Thursday, June 30, 2016

The Big Fourth, Part 1

When the five boys were back in their classroom at Norwood Elementary School, the teacher reminded the class of the importance of Independence Day. She wrote five words on the blackboard: “Revolutionary, Declaration, Minutemen, Celebration, Constitution.”  For the next two weeks, there would be all kinds of written reports and oral reports.  There would be weekly pop quizzes and tests about the history of “The Big Fourth.”  Of course, the history lesson would begin with the American Revolutionary War and continue up to the present time.  “I would like to remind the class,” said Ms. Smith, “that the American frontier colonies were first sponsored and supported by the British government. There were many investors in the British government that sponsored and supported all kinds of business activities in America. The American colonists and British citizens in general were loyal to their king. It was the Founding Fathers who wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence to be free of Great Britain and secure the people’s unalienable rights.”  Ms. Smith further taught that it was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, as a proclamation by “the thirteen united States of America” to be independent.  Years later, the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights would guarantee in writing certain privileges and rights that had never before been granted by government in recorded history of the world.  The Constitution was signed and published in 1787.  It begins with the Preamble “WE THE PEOPLE of the United States …” and was amended in subsequent years.  In 1791, the majority of state legislatures ratified amendments which became the first ten, called the U.S. Bill of Rights.  The first amendment was to protect our freedom of religion, speech, the press, and so forth.
The teacher then pointed out that if America had lost the Revolutionary War, every one of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence would have been treated as a traitor and either shot, hung or imprisoned by the British government. This was one of the reasons that John Hancock signed his name so large on the original document. He wanted to make sure his name would stand out above all the other signatures. Hancock was making absolutely sure that the British government would see his large signature and be assured that his name was part of this conspiracy that he wholeheartedly believed in and supported this document.
The five boys were not surprised to hear what came next.  “Your homework assignment for the weekend is to pretend that you are in the fireworks in the battle of the Revolutionary War.  Explain to the class what you feel, what you see and hear, and what the battle means to you personally. All of these reports will be given in front of the class by the person who writes the report. The first ten volunteers will automatically receive at least an ‘A-’ for classroom participation! Of course, the best reports in the class will have an ‘A+’ marked on the papers,” Ms. Smith explained.
After school the boys headed home to tell their parents about the assignment.  Next, all five met at the public library to find some books on the Revolutionary War.  Over the weekend, the boys worked together on their individual reports at the tree Fort, where everything was quiet and conducive to writing about their experience from a soldier’s point of view.  After two days of almost continuous writing, a little brainstorming for ideas, and lots of snacks, they finished their paper for the weekend.
On Monday the five boys were sitting in class, waiting with anticipation. Ms. Smith asked for volunteers.  Five hands went up immediately from the five boys.  Ms. Smith was not surprised at their eagerness.  They always seemed to be the leaders in the class and out on the playground.  Ms. Smith admired the boys’ confidence to become future leaders, and encouraged them and the rest of the class to pursue a leadership role in life.  “Have courage to take risks in life!” she said.  “Be not the first to always try the new, but be not the last to put some old ideas aside.”  This was one of her favorite sayings, adapted from a poem by Alexander Pope (1688-1744), and she would often repeat it throughout the year.
The boys had previously agreed which of them would go first and what order they would follow.  They all knew that Lester, Butch, and Robert were the scholarly bunch, and like a relay race in track, the fastest runners were usually placed at the back of the line to close the gap or to win the race. Ronald was the first to raise his hand.  He stood in front of the class and began to read his report.  “I pretended like I was the drummer boy leading the troops into battle by setting the cadence of the movement forward. I saw grown men all around me fall to the ground from gunshot wounds and cannon explosions. I was so scared that I wet my pants.  …”  Nobody in the classroom made a sound.  The students were all sitting up forward in their desk with their eyes and ears tuned in on Ronald’s report.  Ronald concluded his report by stating, “Some of these experiences I read about in the library were taken from actual events in the Revolutionary War. I tried to imagine what it would be like to see these things happen with my own eyes.”  A round of applause was given to Ronald by his classmates when he sat down in his seat.
Allen was next to volunteer.  “My report is about a man who is scared to death to go into battle. He is constantly fighting with himself and his conscience. ‘I don’t want to die!’ he kept saying to himself. He kept looking back over his shoulder to see if anyone else was running away from the battle. He thought to himself that he would pretend like he was dead and perhaps the enemy would go on past him. He thought about what his fellow soldiers would think, and what they would say about him if he were found dead, shot in the back! He just couldn’t handle the pressure, so he curled himself up into a little ball and hid behind….”  Allen stopped reading and said to the class, “I wanted whoever heard or read this story to finish the story by drawing their own conclusion.”  Another thunderous round of applause was given by his classmates.
Robert came to the front of the class. “My report is based on a soldier’s religious view about doing God’s work for the good of mankind. This minuteman named George became a soldier as he was studying to become a minister, when he was called into battle by his fellow citizens.” They were called minutemen because in a minute’s notice they would drop whatever they were doing and join in the fight against the British.  Robert continued, “George was well known throughout the community for two reasons. He always had a Bible in his hands, and he could quote all kinds of scripture. It was also a known fact throughout the colony that George was one of the wealthiest men around, if not the wealthiest man in America. The good book says, ‘Thou shall not kill.’ But it also has been said that ‘There is no greater glory to God than for a man to be killed in battle for his country,’ George would say. George seemed to be at odds with his conscience and his religious views. His fellow men were counting on him to fight with them in battle against his fellow men, but his religious training weighed heavily on his mind to refrain from violence. George would often be seen looking up at the sky and asking his Heavenly Father to forgive him. Then he would give a strong hand signal to charge and attack the enemy. ‘To become a leader of men is one of the hardest things I ever had to do in my life,’ he was overheard saying to a fellow officer. The officer replied, ‘It is the will of God!’ So I tried to put myself into George’s shoes and think what I would do if I were in his position.” said Robert.  “Then I found myself thinking, “We are all sometimes put into a survival position like an animal. We have to make a decision to either stand and fight or run to survive. If ‘survival of the fittest’ means only the strong will survive, we make our own choice. After reading many scenes about the bloody battles in the Revolutionary War, I pray to God every night to keep me from ever having to make such a decision.”  When Robert went back to his seat to sit down, it looked like he had tears in his eyes.  The class remained very quiet for a while then everyone broke out with a cheer.

(Part One of the novella by George F. Kohn, author of Holiday Favorites series available on Amazon.com)
For the rest of the story, order your copy of The Big Fourth, published for Kindle e-readers and paperback.  Amazon search: Holiday Favorites by George F. Kohn.)


Friday, June 24, 2016

The Festival of States Parade, Part 2

The boys woke up to a beautiful sunny day, as light beams of sunshine made light rays visible through the windows.  “Look at all the dust particles dancing in the light beams!” said Allan.  Each of the boys looked at the dust beams with wonder.  “They kind of look like a miniature Milky Way in another galaxy far away.” said Ronald.  “You know, “said Butch, “there could be all sorts of life in every one of those light beams, but they’re too small for us to see.  I bet if you had a powerful enough microscope you could probably see all sorts of weird things very similar to our solar system circling each other.”  The boy slid down the emergency rope ladder and headed for the Meadows.  “Now that it’s daylight, maybe we can find a trace of where that strange object landed,” said Robert.  On the way through the Meadows, the boys looked around for some wild raspberries to eat for breakfast.  When they had their fill of the ripe raspberries, they stumbled upon a patch of huckleberry bushes.  “Wow, look at this!” exclaimed Allan.  “I haven’t seen this many huckleberries in bloom in a long time.”  “We need to come back and pick a couple quarts of these and let Mrs. Strawn make us a huckleberry pie,” said Ronald while licking his lips with his tongue.
When the boys had their fill of wild berries, they began to look around the Meadows to find the spot where the strange object had landed.  Suddenly they came to a dark spot in the Meadows where the grass had been pressed down in the shape of a circle.  Butch got down on his hands and knees and looked at the grass very closely.  “Look at this,” he said to the rest of the group as he pointed to the matted grass.  On closer observation, the boys could see that the grass was mashed down, and all the tips of the grass were pointed in the same direction as though they were magnetized.  “That’s really weird,” said Lester. “I wonder if there are any other signs around,” suggested Ronald.  The boys continued their search outside the circle, when suddenly Robert yelled out, “Look at this!”  He pointed to the stool of a large animal.  “What in the world is that?” asked Allan.  “It must be a bear,” replied Ronald.  “That’s no bear,” said Robert.  “Whatever it is, it came from a mighty big animal, is all I got to say,” said Butch.
When the boys got back to the tree Fort, they decided that they would do another observation on the sky that night.  They set up all their equipment after moving the telescope into a different location.  They wanted to be able to look in the direction from where the strange object approached for landing.  While they were sitting around discussing their next plan, Butch had an idea.  “Let’s see if we can pick up any news or conversation on the shortwave radio.” said Butch.  “Good thinking.” said Lester. So the shortwave radio was calibrated until a faint sound began to be heard.  “This is Elvus; come in, please.”  “We want you to … try and … find the … of those … little varmints that … us so much … Do you read me?” a commanding voice responded.  “You’re breaking up, Sir!”  Then the shortwave radio became silent.  “We’re either low on battery power or their signal is breaking up.” said Butch.  “Why don’t we go to Mr. Zay’s hardware store and buy a new dry cell battery?” asked Robert. “We had better get going so we can make it back here before dark.”   “If that’s what you want to do,” agreed Lester.
Inside the hardware store, the boys overheard some of the customers talking about a mysterious monster that was seen all over town.  “Oh, my!” said Mrs. Neuner.  “The children are afraid to walk to school for fear of the boogie man.”  “I know,” said Mrs. Lewis.  “My Johnny is afraid to sleep in his bed at night for fear that the monster is going to get him!”  “Did you hear about the little girl Karen, and what the monster did to her?”  “No, pray tell, what happened to her?” asked Mrs. Souder.  “Well, it seems like little Karen was playing at the lake with her older brother Johnny, when out of nowhere this hairy monster came out of the woods, grabbed Karen, and ran off with her!” “What happened to Johnny?” asked Mr. Zay.  “He jumped into the lake to get away from the monster.  “What about little Karen?” asked Mrs. Souder. “Later that evening, the police found her walking around the lake.”  “Was she hurt?” asked Mrs. Neuner.  “I heard her clothes were all torn and dirty, but she was too scared to tell what had happened to her”  “We’ve got to do something about this!” said Mr. Zay.  “I’m going to donate some steel traps that are big enough to catch a bear,” he said.  “I’m going to form a vigilante committee,” said Mr. Hupp.  “I’ll tell everyone to bring their weapons and anything else they may need to go on the hunt. My orders are going to be to shoot to stop that monster in its tracks!”  After the boys left the hardware store, they walked over to Ward’s store.  They stopped long enough to read the headline in the newspaper that was still in the paper rack.  The headline was in big, bold print: “Swamp ape-like creature spotted all over town.  Local residents claim to have seen the monster near the Cypress Swamp. Some people claim that …”
It was obvious that the whole town was in a state of panic!”  The local police declared a curfew that no one under 18 was allowed on the streets after dark.  Mr. Lewis, the chairman of the vigilante community, called a meeting for all the hunters in the town.  “We want to build all kinds of traps around the swamp. We want pit traps, dead falls, steel traps, and any other trap that will hold something bigger than a man!” he exclaimed.  “Whatever this thing is, we have got to get to the bottom of this problem soon. If the monster remains alive after it’s trapped, we remove it to another location far away from town.” Almost the whole committee was in agreement with the plan.  The next day, people from all over town were busy making and setting traps all around the outside perimeter of the Cypress Swamp.  The people setting the traps could not believe the size of the giant footprints in the mud around the swamp. Some of the footprints measured more than 14 inches long and almost 6 inches wide.  “My God!” said Mr. Townsend.  “By the size of that track and the depth of the imprint left in the mud, that creature must be over 10 feet tall and weigh more than 1,000 pounds!”
All of the traps were prepared and set overnight.  When the vigilante committee checked the traps in the morning, they couldn’t believe their eyes! Huge trees were snapped in a large circle as if they were matchsticks to the swamp monster.  Some of the trees were driven into the ground upside down in smaller circles!  Almost every trap was broken or thrown into the swamp. Large limbs of trees were left hanging as if to show a warning sign not to enter the swamp!  A strong odor of rotten eggs filled the air throughout the area. “Holy … will you take a look at this!” exclaimed Mr. Webster as he came upon the scene with a small group of men.  The men all had their rifles in the ready position, chambered and ready to fire at a moment’s notice. Everybody’s nerves were on edge, when suddenly a loud whistle-like cry could be heard echoing through the swamp.  
The next morning, the Times newspaper front page read, “Large Skunk Ape believed to be living in the great Cypress Swamp. Residents are asked to stay away from the area until further notice. Large footprints are found in the area, and it is believed that …”  The boys from the tree Fort club couldn’t believe what they were reading.  Lester said, “We’ve got to be real careful when we go to the tree Fort. I suggest we arm ourselves.”  “With what weapons?” asked Butch.  “What I propose,” said Lester, “is that everyone bring a slingshot and have it with you at all times!”  “What will we use for ammunition?” asked Robert.  “Whatever you feel confident will hit the target,” said Lester.  “You can use marbles, steel ball bearings, small lead sinkers, pebbles, dried seedpods, or anything that works with your slingshot, depending on how bad you want to hurt the enemy.”  “I need to make one. What’s best – a Y slingshot or a clothespin slingshot?” asked Alan.  “No matter, as long as it shoots straight.” answered Lester.  So the boys headed out to find the necessary equipment to make a slingshot.
Robert, Allan, and Ronald all went to the Shell Oil filling station on the corner of 16th St. and 30th Ave. to see if Mr. Kelly had any old car inner tubes that he didn’t want.  On the way, Robert said, “I hope we can find an old, red inner tube.”  “Why is that?” asked Ronald.  “Because red inner tubes make the best slingshot; they’re stronger, and they stretch longer, which gives you more accuracy.” said Robert in a superior tone.  Luckily, Mr. Kelly had an old, red inner tube stashed away for any such need.  He gave it to the boys and offered them some advice.  “Before you build your slingshot, maybe you should go to the corner and have a talk with Slingshot Parker.”  “Who is that?” asked Ronald.  “If you don’t know about Slingshot Parker or have never met him, it’s high time. I highly recommend his expertise.”  “What’s so special about him?” asked Ronald again.  “Well, Slingshot Parker happens to be one of the world’s greatest slingshot marksman in the world! Other than that, he’s just a neighbor of mine that lives down the street.”  The boys could hardly believe their good fortune.  They thanked Mr. Kelly for the inner tube and made sure they had clear directions to find Slingshot Parker’s house.


(Part Two of the novella by George F. Kohn, author of Holiday Favorites series available on Amazon.com)

For the rest of the story, order your copy of The Festival of States Parade, published for Kindle e-readers and paperback.  Amazon search: Holiday Favorites by George F. Kohn.)


Friday, June 10, 2016

The Festival of States Parade, Part 1

The whole town was preparing for the big Festival of States Parade to be held downtown on Central Avenue.  When the Festival of States Parade celebration was over, there would be a community picnic and a dazzling display of fireworks to help celebrate the Fourth of July.  The Ladies Garden Club members, the AMVETS, and several different civic organizations like the Rotary, Moose, and Elks clubs would all take part in the parade and other festive activities.  The big parade was the beginning of an all-day event to celebrate Independence Day or the Fourth of July.  Many of the local residents from each town would march in the parade or ride on one of the many floats. Robert’s father, Mr. Strawn, marched every year with the Knights of Columbus or the Shriners.  Local beauty queens would be seen waving to the crowd while riding on the floats.  The local newspaper would cover the event with a special edition devoted to the parade.  Although the parade was a special event for most of the town’s people, it was the event that took place before the parade started that all the kids in the neighborhood were waiting for.  It was called the scrambles!  The scrambles consisted of people in buildings throwing loose change out into the street for the kids to scramble after. Pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters were thrown by the handful from open windows onto the streets.  Naturally, as the first coins struck the pavement, the kids scrambled into the streets to get the money.  If you were fast enough, you could get several dollars by retrieving the loose change thrown from the windows and tops of buildings.  Of course, kids would fight for the quarters, and some of the bigger kids would try to take the coins away from the smaller ones.  The crowds would cheer for each kid as the scrambles began, and help cheer on the little ones to scramble after the money.  The older kids soon learned from past experience that many of the coins thrown out the windows were heated over a stove until they became very hot!  They had learned that quarters especially would burn the fingers when picked up, which made the crowd laugh when the kids dropped the coins like a hot potato.  If you should be unlucky and pick up a hot coin, only to have someone step on your hand, it would make a blister on your skin.
Every year the boys from the tree Fort club would take part in the scrambles.  Butch, Lester, Robert, Allan, and Ronald always had a plan that they would put into action for the scrambles.  They would all team up to help each other get to the coins first.  Football tactics were used in the form of blocking, tackling, and running interference.  This was serious business for the kids and a chance to make more money than they otherwise could in a year’s time.  Of course they would split the profits equally among themselves.  The money they made would be spent on a bus ride to the movies, and on popcorn and candy.  Favorites were licorice sticks, all-day suckers, and bubblegum.
After the parade, the next big event would be the local picnic.  As usual, it would be at a local park for softball games, horseshoe events, and various other activities.  A long line of picnic tables would be set up end-to-end.  The tables would be filled to capacity with all kinds of baked goods like cookies, cakes, and pies in one section, and homegrown vegetables in another section.  The remaining space would accommodate covered, tasty dishes made by the local housewives – smoked turkey, ham, fried chicken, potato salad, tossed salads, and all kinds of casserole.  There was more food than any one person could sample.  The leftovers would be donated to the local charities and churches.  The picnic would last until dark, and then the fireworks display would begin.  The fireworks show would go on for an hour or so depending on the weather.
That year, after the preparations, parade, and picnic, the people in the town began to witness the biggest fireworks show they had ever seen!  It was during the middle of the fireworks display that the strange object was seen by some spectators.  “Look! Look! Did you see that?” yelled someone in the crowd.  People were pointing their finger at the strange looking object for other people to see.  The strange object could only be seen when the rockets from the fireworks exploded in a dazzling blaze of color.  The light from the exploding rockets was reflecting off the strange object in the sky!  The object looked round in shape.  It looked like two pie pans stuck together, with the top pan upside down.  This gave the object a thin shape in the middle as it moved in any direction.  Sometimes colorful lights blinked on and off to match the colors of the fireworks.  Time and again, the strange object disappeared and then appeared in a different location.  The boys from the tree Fort club were all grouped together watching in amazement at this spectacular object.  “Hey Lester, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” said Butch.  “Probably,” said Lester.  “It can only be connected with the little old Lady.”
The next day the boys decided to meet again at the tree Fort.  “Let’s do some observation of the stars in the Meadows,” said Lester, “where there are no street lights to hamper our view.”  “Robert, don’t you have a telescope?” asked Butch.  “I got one for Christmas last year, but I think it’s still in the box.” answered Robert.  “Let’s set it up in the Meadows where it’s real dark, and maybe we can see something in the sky.” said Butch.  The rest of you guys, bring any pair of binoculars you can find, in case we can’t get the telescope to work,” Butch said as an afterthought.  So that evening before dark, the boys were back at the tree Fort with all their equipment.  The plan was to set up the telescope in the middle of the Meadows and take turns doing observation of the moon, planets, and stars.  The rest of the guys would be lying on a blanket, scanning the stars with their binoculars to help out with the observation by covering a wider view.  If anyone spotted anything, the telescope would be pointed in the direction of the sighting.  When everything was in place the boys were delighted to observe a meteor shower.  Lester was thumbing through his astronomy book, looking at all the different constellations.  “Did you guys know that the Milky Way got its name because it looks like a bunch of spilt milk in the sky?” remarked Lester.  Ronald thought to himself, “Professor Lester sure is smart. He knows a little bit about everything!”  All the boys focused their binoculars at the Milky Way.  “Wow!” said Allan.  “There must be millions upon millions of stars up there.”  “The Milky Way is the galaxy that we live in,” added Lester.  “It’s just one galaxy among millions of other galaxies throughout the universe,” Lester continued. “Do you think there are other people living up there?” asked Ronald.  Professor Lester continued with his lecture, “Based on the mathematical probability of the number of stars, planets, and moons observed in the known universe, there must be millions upon millions of planets similar to Earth in our galaxy alone!”  Robert thought to himself, “I don’t believe that. I believe we’re the only people in the universe. The Bible says that man is created in the image of God, and it doesn’t say anything about other beings in the universe,” he rambled on in his thoughts.  Robert’s musing was interrupted when Butch suddenly yelled out, “I think I see something!”  It was Butch’s turn to look through the telescope, and he was focusing the instrument more on the horizon than the rest of the guys were.  Butch pointed his finger in the direction he was looking.  All of the binoculars were soon looking in the same direction.  A tiny beam of light was moving across the horizon.  “It looks like it’s coming in our direction!” said Butch with an excited voice.  Everyone continued to track the movement of the bright object.  “It does seem to be getting closer,” said Robert.  “Yeah,” agreed the rest of the group in unison.  As the strange object got larger, it appeared to be headed straight for the Meadows.  The boys’ eyes all froze simultaneously on the descending object. “It’s … it’s going to land!” said Butch in a trembling voice.  A beam of light like the beam of a flashlight was seen shining from underneath the strange object, as though it were searching for something on the ground.  The strange craft just hovered there for a moment, and then it settled without a sound less than 100 yards from where the boys were.  A series of lights began to blink on and off in soft pastel colors as they seemed to chase each other around the middle of the strange object!  Underneath the strange object, a door opened and several large creatures were released upon the ground.  The strange object then rose up into the air and disappeared into the night sky.  “They unloaded something!” said Butch.  “I could see them through the telescope!” he said over and over again. “What did they look like?” asked Lester.  “They kind of look like hairy creatures,” he replied.  The boys gathered up all their equipment and headed back towards the tree Fort.  Once they were safely inside, Robert began to wind the alarm clock that was always left running in the tree Fort.  Sometimes the boys would set the alarm if they wanted to get up early in the morning or late at night.

(Part One of the novella by George F. Kohn, author of Holiday Favorites series available on Amazon.com)
For the rest of the story, order your copy of The Festival of States Parade, published for Kindle e-readers and paperback.  Amazon search: Holiday Favorites by George F. Kohn.)