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.)

Neanderthal versus Cro-Magnon, Part 2

Once again Officer Steinbeck began to supervise his crew members.  “I want all the cameras focused on that crevice that leads to the plateau below. If I’m guessing right, they will ambush that large animal as it passes directly below them.”  The crew watched as the hunters began to assemble large boulders near the edge of the cliff.

  When the animal was directly below them, each tribe member picked up a large jagged rock and lifted it over his head.  The leader of the tribe gave the signal with whistles and loud, high-pitch sounds.  As the command was given, large heavy boulders were thrown by each member of the tribe, striking the animal with thunderous blows that echoed throughout the plateau.  The animal let out screams of pain as each rock hit with a killing force.  When the beast fell to its knees and was dying, the blood saturated the white snow.  Quickly the tribesmen ran down the pathway that led to the plateau below.  With their spears held high, they thrust them into the animal’s body to secure their prey.  When the animal lay still, a high-pitch sound was made by all the hunters as a victory signal.  The men danced around the dead animal using all kinds of body movements with their arms, legs, and heads.

As the tribe members began to skin the fallen animal, a loud whistle was heard in the distance.  The whistle was repeated by the leader of the tribe as if saying, “We’re over here!”  Before long, all of the hunters had settled around the dead beast.  Each member took turns skinning the animal or cutting large chunks of flesh that they placed in some kind of woven basket made out of sticks and vines.  Several trips had to be made by the tribe members to carry the baskets of meat back to the cave.  The animal’s hide was stripped of all meat and carried back in a bundle to the cave.  Inside the cave it was stretched tight.  Stakes were driven into the ground to hold it in place.  The head of the animal was split in two, the brain was removed, and several tribe members took turns rubbing the brain matter all over the stretched hide!  Within a few days, several other tribesmen showed up at the cave.

Officer Steinbeck told his crew members to make sure they got as many camera shots as possible of the surrounding tribe members.”  Most of them looked alike – strongly built, with the same features as the cave tribe people that they had been observing for the last week or so.  What Officer Steinbeck couldn’t understand was how the other tribe members knew about the kill.  Evidently the different tribe members shared their food after the kill of a large animal.

As the crew members gathered their gear and prepared to leave the cave, they made sure that everything was generally the way they found it when they arrived.  In a receptacle they carried their collection of small objects for later observation; in their cameras they had stored recordings for analysis.  The four men eagerly made a quick return trip to the spacecraft.

Officer Steinbeck called his men together for a short meeting.  “Men,” he began, “I want to thank you for a job well done! We have secured enough film footage to make a comparison study of the next tribe we will investigate. But before we leave, there are a few other things we must do. I want to collect DNA samples of these cave people. We will need hair samples of as many individuals as possible, including the young and old tribe members. We also need stool samples to study their diet. You will collect the same amount of blood samples from each of the tribe members. If we could find the skull of one of the dead members, we would get a good DNA sample in case all else fails. The skull will also be a great asset for the lab people to study, concerning the size of the brain and other characteristics that indicate the age. All of this can be done while the cave people are asleep. Are there any questions?”

After all of the experiments were performed, the crew members were back aboard the spacecraft.  The film and the DNA samples were turned over to the proper authorities for further analysis.  Officer Steinbeck called for a meeting in his office.  “Men, in a couple more days, we will do another exploratory observation of another tribe of creatures called Cro-Magnon. We know there are subtle differences between the two tribes. Our mission is to find out the differences … and similarities, if any … and make a comparison study to see if it is possible for the two tribes to intermingle and produce mixed offspring. If by chance some sibling offspring can be found, that would be a whole new study in itself. It would demonstrate a whole new hybrid or possibly a new genetic strain of evolutionary advancement. I want all of you to have a furlough that will be duty-free. You may rest at the R&R (rest and relaxation) station, for seven days and seven nights. Thank you for a job well done!”

At the end of the one-week furlough, the crew was well rested.  They were briefed on their next expedition that would last about two weeks as previous.  The equipment was checked, tested, and adjusted to accommodate more activity outside of the caves.  “Officer Steinbeck began to explain the mission.  “The next tribe members we will observe are called the Cro-Magnon. Prior research has shown that these creatures may be a little more advanced in the evolutionary scale than the Neanderthal tribes were at the same time of our observation. There are several factors I want you to capture on your observation cameras. We will observe their social customs, hunting tactics, and skills at making objects like clothing, jewelry, weapons, or anything different than the Neanderthal skills. I would also like to observe any interaction that may take place between the two tribes. Pay special attention to how the males and females from different tribes react to each other. Once again, I want to thank you for all that you have done and are about to do in the name of research.”

The Cro-Magnon tribes were located a little south of the Neanderthal caves.  The village was more on the planes and in the valleys of the mountains.  The Cro-Magnon tribes made their dwellings out of large mammal tusk, bones, and other remains.  The villages consisted of several huts grouped together.  Even though they were permanent structures, they could be moved if necessary.  Each hut’s frame was covered with animal hides and furs that were all stitched together over the structure.  A long root-like fiber was interwoven around the frame to hold the coverings and structure together.  Inside the hut were many objects made by the Cro-Magnon females and the males.  The females were making jewelry out of shells and bones.  On large teeth and pieces of ivory, the males were carving intricate details about their hunting skills and other skills that they were proud of.  Each carving depicted a story or history about the tribe members.  There were several musical instruments like flutes made of bone and wood; there were also primitive drums and several objects that could be rattled when shaken with the hands.  There were several atlatl spear throwers near a group of bows and arrows, along with two long spears, perhaps 10 feet long.  When we observed a tribe of Cro-Magnon members attacking a large hairy animal with large tusks, many of the tribe members were using the atlatl. It was a modified device used to throw spears with a greater velocity and longer distance.  It was thrown from a notch in a spear which gave it more leverage and a much greater killing distance.  The long spear was also used, but the hunter had to get much closer to the wild beast to kill it.  On closer observation, the Cro-Magnon tribe seemed to be a little more advanced in some ways than the Neanderthal tribe.  The women were doing their stitching with some kind of bone needle that seemed to make the work go quicker, and it looked a lot easier to work with.  Outside of the hut near a little stream was a log that was somewhat hollowed out.  It was either pushed or paddled by a long pole.  Inside the burned-out part of the log was a seat used by a tribe member for riding the makeshift canoe.  A series of different size bone fishhooks were visible on the side of the log.  The Cro-Magnon tribe seemed to be able to communicate by voice.  Whenever the elder spoke, the other tribe members seemed to know or understand what he wanted them to do.  When an elder spoke a large, peculiar horn was brought to him.  The horn had a hole carved out at the tip end of the hollow instrument.  When the elder held the horn up to his lips, he blew several times through the horn.  The sound of the horn was similar to what they heard from large beasts being killed.  The sounds were made at different intervals so they could be heard one by one.  Each sound reverberated in the mountains from one mountain to the other until one sound could be heard three or four times as the echoes bounced off the walls of the canyon.  When the old tribesman was satisfied with the sounds he had produced, he gave the horn back to one of the younger tribesmen.  Before he could put the horn away, a sound of another horn was answering back!  Within a short period of time, other tribesmen began to climb down from the mountains and enter the village of the Cro-Magnon tribe.  “Get ready,” ordered Officer Steinbeck to his camera men.  “We are about to see how the different tribes communicate and interact between each other. Make sure you get some sound and pictures of as many tribesmen as possible. I want close-up shots of expressions, like laughter, surprise, and anything else you find interesting.”  As the tribe members assembled around the village elders, there were large chunks of meat slowly being turned on several fires throughout the village.  A few gifts were exchanged in the forms of necklaces, tools, and musical instruments.  It soon became obvious that a joint feast was about to take place among the neighboring tribes.  Officer Steinbeck noticed several obvious differences between the tribes.  He directed his camera crew to get close-up shots of some of the tribes he called hybrids.  The hybrids were part of the Neanderthal tribes that lived high in the mountains.

(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 Neanderthal versus Cro-Magnon, published for Kindle e-readers and paperback.  Amazon search: Holiday Favorites by George F. Kohn.)

Neanderthal versus Cro-Magnon, Part 1

Lester always excelled in public school education, from elementary school through college.  So it was only natural that he would be considered for one of the Sky People’s exploratory projects.  He was selected at an early age to be transported in time to become part of a futuristic trip to travel back into time. Captain Benedict Arnold was briefed on this Overseer’s project by the committee on the Stargazer Fleet.  “Lester is a good candidate for this mission due to his higher cognitive skills he possesses on Earth,” said a secret committee member.  “We will program him in the dream state, and when he wakes up he will remember nothing but the dream. He will witness all of the same events that all the crew members will witness, and when he becomes an adult, he will write about his experience as though he were doing a research paper.”

This paper was written by Dr. Lester D., who has a Ph.D. degree in languages.  Dr. D. is fluent in French, German, Russian, and English.  His minor was in Mathematics where he excelled in all the forms of higher mathematics involving quantum physics.  This paper was a combination of actual events and perhaps some research skills done by Dr. D. on the theory of Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon species to help advance the earthlings’ skills on the Evolutionary Theories of Mankind!

“Warp speed through nebulous galaxy number four,” was the command given by Stargazer Fleet explorer Capt. Benedict Arnold.  “We will commence deceleration into Mach 7 speed and come into lunar orbit of the Earth’s gravitational pull at approximately 3-G’s. Cut all power and re-enter into the stealth glide mode. We will glide into Earth’s gravitational pull on the third rotation. We will land in a place called Europe in the year 150,000 BC, during a glacial period of Earth time.”  “I’ve been waiting all my life for this moment,” said Officer Steinbeck, “at least since I graduated from Galaxy Andromeda College.”  “What was the year of your stellar class graduation?”  “We were future Galaxy Cadets from the Academy class of light-year three!” he exclaimed.  “When we land, I want you to gather a crew of four members including yourself, to do an exploratory evaluation of the terrain and the conditions in which a species of earthlings called Neanderthals live. We will observe their habits, customs and mating rituals to see if they cohabitate with another species of earthlings called Cro-Magnon.”  “Yes Sir, replied Emerald Grade Kent. What would be the duration of our exploratory mission, so I can order the necessary supplies?”  “We will observe from the invisibility mode and make camp nearby or maybe even inside one of their caves. Take whatever supplies you deem necessary for at least two weeks of observation.

When the spacecraft landed on Earth, it was within visual distance of a small tribe of Neanderthals living in a nearby cave.  With the stealth-mode capabilities, the spacecraft was invisible, and there was no sound to disturb the atmosphere.  In reality the spacecraft and its inhabitants were in another dimension of time.  Officer Steinbeck and his crew were ready to exit the craft and begin to observe the Neanderthal tribe.  Each member of the crew was equipped with a form of video helmet that was capable of 360° of panoramic view.  The cameras were on automatic focus for both telescopic and macro adjustments.  A sound system recorded conversations of the space crew and any environmental sounds nearby.  A receptacle was carried to store small objects for later observation on the ships observatory lab.  When the crew had set up inside the cave, each man was assigned a certain location to photograph and record any action or sound possible.  Officer Steinbeck stood at the opening of the cave, giving signals to each crew member like a director in an old Hollywood movie set.  There were twelve creatures inhabiting the cave at this particular time.  Also observed were what appeared to be eight young couples of men and women. There were also three smaller individuals and one older being.

Officer Steinbeck began to dictate to the crew while observing how the crew members focused on subjects they were talking about.  “I want you to scan the cave and focus on the object that I am talking about at the time,” said Officer Steinbeck.  “From my observation point with our laser measuring device, the Neanderthal creatures appear to be less than 6 feet tall. They all seem to have a muscular, stocky build, with a large rib cage. There seems to be hair covering most of their body, including their face. They all have somewhat of a Mongolian look with forward-protruding bone above their eyebrows. They have a well-developed jaw and large, powerful hands. Each hand has a prehensile thumb that is used for holding and grabbing things. Most of the inhabitants are covered with some kind of goat skin or some other kind of animal skin. There is a fire burning in the cave, so they probably have the ability to make fire. One of the younger men of the tribe is field-dressing some kind of animal, possibly a deer. Another member is in the process of making spear points or some other kind of weapon. One of the female species is nursing a baby wrapped in an animal skin. They seem to be able to communicate with each other using some kind of high-pitch sounds made from the throat. There possibly may be some other forms of communication using hand signals.”  As a camera in the cave panned in another direction, it stopped on a pile of rocks.  Officer Steinbeck observed, “This may be a primitive burial site of one or more of their dead. Some of the women are preparing a meal while other women look like they are stitching some kind of animal fur together to make a large blanket or something. There are many strange sounds coming from the outside of the cave. There are many predators that are large enough and capable enough to attack the beings in the cave if they’re hungry enough or if the entrance is left unguarded. There are many pole spears near the entrance of the cave or within easy reach of most of the inhabitants. Some of their weapons consist of a crude form of stone hatchets. Large spear points are secured by sinew wrapped around long poles. These spears seemed to be held in readiness for attacking animals that may enter the cave or for some future hunting of large animals. Skinning knives, battering clubs, and large jagged rocks are piled in the center of the cave. These objects could be used for throwing from high above the entrance to stop the attacking animals. The weapons may be taken on hunting trips.”  Officer Steinbeck instructed, “Tomorrow when it gets light, we will follow the tribe members as they gather food and necessary equipment to survive in the cave.”

It was a bitter cold morning as the four adult tribesmen stepped out of the cave.  Each man was equipped with several animal hides that covered most of his body including his head.  Their feet and legs were wrapped in some kind of boot-like footwear that seemed to be suitable for walking in the snow.  Each tribesman was equipped with a spear pole that was a foot taller than the hunter who carried it.  The spear point was made from an obsidian substance that had a razor-sharp edge chipped into shape by someone with many years of experience.  The 8-inch blade was wedged into a split pole and wound with some form of sinew until it was held tightly in place.  A large battering club was carried by some hunters.  The club appeared to be a bone of some huge animal’s skeleton.  A fresh coat of snow had fallen during the night.  There was a multitude of animal tracks clearly visible in the fresh snow.  Because the cave was located on the edge of a small cliff, it was easy to track the animal footprints that led down the side of the mountain into a small plateau below. The tribe members crawled to the edge of the cliff and looked down at the animals that were foraging for food below.  A series of whistles and high-pitch sounds were directed into some form of plan.  The hunters spread out and seemed to focus their attention on one large, hairy animal which had a pair of long, curved tusks.  

Once again Officer Steinbeck began to supervise his crew members.  “I want all the cameras focused on that crevice that leads to the plateau below. If I’m guessing right, they will ambush that large animal as it passes directly below them.”  The crew watched as the hunters began to assemble large boulders near the edge of the cliff.

(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 Neanderthal versus Cro-Magnon, published for Kindle e-readers and paperback.  Amazon search: Holiday Favorites by George F. Kohn.)

The Experiment, Part 2

The saucer was from a larger mother ship from outside of our galaxy. This particular saucer was on a reconnaissance mission to harvest the genetic implants that were colonized on earth many centuries ago. Their discovery mission was to collect as many genetic alterations as could be found.  To simplify this mission, a genetic clone was inserted into every species capable of showing genetic alterations.  This included both plant and animal cells along with some inorganic materials.  In most cases it was the genetic marker that pointed to the direction where these particular objects could be found. Every plant and animal, rock and other form of inorganic matter gave off some kind of beacon that was easily detected by the saucer’s internal searching devices.  The first kind of beacon consisted of several different methods of detection for plants, animals, and minerals that glowed in the dark.  This method could be turned on at will by the system in the saucer.  The second kind of beacon was a silent vibration that sent invisible signals like the effect of a pebble thrown into water.  The third type of beacon was ultrasound.  This was simply a sound that could not be detected by humans or most animals on Earth.  The fourth kind of tracking device was more complicated.  It involved decoding various wavelengths of light through a prism.  The wavelengths of each color light were measured in nanometers.  The nan’s were arranged in order of size and duration.  By arranging them into a magnetic field, they would line up like a magnetic force.  Once this force was suspended in mercury, it was spun by a gyroscope at a very high speed.  The speed variations were then decoded into plus and minus by a binary decoding system, or arranged in a number system that eventually formed a pattern.  A pattern of string variables would vibrate to align protons and neutrons into many different states inside each other.  One state would be color, another state would be sound, and another state would be light.  Each state required a different process of decoding.  Special clearance to decipher this information was required of each person who had a need to know.  The information had to be put through an analogical process of deductive logic, where words were formed. These words were then put into sentences until they became a paragraph, and so on.

Before long, the saucer monitors began to pick up signals from the hallucinogenic glowing mushrooms in Mr. Jones’ cow pasture.  A drone rover was then deployed to recover as many of the glowing mushrooms as possible. The drone was remote-controlled by Captain Marvel.  All he had to do was guide the drone through the use of a monitoring device screen on the saucer. The drone had the capability to hover like a dragonfly.  His forward observer was dressed in a green jumpsuit and was nicknamed “the green hornet” by the crew.  As Capt. Marvel spoke to the green hornet, he made it absolutely clear that the drone would operate in a stealth mode to complete the mission.  

Lieutenant Robin reported, “We have transported the whole pasture of psychedelic mushrooms that glow in the dark. We are now looking for some special cactus plants that have characteristics similar to the mushrooms.” “Very good, Lieutenant. How much longer will the drone have to remain on Earth’s surface?”  Robin answered immediately, “Sir, we estimate the drone to complete its mission photographing the targeted area and docking back with the saucer on the next orbiting rotation. Once all of the photographs are in place, we will use the teleportation light to beam them up to the ship.”  “Very good,” said Capt. Marvel.  “I understand these hallucinogenic mushrooms can be used for biodiversity food for the experimental testing of microorganisms between the stages of plants and animals.”  “I don’t have a need to know that information, Sir,” replied Lieutenant Robin.  When all of the plants had been teleported up to the saucer, and the drone was secured, the plants and other materials were transferred to the resource laboratory.  A lab technician began to extract the dominant gene that caused the plants to glow in the dark.  Jackie Glycerin, the chief technician for the lab, gave instruction to a lab specialist. “Ralph, put these plants in the extraction accelerator for about three revolutions.”  “What are we going to do with these extractions?” asked Specialist Ralph.  One of the lab technicians, Senior Castello, thought he would have a little fun with Ralph.  “Well, Ralph, I heard through the telecommunication system that once these molecules have been synchronized out of the mushrooms, they will be placed in Earth animals like rabbits, chickens, rats, and just about any other animal that they want to glow in the dark.”  “Why would they do that?” asked Ralph with a blank expression on his face.  “Earth people are funny creatures,” said Costello.  “What do you mean by that?” asked Ralph.  “Earthlings have strange rituals for different times of the year.  On one day of rituals they celebrate something called the Easter Bunny.  On this particular day, people dye certain animals like baby chickens, rabbits and other animals all different colors and sell them to the public for their children to celebrate this particular day.  Another thing that these earthlings do, which I found quite peculiar, was painting maps on top of baby turtles. This is some type of commercial venture to help sell baby turtles. Of course it killed the turtles after a while because their shell couldn’t grow. What I would like to do as a prank,” said Castillo, “is mix this ingredient of molecules with their wheat seeds.”  “What for?” asked Ralph.  “Just to freak people out like they did to all the animals under their control,” he said.  “Can you just imagine what these earthlings would think the next time we made designs in their crop circles, and every crop circle glowed in the dark at night with a mixture of different colors?” he asked.  Ralph thought for a moment. “If we ever did something like that, we would all be brought up on charges of manipulating the environment by causing hysteria to the primitive earthlings!” “I know all that!” exclaimed Castello.  “But don’t you think it would be funny to visualize the reaction and the superstition of all these primitive people trying to figure out what was going on?”  “How could we ever get away with it?” asked Ralph.  “Oh, it’s not that complicated,” said Castello with a big smile on his face.  “What if we sprayed the circle-crop makers with a mixture of seeds that make them glow in the dark?”  “It would be something like the earthling children do when they put different colors of glitter on glue or some other sticky substance on an object. When the glue dried, the glitter would stick to the object and form the image of words or pictures inside the crop circle. Can you just imagine the excitement that it would cause among earthlings all over the world?” he laughed.  Ralph thought to himself, “That would be exciting, and I’m sure it would leave an impression … like the designs we painted in the caves of Neanderthal man, or the other pictographs we projected on the mountain tops, then blamed primitive man. I could be famous! If I could pull this off, I would go down in history for the future people in our colony to read about! My art sculpture would be recognized by both the earthlings and the scientists aboard our mother ship as one of the boldest attempts to communicate with other species without leaving any clues of other forms of life living anywhere in the universe. I could become famous overnight! Now, all I have to do is come up with a plan.”  

That night as Specialist Ralph slept in his antigravity suit, he decided to put his plan into action during the next revolution on his shift.

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

To read the rest of the story, order your copy of The Experiment, published for Kindle e-readers and paperback.  Amazon search: Holiday Favorites by George F. Kohn.

The Experiment, Part 1

One day after school, the five boys in the tree Fort club decided to walk over to Mr. Jones’ cow pasture and look for some arrowheads for their collection.  There was a dry creek bed that ran from the Cypress Swamp into the pasture and finally disappeared into a small lake.  It was known to the old settlers as a sacred place where the early Indians had lived for years.  There was an abundance of broken artifacts like pottery, pipes, and flint chips next to several large flint boulders exposed above ground in various locations.  This was always a sure sign that arrowheads would be made from these large structures.  The first clue was fine flakes of flint that had been chipped away from the flint boulders.  Because of their large size, the early Indians used these flint boulders to chip their arrowheads, spear points, tomahawks, and skinning knives.  Once a suitable piece was chipped from the large rock, the napping process began.  This was usually done by chipping the edges of the flint with a small tool to give the weapon the desired shape and size.  The boys spread out, covering the dry creek bed in search of some kind of visible signs.  Ronald had walked just a short distance from the rock piles when he discovered a sleeping cow lying on its side in some bushes.  The closer Ronald walked to the cow, the more he realized something was wrong with the animal.  He noticed it was not breathing, her four legs were stretched out straight and stiff, and both eyes looked to be glazed over.  With closer examination, Ronald noticed the skin around the Cow’s teeth had been removed, along with the cow’s udder (milk sack.)  When Ronald finally realized what he was looking at, he yelled to the other boys, “Hey you guys, come over here! I think I’ve found something important!”  The boys all came running to see what Ronald was yelling about.  They all gathered around the dead cow.  There was no smell, no fluids oozing out of the cow, and no green flies around her.  “That’s strange,” said Lester.  “I don’t think this cow has been dead very long.” “Why do you say that?” asked Butch.  “Well, the body is still soft. There are no ants or flies around the body. The buzzards and other wild animals haven’t tried to feed on the carcass.”  “You’re probably right,” said Allan, “but did you notice the ground around the cow?”  “What about it?” asked Lester.  “Well, to me,” said Allan, “it looks like the cow has sunk into the ground like it’s been dropped from the sky! See how the sand has formed an outline around the cow?” said Allan.  “I see what you mean,” said Ronald as he poked it with a stick to pull back some of the sand away from the body.” After analyzing the situation, the boys came up with a plan.  Butch suggested, “Why don’t we go to my dad’s store and use the pay phone to call Mr. Jones?” “I don’t know about that,” said Ronald with a little concern in his voice. “What’s the problem?” asked Butch.  “Old man Jones is a little cranky when it comes to people snooping around in his cow pasture!” said Ronald.   “Yeah,” said Allan, “he even put up an electric fence on the north side of the pasture not too long ago to keep people from taking a shortcut through his property.” “How about if we just make an anonymous call and tell him about the dead cow over the phone?” asked Ronald.  “He wouldn’t know, who was making the call," replied Butch.  The boys agreed with the plan.  Lester was nominated to make the call.

A few days later, there were all kinds of people in and out of the pasture. The word was out that something strange had taken place in Mr. Jones’ pasture.  The dead cow wasn’t the only major topic in the conversation around town – there were other dead animals found.  Some dead animals were found in Best’s pasture, Dyke’s pasture and many other farms throughout the community.  The local newspaper reported that the University of Florida was doing a research project trying to uncover the cause of so many dead animals found throughout the county.  Just about the time this news was dying down, a strange round circle was found on Mr. Hobbs’ wheat farm!  The circle was gigantic in size, and it was made right in the middle of the farm!  From the air, one of the pilots who did sky writing for Pepsi-Cola Company, transmitted that inside the circle were intricate designs similar to many of the Egyptian pictures found inside the walls of the pyramids!  There was no doubt that something very strange was going on.

The boys decided to meet at the tree Fort and maybe do a little exploring on their own.  “The best time to explore Mr. Jones’ cow pasture is at night,” said Butch.  “Why at night?” asked Robert.  Butch began to explain his reasoning and his plan to the rest of the group.  “Nighttime will give us good cover from all those curious tourists in town that are trampling the pastures,” Butch said.  “At night we can explore the whole area and look for signs that may be overlooked in the daytime.”  “What kind of signs are we looking for?” asked Ronald.  Butch thought for a moment.  “I think we should look for lights in the sky or anything that glows in the dark. Or maybe even unusual sounds – you know, anything out of the ordinary,” said Butch.  

The boys were well prepared to search the area.  They had their slingshots, frog lights, and binoculars.  If there was anything to be seen, they were prepared to see it.  The boys took a shortcut through Mr. Jones’ pasture that would bring them closer to the lake.  There were cow patties all around the creek bed and the edges of the lake where the cows had come for water.  Cow patties are what the local country boys call the stool of a cow when it is dropped on the ground.  The cow patties were in great abundance all over the pasture. Inside most cow patties there was one or more mushrooms growing.

As a large cloud floated in front of the moon, the pasture land became very dark.  When the boys’ eyes adjusted to the darkness, they could see the mushrooms in the cow patties glowing with a bluish green light.  The whole pasture was aglow with these strange lights!  At first the boys thought it was a swarm of lightning bugs feeding on the mushrooms, but on closer observation, it was apparent that the lightning bugs were flying in the air all over the pasture.  Lester bent down to have a closer look.  He picked the mushroom out of the cow patty and held it up to the sky.  “Look at this!”  The mushroom was still glowing with a faint bluish-green light.  “Wow!” exclaimed Robert. “What do you think is making these mushrooms glow in the dark?”  “It’s probably a chemical reaction inside the mushroom,” replied Lester.  “I have read about some plants that glow in the dark under certain conditions. I believe it’s something like the phosphorus that glows in salt water. Whenever something disturbs the salt water, a fluorescent blue-green light glows with a similar color of light in the water.” continued, Lester.  “That sure is neat.” said Butch.  “I wonder how long it will keep glowing?”  “We need to go to the library and look up this kind of mushroom,” said Lester.  “Let’s put the mushroom in our binoculars case and take it back to the tree Fort.” said Butch. “What are we going to do with it back there?” asked Allan.  “Well, we can draw some pictures of what it looks like, so that we can identify it from the pictures in the books in the library,” said Butch.  As the boys were looking around, a reddish-orange glow suddenly appeared in the northern sky.  The object was directly over the lake when it suddenly disappeared into the lake and vanished from sight!  The boys were all speechless.  “I don’t believe what I just saw!” exclaimed Allan.  They all got down on their knees and stared at the lake.  The water was smooth – not a ripple was showing on the lake surface.  “I don’t believe this,” said Ronald.  “There are no waves, ripples, or any disturbance on the water. I could’ve thrown a rock into the lake and make more ripples then that object made as it dove into the water.” said Robert.  The boys decided not to press their luck any further, and to head back to the tree Fort.

After a good night sleep, the boys were rested and eager to start off to the library.  “Hold on, you guys! We’ve got to draw some pictures of this mushroom before we leave the tree Fort.”  There was always a spiral notebook that was kept in the tree Fort at all times.  And beside the notebook there was a jar full of golf pencils the boys stored for such emergencies.  Lester tore out five sheets of paper from the notebook that left little holes on the edges of the paper.  The mushroom was placed on the windowsill to give all the boys a good look to draw from.  By now the mushroom was beginning to lose its shape.  It had shriveled up and was very wrinkled.  It had lost its original color and shape, and of course it did not glow.  When the boys were finished drawing, Lester collected the papers and said, ”Make sure your name is on the paper you drew the mushroom on.”  When everybody was ready, they used the emergency rope to slide from the clubhouse to the ground.

Inside the library, the boys all sat at the same table.  Lester went to the card catalog and found the information to look up wild mushrooms.  All the boys went to the section on mushrooms and found a book of their choice.  Lester handed out the papers with each of their names clearly visible in the right-hand top corner of the page.  Although the papers had a red margin line and blue lines across the page, the boys were able to draw a fairly good representation of the shriveled mushroom.  The lines on the paper helped guide their pencil from line to line.  Robert didn’t like the perforated edge of the paper, so he borrowed some scissors and cut away the jagged edge.  Lester read from his book in a soft voice to not disturb other people in the library.  All the boys knew that Mrs. Smith was a stickler for not having any unnecessary noise in her library.  She was exceptionally clear that she would not tolerate people talking and disturbing other people while they were reading – especially young students.  Anyone who broke the rules was asked to leave the library; if during school time, the offender was sent to the principal’s office for detention.

Lester began reading, “This is the sacred mushroom of the pre-Columbian Indians native to this part of the country. This mushroom was used for religious rituals to enter into the spirit world of their ancestors. The mushroom if eaten may cause hallucinogenic visions, sickness of stomach, and vomiting.”  “What does hallucinogenic mean?” inquired Ronald.  “From what I can gather,” replied Lester, “it’s kind of like a scary dream or a bad nightmare. The Indians used their shaman or witch doctor to guide them through their ordeal. There is a footnote that says, “This could be a very dangerous mushroom and could cause psychiatric repercussions to the person eating the mushroom.”  “What does it say about the mushroom glowing at night?” asked Butch.  “Nothing,” said Lester.  “But I believe it has something to do with all those strange sightings, dead animals, and crop circles found in Mr. Jones’ pasture!” he said.

The boys left the library and went home for supper.  The dinner conversations were all about the dead animals, the tourists, and of course the circle in Mr. Jones’ wheat farm.  Lester asked his mom if she knew anything about wild mushrooms.  “I know they are very dangerous, and that you can die from them if you eat the wrong ones,” she said.  “When I was a little girl, my friend and playmate Suzy Snow ate a wild mushroom from the pasture, and she died a horrible death.”  “What do you mean asked Lester?”  “Well, the house doctor couldn’t stop her from vomiting; she had diarrhea really bad and finally bled to death. Her mother said Suzy suffered terribly. My advice to you boys is, do not eat anything out of the woods that can make you sick. That includes mushrooms, wild berries, and anything else that has a milky sap to it.”

That night while Lester was in bed, he thought about the wild mushrooms and what he had read about them in the library.  “If a wild mushroom can do all that, no telling what a mushroom that glows in the dark can do to a person,” he thought to himself.  As Lester began to drift off into the dream world of sleep, he couldn’t know that there was a saucer-shape disk circling above the Earth.

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

To read the rest of the story, order your copy of The Experiment, published for Kindle e-readers and paperback.  Amazon search: Holiday Favorites by George F. Kohn.

A Big Surprise for Easter, Part 3

The next day, the boys all got together at the tree Fort.  Robert had the name and the phone number of the person who rented the warehouse from his father. Butch said, “Let’s give them a prank phone call and see what they say.” Ronald was elected because he was the youngest in the group, and whoever answered the phone would think it was the wrong number dialed by a youngster.  Robert’s house was one of the few phones in the neighborhood, and it was an old candlestick phone that didn’t have a party line attached to it. So in the office of Mrs. Strawn, the boys made their call. Ronald put the receiving peace to his left ear and was ready to speak into the mouthpiece in front of him, when someone answered the phone.  A cranky voice came on the phone and said. “Yeah, what do ya want?”  Ronald froze for a minute, then came up with an idea.  “Is Leo there?”  The cranky voice came back again, “There ain’t no Leo here,” and hung up.  The boys waited for about 15 minutes to pass.  Then each of the boys took turns calling the same number and asking if Leo was there.  Finally, after waiting another half hour, Ronald called the same number again.  This time the grouchy man just said “yeah” when he answered.  “Hello, this is Leo – any calls for me?” Ronald said as he hung up the phone almost immediately.  But the grouchy man was still able to hear the boys begin to roar in the background, laughing hysterically!  After the joke had run its course, the boys decided they needed to work out a plan.  “Robert, do you think we could get a key to the warehouse building?” asked Lester.  “Why do you ask?” asked Robert.  “Well,” said Lester, “if we could get a key and hide inside the building, after it gets dark we would look around and maybe find something of interest.”  “I’m sure my father has a spare warehouse key hanging on his key rack, but I’m not sure there’s a good room inside the building for all of us to hide in.” said Robert.  “How about if we all hide in the attic?” asked Butch.  Lester thought for a moment and concluded, “We would need a stepladder, a rope, and some flashlights.”  “Why do we need all that?” asked Ronald.  “The stepladder would get us to the attic opening somewhere in the ceiling. We would use the rope to pull the last person once they put the ladder back in place. Of course, the flashlights would help us through the dark attic and around the inside of the building,” Lester explained.  “My dad always keeps a ladder in the storage room to change light bulbs in the ceiling,” Robert offered.  “Okay, let’s go home and see if we can get a couple of flashlights apiece and maybe a few snacks to munch on while we’re waiting. Robert, if you can’t find the key to the warehouse, let me know as soon as you can.” said Lester.

So off the boys went, back to their houses to pick up their supplies.  They had all agreed to meet back at Norwood Elementary School before dark. Everything had gone as planned, when Ronald was the last to show up at the school.  Robert had the key; all the boys checked their flashlights to make sure the batteries were still good.  Robert brought his frog headlight that he wore around his head like a baseball hat.  He explained to the group his frog headlight would allow his hands to be free, and the beam of the light is more direct, shining a lot farther than most flashlights.  They all agreed it was a good idea.  When all the cars had left the parking area, the boys decided it was time to enter the building.  It was still light enough for the boys to find their way around inside the building without using any flashlights.  Robert knew his way inside the building and found the stepladder without any trouble.  He then showed the boys where to place the ladder directly underneath the attic opening.  Robert climbed up the ladder, pushed up the attic panel, and placed it to one side in the attic.  He turned on his frog light and looked around in the attic.  There were electric wires running through the floor of the rafters, but there were a couple big sheets of plywood for storage in the attic.  He climbed down the ladder and warned the guys to avoid the electric wires and not step between the rafters, or they might fall through the ceiling or just punch a hole in it.  When each of the boys said they understood what Robert was telling them, one-by-one they went up the ladder and waited on the plywood platform.  Robert was the last to come up after putting the ladder back in place.  Butch had tied the rope over a cross tie in the attic and it was long enough to reach the floor.  Robert then tied a big knot in the rope so he could sit on it while the other boys pulled him up into the attic.  Robert replaced the attic door and the boys sat in the dark, waiting for their eyes to adjust.  After about a half-hour wait, the boys could hear people talking inside the building. When they moved the attic door just a little to hear better, they could see a dim green light on the far wall of the building.  An image appeared on the wall like a huge drive-in movie screen.  A woman was shown on the screen, giving details like a weather station, showing a large detailed map of Florida.  Using a pointer stick, she pointed to the map of Florida and a detail location was shown almost life-size. “My message to my comrades is, “The dwarf drone will be arriving at your station within the next ten minutes of your Earth time. Please make the necessary preparations for the craft to arrive.”  An overhead garage door opened at the back of the building.  A beeping sound was audible on the screen showing the location of the incoming drone.  When the beeping stopped, a saucer-shape craft flew through the open door and landed on the floor in the middle of the building.  A coded message was being broadcast from the outside perimeter of the craft.  A series of colored lights blinked on and off in sync with a musical tone.  “Hand me the code interpreter,” said one of the men standing over the clone.  The code interpreter began to synchronize in sequence with the clone.  The blinking colors were converted into text that could be read on the handheld code interpreter.  The message was interpreted out loud for the rest of the workers to hear.  “We are sending you some seeds from the mother ship to distribute throughout your area.  The seeds are from a sable palm; they will later become sentinels to communicate with the mother ship via coded messages.  In the near future, your handheld code interpreter will enable two-way communication with these trees wherever they grow.  We plan to have the whole state covered with sable palms in the near future. Enclosed is a printed map of the information specialists Elvus has been looking for.  Her undercover work in the disguise as the little old Lady has been very successful.  Now all over the state, people report sightings of all kinds of unusual objects in the sky.  There are two other objects we are sending that you should be aware of.”

A small door opened in the top of the craft.  A small cage appeared, holding two small birds that were almost identical in color.  One was a male, the other a female.  They both were gray and black with a touch of white. “These birds are clones from one of our species called myna bird that can talk better than a South American parrot.  However, these birds have been genetically programmed to mimic the sounds of almost any bird that they hear.  “In the bottom of their cage, you will find a small box. Inside the box is a special wristwatch. When you place it on your wrist, it will program itself. Once it is programmed, it will decode the sounds of the bird into a language you can understand.  These birds will interpret the conversations of all the other birds that they mimic, so you will have a primitive form of satellite decoding information from all over the state. Do you copy?”  “Yes, oh Great One!” was the response.  “We will be in touch. Oh, one more thing! Please program the monitor to enlarge the Easter basket packages so we may beam them aboard at a future date. Whatever you do, do not lose the data on the monitor, or it will go into a default stage and send all the Easter baskets by way of teleportation back to their original owners!”  A small hum was heard as the drone reversed its direction, flew out the overhead door, and vanished in the night sky.

(Part Three 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 A Big Surprise for Easter, published for Kindle e-readers and paperback.  Amazon search: Holiday Favorites by George F. Kohn.

A Big Surprise for Easter, Part 2

After the boys left, Freddie began to cannibalize parts from broken radios he had in his garage.  He found a tube from one radio, a transformer from another, and a few radio dials from an old shortwave set he had made a couple years ago.  It only took him a day to complete the shortwave set.  He called Allan and told him the set was ready, and he would go with him to the tree Fort to hook it up.  When Allan had relayed the message to the other club members, they eagerly brought their money to him, and Allan paid Freddie the $15 owed to him.  The other four boys had met at the tree Fort by the time Allan and Freddie arrived.  Freddie set up the shortwave radio inside the floor of the tree fort.  Two dry-cell batteries were connected to supply the necessary power for operating the radio.  When the set was connected, it had a weak signal.  “Just as I thought,” said Freddie.  “I need to put up an antenna to boost the signal.”  A long copper wire was wrapped around an old Cyprus pole. When the pole was complete with a stand to hold it up, the antenna was secured to the top of the roof of the tree Fort.  When Freddie finally fine-tuned the shortwave set, a clear voice was heard coming from the direction of the Cypress Swamp.  The boys heard the voice of the little old Lady saying something about her capturing the Easter baskets and putting her final plan into action!  “I have the Easter baskets in the warehouse; I shrunk them down so they all fit in the building. When I get the information I’m seeking about the boys’ addresses, I’ll consider returning the Easter baskets to the neighborhood.  “Very good,” a man’s voice transmitted.  “Now contact me when you are ready.”  “Yes, Sir,” replied the little old Lady.  “Did you hear that, Freddie?” asked Butch.  “Sure, I heard it,” said Freddie, “so I guess I can go home now that the system works.”  When Freddie had left for home, Lester held one of the leaflets up towards the sun.  “What are you looking for?” asked Butch.  “I’m looking for clues in the words on this leaflet,” Lester replied.  He detected a faint watermark on the paper that could barely be seen when it was held up to the light.  “What do you see?” asked Allan.  “All of the leaflets have a watermark on them,” explained Lester, “which means the paper that was used to print these leaflets must have come from the same source … which probably means if we can find out where the little old lady gets her paper, we might find a printing press in the same building.” surmised Ronald in an excited voice.  “Then if we find the printing press, I bet you a dollar the Easter baskets are in the same building,” replied Ronald.  “Who would have access to that kind of information?” asked Ronald.  After thinking for a few minutes, Allan came up with the answer.  “I know who might be able to help us!” he said excitedly.  “Who?” Robert asked.  “Mr. Thompson – that’s who!”  “Who is Mr. Thompson?” asked Allan.  “He’s the mailman who delivers mail to everybody in town; so he would probably know who gets printing supplies,” explained Allan.  “You’re right!” said Butch.  “Where do you think we could find him now?”  “What time is it?” asked Robert.  “I don’t know,” answered Butch, “but there’s a big clock hanging on the wall over my Dad store said Butch with great enthusiasm in his voice. So off the boys went to Mr. Ward’s grocery store.” Hey Butch, “ask your dad what time the mailman delivers to him,” said Lester.  Butch disappeared for a few minutes and came back with the information.  “Dad usually gets his mail between nine and ten o’clock,” Butch reported.  The boys’ eyes all looked up at the clock at the same time. “It’s 9:30,” said Ronald.  “The mailman should be coming at any moment.” said Ronald for all to hear.

The boys drank soda pop while they waited for the mailman.  They had barely finished their drinks when the mailman came into view down the street. “Here comes Mr. Thompson!” shouted Allan.  It seemed like it took the mailman forever to get to Ward’s store.  He drove a three wheeled vehicle with blue and red stripes painted over a white background.  When he parked his vehicle in Ward’s parking lot and got out of the vehicle, the boys were surprised at how tall and thin he was.  Mr. Thompson had a stern look on his face.  His salt-and-pepper colored hair could be seen around the edges of a military hat that he wore tilted on his head.  He had on light-blue work clothes with the words” US mail” embroidered above his shirt pocket.  Carrying a mailbag over his shoulder, he walked straight into the store.  He delivered Mr. Ward’s mail and was beginning to leave when Lester approached him.”  Mr. Thompson, could we ask you a couple questions? It will only take a minute,” said Lester.  “Well, I’m running a little early today; I guess I could take a few moments. What can I do for you?”  Lester showed him one of the leaflets, and while Mr. Thompson was reading the leaflet, Lester signaled the other guys to come join him.  “What do you want to know about these leaflets?” Mr. Thompson asked.  “We were wondering if you could tell us where these leaflets were printed.” explained Lester.  “Right offhand, I would have to guess the answer to that question,” replied Mr. Thompson.  “But if I had to make a guess, it would probably be in one of those small warehouses across the street from Norwood Elementary School. That area was just rezoned for small business.”  The boys thanked Mr. Thompson for his time and the information.  “Let’s go home, get our bicycles, and meet in front of the school,” said Butch.  So off the boys went to get their bicycles.

In fifteen minutes time, all the boys were assembled in front of Norwood Elementary School, standing next to their bicycles.  Lester said, “Let’s sit on the steps and see if we can come up with a plan before we ride our bicycles around that warehouse area.”  “Good idea,” agreed Ronald.  Analyzing the situation, Butch suggested, “I think the first thing we should do is look for a printing sign or a place that sells this kind of paper.”  He was pointing to a leaflet as he continued, “If we can locate the building, then maybe we can go inside and look around.”  “Do you mean break in?” asked Allan in a surprised voice.  “Of course not,” said Lester.  “We can send someone in to ask if they can make a logo for our T-shirts … as an excuse to get inside the building,” Lester said with a smirk on his face.  “The first thing I think we should do,” said Butch, “is to look in the dumpster behind each building in that rezoned area.”  “That’s a great idea,” said Allan.  “Let’s spread out and each of us do one dumpster,” suggested Allan.  Of course, this was a favorite thing for the boys to do, because there were all kinds of treasures to be found in small-business garbage. 

Riding their bicycles around, they found one dumpster full of scrap leather that was used to make watch bands.  Another dumpster yielded valuable pieces of scrap lumber for building all kinds of things, like birdhouses, forts, and other wood projects.  The trashed wood could also be used to burn in wood stoves for fuel in their house instead of chopping it from a wood pile.  Almost all the houses in the neighborhood were heated by wood stoves.  This was a convenient way to get wood already the right size to burn in a wood stove. The wood factory made all kinds of baby furniture that they sold up north, so there was an endless supply of scrap wood in the dumpsters at all times.  Another dumpster yielded paint cans – some more than half-full with different colors of paint.  So it was exciting for the boys to discover what new treasures could be found outside the factories.  Robert was the first to yell out, “I think I found something!”  So all the other boys rode their bicycles to where Robert was.  On arrival, they found Robert diving in a dumpster, going through a mound of paper.  “Take a look at this,” he said, bringing up a fistful of paper.  As he handed it to his friends, they noticed coffee stains all over the papers. The coffee stains made the watermarks on the paper clearly visible with the words “To study mankind” clearly marked below the letterhead as a company motto.

Robert climbed out of the dumpster and walked over to his bike that was leaning against the back of the can.  “Let’s ride around these buildings for a while and see if we can find one that has a printing press,” said Robert.  “We should be able to hear the machines running if we’re real quiet.” said Allan. Just when the boys were getting ready to leave on their bicycles, the back door of the building opened.  A short, muscular man was carrying a big bag of something over his shoulder.  He set the bag down on the ground and started yelling angrily at the boys.  “Get away from those dumpsters!”  The boys took off, racing their bicycles in different directions.  Butch and Lester were headed in the direction of the school when Lester shouted, “Let’s go back and see what the sign says on the building.”  As they rode around to the front of the building, they saw a little sign hanging from the building: “Not open for business.”  The boys all headed back to Norwood Elementary School.  Exhausted, they parked their bikes and sat on the front entrance steps.  “We’ve got to come up with a plan.” said Lester.  “Yeah,” said Butch in agreement. “Let’s do another surveillance run with our bicycles.” suggested Robert. “This time we could each take turns, riding around the building to see who goes in and out of the building.” said Butch.  “Or we could send one of us into the building to look around to see what is inside,” said Robert.  “Suppose we do both,” urged Lester.”  “That way, one of us can go inside and have a look around, while the rest of us sort of circle the wagons with our bicycles like they do in the cowboy and Indian movies.”  The plan was put into action with Lester volunteering to go inside the building while the rest of the boys would circle around until Lester came out.  They would all rendezvous again at Norwood Elementary School and share their observations.  Allan spoke first. “I circled the parking lot and the building three times, and I did not see anything unusual.”  The only one who saw something unusual was Robert.  He saw a delivery truck pull up and a delivery man unload several small boxes through the front door of the building.  “I believe he made several trips inside the building, because the back door of the delivery truck was left open while he was inside the building. And Lester, what did you see?” asked Robert. “Well, it was kind of spooky inside the building. There weren’t many lights on, and most of the building was sort of dark. Once my eyes got adjusted to the darkness, I could see several objects of interest. There was a small printing press, about 50 boxes stacked neatly on a shelf, and some kind of strange machine, like the one in the little old Lady’s house in the Cypress Swamp.” “What did the boxes say on them?” asked Butch.  “They had names and addresses on them like they were waiting to be delivered in the mail,” Lester replied. “Did you recognize any of the names in the neighborhood?” Butch asked.  “Funny you should ask that! I did recognize the addresses for Freddie, Ronald, and Mrs. Strawn. But before I could look around anymore, a man yelled at me, ‘We’re not open for business, so scram!’ – kind of strange.”  “Why is that strange?” asked Allan.  “Mrs. Strawn’s name was the only adult name you saw,” replied Butch.  “Why is that so unusual?” asked Ronald. “Well,” said Robert, “for starters, my dad owns that building!”  “Great!” said Lester.  “Then you might be able to get the renter’s name and phone number from your dad.”  “I’ll ask my Mom tonight,” said Robert.

The next day, the boys all got together at the tree Fort.

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

To read the whole story, order your copy of A Big Surprise for Easter, published for Kindle e-readers and paperback.  Amazon search: Holiday Favorites by George F. Kohn.