IS

I awoke to the warming rays of the sun on my face, as I opened my eyes to its bright presence that filled the room, swelling my heart with the safe satisfaction that only the daylight could bring. Looking to the clock on my nightstand, I was impressed that I had been sleeping for close to seven hours, feeling that I had been asleep for maybe two at best. I let my legs fall off the side of the bed, as I sat there listening to distant conversations and laughter coming from the kitchen, feeling as though I had just experienced the worst nightmare of my life. If only-–for I knew better.

Realizing that I’d never finished changing my bandages, I examined my very sore but tolerably damaged hand and elbow, as I glanced over my shoulder to find a disturbing mess on my side of the bed. My wife’s excited anticipation for her trip would probably save me from certain annihilation-–maybe!

“Oh boy—look at that mess!” she said, as I wheeled around to find Corey standing in the doorway. She had snuck up on me with the quiet stealth of a ninja assassin, as the look on her face told me everything she was thinking.

“Sorry Hon, I meant to change the bandages earlier this morning before I went to bed!”

“Well, the important thing is that you’re okay, and not in too much pain,” she answered.

I soon began to realize that she wasn’t going to kill me. That maybe, just maybe, her love for me was greater than I had ever given her credit for, that her compassion for her husband could surpass any obstacle, no matter what.

“We needed new sheets anyway; hope the blood didn’t go through and stain the mattress! Are you hungry? There’s some scrambled eggs and bacon left, but you may want to throw them in the microwave to heat them up,” she announced, as she was already in transit, and heading down the hallway.

My heightened reverence for the moment soon became moot. I got to my feet and found a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, when I heard Corey’s voice talking to someone out front, at the end of our driveway.

I went to the window to find her in a conversation with Dave Gust, who was out walking Hercules. Seconds later, Corey pointed to the bedroom, obviously giving Dave details of last night’s ordeal, as he soon noticed me standing there in the window.

“Hey Josh! Thanks buddy!” he yelled, and I politely smiled with a wave of acceptance to his gratitude.

Then as his attention went back to Corey, my attention drifted to Hercules. He wasn’t watching his master, or the children playing two yards over. He didn’t even flinch when the two boys came racing around the turn on their bikes. Just as I had my attention on him, his focus was one in the same, as our eyes soon became locked in an unbinding stare to each other that held no precedence for time. And just when I felt what was uncomfortably beginning to transcend into forbidding, I heard Dave’s voice progress in volume as he said his goodbye to Corey and gave a farewell wave to the window from which I still remained.

I then turned to continue on with my day, when I heard Dave give a loud and stern command to Hercules, who had refused to follow his Master’s advances.

“Hercules! Come on! Let’s go!” Dave said in anger, with a hint of embarrassment.

I quickly returned to where I’d been standing to see Hercules still in the very same spot, unresponsive to Dave’s commands, still gazing to the window, and now me, as I again stood there with undoubtedly a look of puzzled astonishment to his unfaltering persistence.

Dave finally got Hercules to follow. They continued on with their walk, only turning his large head back in my direction two or three times before giving up with whatever it was he had been battling with in his canine brain.

Okay, that was a little disturbing, I said to myself as I opened a drawer in search of a clean pair of socks. Still dealing with battles of my own, I finished tying my shoes and announced, “Here goes nothing!” as I stood up and left the room. Not having eaten for some time now, I gladly took Corey up on the eggs and bacon once I got to the kitchen. After starting the microwave, my mind seemed a bit foggy, as I tried to remember just when I had eaten last. Then a smile came to my face when I thought to myself, Well, my plate has been a little full these past couple of days!

A little breakfast, some fresh orange juice, and some clean fresh bandages. I was a new man ready to face anything the day chose to throw at me, and I had this uncanny feeling that it would. But I now felt revived with a new attitude. Yes the day was certain to throw things at me, but it’s all to my discretion when I would choose to duck, and when it would be time to catch. I’ve done a lot of ducking lately, but I had a feeling things were due to change in my favor.

Tonight was the night my family was leaving. Realizing this gave me an unnerving feeling. But hell, I’ve been dealing with this on my own anyway, might as well get them out of here so I can really get down and dirty with the adventure at hand.

Besides, I wasn’t going to be in this alone. After tonight, I would have the police on my side. Things were looking up. As I stepped out into the bright sunlight, I wondered where he went during the day. As pale as he seemed to be, there was no doubt that he wasn’t accustomed to the sunlight, with its warm nourishing qualities. He was a creature of the night. This was obviously where and when he was most, if not only, comfortable in his surroundings.

As I stepped a few steps further down the driveway, I looked around at everyone going about with their day; walking their dogs, washing their cars, cutting their grass, and possibly a hundred and one other things an average person such as myself would be doing.

But what was he doing? And where was he doing it? And was it possible that at some point, I would have the answer as to why he chose this time to infect my life with his presence? And for what reason? Enough! I was tired--no, I was damn exhausted with all of the questions. And tonight, I would at least begin my quest in hunting down answers to those questions. I was presently bathing in a mixture of fear and excitement that gave substance to my life I had never before felt, at least not since I was a kid.

My mind then started to wander back to my childhood, when I did have what most anyone would consider an experience. If anyone in fact would have known about it, that is. Sometimes as a child, when something frightening happens to you that you can’t necessarily explain, I think the fear may sometimes keep you quiet. It shuts you up, or shuts you down to the point where you’re afraid to tell anyone, especially at that very moment that it happens to you. Maybe I shouldn’t speak for anyone else. But that’s how I reacted to what happened to me. Looking back now, that’s exactly what I did.

I was eleven. School had just let out for the summer, so it was probably sometime in June. Approximately seven months after that morning in my parent’s sunroom—the morning I witnessed the small light traveling in the sky. I did talk about that incident however. On several occasions, and always at what I felt to be an opportune moment, and to whomever I felt would listen or take me seriously.

Oh, a couple of times I truly thought I had someone’s interest. That after hearing my story, they were overcome with what seemed to be nothing short of amazement. Only to understand later, that I was being patronized. I guess it was a classic case of ‘I guess you had to be there!’

But what happened that following summer, the incident that I had been quiet about all these years; that was something altogether different. It wasn’t just something that amazed me, or sparked my imagination about certain things. This scared the hell out of me! Enough to seriously make me want to put it out of my mind and forget it ever happened. And even though it was such a long time ago, I can still today, recall some of the details.

We were returning home from my uncle’s birthday party. Being that it was more of a party for the grownups rather than for the children, it was very late by the time we got home, so late in fact, that I remember waking up just before we pulled into the driveway. Coming out of a sound sleep, the first thing my eyes focused on, were the beams from the car’s headlights. As we made the turn into the driveway, and the beams swept across the yard, my eyes caught a glimpse of what looked to be a figure ducking behind a tree. I rubbed my eyes, looked again to that very same tree, and then back to my parent’s faces for a sign of any reaction at all. They apparently hadn’t seen what I did, or at least what I thought I did. I almost immediately wrote it off as a misconception of the senses, seeing as how I had just woken up.

I looked at my little sister, Connie, who was still sleeping. “Get up, Connie!” I nervously shouted, as I again looked to the tree for any sign of movement. There was none.

“I’ll take care of her,” my mother said. “You follow your dad in and get your pajamas on, brush your teeth, and get your butt in bed!”

I fell close behind my father’s stride, as I still felt uneasy about what I thought I had seen. So close in fact, that once he stopped to find the right key for the door, my head was turned, as I kept my pace straight into his rear. He didn’t yell at me for not paying attention. He only looked at me with that disappointed dad-look.

Sometimes in my family, words weren’t always necessary to make a point. An action, given the correct or right amount of facial expression, would definitely speak louder than words!

Once in the house, I can almost still today recall how I felt, as I looked down the dark and quiet hallway, just before my father reached over me to flip on the light.

“Get to it, boy!” he said, as he then turned and made his way to the kitchen.

Even though the light was now illuminating the hallway from one end to the other, something didn’t feel right to me—didn’t feel safe. I had been in this situation before, and there shouldn’t have been anything different about this night from any other, but there was, and I knew there was. I also knew I would have to fight through this feeling to get done what was expected of me.

Standing at the entrance of the hallway in my house, you had three choices. Straight ahead into the bathroom, ten feet to the right where the hallway ended at my parent’s bedroom, or ten to the left where the hallway ended to a room on each side. Connie’s room was on the front side, with a window overlooking the front yard and street. My room faced the back, with a window that overlooked the back yard and the field that ran alongside of it.

“Brush your teeth!” my mom yelled from the kitchen.

I complied. I then turned off the bathroom light and traveled down the hallway to my bedroom. Standing in the doorway, I was caught off guard by the moon’s light that seemed to fill my room with an intangible sense of gloom. I quickly flipped the light switch, making everything pleasant and bright again.

“Josh, you got your pajamas on?” My mother yelled out yet again, from what sounded like her bedroom.

“Almost!” I yelled back, as I was into one of my dresser drawers, retrieving them. When out the corner of my eye, I became aware of something in my window that wasn’t there before. Turning only slightly further, I was now certain that it was a face; a man’s face, only different, somehow. I didn’t have to force myself not to look directly at it, as I was now totally overtaken by fear.

I slowly left my room and headed towards my parent’s voices, which were both coming from the kitchen. They were sitting and having coffee when I entered the room. Looking surprised to see me; my mother asked why I hadn’t put my pajamas on yet.

“Need a snack!” was all I could come up with, since I had no intention of going back to my room. But at the same time, for reason’s unknown, I felt afraid to tell them about it. To this day I don’t quite understand why. The fear had a hold of me. That’s all I’ve ever been able to come up with.

After my snack, I was told to brush my teeth again and get to bed. I must have spent so much time brushing my teeth my gums were ready to bleed.

“Josh! Are you still in the bathroom?” my mother cried out.

“Get to bed!” was my father’s last and final order.

I reluctantly rinsed my toothbrush and placed it in the stand, turned off the light, and looked down the hall to where I had left my bedroom light on. To where I had left the presence of whatever, and the reason for the intimidating fear that now rushed through me as I slowly made my way to the light.

Once I reached the doorway, I decided to make a bold move. I would jump into the room quickly, forcing myself to look directly at the window, and whatever would be there waiting. As I recall, it was probably one of the bravest things I have ever done to this day. I did follow through with my plan, but to no avail, as the face had disappeared. Hesitantly, I approached the window for further and final acknowledgement that it was indeed gone. I pushed my bed over to the wall, in order to see out the window more easily. The bed was heavy and awkward for an eleven year old boy, but I was on a mission.

I glanced up into the empty window one last time before stepping onto the bed and rising up to it--and the horrible face that was now only inches away from mine, separated only by glass. At that point I guess I had plunged into a state of shock, as I was unable to move any part of me. I can remember shaking uncontrollably and wanting to scream, but my voice was paralyzed as well. His face was hideous and white. And his eyes—oh my God! His eyes!

Suddenly I was back again, as I heard a voice yell my name. It was Bob Tasker.

“Hey Josh!” he yelled a second time, making sure he had my attention.

Half coherent, I waved, as I now focused on him jogging by in his Flock of Seagulls t-shirt and ridiculously short shorts. I was still partially inattentive, with a vision from the past that had just rocked my world. It couldn’t be—could it? No, it was impossible. After all, that was so long ago.

“Honey!” Corey yelled from the front porch.

“Yeah?” I yelled back, not bothering to turn around.

“I need you to run to the store for a couple of things.”

“Do I have to run? I’d rather drive.” I then turned around to see her reaction.

“Josh’s comedy hour, right?” she replied with a smirk on her face.

“Going to the store for what? You guys are leaving for three days!”

“For the picnic silly!” she said.

“We’re still doing that?”

“Honey, I never said we weren’t!” she answered.

I felt frustrated, with much more pressing things on my mind as I halfheartedly took the list from her.

Seeing my mood, she asked, “What? Now you don’t want to go?”

Just before getting into the truck, and not wanting to show any more frustration than I already had, I replied, “No, that’s fine honey, I just forgot about it, that’s all. I’ll be right back.” I added with a smile, as I shut the door.

“You sure?” she yelled, in one final attempt to feel me out.

“Absolutely!” I said, as I threw it into reverse and backed out of the driveway.

All the way to the store and back, my mind couldn’t have been further away from the picnic. I felt bad for Corey because I knew her heart was buried in the whole idea of it. But I now felt more drawn into what I was going through, stronger than ever. And anything outside of my dilemma was merely a distraction. But then again, maybe a relaxing day with the family was actually a good idea. After all, they were going to be gone for a while, and being the loving husband and father that I am, I was surely going to miss them while they were gone. Whatever! This was a good chance for me to decompress from everything; the calm before the storm, if you will. Although, making the walk down that path to the river was bound to make me a tad bit uncomfortable. But hey, it was early on a bright sunny day. What could happen? I really needed to stop asking myself that question!