His bookmarks to the Aquarium and Academy of Sciences websites were missing!

Chapter 4: Some Missing Facts

Henry had a small bruise on his shoulder and maybe a few scrapes from his “accident”, but overall it was nothing much. He told his Mom that he had fallen off his scooter that day and she seemed happy that he managed to shake off the incident so easily. It was quite another thing though when she realized that there was some different about her son. He had tossed aside his books and was sitting on this bed doing nothing for the rest of the afternoon.

Another day or two went by uneventful except that Henry had absolutely nothing to say about his favorite subject. At one point, Henry had picked up some literature he’d brought home from the Aquarium and looked up at his Mom with a puzzled expression. It seemed that he wanted to say something, but there were no words and then the little boy simply looked down and then hurried away to do something else.

At school Henry no longer discussed his project with the teacher nor was he even thinking about the subject of fish anymore. Someone had asked him a question about stingrays after seeing some fantastic news story about a diver who had been badly injured when attempting to film the movements of a Bat Ray. Normally Henry would have been excited to use the opportunity to teach someone about ocean creatures but this time he avoided the question. The truth was that Henry was worried and he was also hiding a big secret. Whenever he tried to think about fish, his mind would go blank and he would feel very confused. If he actually tried to speak at such times, his throat would become dry and he could not talk. Try as he might, something was preventing him from speaking and he had no idea why. Henry was too embarrassed by his predicament to ask for help. Besides, wasn't sure he wanted to have any attention directed at him right now.

One afternoon, Miss Magilicuddy asked Henry to stay for a moment after class. He lingered near the doorway and waited, hoping this would be quick. He knew what she might be going to say. "Henry, I've been meaning to ask you about your project. We wanted to find out more about endangered species in our local waters. You know, I've been thinking that there is someone you can talk to…." Henry was nervous, but he interrupted her. "Wait, I've decided not to work on that right now. Mom and Dad said I should be spending more time studying Math and there is a Spelling test tomorrow also. I need to catch the bus now" he told her and took off down the hall. "Goodbye Miss Magilicuddy", he managed to throw over his shoulder. "That's OK Henry; we'll talk about it later then" she called out to him. "Strange", she thought as she watched the little boy hurry away. "I wonder if he's going to be ready for the little surprise I have for him?"

That afternoon when Henry returned home from school, he grabbed the mailbox key and ran back outside. "It’s about time. I think I might have a catalogue in the mail today. Maybe the one about architecture and building things!” he had told his Mom. That particular catalogue was not in the mail but there were indeed some other interesting ones. One of them was for electric train sets and another had baseball equipment. "Dad said I can get a new glove this year" he thought as he flipped through the pages showing all the different brands and types of baseball gloves. Henry was completely unaware that someone was watching him.

The young girl who was watching Henry was sitting on a swing at the next door neighbor's front porch. The swing was rocking gently, making very little noise. Her hair was dark brown with natural curls cascading down toward her shoulders in manner that would surely catch anyone's attention. She wore a light red dress that seemed a bit more formal than one might expect from someone who appeared to be about the same age as Henry. "Hi", she called. "I was wondering who lives here. I mean besides that squirrel over there", she said while pointing up in the old sycamore tree. Henry was startled but also pleased to hear a friendly voice. He was normally a bit shy around strangers but in this instance he walked directly over toward the girl. "Yes, I live here", he told her. He was wondering if this were his new neighbor. The house next door had been empty for a few months and the For Sale sign still was posted in the front yard. Henry couldn't remember seeing any activity with people moving in. Before he could ask her a question, she was speaking to him again. "My name is Myra". She pointed toward the old sycamore again. "I was watching that squirrel before you came out and scared it away". She scanned the area and then both children watched as a squirrel scurried across the driveway and headed toward someone's backyard. "It was up there chewing on something until you made some noise at the mailbox", Myra told him. "Probably an acorn" Henry replied. "Anyway, there are plenty of squirrels around here. Ravens and crows too" he said. He pointed across the way toward the railroad tracks and the tall pine trees. "I can't see them from here" she said but seemed to be thinking about something else. "Would you like to play a game?” Myra asked him. Henry walked over and put the mail on his front porch and came back to her. She invited him to join her on the swing and explained that they were going to pretend to be on a ship, sailing across the ocean. "Yeah! See the waves going up and down?" Myra told him as they were swinging back and forth. The children enjoyed their cruise. Soon they were off to visit different ports across the sea. Myra seemed to know more about the world than anyone could imagine. Henry wanted to ask her where she was from and learn more about her life but Myra was so enthused with their imaginary journey that it seemed rude to interrupt her. Anyway, Henry was enjoying their journey as well and this was one of those times when details just didn't seem very important.

After a little while the children abandoned the swing and switched to a new game of make believe. They started reenacting scenes from some of their favorite movies and shows. Henry had quite a talent for making up little songs while Myra seemed to be able to improvise a dance or even gymnastics routine to follow along with every song. It didn't matter to either of them if they had played for an hour or perhaps the entire afternoon. Eventually they did take a break. "What's that?" Henry asked her. He was pointing toward a small basket that lay beneath the swing set on the porch. "Oh, are you hungry?” Myra replied. "I have a snack I just know you will like" she said confidently. She lifted up the fold in the basket and Henry could see that there were cookies. "Yes, I would like one of those", he said. Henry 's eyes were wide with delight since he'd rarely seen cookies so scrumptious looking outside of those humungous Big Sky Cowboy cookies they served at Montana Mike’s BBQ joint. Myra reached inside the basket and pulled out a cookie. Then she pulled out a little bottle that appeared to be filled with multi-colored sprinkles. "Rainbow Dust", Henry thought to himself but before he could ask a question Myra had taken a bite of the cookie she was holding. "Mmm", she purred and then she said something else that was unintelligible as she continued munching on the cookie. Henry didn't say anything but he was thinking that the most important thing on earth would be for him to have one of those cookies. "Close your eyes and count to ten" Myra announced, having clearly understood what the little boy was thinking. As Henry counted out loud, Myra pulled out another cookie and then she sprinkled on a bit of sparkling rainbow dust from the bottle. "Ten!" Henry shouted and opened his eyes.

Myra's expression had changed and now she seemed to be considering something very serious as she watched Henry munch on the cookie. Henry had a way of taking his time when he ate; savoring those things he liked most. He looked back at Myra, expecting her to smile but her serious and contemplative expression did not change. In fact, the last thing Henry thought in those moments was that Myra was becoming ever more quiet and distant as though she were beginning to fade away. He felt tired and sat back in the swing to finish his snack. As he rocked gently in the swing he could hear the pleasant sound of birds chirping and as though from a great distance, the sound of children playing a game of jump rope.

Later Henry woke up and it took him a bit of time to remember where he was. Yes, he'd apparently been asleep for a little while on the swing and now there was no one with him. There wasn't even a trace of the little girl or the picnic basket either. He stood up and tried knocking on the front door and then he rang the doorbell. "Hey, don't you know that nobody lives there? What are you doing?" It was one of his neighbors, Melanie, who was standing out in the street with her friend Meaghan and a little boy named Donnie. Melanie was being annoying as usual. She was always trying to get in his face and provoke some reaction. "Do you want to jump rope with us?" she asked. Henry shook his head quickly just one time, implying that he certainly would not be joining them. The children went back to their game as if nothing had happened and Henry went back home. He was thinking about how strange his life had become lately, but he didn't realize the full extent of the situation just yet.

Chapter 5 - Fish

On Friday evening a big event was planned at Bufkin Elementary School. The children, their teachers, and the school administrators had been working hard to put on a great talent show. This year, the purpose of the event was to raise funds to support the enlargement of the school library. Every year a special guest would be invited to represent one of the organizations that had helped to contribute to the event. For the past few weeks, Miss Magilicuddy had been exchanging email with Ellen Parker, Director from the Aquarium of the Pacific. Mrs. Parker had agreed to appear at the talent show after have having read a draft of a paper written by one of the Bufkin students. You guessed it! Of course, it was Henry's as yet unfinished report on Choices for a Healthy Ocean. Miss Magilicuddy had planned to introduce Henry to Mrs. Parker who in turn planned to reveal that the Aquarium would be making a substantial donation of books to the Bufkin library on the subject of marine life.

Henry had really enjoyed the show that night, watching from the audience as his classmates came up on stage in various groups to perform musical skits that were full of dancing and even a bit of comedy. When the show ended, everyone lined up for a buffet of hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, sodas, and ice cream. Henry got a tray, picked up his food, and found a place at table with some fourth grade students that he didn't know that well. He kept to himself, thinking about how one day he would like to participate in the talent show. He would help create a segment and even write a song especially for the occasion. The idea made him feel good. It was about that time when Miss Magilicuddy walked by. "Henry sure looks a lot more relaxed than I've noticed in quite some time", she thought.

"Henry, please come with me. I want you to meet someone" Miss Magilicuddy said. She led him toward the center of a large crowd that had been gathering near the playground. "Oh good. There he is! Henry, since you were a kindergartner, you've always been a regular at the library". It was Mrs. Chandler the librarian speaking. "It’s a rare day when I haven't seen you stop by to visit. We thought it would be just perfect for you to share this moment with us. We have some news that will really interest you, Henry ", she was speaking to Henry but also addressing the crowd at large. Miss Magilicuddy stepped forward again. "Henry, I want you to meet Mrs. Ellen Parker from the Aquarium of the Pacific. Mrs. Parker has announcement to make, but first I was wondering if you can tell her something about that little project you've been working on?" said Miss Magilicuddy with a smile full of pride and satisfaction.

Henry froze up with fright and lowered his head. “After all, nothing has changed”, he thought to himself. His mind was completely blank on the subject of fish and now here he was about to be embarrassed in front Ellen Parker, Director and one of the founders of the Aquarium of the Pacific in Santa Cruz. Tears welled up in Henry’s eyes and he looked as though he had been summoned by the Pirate Black Beard himself to walk the plank. In some way he sensed that as he scanned the crowd that there might just be someone he knew there who could help him. Yes! He heard her voice and he knew immediately who it was. “Henry!” she cried out loud and shouted his name once more before he saw her sitting on a swing in the sandbox play yard. “Don’t worry. Go ahead and speak to her. It will be OK” Myra told him and even though she mouthed each word silently, he had understood. Henry turned back toward Mrs. Parker and as he started to speak the most amazing thing happened.

Instead of words there was something like a bubble which came from the little boy’s mouth. The bubble floated in the air and then exploded in a burst of brilliant animated color. Slowly recognizable image began to form. It was a grey fish with thick black bars and spots with a dorsal fin. It was a Leopard Shark! The animated cartoon shark began to swim in circles through the air, ascending upward as it went. The astonished crowd turned its attention back toward Henry when he attempted to speak again. Another of the same animated bubbles came from his mouth and lifted up in the air. Again a burst of light and another animated cartoon image! This time it was a large silver fish about three and half feet long with black stripes running parallel along its body. A Striped Bass! Soon the striper was also was swimming through the sky. The next burst of light revealed a whole school of sardines which promptly darted in synchronized movements through the sky and excited the crowd by changing directions with a mere flicker of motion. Next was a Green Sturgeon, a large bottom dweller most often found around the San Pablo Bay. The fish was huge, perhaps five feet long. The Green Sturgeon is known for hits boney side plates which it has instead of scales and a large sucker mouth. A fish like this one could be over fifty years old and weigh as much as three hundred pounds! The show went on for a while longer. It was as though the atmosphere surrounding Bufkin Elementary School had become a gigantic aquarium with Henry as the source. There were many strange and wonderful sights that night, but the one that really excited the children was a Bat Ray which glided majestically across the sky with its large wing span flapping and a long venomous tail floating behind.

It all ended as it had begun, with a little boy named Henry standing in the center of the playground. No one was sure what had happened nor could they understand any meaning for this strange event. When Henry looked back toward the playground the swing was empty and Myra was gone. Before he had a chance to react to everything that was happening, Mrs. Parker stepped forward and thanked him for working on this wonderful report on the health of the oceans. Next she presented Mrs. Chandler with a certification awarding the school with the large collection of books on the subject of marine life for children. Miss Magilicuddy placed her hand on Henry’s shoulder and the two of them smiled at one another.

On Monday morning a little boy rode his scooter through the school yard and came to a stop near his classmates. As they gathered around him, Henry pulled out an article from the Sunday newspaper about how the Aquarium of the Pacific had on display for the first time ever a Great White Shark. “No one has ever managed to keep a shark alive in an aquarium before” Henry explained and the other children were quite sure this was exciting and important news.

> ;}}} ' > > ;}}} ' > The End > ;}}} ' > > ;}}} ' >

Created by Bill Keys
billgkeys@yahoo.com
facebook.com/bill.keys

Matchmaking

I Decided To Try Dating:
In the days before the internet, there were these so called “dating services”. They used video files, questionnaires, list of likes and dislikes, and other methods to divine what might be a perfect match. It was in the early 90’s and there’s not yet a hint of browsers, dot.com explosions, or anything like. Hey, it was actually a kind of depressing time period. The economy was in bad shape anyway.

As for me, I was busy working all day and going to school at night. I would come home tired but ready to plunge into my homework assignments or maybe sit down to read a book (Philosophy, Drama, Poetry) or listen to music. (Bluegrass, Blues) OK, to be clear, I was not actively pursuing my latent interest in romance. I had already turned 30 and the subject of romance was regulated to the “haunted dreams” space or might give me headaches lying awake at night. Fulfillment was not in the cards.

I started looking at advertisements for Dating Services. What the hell, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to put the element of force to work. If I was to make something happen, I would get a ticket and stand in line knowing something different was about to happen, even it wasn’t the natural “way” for men and women to meet each other. Now realize I say “men and women” because this period was a long ways from Brokeback Mountain, and dating services were not yet prepared to widen their scope of influence in bringing the diverse spectrum of humanity together. Anyway, I had my dream to meet a woman, share the action and adventure of life both physically and mentally, and move on to a new stage of life. And now to go along with this dream, I had adopted a new attitude. Here was a Class A fear factor situation and I was going to confront it.

I picked out one matchmaking service called Together. I can’t recall if I’d found Together in the Metro weekly or perhaps the Yellow Pages but the concept seemed simple enough. Men and Women with diverse experience and backgrounds would find each other with a little bit of help from these knowledgeable pros. I called and made an appointment. They were very willing to accommodate my busy schedule too and that gave me a good impression.

The counselor assigned to my case was a woman about my age. She asked me a few questions about why I had decided to come in and then interrupted my response to report that I was in good hands. She personally knew a few good women attendant to this service who would be very interested to meet me. Why not call them in right now? (I thought) But proper etiquette suggested waiting for a punch line and so I waited patiently through her explanation of how the service works. Finally, she stopped and asked me which of their annual plans I intended to sign up for:

1) Meet 2 women per month for $750
2) Meet 1 woman a month for $500.

So which plan would I prefer? Oh my, $750 is a lot of money. They were rumors of cutbacks at work too. So I asked about the $500 plan. Wouldn’t it be a bit scant on the “dating” activity if there was only one name provided each month? “But you’ve forgotten that these are high quality matches. You’ll want to spend time with this one person”, said the counselor. “What if I sign up today” I said and she told me it takes 30 days for the process to work itself out. “What about those women you mentioned earlier?” I had remembered the carrots that had dangled earlier in my star crossed eyes. Unfortunately, things became confrontational at that point. After all, this was still a business transaction and my time in the chair was beginning to exceed the value thereof for my counselor. So out came the hard sale tactics. This woman would have been OK selling used cars or just about anything that required a good lean on. Didn’t I believe in myself? Wouldn’t I think it worthwhile to invest in myself? What was happiness worth? To which I gave some lame reply about job stability and assorted financial concerns. But again, didn’t I believe that I could find another job if that was how the cards played out? Cards? Yes, this is the second mention of “cards” in this little essay. You see, love is a gamble and we need explicit metaphors to assist in discovering the ways of love.

I was hooked! Yeah man, I guess this had been my problem all along. I hadn’t believed in myself enough to take chances, even when it came to facing the prospect of an empty, lonely life. Or at least I hadn’t practiced the time honored strategy of giving myself a chance to win by agreeing to play in the game. “Be careful” said the counselor. “You might think about this during the next few weeks and you might even think you’ve made a mistake. You need to wait for the process to work.” I’m a Libra, so of course this only made me think harder before signing the check to pay for the service. I weighed the evidence before me. Of course! She’s trying to make sure I don’t take advantage of the cooling off period to back out of the deal. But no amount of skepticism could stop me now. After all, I had a new attitude and I was taking charge of my own love life. I wouldn’t be caught on a lonely park bench waiting for a miracle to happen now. I was a Gambler with a Romantic streak and I believed in myself. Besides I’d wasted money on things worst than this. What about that old pick-up truck?

I hope I haven’t misled you. There won’t be a finely detailed description of everything that happened after I walked out the counselor’s office. Nope, the pace of this story increases now. I’ve set the stage for the ending and I hope I’ve made it clear that it all begins with a state of mind. The most important adventure of my life began with a stumble, an act of bravery, and with assorted accidents of chance and circumstance. Think about it a moment. At some point we all take the gamble and set things in motion.

It was almost two months before I received my first “match” in the mail from Together. I had tried to nonchalant the whole thing, but started calling the counselor’s office squarely after 30 days had gone by with no results. Like most things, this “dating” process began under pressure and needed a push and shove to take off. Here’s the summary of what happened, and remember, these activities occurred at 30 to 45 day intervals.

First Date:
She was a Hispanic police woman who was hard to hook up with. She was only available on weekday mornings. She need a couple of hours a day to “work out”. Somehow we managed a brief dinner at the Pruneyard in Campbell. Was she on duty? She told me she needed to sit in the back of the room facing the door in case some outlaw should decide to “draw down” on her. She’d have to be ready for that, or deal with the the possibility of taking a bullet in the back. First impression? Well, I remember thinking I wouldn’t want this kind of thing happen either. I was OK her taking a seat facing the doorway. We spent about a half hour or so with her explaining how she would “take out” criminals in various situations. I walked away knowing more about the role of women in the police department.

Second Date:
She was an elementary school teacher who was overweight with short cropped blond hair. She offered to help me with college math and commented that I had nice teeth. Sort of like examining livestock for intelligence and breeding, I thought. We spent an hour with her discussing the bad habits of her ex-husband. He liked to watch TV sports. What did I think about it? Well, I could understand a little bit of what their life must have been like and I knew the relationship hadn’t ended well. Later I read some advice that people shouldn’t mention their previous relationships, especially on a first date. The advice had impact and now I had experience as proof. I also noted that my Together preferences were for height/weight proportionate women with medium or long hair. Someone must have missed that, I guess.

Third Date:
She was an administrator working in a law office. She was also a single mother with a young son. Hadn’t I mentioned to my counselor that couldn’t really handle a situation like that? It’s true enough that I was not prepared to deal with this surprise. I had a cheese enchilada and ate lots of chips and salsa and chased ‘em down with enough Coke to give me a caffeine high and help me stay awake late thinking about what to say to those nice folks at Together.

Fourth Date:
She was a tech worker at Apple Computer. An avid equestrian. She answered my phone call and told me that she had joined Together as a “knee-jerk reaction” to her recent break-up with her boyfriend. In fact, she’d learned that this whole dating service thing was not really agreeable. Did I sound a bit disappointed? She offered to “go out” with me anyway, knowing this might be my one opportunity to get a date this month. Now wasn’t that a nice gesture? I thought I was equally nice when informing her she need not go to such extreme sacrifice on my account. With that, she rode off into the sunset and I felt quite pleased. I was beginning to develop a fair amount of self respect and was even becoming impervious to rejection and disappointment. This was all good for me, you know win-win kind of stuff. I also decided it was time to ask for my money back.

Interlude – I glimpsed Oz behind the Curtain:
I returned to the offices of Together in Campbell and discovered that my counselor had been avoiding my phone calls because she had developed cancer and had to take time away from work to heal. She was back now and appeared to be well, but she didn’t remember me. She referred me to the experts who were responsible for matchmaking, you know, the supposed core activity of the company. After many attempts, I finally reached one of these people by phone. Her “last day” at the company was coming soon, but she’d be glad to help me. We went through the whole process of how the matchmaking was done and why it didn’t appear to be working. Basically, the problem was that there were very few women signed up for the service and it was on the verge of going out of business. The matchmakers had long ago given up on trying to match people by their “interests” and “likes” or even “dislikes” as divulged on the information cards. She shuffled through her "current" deck of info cards and said: “Here’s a nice young woman. She’s tall and she has long hair. She’s very cute. You’ll like her”. Now remember this was a phone conversation. We didn’t have email jpg attachments or url's to look at in the early 90’s, so I would have to take her word for this description of the young woman. I was intrigued! In fact, I was developing a plan. Maybe I could talk to this woman about helping me to gather evidence to sue Together! Perhaps I could use the money to pay for a vacation to the Greek Isles? This was indeed an action plan, and I was angry enough to carry it out too. Of course I'd also developed a lingering sense of curiousity about this young woman with the long black hair.

Fifth Date – I meet my wife to be:
She was difficult to reach and of course did not return my calls. She had a roommate though, so I asked some questions and got enough information to hunt her down at work. It turned out that this “roommate” was her Mother. It was a daring move on my part and I doubt the instrusion of calling her at the workplace was very well received. But I had a plan, remember? I asked her why she didn't want to meet, pushing to the conclusion that she had no intention of honoring the dating agency agreement. Instead she took up my challenge, revealing a humorous and quite charming personality. Her Mom wouldn’t let her out “after dark”. She worked long hours, etc. I made further inquiries. Would she help out by admitting that there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that she would want to date me? I don’t think either of us understood the other’s motives at this point, so instead of trying to explain, we decided to meet for dinner. It was summer in California and we could spend an hour together after work before it got dark and her Mom worried and all that. We met in Stanford University in the shadow of Hoover Tower. She was a little shy but obviously very smart with beautiful long black hair. She seemed to fit well with the matchmaker’s description. We ate dinner together and talked about a few things including Shakespeare. Blame me for this, but I couldn’t find anything wrong! And so it happened that I never gathered the evidence to sue the dating service. As time went by, I began to look at things differently. I would pretend the whole thing never happened. My girlfriend and then within another year, my wife…we met at Stanford. That’s what I told everyone when faced with the “how did you two meet” question. Such a nice couple!

Getting back to the future; It’s no longer shocking to tell someone how I met my wife. I never dreamed that one day there would be online Personals and whole communities of people meeting with the help of matchmaking services. Why it’s not even a very expensive proposition now! It’s mostly just self service nowadays and internet companies supply the tools to help people get their message of desire out to the world. There must be millions of stories about people meeting in chat rooms, instant messaging or email. There are a few things I’ve learned though and I doubt this is subject to change. No matter what method you use, you still need a good dosage of curiosity to get involved in these life changing conversations. You need to overcome the tendency to keep up a guard and you need to gamble a bit with your free time if you want to meet someone and spend a sweet and simple life together.

By Bill Keys
billgkeys@yahoo.com
facebook.com/bill.keys

Dedications:
To my wife Vivian, who shares together with me.