This is the continued story of
Simon’s Journal.
I would highly recommend you read the first volume of this story,
Simon’s Journal
Thirteen Days – The First Crusade
before you begin this novel.
The following narrative is nearly a complete work of
fiction.
Any similarity to actual individuals living or dead is completely
unintentional.
If reading a coming of age story about boys wearing diapers and exploring their
awakening sexuality is offensive or illegal in your area, then might I suggest
you go read War and Peace or something equally stimulating.
Simon's Journal
Volume II
Thirteen
Nights – After the Crusade
Written by
Danny
Author of Thirteen Days
PART 3 –
I was only a house
away from my own when I noticed someone was sitting on my front porch. I also
noticed that dad had finished clearing away the snow from our driveway as well
as the sidewalk though there was a light dusting on them again since it kept
snowing off and on. I reached the bottom of our driveway and still couldn’t
figure out who was on our porch. Whoever it was had there back to me and was
leaning against the porch railing with their head down like they were reading
or playing a Gameboy or something like that.
I was nearly to the steps before the
person finally realized I was approaching. When he lifted his hood-covered
head, I saw that it was only
“Simon!” he bellowed.
“Hey
“Cause no one answered the door and
I figured you’d be back sooner or later so I just been waiting.” He said.
“How long have you been waiting?” I
asked.
“Oh, maybe five minutes?” he
answered but not sounding to sure of himself, “Not really sure, I got lost in
this.” He held up a small mustard colored book with the picture of a red foil
maple leaf on it.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Just a book.” He said.
“I can see that! I mean what’s it
about?” I asked with what I’m sure was a silly sort of grin.
“Oh, yea it’s got all kind of weird
facts about
“Why you reading that?” I asked.
“Uh, my dad said he’s taking us
there this summer and since I was at the libary.” He said with a shrug.
“LibRARY!” I corrected him.
“That’s what I said.” He was looking
at me with a bit of confusion.
“Nuhh, you said li-bary. You left
out one of the r’s.” I pointed out.
“I did?” he said grinning and then
asked, “Uh, there are two r’s in it?”
“You are so dumb!” I said giggling,
him along with me. “Wanna come in out of the cold?”
“Not so cold really.”
“I’ve been out here all day. I’m
pretty chilled and I . . .” but I didn’t finish my sentence. I was going to say
that I needed to change and bathe but I was able to catch and stop myself in
time.
I opened the storm door only to find
the front door to be locked. “That’s odd.” I commented before asking
“I seen your dad’s car was gone and
when I called before coming over I only got the machine.”
“They just leave you?”
I got up onto the back porch and
tried to slide the door open but it didn’t budge. “Dang!” I said.
“Think maybe their out looking for
you?”
“No, Mr. Otteranski, uh I mean my friend’s dad called them for
me before we went to the park.” I said while staring at the door like I might
be able to will it to open.
“Oh
wait, there’s a spare key in the garage.” I said racing off the back porch. I
got to the walk door and tried the knob and sure enough, it opened. “Dad never
locks this door because it can’t be unlocked from the outside. It’s broke.” I
told
I
stepped into the garage when
“What?”
I
didn’t answer right away and that was enough time to allow him to figure out
where the smell was actually coming from.
“Oh
no you didn’t!” He said with no small amount of joy in his voice.
My
chin dripped to my chess as I let out a sign.
“Did
you do it on purpose?” he asked.
I
spun around and nearly biting his head off I said, “No I didn’t do it on
purpose!”
“Whoa,
take it easy!”
“I’m
glad you find it so amusing!” I snapped at him again but not quite so loud or
vicious this time. Turning away from him, I went to the back of the garage to
dad’s workbench, pulled open the middle drawer and found the house key taped to
the inside of the drawer front.
When
I turned back toward
“What?”
I asked.
“What,
what?”
“Why
you looking at me like that?” I asked.
“Like
what?” he said.
Waving
him off I said, “Oh skip it!” I held up the key and added, “Got the key!”
“Good!”
he said.
We
went back up to the porch, unlocked the door and walked on into the closed up
and still darkened house.
“Wish
they’d get the power back on soon!” I said.
“You
guys got no power?”
“Yea,
but they are fixing it up the street!” I said pointing through the walls.
“Oh
so that’s what those trucks are doing.” He added.
“Yea!”
I answered back. “Uh, go a head and close that.” I said to him and he slid the
door closed.
“Not
much warmer in here.”
I
went over to the table, which was where mom and dad usually left notes for me.
Sure enough, there was one.
Simon,
Your mom
is over at your Aunt Catharine’s. I had to go to work
due to an
emergency. I shouldn’t be long but if you get in before
I’m home,
call me at work. I’ve left my cell phone by the house
phone.
Love, Dad
“What’s
it say?”
“That
my mom’s at my Aunt Catharine’s like I thought and my dad had to go to work.” I
answered setting the note back down and going over to get dad’s cell phone.
I
dialed his work number and on the third ring, he picked it up.
“Hi
dad!” I said.
“Hi
Simon, you just getting home again?” He asked.
“Yea.”
I answered and then asked, “How come you locked me out of the house?”
“I
didn’t lock you out! I left the backdoor unlocked for you.” Was his answer.
“Nope!
Was locked!” I said back, “I had to use the spare key from the garage again.”
“I’m
sorry son, I was sure I had left it unlocked.” Dad said and then asked, “Is the
power back on yet?”
“Not
yet but I seen them working on it. There are two trucks and some guys up in one
of those buckets on a long arm.” I said.
“Hopefully
they’ll have it on soon!” Dad said and then added, “I should be home in about
an hour. I need you to get cleaned up and if you can, get dressed nice.”
“I
got to get dressed up?” I whined.
“Yes
. . .” his voice trailed off before he said, “Shoot, you need help with that
don’t you?” but before I could answer him he said, “Well, wait until I get
there and I’ll help you. Just be ready because we won’t have much time!”
“Why?
Where we going?” I asked, still whining.
Right then everything went wholly
chaotic as the power came back on. The television in the living room came on,
as it always does when the power goes out and comes back on. The volume was
maxed and blaring like a loud speaker. I had to cover my eyes when the lights
all came on because I’d already started to adjust to the lower light levels
inside. I tried to yell to
A few seconds later the TV and
lights all when off again and dad, still shouting said, “UNPLUG THE TV IF YOU
HAVE TOO!”
“Ah dang dad! You killed my ear!” I
cried out, “Powers off again.”
“Quick, before it comes back on. Go
unplug the TV.” Dad said.
“
“
“Yea, he was on the front porch when
I came home.” I said and no sooner did I have the words out and the power came
back on again.
“Oh that’s better! Thanks!” I said
to Lowell who was looking rather assaulted but smiling none the less.
Dad said, “Just leave it unplugged
incase they have to kill the power again. Oh and don’t turn on anything, no
computers or the microwave; nothing except lights and then only if you need
too.”
“Yea okay!” I said into the phone.
“I’ll try to be home within an
hour.” Dad said. “I have to go now; I have someone here in my office.”
“Alright, love ya dad!” I said to
him but wasn’t sure if he heard me before he hung up. I turned off his cell
phone and laid it by the house phone again.
“That was intense!”
“Yea it does that sometimes! No idea
why either!” I said motioning to the TV. “Dad said he’d be home in about an
hour maybe and then we have to go somewhere but he didn’t say where.” I said.
“That stinks!”
Of course, I turned about twenty
shades of red and some of it was from embarrassment and some from anger.
However, before I could react he asked, “Want me to help you clean up?” and I
was shocked to hear myself say, “Sure!”
In no time at all, I found myself
standing in the shower stall of the hallway bathroom, stripped down to nothing
but my armor and a very wet and very smelly diaper as Lowell was struggling to
get the pins off.
“Dang things are slippery!” he said
with a grunt.
When he finally got one to open,
with the weight of the contents, it was enough that it allowed him the slide
the diaper down my legs and then he had me step out of it. He had his entire
face all scrunched up and said, “Boy what you been eating?”
“It’s not that bad!” I said though
it was that bad and worse still when he had me close the door and turn on the
water to wash off the mess from my backside while he stood outside the glass
doors watching me. The water was hardly warm at all, actually had I not been so
cold from being outside all day, I probably would not have been able to stand
the cold water for very long.
When I was relatively sure I’d got
the entire mess rinsed away, I turned off the water and opened the glass door
back up.
“Turn round!”
“Why?” I asked.
“Cause you got poop up under it too
here in the back.” He said and yet again, I felt my face flush hot.
I turned around so that he could
help me remove my armor and then being extra careful; I closed the glass shower
door again and turned back on the water while he washed my armor in the sink.
A couple minutes later, I was
standing in the middle of the bath while
“Why?” he asked.
“It helps absorb any sweat.” I
answered.
So we went to my room with
“How much you put in it?” He asked
holding the back piece of my armor in one hand and the bottle of baby powder in
his other.
“Here, let me show you.” I said
reaching out and taking them both from him.
Just the way dad had done, I
sprinkled in the powder and then smoothed it around with my hand.
He helped me put it on and as he was
doing so he asked, “So how does it feel? I mean without this on.”
“I can tell that I’m still tender
but really, when I’m wearing it, I can do just about anything I want and it
doesn’t hurt at all less I do something really stupid.” I said with a half
grin.
After he had both pieced strapped
back on me, he had me lay down on the floor, “I like the floor better.” He had
said and proceeded to put me into one of my disposable diapers. As he did so, I
told him what mom had said when she’d seen me wearing on of
“Did she get mad?” he asked.
“Na, she just said that I am only to
allow dad and her to change me.” I answered.
“You going to get in trouble for me
helping now?” he asked.
“I don’t think so. I mean, it was
kind of an emergency right?” I said.
“Yea, more then kind of.” He said
grinning as he put the last tape into place.
“Want plastic pants again?” he
asked.
“Yea, might as well.” I answered.
“Okay, then stay there!” he said and
returned a moment later with a pair of clear plastic pull-on pants.
I had to raise my bottom again so
that he could get them up into place and then ran his fingers around the waist
and leg elastics to be sure none of the diaper was sticking out.
After helping me to my feet, he then
retrieved from the pocket of his coat another CD. “Here, this is the next
chapter of Hamanaptra for you. It’s better then the first three because I had
more time to do it; oh and it’s also a little shorter then the others.”
I took the CD and said, “I’ll have
to listen to it later. Dad said not to turn on anything incase the power
doesn’t stay on.”
“Oh yea, that makes sense.”
“A surprise? What for?” I asked.
“For helping me with my reading!
She’s so happy that I’m practicing and that you are the one that’s been getting
me to do it that she wants to give you something.”
“She doesn’t need to do that!” I
said feeling humbled.
“Yea, she’s like that!” he said
turning toward my closet. “What you want to wear?” he asked.
“So does she know what you are
reading?” I asked just to be sure that she didn’t know.
He gave me the funniest expression from
over his right shoulder, “No way!”
I responded back with a simple,
“Good!” before answering his question, “Dad said I got to dress up! So . . .” I
didn’t get to finish as
“Where you going?” he asked.
“I don’t know! He just said dress
up!” I answered.
“Oh, so . . . a tie?” he asked.
“I got a blue suite in the other
side.” I said pointing to the left sliding door.
“Wowzers! Nice one too!” he said
pulling it out from my closet.
He handed it to me by the hanger and
I said, “Yea.”
“Um, while you get your pants on,
I’m going to go take care of your messy diaper okay?” he said motioning toward
my door.
“Yea sure!” I said pulling the pants
off the hanger.
I slipped them on, with a bit of
difficulty, before going to my closet and finding a white shirt to wear. I was
tucking it into my pant when he returned. He was holding the spent diaper out
in front of him like it was a ticking time bomb about to go off at any second.
“What should I do with it now?” he asked.
“Know where the washer is?” I asked.
“I think I can find it.” He said as
he sped down the hall.
A couple minutes later I had my tie
tied around my neck and was putting on my belt when
“Yea but the pants are kind of
tight. Good thing you didn’t put a cloth diaper on me, I never would have been
able to pull my pants up then.” I said.
“Yea but you still look good, and
really if I didn’t know you had on a diaper, I never would be able to guess.”
He said.
I countered with, “Thanks.”
He smiled and appearing hopeful
asked, “Want me to help with your socks and shoes too?”
“Sure!” I said giving myself one last
look in the mirror before setting myself down on at the foot of Jamie’s bed.
“Your brother coming over this
weekend?” he asked.
“I don’t think so. He was here last
weekend.” I said.
He then asked, “Oh, so he’s coming
next weekend?”
“Yea I think so.” I answered holding
up my left foot as he slid on my sock and then shoe.
He was tying my other shoe when dad
appeared in my doorway.
“There you are!” dad said.
Lowell and I both screamed and
jumped, dad laughed.
“Gee-whiz dad! You scared us to
death!” I said clutching at my armor plated heart while
“That was a good one!” he said
holding his stomach.
“I didn’t even here you come in.” I
said.
“And you didn’t relock the back door.”
Dad said.
Dad said that because, whenever I’m
home alone, the rule is that all doors should be closed and locked at all times
and I’m never to open them for anyone except mom and dad.
“Oops, sorry!” I replied, “I guess I
forgot.”
Dad smiled, “You didn’t need to get
‘that’ dressed up!”
“Huh?” I said looking down at my
suite.
“But it’s okay, you look nice!” he
added.
“Well thank you very much
Dad motioned toward the other end of
the house and said, “I’ll go start it. Uh,
“Yea that would be nice!”
Dad looked at me and holding up the
palm of his right hand he said, “Five minutes.”
“Okay, where are we going?” I asked
as he started to leave but he didn’t answer.
“Bet you are going out to eat
someplace fancy.”
“Na, not without my mom.” I shot
back.
“Ready?” dad asked as he combed my
hair with his fingers.
“Yep!” Lowell and I said at the same
time but neither of us bothered to try jinxing each other.
I put back on my coat and pulled my
hat on over my head.
“You’ve got an appointment.” Dad
said.
“I do? At the doctors?” I asked
trying to think of where I would have an appointment.
Being cryptic he responded with,
“Not ‘the doctor’ but ‘a doctor’.”
“For my ribs?” I asked, not yet
getting what he meant.
When dad didn’t answer, I asked,
“For my ankle? Because it’s fine today, doesn’t even hurt in the least!”
“That’s probably because you’ve been
out in the cold all day.” Dad said turning the car left.
“So why am I seeing a doctor?” I
asked.
“Remember our talk the other
morning?” Dad asked.
“Which one?” I asked back still
totally clueless.
“About you talking to a Therapist.”
He said and no more had the words rolled off his tongue then I felt my heart drop
into my stomach exactly like a ton of bricks might hit the ground after falling
from twenty-seven floors up.
Dad was looking at me in his
rearview mirror. “It’s going to be fine, Simon! You were actually supposed to
go this morning but with all the snow they reschedule it for next week.”
I quickly butted in, “If it’s not
until next week . . .” I didn’t get to finish.
“Then they called and said that
since it stopped snowing so hard and the roads had been cleared, you could come
this afternoon as they had several openings.” Dad finished saying.
A few minutes later, we arrived at a
white and grey house that looked to have been converted into an office sometime
in the recent past. The inside smelled of flowers and I didn’t much care for
that smell at all. The walls were all painted a kind of pinkish color that dad
said was called mauve; I didn’t like that either. Dad gave my name to this girl
that didn’t look old enough to be working at a burger joint, let alone in an
office. She smiled and asked us to have a seat and that the doctor would be
with us in a few minutes.
My heart, which as lodged somewhere
around my navel, seemed to be beating so hard and so fast that I felt like I
should be running or something to be making it work so very hard.
As dad sat down I managed to capture
his gaze, “D-dad I d-don’t w-want t-t-t-to be here!” I said.
He took hold of my hand and pulled
me down into the chair beside him. “Simon, it’s going to be alright, I promise!
All she’s going to want to do it to talk with you for a little while. You won’t
have to take your pants off or anything like that.”
I knew that with that last line, he
was trying to lighten my mood but I wasn’t into playing games right now. All I
knew was that I had to get out of there or I was going to die!
“D-d-dad, I-I-I-I r-r-r-r-really
d-d-don’t w-want t-to b-be here!” I said with obvious panic in my voice, as the
walls appeared to start moving in toward me.
Now using his hushed yet
authoritative dad voice, he said, “Simon, that’s enough! Settle yourself down
right now! You’re doing this and no amount of theatrics is going to change
that!”
“Theatrics?” I thought. “Is that
what he thinks I’m doing? Well if you want theatrics, I’ll give you theatrics!”
the voice in my head was screaming.
Just as I was about to start a full
out tantrum, I mean I’d taken in a lung full of air when the door across for
the childlike receptionist opened and an older, very smartly dressed and
professional lady stepped out. She had kind of blondish-gold hair with hints of
silver and had it pulled back into a loose bun on the back of her head.
However, it was her lips that caught me off guard and managed to halt a near
full-out temper tantrum at the very last second. I was thrown into a sort of
confused, bewildered and entranced state by the fact that her lips were orange!
I don’t mean they were kind of orange-ish pink; no, they were as orange as an
orange and they matched her dress perfectly. Nevertheless, despite the shock
value of her lipstick, she still looked extremely nice and well groomed.
“Hello, you must be Simon Sr.,” she
extended a hand to dad who took it and shook softly. I’d never seen anyone
shake hands the way she and dad did. It was somewhat pretty like, not strong,
the way I see men do it.
Dad stood up, “Yes, and this is my
son Simon that I was telling you about.”
She extended the same hand to me and
trying to mimic the same sort of handshake, I took her hand and gently shook
it. “I’m so glad to get to meet you Simon, my names Doctor Elisabeth Hound. But
everyone just calls me Lizy for short.”
She let go of my hand and speaking
to dad she asked, “Is it alright if you’re son and I go chitchat for a minute
or two?” I couldn’t help thinking that
she should have asked me if I even wanted to talk to her and I think I was
about to say something along those lines when she added, “I believe Aveina has
some papers for you to fill out and sign.” She motioned over to the childlike
girl behind the desk and with a hand on the back of my head, guided me past
dad, past Aveina and into the office she’d emerged from only a moment before.
She closed the door behind herself
and said, “Well Simon! I’ve heard an awful lot about you in the past couple
days.”
Nervous and sweating like I’d never
done before, I sat down in the first chair I came too and tried to sound cute
by saying, “Y-yea w-well d-d-don’t b-believe anyth-thing you heard!”
However, she didn’t take it as funny
or cute. Instead, she popped a squat right down on the floor in front of me and
said, “What parts shouldn’t I believe.”
I looked at her for several seconds
before I finally said, “I d-d-dunno, w-what have you heard?”
“Oh that’s a good question! That’s a
very good question!” and she slapped her knee and stood back up. She
straightened her dress and went to her desk where she pulled out a bright
pastel blue folder, like the kind dad uses in his office all the time except
his are usually all a sort of creamy-yellow color with the occasional yellow or
red one. I’d never seen one before that looked like it must be plugged into the
wall to be so bright. It was about an inch think with papers which surprised me
given that she’d said that she’d only heard about me in the past couple days.
She came back around the desk and plopped
herself right back down on the floor in front of me again. She flipped open the
cover of the folder and was thumbing past the first few pages.
“Th-th-that all ab-bout m-m-me?” I
asked.
She looked up at me and I noticed
she had really green eyes that sort of looked like they belonged on a doll. “Oh
my no, I have all sorts of things in here.” She said and then pulled out some
kind of picture and handed it too me.
“Like this for instance.” She
appeared to be admiring the picture, “It’s an odd sort of picture but I’ve
always liked it.” and she handed it to me.
Thinking that I was holding it
upside down, I turned it over, but that didn’t help. I turned it sideways and
then the other way round, but still nothing seemed to form anything normal
looking. “Uh, w-what is it?” I asked, noticing that she was again looking
through the papers.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t listening. What
did you say?” she asked.
“I-I was j-just w-wondering w-w-what
it is s-s-supposed t-to b-be?” I asked again.
She put a hand to her chin and said,
“You know, I’m not really sure! Everyone that looks at it seems to think it’s
something different.”
I turned it every-which-way again
before saying, “I-I-I th-think it’s a m-m-melting w-w-wax
s-s-stat-t-t-ch-chue.”
“Kazuntite!” the lady said which
both caught me off guard and made me chuckle when I realized what she said it
for.
“N-no, I-I d-didn’t s-sneeze!” I
said through my giggles.
She smiled and playfully said, “Oh
my mistake then.”
I handed the picture back to her and
she pulled out another one that looked to be a photograph of a painting. “This
is a picture of a famous painting I saw when I was in
“Y-you j-just g-g-g-got
m-m-married?” I asked knowing I sounded like an idiot for stuttering so badly
but I just couldn’t help myself.
“Oh, Bill’s my second husband!” she
said pointing to a photo of an elderly man that was sitting on her desk.
“L-looks l-like a n-n-n-nice m-man!”
I said trying to be polite.
“Well thank you! He is very good to
me! We met about a year after my first husband died.” She said and despite my
wanting to not like her, I found myself thinking about how nice she was and how
unlike anything I had expected of her. She seemed to talk to me and treat me
like she would any other adult and not like some snot-nosed 12-year-old kid in
diapers.
“S-sorry ab-bout y-your f-first
husb-band though.” I said.
“That’s very sweet of you to say! He
was a good man, lived a good life and died doing what he loved doing which was
running marathons.” She said.
“R-r-really?” I said getting
excited.
“Do you run? Oh wait . . .” she
started thumbing through the papers even faster, “I think I remember your dad
saying something about you being on your school track team! Ah here it is!”
She pulled out a small pink post-it.
“Yep, got it jotted down right here!” and she showed me the note.
“I-I m-m-made th-the v-v-varsit-t-ty
s-squad b-b-before . . .” I was saying.
“Varsity? That’s impressive!” she
said.
“Y-yea b-b-but that was b-before
P-Peter b-broke m-my ribs.” I said.
She stopped leafing through the
papers and rested her chin on the back of her hand. “Yea, your dad was telling
me about that. He said you hung questionable pictures of Peter up in the school?”
“N-N-NO!” I nearly yelled. “N-n-not
m-me!”
“Oh?” she said sounding like she was
asking a question, “OH!” she then said with quite a bit of interest and then
finished up with, “Oh...” and now sounded concerned and confused at the same
time.
“So it wasn’t you?” she asked.
I shook my head hard from left to
right.
“Oh, well that changes everything!”
she said closing up her folder and making like she was going to stand up.
“Uh, do you know who did?” she
asked.
I honestly wish I hadn’t but I
nodded my head up at down to signify that I did know who it was that had
plastered the school walls with pictured of Peter wearing diapers.
“I was hoping you might!” she said
getting to her feet so that she could drop the blue folder on here desk.
“I don’t suppose you’d tell me?” she
asked with an alluring smile.
I shook my head gently from side to
side again but only enough for her to get the message.
“That’s okay, you don’t have too. Actually,
I’m big on secrets! I think everyone should have secrets. I think of them as
the stuff that fuels the mysteries within our lives.” She said sitting down on
the corner of her desk and letting her feet dangle in the air.
That was the first time I noticed
that her shoes too were as orange as her dress and lips.
“What?” she said looking down at her
toes. “Don’t like my shoes?”
“I-I-I l-like th-them j-just fine!”
I said trying not to offender her.
“I-I j-just n-never seen someo-one
w-wear so m-much o-orange, and st-still l-look s-so n-nice.” I said and I meant
it even though I blushed at my own words.
“Oh my goodness, well thank you!”
she said moving a strand of hair off the side of her face and hooking it behind
her right ear. “Do you think that if I guessed who did it, that it would be
okay?” she asked still smiling.
I shrugged, though I meant to say
no.
“Let’s see?” she said kicking her
feet back and forth and tapping on her desk with her fingernails. “Could it
have been your friend Jasper?” she asked.
“Holy c-cow l-lady! How’d you kn-now
that?” I blurted out so fast that I didn’t even know I’d said it until it was
way too late to take it back. Then I started to really panic, “Y-you c-c-can’t
t-t-t-tell anyone! N-n-no o-o-one c-c-can kn-now I t-told y-you!”
“But you didn’t tell me! I guess it,
right?” she said slyly. “And besides, I’m not allowed to tell anyone but your
mom and dad what you say in here. And I don’t plan on telling them anything
they don’t need to know.” She lifted her eyebrows and said, “And I don’t think
they need to know that!”
Adopting a serious tone she said,
“Call me Lizy, please!”
I smiled at her and was about to say
something else but she jumped down off her desk and said. “Whelp, I think we’ve
given them long enough to fill out all that boring paper work. Just between you
and me, I’d give Aveina ten times, what I pay her, just so I wouldn’t have to
do the paper work myself! I rather do the fun stuff!”
“You mean we’re done?” I asked not
moving from my chair yet, mostly because I didn’t believe that, that was all
there was too it.
“Yep, I mean unless you want to talk
some more. I think I can find some more stuff for your dad to fill out of you like.”
She was smiling and I knew for sure then that we really were done. I got up
from my chair and she said, “If you want to talk again, I’d be happy to have
you come by.”
I stopped about two feet from the
door, looked up at her and extended my hand to her. She took it and we shook
hands, “Thanks Lizy!” I said with a smile.
“Thank you! Can I have my picture
back?” she asked.
“Oh sorry, I forgot I had it!” I
said raising my other hand that contained the photo.
I handed it to her and she looked at
it again. “I always liked this painting, too bad it costs nearly three million
dollars.”
“Wow! That’s a lot of money!” I
said.
“Yes it is!” She said.
“Who’d pay that kind of money just
to see some man sleeping in a bed with his son while his wife was watching?” I
asked.
With an odd smile this time, she
said, “Well, I think I might, if I had three-million just lying around.”
She then opened the door and let me
walk out first. When dad saw us, he stood up, smiled and thanked her. Dad and I
then left. When we got to the car I started to get into the backseat like
always but this time dad said, “Wanna right up front with me?”
I didn’t give him a chance to change
his mind. I was in the front seat and buckled in before he’d had time to get
around the car to the drivers door.
“So how’d it go?” dad asked the
second he closed his door.
“It wasn’t so bad, I guess.” I said.
He stuck his finger in my ear, “Dad
don’t!” I complained and swatted his hand away.
“I think I remember someone telling you
that it would be alright.” He said still trying to get his finger into my ear
again.
“Stop!” I complained and laughed at
the same time.
“So now what?” dad asked.
“What do you mean?” I asked thinking
he was still talking about the doctor.
“Should we go home?” he asked.
“Oh, yea! Let’s go home! Uh, that
away!” I said pointing out the rear window.
“All-righty-then!” dad said putting
the car in reverse.
We were only on the road a minute or
two, headed back to the house when I started yawning.
“Getting tired?” Dad asked.
“Maybe just a little.” I said.
“You’ve had a big day today.” He
said.
“Na, not really.” I said, “Just
played outside and went there.”
“Yes but you have to remember you’re
still healing. Even if you might think you’re done, your body knows better.”
Dad said.
“I guess!” I surrendered and went to
staring out of my window.
“I spoke to your mom while you were
in talking to the doctor.” Dad said.
I don’t know why I asked; because I didn’t
much care but I asked none-the-less, “How’s Aunt Catharine?”
“I’m not sure, but probably about as
good as one could expect.” Dad said and then asked. “You’re mom wants me to
bring home dinner. What sounds good to you?”
“KFC?” I answered hoping he’d say
yes.
“Hey, that does sound good!” dad
said.
So, we stopped at Kentucky Fried
Chicken and got the family meal deal and took it home. Mom had only just beaten
us home by about five minutes. When we walked into the back door, she still had
on her coat and gloves.
“Wowzers dad!” I complained.
“Oh I am sorry! I forgot to turn the
heat back on before we left!” he said to mom.
“I’ve turned it on just now!” Mom
said and gave dad a kiss.
Mom then asked me about the doctor
visit and I told her and dad about it and about my day and nearly told them
about finding the barn with BJ but stopped myself in time. I also remembered to
tell them that Ruddy Nader said hello.
“Wow, I’d not thought about him in a
while!” dad said.
Mom got a funny look and said, “Yea,
me either! You should call him and invite him and his wife over for dinner
sometime.”
“I think I’ll do that!” dad said.
Even though the power was back on
mom still put several candles onto the dinning room table and lit them. She
said it would help keep us warm but when she wasn’t looking dad and I, both
rolled our eyes at her and then giggled secretively.
I never did tell mom about my
accident earlier today, or about the fact the
After dinner mom told me that I
could just stack the dishes in the sink and she’d take care of then later when
the house warmed up. So, after removing my suit jacket and tie, that’s just
what I did before retreating to my room with my jacket and tie draped over one
shoulder.
Now I was really feeling pretty
tired and wanted to get myself ready for bed and seeing how the rest of the
house was cold, I fully expected my room to be cold too but instead it was like
walking into a deep freeze. Mom came in a minute or two after I had and asked
if I needed changed. I honestly had no idea if I did or not, so with her
standing right there I unzipped my pants. Mom then knelt down in front of me
and pulled the front of my plastic pants and diaper out and stuck her fingers
down inside before declaring. “I think we better get you into a dry diaper.”
And then asked, “Do you want to sit on the toilet before we get you changed?”
I shook my head, “I went earlier
today!”
“Oh, okay then.” She said before
adding, “It’s too cold in here! Why don’t we get you ready in the living room?
If feels at least a little better in there.”
As mom and I were heading for the
living room, with mom carrying my diapering things and me carrying my pajamas,
we passed dad in the hallway. “I got the old camper heater out of the garage to
warm up the back of the house a little faster.” Dad said.
“Oh dad! That thing makes it smell
like burning dogs!” I protested as the memories of camping two years ago came
flooding back.
That had been one of the best
camping trips we’d ever gone on despite the fact that it rained nearly every
night and that Jamie ended up being stung by a Yellow Jacket about ten times.
I remember it happening like it was
five minutes ago. Jamie and I were out exploring around the camp grounds and
met this nice Native American woman that was cooking something in this big
black pot, very much like the kind witches use in all the books and movies.
Anyway, Jamie and I had gone a little too far into the woods and Jamie had
picked up this hollow log, which if you didn’t see the hollow ends you’d of
thought it was a real solid log. Well, the log turned out to be more then a log,
it was a home to a mess load of Yellow Jackets.
It only took hearing them for Jamie
to drop the log and start running. I was right behind him when I saw him flinch
from the first sting. We’d made it all the way back to the campgrounds before
Jamie started crying from the pain. Mom was trying to get him to calm down but
Jamie wouldn’t stop wailing and crying. I think everyone at the campsite heard
him and was looking to see why he was carrying on so wildly.
Sees one of the Yellow-Jackets had
somehow gone up the sleeve of his shirt and got trapped. In its attempts to get
away, it stung Jamie in his armpit, which is the second worse place I can think
of to get stung.
While mom and dad were trying to get
Jamie’s shirt off him, that same nice Native American lady came walking over
carrying a little plastic bowl. She smeared some of this grey looking goop
under Jamie’s nose and a few seconds later he stopped screaming and yelling his
head off. She then smeared the goop over the stings. It was incredible really! I
remember thinking that it was some sort of magic that only Native Americans
knew.
Well we ended up getting invited to
dinner and it turned out that what she was cooking in that big pot was kind of
like chilly with long green leaves in it. I can’t remember what it was called
but after my first impressions of how gross it looked, it turned out to be
really good and both Jamie and I had seconds!
I remember her husband had told us
several really good stories and for the rest of our camping trip Jamie and I
played Indians. We wanted to play cowboys and Indians but since we both wanted
to be the Indian, we ended up playing just Indians. It really was one of the
greatest camping trips we ever took as a family.
Anyway, after complaining about the heater
to dad there in the hallway he gave me a pop on the top of my head with his
fist, in fun, and then went to set the heater up at the end of the hallway so
that it would blow down to both of our rooms.
In the living room, mom stretched
out a towel on the floor and after helping me to get fully undressed except for
my socks, diaper and armor she had me lay down on the towel.
As she was pulling off my plastic
pants I asked her, “Do you remember those Indians we met when we was camping
that one time?”
“Sure I do! We still get Christmas
cards from them!” She said then stopped and looked up as dad came walking back
into the room. “Didn’t we get a letter from the Running Waters not too long
ago?” She asked dad.
Dad had to think for a second before
answering, “I think it’s still on my desk!”
“Really?” I said kind of excited. “I
didn’t know you still knew them!”
“Yes, they are really nice people.
We’ve even swapped a few recipes. Remember that stuff you liked so much with
the tiny round onions?” she asked.
“Oh yea! You’ve not made that in a
long time!” I said as mom was removing the tapes from my diaper.
“That was one that I got from her. I
don’t remember what it was called, but I still have it wrote down in my recipe
box.” She said.
Dad called from the dinning room.
“I’m going to blow out the candles in here if it’s alright.”
“Thank you honey!” mom said.
Mom pulled my diaper open and said,
“You were wetter then I thought!”
“Really?” I said.
Changing the subject I said, “Mom?”
“What?” She answered while using
baby wipes to clean my diaper area thoroughly.
“Do you think I’m going to have to
wear diapers to school if the doctor lets me go back on Monday?” I asked.
“Sweetheart, I’ve already been to
your school and talked to the school nurse and your teachers and they know all
about it.” Mom said.
“MOM! YOU TOLD MY TEACHERS?” I said
suddenly starting to cry.
“Hey!” mom swatted the side of my
leg to let me know I was not to use that tone with her. I knew better but she’d
just surprised me with the news is all.
Mom went on to explain that my
teachers all knew that because of what had happened that I might have some
lingering health problems when I came back. She also explained that they all
understood and would cooperate with the school nurse as she’d be the one
helping while I was in school. I also wasn’t so happy about the fact that mom
said she’d talked to my principle, Mr. Freeman and the vice-principle, Mr.
Graff. I wasn’t really upset about Mr. Freeman, I mean I’m sure he already
knows because his wife was my nurse while I was in the hospital but why’d she
have to go and tell Mr. Graff too?
By the time mom had me re-diapered
and had helped me to get into my pajamas, I was feeling better about it; plus
the fact that dad had come in and told me to stop my whining or else had helped
to motivate me to get control of myself again.
Mom had wanted me to curl up on the
sofa with a blanket and watch TV since it was still cold in the back of the
house but I told her I wanted to go to my room and I got my way.
It was still cold, so instead of
getting on the computer to check my email I decided to drag my blankets, pillow
and e-journal into the bottom of my closet, where my body heat soon had the
small area heated up nicely.
I think I wrote for about an hour
before I fell asleep and when I awoke again, I was in my bed and deduced that
dad had put me in it. It was also nice and cozy warm in my room again and I
figured that since I was awake, I might as well get up.
A quick glance at my clock told me
that it was a few minutes after two in the morning. I went to my window first
just to see what was happening out there. I wasn’t surprised to see that it was
snowing hard again, but not like it had been, the previous night.
I sat myself at my desk and when I
did I felt my diaper squish under me and from the feel of it, I’d sprung a
leak.
“Oh man!” I groaned.
I thought about just stripping
myself down and putting on one of my Goodnites but I was planning to listen to
the next chapter of Hamanaptra from
“Okay.” He said shuffling his
slipper clad feet over to my dresser.
While he was getting the diapering stuff
that mom must have brought back in while I was sleeping, I stripped off my
pajamas and put them into my hamper.
Dad didn’t say anything else until
he had me re-diapered, this time in a double thick cloth diaper again, which
was his preference. He helped me into fresh pajamas and then tucked me into bed
before kissing my forehead and saying, “Go back to sleep now!”
Of course I had no intention of
going back to sleep so when I was sure he was back in his own bed I got up
again and went back to my desk.
I decided to do a quick check of my
email to see if there was anything important, there wasn’t. Just the normal
stuff from Tater, Bull, Jasper—who reported that he nearly was snowed into his
secret fort the other evening. I also had emails from Mike, BJ,
It took me about thirty minutes or
so to read and reply to all the emails and when I was done I closed out of my
mail and put in
By B.L.
~ Chapter Four ~
Gateway to the Abyss
I stared back at both of them without speaking; I had no words just then. I was feeling frustrated, excited and even scared all at the same time. Turning back to the sandstone slab my hand brushed one of the steel cables that were attached to the slab and my eyes followed it as it rose up to the large hook that hung from the crane. I brought my focus back to the markings, reading them repeatedly.
“It is right here!” I thought to myself,
“I know the answer is here but . . .” and there it was again, that smell; that unmistakable
smell of cinnamon, myrrh, spikenard all mingled together like some ancient
perfume but there was something else now—something faint, but what?
I could hear Uncle Max and Miss Lillian
Hassley talking but their voices seemed far away, distant. The smell was
overpowering almost to the point of intoxication and then suddenly I felt a
hand on my shoulder, which startled me back into reality.
“Jason, you alright?” Miss Lillian Hassley
asked.
“I-I-I…” I was stammering, struggling to
hold on to my thoughts.
“Can you smell that?” Uncle Max said
nearly shouting in excitement.
“I have never smelled it so strong
before!” Miss Lillian Hassley said.
“We have to open it up!” I shouted,
spinning on my heel and grabbing one of the steel cables. My eyes met Uncle
Max’s. “We have to open it now!” I pleaded.
Uncle Max looked at Miss Lillian Hassley
who then looked at me, “I don’t see why we are standing here waiting.” she said
with a smile.
Uncle Max shouted something to the locals
that were working nearby. They all turned to listen but the look on their faces
told me everything. They were scared; more then scared, they were deathly
terrified. One of them said something to the others, then someone let out a
yell and in a cloud of dust and sand every one of the locals took off, running
away from us as fast as there feet would carry them. It was as if we had the
just sprouted horns and pointed tails.
Miss Lillian Hassley took a few steps
toward them, stopped, removed her hat and wiped her face with her sleeve, “Now
what in the world was that all about?”
“Silly superstitions,” Uncle Max grunted,
“just more of there dammed silly little superstitions.”
He swung himself around a couple of the
steel cables as he made his way over to the engine that powered the crane. Just
as he reached the engine, Miss Lillian Hassley asked, “What do you think it
weighs?”
I was not looking at her so I did not know
if she had directed her question to Uncle Max or me but I interjected, “About
seventeen tons is my guess!”
The engine sputtered as it started and
then roared to life. Uncle Max shouted over the engine, “We figured it to be
right at eighteen and a half tons, give or take a few hundred pounds either
way!”
I rejoiced to myself as the engine revved and
the cables became taut. For a brief moment, I thought that the sandstone slab
was not going to move. The engine revved louder and like magic, the slab
shifted and began to move up, slowly; after all, it too is a very valuable
piece of history. The sand and dust really started to pick up and blow around
as the stale air from under the slab rushed out.
The smell of spikenard, cinnamon, and myrrh was almost
over powering wafted out of the ground mixing with the dust and finally I
realized what the other sent in the air was.
“Uncle Max? Do
you smell that?” I shouted.
“Sulfur!” he
shouted over to Miss Lillian Hassley who was pulling a pink frilly ladies
handkerchief from her pocket and holding it to her mouth and nose.
Uncle Max shouted again, “That air you are
breathing now was breathed by pharaohs long before Moses led God’s people out
of slavery!” A look of triumph was beaming across his face now that the stone
was more than three feet off the ground.
“OK!” Miss Lillian Hassley shouted, waving
her free hand to Uncle Max, “Hold it there!”
My eyes were fixed on the darkness beneath
the slab, which was now hovering about six-feet over the opening. My heart was
racing as I took a step toward the opening to try and get a better look; the
hole seemed to be void of... no it seemed to be sucking up any light that tried
to penetrate the darkness.
Uncle Max made his way back over to us.
“Are we going down?” I asked excitedly.
“No WE are not going down, I am...
tomorrow.” Uncle Max said.
I was just about to begin my protest when
Miss Lillian Hassley shouted, “TOMORROW!”
I added, “We are not going now? But why
not Uncle Max?” The whine in my voice irritated even me.
“Like I said, WE are not going down, it’s too
late tonight, the sun will be going down soon and I have to see where my
workers have run off to.” Uncle Max readjusted his hat as he took a quick look
into the hole, “Wow it is dark in there!”
He turned back to me and caught sight of
the cold gaze I was giving him.
“This has been here thousands upon
thousands of years, it will be here tomorrow!” Uncle Max tried to convince me
but I was not buying it.
“Let’s at least shine a lantern down
there.” Miss Lillian Hassley argued.
I think she was as excited as I was and I
could not understand how Uncle Max could be so calm, cool and easy going when
we could be on the brink of a discovery unlike anything ever in history.
Miss Lillian Hassley did not bother to
wait for Uncle Max to say anything. She grabbed a lantern and crouched down at
the edge of the opening. As I knelt beside her, I realized for the first time
that my pants were soaked, again. I had been so enthralled with our discovery
that I had not even noticed that I had wet myself. However, I did not really
care about the condition of my pants given that my embarrassment gave way to
excitement as I took my place beside Miss Lillian Hassley. Uncle Max took a
knee next to me as we each peered into the chasm.
The lantern broke through the darkness and
I could make out brilliant wall paintings that looked to be in as good a
condition as the day they were painted.
Miss Lillian Hassley pointed, “Look over
there!”
Uncle Max and I followed the line of her
finger to several sarcophagi standing against one wall.
“I... I have never seen vertical
sarcophagi before.” Uncle Max said with a confused tone I had never heard him
use before.
My heart was racing as the lantern exposed
treasures beyond any archeologists’ greatest dreams. Golden statues of what
looked to be half-bird and half-goat. At least from here it looked like a
goat’s body. The floor looked to be about 12 to 14 feet below us and was
surprisingly dust free. I think the only dirt and dust that was down there had
come from us removing the sandstone slab. I had to look hard, because my eyes
did not seem to want to focus on the floor. After a moment I said, “It looks to
be tiled with brilliant round and shiny red stones . . .”
I looked at Miss Lillian Hassley and then
to Uncle Max, “Are those red rubies?” I asked in amazement.
Uncle Max got to his feet and was about to
say something when Miss Lillian Hassley said, “I have to have a closer look.”
Before Uncle Max or I could stop her, she jumped down into the room below us.
She hit the floor with a hard crashing
thud and let out a groan, “Oh man that was farther then I thought!”
“You ignorant woman!” Uncle Max shouted
down at her at the same time I said, “You idiot!”
“Now don’t go running around down there!”
Uncle Max shouted, “It might not be safe.”
“What do you mean, not safe?” Miss Lillian
Hassley sent back up to us.
“Booby-traps!” I shouted back at him.
“Great! Now you tell me,” she said just
barely loud enough for us to hear.
“Go over behind the crane engine. There is
a rope ladder in a canvas bag. Bring it over would ya?” Uncle Max said to me
while still looking down in the hole.
“I have half a mind to close this hole and
leave you down there for a few thousand years you foolish bit...” Uncle Max was
not a man taken to swearing so I knew he was pretty annoyed at Miss Lillian
Hassley right now but I also knew he wouldn’t close it up with her still in it.
I scrambled to my feet and again noticed
my wet pants as the sand was caked onto my legs and the tops of my shoes where
I had been kneeling down to look into the room. I did not waste time trying to
wipe it off; I just headed over to get the ladder as fast as I could.
Miss Lillian Hassley shouted up again,
“Hey Max!” she called up.
I heard the irritation in Uncle Max’s
voice as he called back down to her, “What?”
“There’s a picture on the wall,” she said.
I had reached the ladder and looked up at
Uncle Max as he gave me a look of disgust and I was not sure if it was meant
for Miss Lillian Hassley or because he saw the condition of my pants and
without giving away for whom the his disgust was aimed at he yelled down into
the whole, “What picture?”
“Over here on the wall...” there was a small
crash of metal from inside the hole and then, “Oh darn-it, I dropped the
lantern.”
“Lillian, stand still. Jason will be right
back with the ladder!” I do not think Uncle Max was going to be able to hold
back his mounting anger for much longer.
“Uh? Max?” Miss Lillian Hassley’s voice
seemed shaky.
There was no mistaking Uncle Max’s anger
now, “WHAT NOW?” he snapped.
I was making my way back with the ladder
as fast as I could but it was heavier then I thought it would be and it was
taking all of my strength to carry it.
“Max? There is something in here!” Miss
Lillian Hassley sounded nervous.
“Well be careful, it might be a viper!”
Uncle Max yelled back.
“No it isn’t a snake, it’s... AAAAH!” Miss
Lillian Hassley let out a blood-curdling scream that echoed through the room
below.
“LILLIAN! LILLIAN!” Uncle Max yelled down
but there was no response.
“LILLIAN WHAT HAPPENED?” Uncle Max yelled
again, “LILLIAN ARE YOU ALRIGHT?”
Just then, I heard one of the steel cables
that was holding the sandstone slab in the air snap and whip past my head and
laying open my left cheek, “UNCLE MAX! LOOK OUT – THE SLAB!” I screamed as I
dropped the ladder and grabbed my face.
As soon as the recording ended I was
so excited that I had to email
I got my e-journal, which I found
still in the bottom of my closet, and climbing into bed with it. I wasn’t back in
bed more then five minutes before a message popped up on the screen of my
e-journal.
|
Power Cell Low It is strongly advised that you save |
However, I remembered seeing an AC adapter
in the accessory kit that dad had bought me at the Electronics Show. I fetched
it and had it plugged into the side of my e-journal and into a wall outlet in
no time. The massage disappeared and I was able to continue working for about
another hour, which allowed me to finish journaling about the day’s event.
When I was done journalling, I saved
my work, shut down and unplugged my e-journal. With a big yawn I reached over
and sat it on my nightstand to remind me to tell dad in the morning that I needed
fresh batteries for it.
I yawned again, rested my head
against my pillow and curled up into a ball under my covers and allowed myself
to be carried away to the land of dreams.
Next Installment:
Chapter 6 –
Part 1 – Friday, March 05, 2004 – In the Presence of Mine Enemies?
** For the latest news on how each installment is coming along as well as answers to questions asked by other readers and so much more, visit me at www.talkhard.5u.com. As always, your thoughts matter to me very, very much, so please send any comments, questions, suggestions, or criticism to me at: [email protected] and I promise that I will reply personally to everyone that takes the time to write to me! **