The Sighting - Part Three

By Cayce B. Shelton

I listened carefully to Joe when he got on his story telling kick. The ghost story was an important of his life and whenever the facts were brought up a few of those around could remember what happened back then. Joe's full name was Joseph K. Kingsley. He was pretty well built and smart, but not any more than his buddies, I guess. Bob's name was Robert H. Stanton, and he wanted to be a line backer like his dad. Of course, at the time the fathers of both boys were overseas, somewhere.

Now, Dan's dad, I know from things I heard and read, was no prize. He must have been 4-F because he didn't go into any military service. I don't really know what Dan's dad did for a living. I heard the man was always drunk.

But, about the ghosts, Joe told me that it took a long time for them to learn about ghosts. And then, they had to get help in the long run.

Bob, the larger of the two boys, leaned on the four-foot high chain link fence. Joe squatted close to the fence, his hands busy with a short piece of braided rope.

"I really don't see what that Mr. Fernknuckle meant. He was always going on about society and its troubles. Hell, we got enough trouble staying alive around here to think about how we gonna survive after school. That's years away," Bob stated simply.

Joe squinted his eyes up at Bob. The sun shining behind the boy took away all color. Joe could barely see the dark shape of his friend. He moved his head sideways, looking at Bob from the corner of his eyes. "Years? We're twelve years old, man. Six more years and we'll be out of school, on our own, facing the world, doing our own thing or in the army if this damn war lasts that long. Hell, you better start thinking seriously about that, man. My old man told me his old man kicked him out of the house when he was only sixteen years old. I don't want to be dumped on a thankless society like Fernknuckle was talking about without a plan. Man, it scares me to even think about it," Joe offered.

"Well, I ain't gonna be kicked outta my place, I bet. My father wants me to go to college and play football like he did. You seen the trophy he got; I know where I'm headed, all right," stated Bob, roughly.

Joe scratched at the ground. His voice was an octave higher as he spoke. "Yeah, they got it all planned for you, don't they? But, just wait; Fernknuckle was trying to tell us something. Be damned if I know exactly what it was, but I bet there's something out there that's gonna whap us good."

Joe stood up as he finished speaking, turning as Bob was doing, to watch Daniel emerge from his house. The boys did not speak as they came together and walked down the road toward the Frog Creek culvert. The already-hot, still air caused wet areas on the boy's shirts before they jumped off into the side ditch. The golden weeds crackled as the boys' steps broke through the heavy growth. The dust of the dry and broken groundcover rose in the air as the boys waded through the field.

Inside the clearing Bob started things moving as the boys dozed on the ground. "Well, I guess we're not gonna get scared shitless today. Been an hour and I ain't seen no ghost yet. I been thinking. Maybe we just imagined we seen a ghost. I talked to my mom about it the other day, just getting information, you know. I didn't tell her I thought I had seen a ghost, no sir. I really don't know how she would react if I told her what we been through. Probably ship me off to some looney bin for a visit," Bob finished as he ran out of things to say.

"What did she say, dodo?" Joe almost slurred the question as he dozed.

"Well, she said, I mean she kinda rambled a little bit 'fore she told me. I think it was, 'There is no such thing as a ghost, Robert'. That's what she said."

"So, what did you do then?" Daniel asked as he sat up. His eyes felt hot as he watched the large form of Bob, lying like a beached whale, his cap over his eyes.

"I asked her how did she know that. She told me that she had heard of people seeing ghosts, but she had no real knowledge of such things," Bob replied.

Dan quizzed his friend, "Well, if she had heard of ghosts, how come she told you there was no such thing as a ghost?"

Bob sat up and looked at his skinny friend. He spoke with such authority that Joe sat up and listened also. Bob spoke, "She finally told me, after a few words back and forth, that she had looked into the phenomena of spirits after a story she heard long ago. She found out that there may be ghosts and spirits both, but she never saw any."

Joe broke in, "What's the difference in a ghost and a spirit?"

"Mom said that a ghost was the picture of a person's soul, probably a person that had not been properly put away when he died and a spirit was a soul that had never got to his destination. Spirits are usually felt, not seen. They're the ones that scare the hell out of people, she said, by moving things in a house and making all kinds of noises. At least that's what she told me she learned. I couldn't really get much more out of her. She kinda started hem-hawing around and finally just sat there and looked at me. Then the whole session ended with her laughing and beating the couch. Seemed to be a fun time, you know?" Bob looked at his two friends who were sitting up looking at him intently.

"Some fun," Dan said, watching his hands break a twig in two. His friends watched as the boy, not more than skin and bones, angrily threw the twigs at the frogs in the creek. Suddenly, Daniel rose from the ground and stomped forcefully to the creek bank. He spoke more to the creek than to his friends.

"I know what I saw and it was a real ghost. I don't know why I saw it, and I don't know why it appeared. But, if I see it again, I'm gonna find out some answers, somehow," the skinny boy said, his face contorted in anger.

Dan slowly looked around the clearing and then glowered at his friends. Bob and Joe watched Dan as he tromped back to the spot where he had been resting before his tirade. Dan dropped down and fell backward. Joe and Bob grunted a laugh.

Joe broke into the noise around with them with a simple question. "See that cloud right to the left of that bunch of limbs just under that swing of that elm tree? Doesn't that look kinda like a banjo?" he asked, pointing.

"I see it, and I don't see no banjo," Bob stated simply. "It looks more like a big lollipop to me."

"Jesus Christ, can't you ever think of anything but food?" Joe's question was not asked in anger or ridicule.

"Well, sometimes I think of girls, which is something you seem to talk more than show, dumb ass." Bob smiled, knowing his remark would get Joe going. Dan rolled his head to watch Joe as he came up to a sitting position.

"And what do you mean by that? I been with more girls than you ever talked to, I bet. You saw me with Betty at the movie just last month. That's more than I ever saw you with," Joe taunted.

"Betty is a dog, and you know it," Bob stated simply, a lopsided grin showing.

"Well, going with a dog is a lot better than going with a dream. At least you can get close to a dog. I ain't never seen no dream I could ever get close to." Joe grinned, calculating he had gotten the best of his friend.

"You and your girls. Boy, I tell you, when you get old enough to see a woman naked I bet it's gonna scare the peewaddling piss outta you." Bob grinned at Dan, trying not to laugh out loud.

Joe was getting to his feet, his face contorted. "Scared? Who's scared? I ain't scared of no female. Why, I already seen one naked, and it didn't scare me one bit, no sir." Joe stood with his feet far apart, his arms swinging in the air as he ranted.

Bob continued to goad his friend, "Now just where did you see a naked girl? Don't tell me that it was Diane, who had almost all her clothes off. Oh, I know, you saw one in that book on the harems of those Arab guys, didn't you?"

"What book? I ain't seen no harem book. What are you talking about now? You just rattle on like you got rocks in your head," Joe complained.

Bob was rolling around on the ground in an effort to get to his feet. He goaded Joe, "You're the one with rocks in your head, buddy. I know that for a fact. Remember that time Dan and me dug that rock outta your ear? If that don't prove you got rocks in your head I don't know what does." Bob moved to get ready if Joe couldn't take it.

Joe charged fast. As the two clashed and fell onto the carpet of leaves and twigs, Dan stood and watched, listening to the continued war.

"I'm gonna-
dumb ass-
shit-
bull-
get-
off-
quit-
I'll-
stop-
you're-
hey."

Dan stepped to the battling boys and hit each one on the head with his fist. As each boy felt the blow, he let go of his opponent and fell limply to the ground. Both of the warriors looked up at the frail friend standing over them.

"You know, you two guys are really a pair. If I didn't know you better, I'd run off and leave you to kill each other. But, I know you won't ever kill each other, you have too much fun."

Joe and Bob laughed out loud and together reached for Dan's legs. As the three fell into a wrestling pile of arms, legs and laughter, the clearing slowly filled with a soft golden cloud, the tinkle of bells growing louder.

Dan was the first to react to the change. As the features of trees, leaves, birds, frogs and even the other boys began to disappear into a golden cloud, Dan called out to his friends. "Bob, Joe, where are you? I can't see you. Call out."

Only the sound of small bells tinkling could be heard. Dan started to shake with fear.

"Ok, that's enough. I don't like this." Dan spoke softly as if to himself and then screamed as loud as he could, "Stop."

Immediately the bell sounds were replaced by total silence. Dan looked around and could not see anything but the swirl of a golden cloud, little patches of yellow darting before his eyes. Unable to do anything else, Dan collapsed onto the ground. As he landed, he noticed that he was not sitting on damp leaves. Dan gasped when he realized he was sitting on the golden cloud. His scream reverberated in his ears.

Suddenly, Dan saw the form of the girl ghost begin to solidify before him. With his thoughts racing, he remembered his statement earlier; he was going to get some answers.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Dan screamed. The words did not appear to have any effect on her. Dan took a deep breath and tried again. "All right, I see what you can do. Now, do something to let me know why I can see you and what you want."

The scene around the boy did not change. The ghost continued to smile at him. Dan's nerves were beginning to fray. With labored breath, the boy looked around for something to help him out of the situation that was driving him mad.

"OK. So I can see you, and you're not telling me anything. At least tell me where my buddies are." Suddenly, the other two boys appeared, but both seemed to be frozen in time and space, surrounded by a golden cloud. Dan realized he was holding his breath.

"What are you doing to them? Have you killed them?" Dan saw the girl turn her head as if to look at the other two boys. As Dan watched, both of his friends moved as if they were dolls on strings. Dan was gasping for breath as he watched the two boys look around and then at each other. Dan could see them talking, but heard no words. He reached out and called their names as his friends started walking away. He turned his gaze back to the smiling girl as Joe and Bob disappeared from his view.

"What are you doing? Why did they leave? Why can't I hear anything?"

The girl ghost moved slowly. Dan stood, his breath coming in gasps as he watched the girl float through the cloud, which was becoming thinner. Dan watched the cloud vanish to leave him looking at the form of the girl, appearing to be real, as the sounds and sights of nature in the clearing returned. He fell to the ground in a faint.

Later, Dan rose to a sitting position and saw the ghost girl sitting cross-legged three feet from his face. He studied the beautiful smiling face, taking in her eyes, nose and mouth. The boy held his head with both hands as if it would fall off. The pain in his chest and the dizziness in his head frightened him.

"Am I dying?" Dan asked. The ghost did not change her expression or move.

Dan looked around and felt the ground cover with his hands. He knew he was not dead, but dying was another matter.

"I guess I'm dying. That's why you're here. Is that right? You're here 'cause I dying and you are gonna go with me somewhere?" Dan gasped when the girl shook her head in a negative way. The boy frowned and spoke in a whisper.

"You're not? Then why? Why are you here?" The ghost did not move. "Ok. So you're not here for me, but you can't tell me why you're here. Let me look at this. I don't guess I'm gonna die so I gotta figure out how to get rid of you before I lose my mind, right?"

Dan looked into the eyes of the girl and smiled when she slowly nodded her head.

"Right. So I gotta figure out some way we can talk, right?" The girl slowly nodded again.

Dan continued, "Ok. I tell you what. I don't see how I can get you to talk right now. I gotta study on it awhile. How about I go on out for a few days? I'll come back, say, on Saturday. How about that?" Dan grinned as he waved his hand at the ghost. He was still grinning when he realized he was looking at a little furry mouse across the creek, simply looking back at him, its nose twitching. Dan made a move to get up and saw the mouse dart into the surrounding brush.

He spoke to himself, "Is that what I have been talking to, a damn mouse?"