lightningridge3:

ebodamen:

Hanson Teach The Children Well (by padrak18)

I this the Mmmmmbop Hansen?  Wow are they cute

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They have never lost that magic touch and their angelic voices. WTG Hanson for proving that even as child singers, you still can grow up and be normal…  (and hot)

Figments 

A novella by JD Symmes

Have you ever had the feeling as if someone was watching you, but you turn around, no one is there? Have you ever thought about a person, a friend, or a relative, and in the moment you think about them you receive a call, or a letter from them? 

Figments, that is what this book is about. Shadows, strange noises, creatures you have only dreamed of in your worst nightmares. They could not be real could they?

What if, everything that you dreamed came true? What if the things you fear most, actually existed.

Figments, that is what this tale is about.

I like to end this intro with a quote from Edward van Sloan who played in the 1931 classic, Dracula:

“Just one word of warning, ladies and gentlemen … There are such things.”

Case 1: 

 Prologue 

1962 august

A frigid wind blows against his face, blood rushing to his cheeks, turning them a deep red. He touches his face with his hand, his fingers froze ice cold. 

The rain fell about him, as if a million angels crying in the heavens, as they witness the sad events unfolding in front of them.

The young man, his eyes transfixed on the swirling pools of water, rushing under the bridge. He placed his hand on the railing, swinging his leg over and climbed to the other side.

His eyes filling with tears as he recalls the reasons he is there on the bridge. He closes his eyes and leans forward. 

He let go of the rail, his body fell forward as gravity took over, pulling him down toward the rushing water.

His head hit the bottom of the river first, sharp and jagged rocks impale his skin, causing blood to spurt out of the open wound, swirling in the water in ribbons.

Gravity pushed the rest of his body down on his neck, causing bones to crack. A sickening sound of bones breaking, shattering within his neck. His body slumped and floated in the water, as he succumbs to death.

Chapter 1

Detective Daniel Horn leaned against a rusty railing on the bridge, over-seeing his men as they worked to drag a body out of the muddy river. He put out his cigarette under his foot, crushing it into the ground.

“I want a weather station set up, take ambient temperature of the water, air, and the body. I also want soil, water and elemental samples of the area.” He walked over to the group of police officers as they interview an old man.

“Who is this?” Horn asked as he reached into his pocket pulling out a digital recorder.

“His name is John Quincy Abrams, he is a local farmer.” One of the officers said looking at his notes.

“Mister Abrams, how are you this evening?” Horn asked reaching out his hand.

Abrams reached his hand out, grasped Horns hand in a firm handshake. “I’m well, I wish I could say the same of that poor lad.” he said pointing to the body now on the ground covered in a sheet.

“So… you found him, what are you doing out here this late anyway?” Horn asked looking at his watch.

Abrams looked down at his feet, digging into the ground like a child would when he was about to tell a lie. “I — I was taking my dog out for a walk, as I always do at this time of night.”

“Between you and I, I think your hiding something; but I am not here to investigate you, yet.” Horn said as he looked away from the old man, turning his attention to a young rookie officer.

The young officer knelt down beside the body, he were about to reach into the pockets when Horn saw him.

“What the hell do your doing?” Horn shouted as he rushed toward the rookie.

The officer looked up with a dumbfounded expression on his face. “Sir?” he asked. “I am retrieving an Identification?” 

Horn slapped the young officers hand away from the body, “First off, you do not have gloves on. Secondly, I saw you eating something, and you had not washed and sterilized your hand; and… your uniform is covered with God knows what.” 

“Sir, procedure is to find an identification on the person if any, that is what I was about to do, so with all respect, I would appreciate you standing away from me and let me do my job.” The rookie said as he began to reach back to the body.

Horn pushed the rookie to the ground and pinned him. “Now see here freak,” he said grabbing his badge. “You see this? This gives me the authority over you and the other men! I’ll be damned if this investigation is messed up by some puss-faced shit like you!” 

The young rookie got up from the ground, stood with anger in his eyes. He had never been knocked to the ground by anyone. “I am an officer of the law! You are interfering with my duties!” He shouted as he took out his hand-cuffs.

Horn began to laugh, “You think you have the balls to arrest me? I’m in charge of this investigation, I am your boss for Christ’s sakes! Go back to the station and pack your teddy bear and teething ring, I’m sending you back to the nursery where you belong till you fucking grow up!” he said walking away from the rookie.

The rookie stood speechless, he was angry, he wanted to beat Horn with in an inch of his life. He turned, walked away and never looked back.

Horn glanced at the other officers, “And it goes for the rest of you… if you don’t follow the rules, then the hell with you too. You all can go back to kindergarten and play with your blocks!” he said as he walked back to his car.

A fog began to settle around the scene as Horn started his car, he was cold, wet and still angry at the audacity of these younger officers. “Undisciplined, untrained for real work!” he said to himself.

Three officers loaded the body into the back of Horn’s car. The car, a city owned and issued Plymouth station wagon, bought in the early seventies. Horn sprayed an air freshener into the back of the car, and waited for the men to close the gate.

“That is all gentlemen, Thank you.” Horn said as he drove away.

The men smiled and went back to closure of the scene. They had to take down tents, the weather station, and finalize their work, even though they were cold, hungry and tired, they knew they had a job to finish.

Chapter 2 : The present past.

1962 - august.

The sun settled over the mountains outside of the cheerful little town. Clouds of white with a pink hew, suspended in the sky, gave a picturesque scene, painted by a master painter. 

David breathed in the cool air, filling his young sixteen year old lungs with the pungent aroma of lilacs, roses and other floral botanical delights he sees along his way. He rounds the block and down the road toward a bridge which has been there for nearly twenty years. He marveled at structure, fresh light blue paint, still gleaming and glistening in the sun. 

A gang of teenagers on bikes rolled towards the young man. They pointed and laughed, “What you in a hurry for Horn? Late for a date with your dollies?”

David stood silent, his heart filled with anger. He had been harassed by this gang of boys ever since he was caught with another boy at school kissing. David was gay, and in these days of the late nineteen sixties, being gay meant you were no better then someone of a different color or race.

“Yeah, the homo wants to go home to his daddy and mommy.” A boys said shoving David back.

“leave me alone!” David said, glaring at Larry Johnston.

“No, we love pushing you around homo.” he said pushing David again. “besides, we need some soda money.”

One boy pulled out a knife and held it up against David’s neck, while another reached into David’s pants and pulled out his wallet. “look boys, homo is rich.” Larry said as he pulled out a wad of bills, tossing the wallet away into the street.

The boy with the knife pushed David away, and joined the rest of the boys as they looked at the money. “There’s got to be a hundred or more. What is a homo doing with all that kind of money?” 

David did not answer, it was as a matter of fact his allowance, he had just returned from the bank, and he was going to buy a new bike.

“Homo is loaded, maybe he is good for something other then our favorite punching bag.” Larry said as he hit David again across the chest. “Tell you what homo, you give us your allowance every week, and we will stop hitting you.”

David reached in back of him, pulled out a gun and pointed it to Johnson. “I said leave - me - alone1” he shouted and pulled the trigger.

A flash of brilliant light, a spark emanated from the barrel of the gun. Larry stood with his hand over his chest, withdrew it and looked at the blood now covering his fingers. He looked up at David, he died before his body hit the ground.

The rest of the gang ran as fast as they could away from the horror, they ran for their lives, they didn’t know if he would shoot them or what he would do.

David stood with the gun in his hand, he never meant to shoot, he wanted to scare the boys. He just wanted to make them stop hurting him.

The gun fell to the ground next to Larry’s body, smoke still pouring out of the barrel. David ran down the street to a small shed next to the bridge. He had to think, he had to reason how he would get out of this bad situation he found himself. He killed another person, it may be seen as self defense, after all, they were beating him up, and he had to stop them.

* * *

Horn pulled up his stool to the table where the body of the unidentified  man lay. No Identification card or no wallet for that matter. He turned on his digital recorder and placed it on the body.

“Major trauma to the forehead, lacerations between… one and two inches in length. Small sharp pebbles imbedded in the soft tissue of the frontal lobe.” 

“X-ray results show neck and shoulder damage with multiple fractures and breaks in the Cervical Vertebrae. Victim died as a result of falling into river from a great height, more then likely from the bridge. No foul play suspected at this time.” Horn finished his report.

The morning had just started, however Horn knew it was going to be a long day, and he knew he had a ton of paperwork to be finished before he could even think about breakfast.

“Jamie, can you run down to fritz and pick up some donuts and coffee?” Horn asked his assistant.

Jamie was a beautiful woman in her late thirties. Dark hair and blue sky eyes, and a smile which welcomed Horn to work every morning. She smiled and nodded as she grabbed her purse, gave one more glance toward him and then left the office.

“Face disfigured by lacerations, caused by possibly rocks on the bottom of the river as the body was dragged by the current.” Horn said into his digital recorder. 

He stopped prodding and pocking at the body, went back to the beginning of his report to hear what he had said. The digital recorder crackled and hummed as it played the sounds recorded. 

“Lacerations, caused by -” he stopped the playback. He shook his head as he rewound the recording. “Lacerations, caused by - help me - possibly.” He stopped the recorder again. He rewound it again, and again. He could not understand where the sound was coming from. The recording was from his voice, but there was another voice of someone asking for help.

“Daniel, I have your breakfast.” Jamie smiling toward her employer.

Horn turned and brought the recorder into the outer office with him. “Jamie, listen to this, tell me I am hearing things.” he asked as he switched on the recorder.

“Lacerations, cause by -help me- possibly.” he clicked the stop button.

“Oh my god, did someone say help me while you were recording?” she asked.

Horn shook his head, “ I was the only one in the examination room.”

She shuddered, “that’s just creepy, its like the body is calling out from the grave.” she joked nervously.

“I don’t believe is such things, must be some radio wave its picked up.” Daniel said as he put the recorder down and grabbed a doughnut and a cup of coffee.

Chapter 3 : stitch in time, saves two.

David stared out into the night, he had been looking out the small hole most of the time, paranoid of every sound. Sirens, dogs, and people rushing around the shed. He had to work it out carefully, he had to make his way out of the shed and get to the bridge.

A fog covered his view of the bridge, his only escape. He opened the door, and ran quickly to the bridge.

* * *

The day went long, lasting 12 hours, and Horn had not even finished the reports. He was tired, hungry and wanted nothing more then to go home, curl up with a good book and possibly hope to fall asleep. He clumsily got into his car, sitting rather hard down on the seat. The shocks on the car squeaked and complained as he positioned himself in the drivers seat. Clicking the seatbelt, he then turned the key to start the car, which hummed like a  - a well oiled machine, that is because he took pride in his car, and took care of it himself.

Horn turned the corner toward the bridge, he approached with fear and apprehension. He had always hated the bridge and what it stood for. The bridge stood as a constant reminder of a past he wanted to forget, a memory he prayed constantly to erase, but will never forget. He remembered sitting watching his favorite show “Perry Masson” when his father Jonathan came home with a shocked and dismayed look on his face.

“What is the matter dear?” his mother asked.

John sat down and poured himself a drink of brandy which always sat on the coffee table at the ready when John came home after work. He looked up at Joan and shook his head blinking his eyes rapidly. 

“Damn world we live in. You know Willy Johnston?” 

“Yes, Larry’s father?”

“Well -” Jonathan stopped and looked at Daniel whom at that moment had turned his attention to what his father was going to say. “Son, could you go to your room for a while. Your not in trouble, but your mother and I have some adult things to talk about.”

Daniel nodded and got up from the floor, grabbed a banana from the coffee table, and walked to his room.

Jonathan then turned his attention to Joan, “I didn’t want to say anything in front of the boy, but Willy’s son - Larry, was found dead over by the 5th street bridge. He was shot in the chest.”

Joan gasped, “No…I - I just was talking to Kathy about our boys not getting along very well, and she said she was going to have strong words to the boys about their bullying David all the time.” She stopped and put her hand to her mouth turning white, “Oh-my-god!” she cried.

“What?”

“David, he hasn’t came home from getting his new bike. If he is out there - and there is some killer loose…” 

Jonathan sprang from the couch, “Lock the doors, I’m going out and go have a look around for him. Call Chuck at the office, tell him to put out an APB on David.” He said as he bounded out of the door quickly and running to his car, his lights turned on and flashing.

Daniel came out of the his room, he was crying. Holding David’s favorite teddy bear cradled in his arms. “Mom?” 

“What’s the matter dear heart?” Joan said softly.

“I am sorry, but I went to the bathroom and heard about Larry, will David be alright?” 

Joan took hold of Daniel,  “David is probably in some soda shop and coming home soon. He was out getting his new bike so, he’s just showing it off to his friends.”: she said, not to alleviate Daniel’s fears as much as hers.

  A fog formed around him as he drove onto the bridge. He moved slowly over the erstwhile structure of metal, wood and steel rivets. The wood boards protested the weight of the car with horrifying pops and groans. He couldn’t count the many times he had traveled over this bridge, and wondered if he would be plummeting into the icy depths below. 

Horn stopped suddenly as he saw a young boy running toward the bridge. He looked panicked, stressed as if he was running for his very life. The boy did not pay any attention to horn as he stood in the middle of the bridge, looked around, and climbed over the railing.

“What are you doing?” Horn shouted, then recognized the boy. “No, this is impossible - David?”

The boy acted as though he could not hear a word, or he chose not to listen. He leaned forward. He was crying, and looking around him wildly.

“David?” he shouted as he ran toward the lad, tripping on the wood under his feet and he fell to his knees. “No!” he shouted.

David let go of the rail, his body free falling to the river below. He splashed head first in the water, following his body, and within a couple seconds, he floated back up to the surface, he was dead.

“No…no…no!” Daniel  shouted as he ran to the other side of the bridge, watching his brothers lifeless body float down stream, then stopped, snagged on something, then went under the water.

Horn darted toward the banks on the other side of the river. The fog lifted, and he could see clearly into the river. He could see the stones, the weeds and fish; but he could not see a body.

“Horn?” a voice called out from the other side of the river. “What you looking for?” 

“You would think I was crazy if I told you.” Horn said.. “Matter of fact, I think I am.”

John Quincy Abrams smiled, “You saw him didn’t you.”

“Who?” 

“Your brother.”

Horn stood in silent shock at the old man. “What did you see? This can‘t be real, my brother disappeared nearly 50 years ago!”

John smiled, took a puff of his pipe, smoke curled around his face. “Its funny, the bridge. Lets you see events of the past, and once in a while, lets you change them.”

Horn walked up to the bridge, across and down to the other side to stand near the old man. “Have you seen something here?”

“That I have, and more then I care either.” John took another puff of tobacco. “I’ve seen people who had long since died near this bridge. Old man Johnson, hanged himself from the bridge just after it was built. Lady Finn, stabbed by a jealous husband, her body thrown into the river. I have seen, I have heard, and now you have seen.” 

The night air froze while the two men talked. Horn could not believe what the old man was saying, it was nonsense. “Figments of your imagination. Possibly a hallucination, a mere fantasy. This bridge is just an old blight on the map, and someday, the city will see to it to close it down; or at least burn the freaking thing down.”

“I prey you will find peace soon, and the answers you seek.” John said as he walked away.

Horn watched the old man walk away, confused by the actions of the man. Why would he make up such rubbish about the bridge. He remembered the stories of all those people whom the old man had mentioned, but the cases were solved and closed.

Horn went back to his car again, never giving much thought about the events, “Just my imagination.” he justified to himself. He started his car and drove down the road slowly, looking back at the bridge. “Who the —” 

Another boy stood on the road outside the bridge, surrounded by five other boys. One pushed him, another grabbed him and pulled out a knife

Horn turned his car around and flashed his lights. A blast of his horn made the boys turn and watched as Horn drove closer to them. He jumped out and had his hand on his gun holster.

“You… put down that knife and back away!” Horn shouted, unclipping his revolver.

The boy dropped the knife and backed away from the other boy, he was shacking in fear. “I wasn’t going to do nothing.”

“Yeah, we — we were just playing.” another boy said.

“They called me homo, and wanted my money.” The boy they were roughing up.

Horn looked at the lad and his eyes filled with tears. “David?” 

“Yes sir?”

“All of you, if I hear you have harmed, threatened or look at David the wrong way, I’ll arrest you so fast on every charge imaginable! You understand?” Horn said sternly.

The boys shook their head in agreement and ran down the road, one going one way, and another going another.

Horn laughed, “I think Willy wet his pants.” he said pointing to the ground. A pool of water lay were the boy had just been standing.

David looked and laughed. “Gee officer, thank you.”

“Your welcome David, don’t ever be afraid to tell your brother anything, or even your father.” 

“Do you know my brother and father?” David asked.

Horn just smiled, “Yes, we worked together years back before he retired. .

David nodded and reached out his hand, “Thank you sir.” 

“You’re very welcome David, now get home, your mother is worried sick by now.” 

David smiled and ran down the street and turned just long enough to smile at Daniel, then vanished in a mist which had began to form around him.

Horn watched and wandered if he was just dreaming, or could he be in his office, his head on the desk, sleeping the night away. He laughed and headed back to his car, deciding if he were asleep, he would wake up soon.

Chapter 4: Truth will out.

The phone rang waking him up suddenly. Daniel looked around to see where he was and realized he was laying in bed. 

“Horn, who is this?” he answered, still half groggy and yawning.

 “Dan, this is Peter, we have a positive Identity on our John Doe.” the man said, pausing for a moment.

“So, who is it?”

“A fellow named John Quincy Abrams; and get this, he had been missing for over forty-four years.” 

Dan sat up in his bed, shock and incredulity of the events unfolding. “Are you positive?” he asked.

“Double checked the dental records, and his medical.”

Dan shook his head, “I’ll be there in an hour.” He said hanging up the phone.

He put on his pants still hanging on the edge of his bed. Shoes without socks as normal, and a dirty shirt crumpled on the floor. 

The phone rang again, and Daniel became a bit annoyed. “Yes, this is Daniel, what do you need?”

“Sorry to wake you up brother, but thought I would invite you to my wedding. The invitations are going out, but you should knew first hand.” David Horn said.

“Congratulations, I am so thrilled to hear you are finally settling down. So? Who’s the lucky - um - guy?”

 “Oh, well you remember Willy Johnson, turned out that he was covering up the fact that he himself was gay, and so he just was acting out the tough guy for his buddies. By the way, did you read the city is finally going to demolish that old 5th street bridge. We got the work order.” David said.

“When?”

“Today, it was a unanimous vote a week ago, or you been too buried in you work to notice things happening in our fair village?” 

Daniel chuckled, “I would use another term for my line of work if I were you. Besides, yes I have been very busy. We just Identified the body we found the other night, but I’ll have to make it official and notify the next of kin before I can say who it was.”

“Okay, just let me know if you can make the wedding, a week from today at the old miller’s crossing barn.” David said. “And, if you have time, I would love for you to watch the demolition today, noon.”

“I’ll be there with popcorn.” Daniel said with a laugh, “Bye.”

He headed downstairs, grabbed some bread, and cheese, put a sandwich together and a cup of coffee.

He took in the events which had transpired over the last couple days with satisfaction and relief. He smiled as he ate his sandwich and drank his coffee. 

Hello Tumblrites….

This is my very first post here on tumblr, and I will say I am a bit intimidated by opening yet another blog, but I thought this is a better way to share my stories and writing, other then my other sites.

Now - I am not a newby by any stretch of the imagination, and have many other blogs and sites I use frequently, but Tumblr seems to be the best way to share my stories.

My style of writing is very different, and may offend the usual reader in the way that I don’t adhere to the rules of writing. Use of proper grammar has always been a problem for me, and it does get a bit annoying when I am typing in chat and someone with a bit more education than I, says “you didn’t say that grammaticality correct.”  STFU is what I will tell them, its like OMG!  I am not writing a novel thank you very much. 

Anyway I digress. 

Take a breath, relax and know that your in good hands citizens….

Stories are on their way, stay tuned….