Chapter 22: Making a Difference

Nothing unusual happened the rest of the weekend. Shannon and her family came over Saturday night for another round of cards and video games. She and I got a little face time, if you know what I mean, while Mark and Allison played games in my room, and no, not those kinds of games. It was actually pretty funny, now that she wasn't trying to butter him up she was kicking his ass on most of the games we had. His only chance was to bring something I didn't have and she hadn't learned yet.

Monday was just a routine day at school. Okay, as routine as any other Halloween at school. About half the kids dressed up, mostly the girls. Mark and I and the girls dressed up for school and then handed out candy at our house. Our parents played cards until the evening wound down and then they all went home. One little boy caught my attention during the evening. While most of the kids were having fun he seemed to be more nervous about the whole thing. It turned out nervous was an understatement.

I found myself alone on the street in front of a row of houses. It was so much like a scene from a bad horror movie that I knew what was coming next. Sure enough, a terrified scream split the night. A young boy bolted out the door of one of the houses on my left. He hid behind a car just as something large and furry crashed through a large picture window. The boy froze as the beast stopped to sniff the air, obviously searching for him. The door opened again and a man stepped out with a shotgun. He aimed at the beast and fired. The force of the blast rolled the animal across the yard but it immediately got back up and charged the man, one swipe of its huge paw knocked the man senseless and into the bushes. This was not going well. The beast paused and assumed a listening pose, waiting for the boy to make the slightest sound. I could see the terrified boy crouched behind the car holding his breath. It looked like he was about to either give himself away or else pass-out from lack of oxygen.

I decided it was time to take action, and maybe see if we could have a little fun along the way. I concentrated and suddenly the sound of a dog barking interrupted the scene. The beast spun and headed off towards the sound. Apparently it thought that its missing quarry had disturbed the dog. I shifted myself into the scene and another young boy, about the same age, popped up from behind the neighbor's hedge, ran up behind the boy, and crouched next to him. I had used two of my favorite comic strip hellions as models. Sort of a Dennis meets Calvin look, but without Joey or the tiger.

"Hey! Can I play too?" I asked in a whisper.

The boy gasped and spun to face me, if anything he was even whiter than before. Apparently he wasn't expecting me, go figure. "Wh-wh-Who are y-y-you? Wh-wh-what do you m-m-mean?"

"My name is Davey," I answered. "You're playing hide and seek with your dog right?"

"My d-d-dog? Th-that's not my d-d-d-og!" he answered in a shaking voice. "I-i-it's-s-s a-a-a-a monster!"

"A monster!" I exclaimed. "Cool! Where did you get him?"

"Wh-wh-what a-are you t-talking ab-bout? I d-d-did—didn't g-get him anywh-anywhere. H-he crashed through the b-b-back d-d-d-ddd-door and has b-b-b-been t-try—inggg to k-k-k-kill me!"

"Kill you?" I looked at him funny. "He's not trying to kill you. He can't even hurt you. What's your name anyway?"

"B-b-bo-bb-bobby"

"Well Bobby, he can't hurt you. He's not real?"

He looked at me like I had grown antlers or something, "Y-y-yes he is."

"No, silly, this is just a dream. He's not really real at all."

"I-I-I know, it's-s-s a d-d-d-dream," he squeaked out. "B-But-t it-t-t-t-t k-k-kee-p-ps-s coming b-b-back. Ev-e-e-evv-rr-every night."

"Yeah, but it's still just a dream. You don't have to be afraid of it at all, Bobby. Has he ever caught you?"

"No! He ch-chase-es me a-and I wake, wake up."

"See, a dream. He just wants to play. Watch!" I stood up and whistled really loud. He grabbed my hand to pull me back down. I could see panic in his eyes.

"Wh-what a-a-are you d-d-doooing? He-he-he'll heeearrr y-you." A loud baying sounded and a dark shape charged past the corner of the second house down the row.

"Watch this!" I whispered and I dashed out from behind the car and into the street. "Hey! Ugly! Over here!" The large shaggy head spun around towards me and I took off down the street. I stopped at the corner of the next house and looked back. The huge shape was tearing up the pavement towards me. No really... Chunks of asphalt were flying skyward as his claws shredded the pavement. Dreams are cool, cartoon dreams... even better. It had already past Bobbie's hiding place and I watched as he ran around to the far side out of sight. I ducked behind the house, disappeared and waited for the large creature to round the corner. I almost forgot but at the last minute I erased my scent as well. Finding nothing, the beast quickly went over the fence to find me. I gave it a few seconds then re-appeared and walked back to where Bobby was hiding.

He looked at me like I was a ghost and asked, "Wh-whe-where d-d-d-did-d it g-g-g-g-o?"

"He ran past me and over the fence. He'll be back in a minute when he figures out that I got away. Now, it's your turn. When he comes back I want you to run onto that porch and stop. Got it?" I pointed out the porch on the house across the street.

"Are you c-cr-cr-cr, are y-you nuts? It'll k-k-kill me."

"Kill you? Why would he do that? He's not here to hurt you. What makes you think he wants to kill you?"

"D-did-did you ssssee what it d-d-d-did to my d-d-d-dad?"

"Yeah, he knocked him out and into the bushes so he wouldn't get in the way. What did you expect him to do? Your dad shot him! But think about it? Couldn't he have finished him off he wanted to?"

"W-well, I g-g-g-guess s-ssso."

"Besides, the porch is base; he can't even come up after you. Of course you have to get there first. Can you run very fast?"

He nodded yes. At that point the beast came back around the corner and started scanning the street. Knowing he would never go on his own I pushed Bobby into the street and yelled, "Go! Run for the porch!"