Riney Road - 2002

Won 3^rd place for August 2002 at the “Castle of Spirits” website!

Everyone knew the legend that came with Riney Rd in Missouri. They heard the stories of how a family had broken down on that long bridge over the creek. 

How after several minutes of being stranded the car suddenly started bouncing up and down as if someone was jumping up and down in the bumper. 

Someone very large.

Then there were the kids who wanted to see for them selves if there was truly a large man like creature that was out there chasing away the poor people who for strange reasons always seemed to break down in the middle of that bridge.

I was one of them.  Me and a bunch of high school buddies had always thought of going out there late one night and seeing for ourselves if there was such a creature or if someone was just passing on another urban legend.

One night late November of last year we decided to check it.  So we piled in my friends Taurus and headed over to Riney Rd.

The road was like any normal street.  Paved unmarked two lane.  Houses were

scattered about on each side.  Then you hit the woods.  The trees were tall with their branches stretching out over the street making it seem like you were driving through a dark tunnel.

Your bright lights barely made enough light to see.  The road was winding and you had to watch your speed.

An early snow fall had the ground covered in white powder, muffling any

noise.

We drove on at a snails pass creeping along the road, so as to not wreck out on the wet pavement.  After a couple of miles, the road made a sharp curve to the right.

My friend driving brought the car to a stop.  The headlights shown straight out illuminating the bridge before us.

"We all ready for this?"  His knuckles were turning white from him griping the steering wheel so hard.

"You're not scared are ya."  Another one piped up, mocking the driver.

"Of course no."  I could see the fear in his eyes though.

He slowly pressed the gas and the car lurched forward.  Despite the cold we rolled down the windows.  The crunch of the tires on the unmarked snow echoed off the cast darkness.

In the middle of the bridge he once more stopped.  Turning the ignition off, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and shivered.  I wasn't so sure it was from the cold.

"hey man you think we should turn off the lights?"  My tough guy friend received a thump on the head for that one.

But still we turned off the lights.

An hour later we all were shivering now more from the cold than anything.

"We should go."  I wasn't really wanting to stay any longer.

It was obvious there was nothing here.  The stories had just been legends.

"Man I gotta take a pee."  The guy next to me opened the car door and flat fell out onto the ground.

We all howled with laughter.  My driver buddy over his sacredness threw an empty coke can out at him.

The one on ground pulled himself up using the car for support.  "Forget you, man!"  He proceeded to stumble his way over to the side of the bridge.

With the head lights off and no moon out, he disappeared within a few feet. 

His voice rang out in a crazy song, throwing all us into fits of hysterics again.

With out warning his voice stopped.  Like a cd that had been suddenly turned off.  No slowly winding down.  Just flat stopped. 

We heard a thump and had assumed the klutz had tripped again.

Mr tough guy in shot gun decided to go get him.  He had just opened the car

door and placed one foot on the ground when a strange animal howl filled the night air.  It sent chills running up my spine like someone with ice cold hands was tracing it with their finger.

The guy in front froze were he was.  When he looked back at me his face had gone white.

"let's get out of here ya'll"  The driver's voice was barely audible.

"No we can't leave him out there."  With neither of the two guys in the front moving, I took it upon myself to be the rescuer.

I slid across the seat and climbed out the same door my friend had left open a few moments before.  Straightening up, I tried to let my eyes adjust to the darkness but with very little light it was next to impossible to see.

Carefully, one foot in front of the other, I made my way in the direction he had disappeared.  I glanced back over my shoulder and saw my two buddies with their faces pressed against the glass.  They had shut the back door behind me.

I heard a strange noise then.  It sounded like someone breathing but more like they had been punched in the stomach and all their air had been forced out of their lungs.  I sensed something close, something big.  The hair on the back of my neck was standing straight up.

Almost in slow motion I turned my head around, facing front.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of movement.  A blur, a flash of something

big and gray.  I heard a gasp from in front of me or maybe it was from me.

A shape started moving towards me and fast.  It was directly in front and coming on a course for a head on.  Frozen in my tracks, all I could think to

do was raise my arms.

The shape collided with me knocking us both to the ground.  I rolled over onto my stomach and leaped to my feet, ready to strike out.  My klutzy friend lay crumpled on the ground.  His eyes were wide, his face had been drained of any color.  I heard that strange breathing noise again and that was all it took.

I grabbed him up, half dragging half carrying, we ran to the car.  Slamming into the closed door my two friends inside nearly pissed in their pants. 

Together working more against each other, we tried to get the door open from the outside.  Finally the driver came out of his shock and opened it from the inside a second before we came through the window.

Rolling up the windows we sat there huddled together.  Our breath came out in white puffs, quickly fogging up the windows.

Daring against my better judgment, I wiped the glass clear and peered through it in the direction my now silent friend had gone before.   Suddenly

a movement came flying straight at the door, colliding with it in a clatter of hooves.

A deer, a young buck, staggered back to his feet and stared back at as.  Then in a flurry of brown fur he was off once more.

I can never forget that deer.  For in his eyes, was a look of pure terror.

"Start the car!  Start the car!"  I started screaming repeating over and over as my friends desperately tried to get the old engine cranked over.

The engine cranked over and over.  Cold from being shut off for so long in the weather it wouldn't catch.

"Man your gonna flood it,"  MY tough guy friend reached over and stopped his hand from turning the key.  "Just wait..."

He barely got the words out.  We felt it hit the back of the car.  A loud thump.  Like some one had kicked the back bumper.  Then the car started bouncing.

We all were screaming at the driver to start the engine.  Panicked by the car being bounced up and down, he dropped the keys.  Shaking so bad he could barely hold them he got them back in his hands and started the engine.

All it took was one try.

He pressed on the gas, not caring that we weren't getting any traction.  The heat from the tires quickly burned through the thin layer of snow.  The second the tire hit pavement, the car shot forward sending it into fish tails.  He quickly gained control of it and sped off towards the end of the bridge.

The drive home was quiet.  None of us could talk.  More likely were all were still frightened over what we had just experienced.

Parking the car in the driveway, we all slowly climbed out. 

Rounding around the back of the car, my fellow back seat passenger stopped and just stared at the trunk.  Curious as to what was up, the 3 of us joined him.

What was there I think frightened us even more.

Perfectly imprinted in the snow on the trunk lid were two very large hand prints.

Hunted Down - 2003

The wind picked up slightly, stirring the dust and leaves around in a swirling spiral.

A sign, hanging by one rusty chain swung back and forth, creaking with each upward motion.

A shadow fell across the bleached out bones of an animal long since devoured.  It's length making it's companion look just that much taller.

Silently the shadow moved as the hulking form stepped over the skeleton. The trailing foot coming down with a crunch upon the small skull,pounding it under foot into fine powder.

He made his way forward, the stillness surrounding his slow and persistent movements.

Without a sound the form moved forward, making it's slow advance through the center of the long ago deserted town.

Or what remained of it.

Searching, hunting for the one reason that had brought him here.  The one thing that he only knew of what to do.  The one thing that made him continue on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She opened her mouth, hoping that it would ease the noise of the air rushing out of her lungs, up her throat and out of her body then back in again as she suck down gulps of air to try and keep up with her racing heart.

Her eyes were wide, desperate to see in the darkness of the shadows that stretched the length of the building.

Moon light glinted through a broken, dusty window pane, lighting a small patch on the bare, dirt covered ground.

The pupils of her eyes widened as she pushed back further against the hard, scratchy wooden wall.  Trying to meld her body into the wood itself to become one with it.  Too be able to disappear from this forsaken place.

To hide from the monster that was waiting just outside.

Sweat broke out upon her brow, matting down her bangs to her forehead as she moved her head back and forth searching the darkness around her.

*Searching?  For what?  Him?  Weapons?  A way out?*

Her heart beat faster and harder, it seemed to want to pound right out of her chest.

Her mind screamed for her to run, to get away

*fast, as fast as you can, go now*

But yet she stayed.  A few more minutes of resting wouldn't hurt her.  Least she didn't think so.   She was safe for the time being, surely he didn't

know where she was, he was too far away to have seen where she ran too, where she was hiding.

He couldn't see through walls.

Her legs were weak from running for so long.  Threatening to give out and tumble her to the hard ground.  her body raked with exhaustion.  She wanted so desperately to give up, to just sink to her knees and give up.

But she knew she had to stay alert, stay on her feet.

For the thing was coming.  She knew he was close and would eventually get her.  But she wanted, desperately wanted to keep the inevitable moment as far way as possible.

Noise from outside. She held her breath.

Heavy breathing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The large form stopped.  His shoulders moved up and down with his deep breaths as he inhaled, filling his long ago dead lungs with stale air then

exhaling even worse air as he forced it back out again.  His breath forming a white mist on the cold night air as it seemed out through the mask, making him look even eerier.

He cocked his head to the left listening for the almost impossible sound of fear.  Turning he stared at the building, knowing his next victim was inside.

I've Wrecked Out - 2004

NOTES: this is based on an accident I went through on Oct. 23rd, 1999. It was published in a book with other authors.

October 23, 1999 7:44 PM:

I was tired.  Being on the graveyard shift was fun but exhausting, especially when you worked as a volunteer firefighter taking calls when you were supposed to be sleeping.

Since going to bed around 1 pm, I hadn't slept much at all, taking a call early in the afternoon of a person who had fallen off a ladder and injured his back.

When the pager went off about 15 til 8 later that evening, I so wanted to throw a pillow over my head, roll over and sleep the few more hours remaining before I had to get up.

Structure fire.  The words flowed from the pager as my body immediately struggled awake as the adrenaline rushed through it.  I jumped out of bed,  being shocked awake by the loud beeping of the tones forcing my hands and legs to shake.  I hurriedly got dressed, grabbed my truck keys and my glasses and rushed out the front door, remembering to hit the thumb latch on the knob to quickly lock it as I slammed the door closed behind me.

I ignored the chill of the mid October night, having chosen to wear the short sleeve department tee shirt and no jacket, i hoped into the truck and quickly started it.

Out of habit, I buckled my seat belt as I slammed it into reverse and sped out of the driveway.

Without thinking, I reached for the plug on the dash lights that was also connected to the Ko-Jack light clamped to the roof by a magnet and plug them in.  The red and white lights filled the darkness in front me.

I flipped on the headlight wig-wags as I gained speed up the hill.  a few seconds later, I was at the intersection and had flipped on the siren.

The traffic was normal for a Saturday night at that time but people were still kindly pulling to the right as I flew by them.  Up ahead I could see the strange yellow flashing strobes of the city fire engine that was responding to help us out at the fire.  They seemed close but were over a block away when they pulled out of their station.

They reached the major intersection about 30 seconds before I did.  I was still a ways back and on a curve and didn't quite see them go through even though I did catch them hitting the dip on the other side of the intersection.

Soon I was at the busy intersection myself.  I slowed, moving to the left turn lane even though I was planning on going straight.  But it was the only lane clear.

My light was red.

All lanes around on both streets in all directions were full, except for the one I was in and another on the far side of the street running perpendicular to the one I was one.

I slowed dramatically, my right foot hovered over the brake as my left depressed the clutch.  I reached down to my siren controls and began to flip through the various modes sending the 100 watt decibel sound piercing through the cold air as it ran it's course through the wails and yelps.  Alternating every once in awhile with the air horn.

The traffic around me came to a stand still.  I could see everyone's eyes on me.  Some looked sadly on, others seemed curious, while even more seemed excited.  Almost as much as I was heading out to another fire, hoping in mind that it was a real burning.

I wonder now if there was someone there that realized what was about to happen.  Maybe those on the other side of the street could see it coming.  Sub consciously tensing.  Others may have looked on in shock, yelling out desperately at me hoping even though it was impossible, that I would hear them and stop.

But i didn't.

I had almost made it across.

I never saw it coming.

The impact knocked me sideways into the door.  I

felt the truck lerch jerkidly to the left.  Time moved in slow motion.

The truck seemed to hover tilted on it's left side wheels forever. I started to slip out of my seat belt and I thought I was going too completely.  Then I slammed down onto the ground.  The impact was so hard, I thought surely I had hit another vehicle with the tail end of my truck.  For where I had thought I had landed, there were cars in all the lanes.

Later I found out that in one of those cars, a little boy pointed out to his mother the flipping truck as it came towards them, saying in his child's voice that it was going to hit me.  Thankfully she was able to throw it into reverse and back up before my truck could collide with them.

Through the windshield, I could see the world spin around. Then it stopped.

The truck rocked back and forth on the driver's side that it had landed on.  My mind seemed to scream at me that it was going to roll over.

Finally, after what seemed minutes but in reality was only seconds, I came to a stop.

I was confused and disoriented.  I wasn't sure what I had to do or exactly what had happened only that I had wrecked out.  I thought I was facing the same direction I had been headed but once I looked through the windshield once more, and saw the headlights of on coming traffic, I knew I was more likely facing the way I had come.

I turned my engine off and for some reason took the keys out of the ignition.  Amazingly the engine was still running despite the fact that it was a standard transmission and I was laying on my side.

I reached for my siren controls and quickly turned it off.  Next I yanked the light cord out of the cigarette plug in, plunging me into semi darkness.  I tried to turn my headlights off but my blurry mind instead reached for the windshield wiper controls and tried to turn them off via them.  Giving up, I searched around the pile of medical forms and maps laying on the window underneath me until I found my glasses and then my hand held radio.

With my voice shaking as well as my hands, I called into the county advising I had been in an accident and needed an ambulance.  I was unsure how many vehicles had been involved or if there were any injuries, including myself.

The dispatcher later told me I had fully identified myself with my fire department name and id.  Told her exactly where I was and had answered her inquiry as to if I was involved or not. Twice.  She talked to me for a short while, trying to calm me but all I knew then at that moment was that I wanted out.

I looked around the overturned cab, trying to find away out.  I could see lights through the back window which seemed strange since I had known the sliding window had been closed and the tint should have kept the shine out.  There was a gap in my passenger door over my head and I silently pondered if I could fit through it.

I heard people around me calling out to me inquiring if I was ok.  Telling me to hang on that help was on the way.  I didn't know if I was hurt or not.  All I knew was I wanted out badly.

I saw a vehicle rush into the intersection in front of me, lights and siren blaring.  It was a SUV and I assumed it was a county unit.  It turned out to be the county fire marshall who was enroute to the same fire I was.  The county at first thought it was him and I that had collided but he quickly advised them the truth.

The city was getting reports of an over turned fire truck in the intersection.  The same fire engine I had seen pull out ahead of me, wasn't answering the radio.  The ambulance crew from the same station, heard the dispatcher tell the Battalion Chief who was also enroute to the fire what they were getting and what was going on.  The ambulance medics fearing their comrades were hurt, jumped into the box and rushed to the scene.

The Chief met them as they pulled up, advising them it wasn't the engine but then it was me who they knew. Since one of the two was part of my family.

He approached my truck, talking to me, asking me if I was injured anywhere.  Having him there seemed to snap me out of the stunned state I was in and I was then able to take account of what hurt.  I informed him that my head hurt.  My right side at the hip and my left knee also hurt.  My forearms felt like they had been scrapped against the ground and my right leg was numb but I could still move it easily.

He advised me that they were going to have to cut me out, as he handed me his helmet and bunker coat through the gap of the passenger door and the roof of my truck.

It took them several minutes.  My truck was rocked back and forth several times as I clung to the steering wheel thinking all the while that my airbag hadn't gone off.

Outside, I could hear the crunch of the glass being shattered and the snap of unknown body parts of my truck being split apart.

The captain of the engine crew finally advised it was ok.  The family member of mine told me to take it easy as I carefully crawled out through the newly shattered windshield, all the while telling me that if anything started to hurt to immediately stop.  So far nothing really did.

Until I stood full up, finally free.

My head was spinning and had a dull ache.  My lower back and right side felt like someone had punched me there several times.  My left knee felt as if a knife had been driven through it.

I started to cry then and my family member held me in a big hug.  He had been relived at first to find out that it hadn't been his engine crew but then the fear rose in him when his chief told him who it was.

He helped me to the ambulance where they loaded me up on the stretch for the ride to the hospital which was across town.  I was given an ice pack for my head and we headed out.

At the hospital, I was given the unbelievable news.  The investigating officer told me that I had rolled my vehicle a few times.  The roof had been crumpled.  The cause was a small car that had slammed into my passenger door at highway speeds, shoving it inwards about two feet.

After about an hour, I was released with instructions to take off a few days from work and school and visit my personal doctor as well.  The diagnosis was a mild concussion, a bone bruise to the left knee, scraps on my forearms and bruises that covered my right side and both hips, as well as a few scratches from the seat belt strap grinding my necklace into sternum.  I would feel the effects for a couple of weeks, but I was alive.

Alive after walking away from two of the most deadly forms of a vehicle collisions, a high speed t-bone and a roll over.

But all I could think about was the dream or nightmare rather that I had had a few weeks prior.  The same dream where I had seemingly gone through the exact same thing that had just happened to me.

Was it a warning that I should have heeded or was it just something that was meant to be?

The Dog FIght - 1992

Ten minutes after launching the F-18 Hornet spotted the Mig in front of him and just to the left.

The Hornet pulled along side the other plane. Both pilots meeting each other's gaze. A slight nod from the MIg pilot and the Hornet fell back to a tailchase position slightly to the side and above the lead plane.

Once the MIg had spotted the Hornet, it dropped to 500 feet. Then it dropped lower and lower. They were at 200 feet now, the Hornet keeping pace with the almost identical Mig.

50 feet.

The Mig shot upward into a steep climb at speeds exceeding 300 knots, spinning as it did so still unable to shake the other warplane.

Without warning he angled up and let loose with the power. He started clinmbing again, racing through the clouds, slicing them effortlessly til he was 500 feet above the barren ground.

Leveling off the Mig pilot waved mockingly back at the other pilot turned sharply to the left. The Hornet veered to the right in hopes of cutting off the receding planes path.

The jets roared towards each other head on, both wide open. They came at each other at great speed both passing each other in a head-on pass merely 50 feet from each other's wingtips.

The Hornet's pilot craned his head trying to see where the other jet went but he was lost in the glare from sun. He rolled into a step bank and pulled back harder on the stick.

There he was.

He brought the nose of the Hornet up, bleeding off air speed and shortening his turning radius turning hard again he came in on his opponent's rear quarter but the Mig moved away and dove towards the ground.

The Hornet made a slow roll and followed in pursuit, both planes accelerating downward faster and faster. The mig pulled up in a sweet hammerhead move and they flashed by each other head on again.

The Hornet's nose cme up sharply and the chase was on again. The jet raced upwards, the airspeed bleeding of severly. The jet seemed to ahng motionless in the sky til it started a tail slide back to earth, then it flopped over on it's back. The pilot rolled the huge beast and once again it was in a nose dive for the ground.

The pilot's eyes searching the vast space below him. There he was. Straight ahead and level another head on. With lightning reflexes he rolled the jet, applied the air brakes, then more power, hoping to cause the other to overshoot him.

The earth and sky tumbled sickingly as the planes responded to each of the pilot's slight commands. Each was focused on the other, trying to get to him before he himself was gotten.

The Mig now chasing the Hornet.

The Hornet slowed along the MIg to reach him. Both planes no longer maneuvering, both level, both flashing by.

With out warning the Hornet applied the air brakes sending the plane's nose upward as the surprised Mig flew by underneath helplessly. The Hornet's pilot shoved the throttle forward once more and came in behind him.

It was over.

Once on the ground the jets taxied toward the tarmac, parking the huge beasts. Both canopies slid open to the roar of the large airshow crowd.

Once again the once warplanes had put on a memorial performance.