Geff and Jerald

Realizations

It must've been about thirty minutes since I got knocked unconscious. I grasp my forehead, only to feel pain from a brand new swollen bump on my forehead. At least I'm not bleeding, I thought. Man, it did hurt, though. I wish I had Max here with me. Or Jerald. Why did I decide to leave? And where am I? I knew I came into this... house to get something, but I don't remember what I wanted to get or which house I was in. Was this T.J's? He had a mysterious house. I couldn't find the exit, though. Can't some guy just put a vent at least? I wanted to escape in style. I touch my bump again. I feel my flunky hair. Something's missing....my hat! Dad's hat. I needed it back. But why here. Whatever. The past me must've know it was in here. I shake my head. It is in here. I get up and shut the window. The wind was blowing in, and I really didn't feel like getting a cold. Quickly looking around, the floorboards made an unbearable creaking sound. The room is old. I can't make too much sound. So I decided to take off my shoes. The sound difference compared to me with my shoes on was drastically reduced.

There was a small ventilation component behind a black leather bag. This was noticeable because the air conditioning turned on just then and some dust particles came out towards the bright space. I move the bag aside and open the lid. Inside is a dark tunnel. It was a big one, too. You could say it could fit a whole adult. That's it! It's an adult tunnel. I crawl inside. There's a turn. I see a long chamber with a thin line of rope. "I've heard of these types of houses! They have a secret manual elevator so when an attack or emergency occurs, they take this secret way to the shelter. Or maybe I'm wrong. It could be for tornadoes." But that didn't matter right now. The thought about the storm elevator was right, but there was no elevator. Instead, a thick wooden frame was placed in the gap between another tunnel and the currently unavailable elevator entrance. I walk to the other side and see another room. It was full of old clothes. And my hat was at the top, sitting on a dead moose head hanging above a green wall. My hands tremble as they reach towards the hat. The soft felt touched my head like a shower of bliss. "I'm back, Dad." I softly say. I prepare to crawl back until more sounds come in. There's someone in the tunnel! I hurtle into an open closet turned over to the side and shut the door (the other was broken) and covered the rest of my body with old clothes. The man comes in and gasps. He drops a glass filled with stinky alcohol. It spills next to the closet. He comes closer. Too close. I back away towards a small hole in the bottom of the closet. I slowly get up, but hit my head. He notices, but hits his head too. "HEY! Thief! Thief!" He starts to run after me. I slump my shoulders down to hide my face. I run into the crawl space and go over the bridge with tremendous speed. The metal vent vibrated with every step. I jump out the window without any thought. Maybe I forgot I was on the top of the house. Maybe I had a stupidness kick in. But I hit the ground like a brick. My bones felt like they were going to explode. I couldn't get up. I wasn't unconscious, but I was immobile. At least there was a bunch of tomato vines hiding me. I crept to the towering wooden fence. I was invisible. Well, for now. "I'm not gonna go to sleep here. I can sneak home."

*******

All of my body felt tired. "I'm not doing that again," I say to myself. Then I put Dad's hat on the bunk pillar and drop like a dead bear.

"Hey, Geff. Why so late?" Jerald asked me at the kitchen table. "What are you talking about? I'm not—" I check the time. It's ten. "It's a Sunday, so...I get to sleep in, right?"

"Not exactly. We have to figure out what messed up the harvest this time." Mom was already washing dishes. "Eat your eggs," Jerald said. "Hope you like them cold, because that's how they are now." I poke my fork into the eggs. They're obviously not as good as they were when they were hot, but at least it was something. I put on my coat and went outside. "Something's wrong with the dirt," I say. The soil seemed dry. I run over to the creek. The water flows in and helps the dirt stay moist. We set up a metal net on it so trash and mulch can't mix with the water. The side was peeling off and the dirt was getting inside. This water isn't good. The dirt was messing it up. I put a small board to block the flow, then I ripped the rest of the metal net off. Jerald brought me a wrench and I screwed in a new one. "That should last a few more weeks, that is, if we can grow everything in that time."

"We might have to plant new seeds altogether. We're out of the other seeds, and our money is kinda tight right now because this is grocery day."

"We have the beans in the basement. We can plant those. They don't take that much time. And they're good for your health." Jerald hesitates. "We kinda ate those for dinner last week. Unless you find a way to grow fast crops, we're not gonna make it." Then it struck me. I could go over to the cave of the crazy farmer. I think I heard someone say his treasure is there, guarded by evil spirits. "I'm not afraid of evil spirits." Jerald had said when I asked him. "But I can't go because I got homework." I looked at him in the eye. I could tell he lamented not going with me. It was nice of him, but all the nice in the world wasn't gonna make him come with me. So I took my backpack. One problem, though. The backpack I had was the same one I used for school. Now I didn't have my only backpack. I got a black duffel bag from the shed instead and put Dad's notebook in one of the pockets. I head to the door and tell Mom I'm going to the park with the guys. "Okay! Have fun, honey!" I felt a little guilty about lying, but we had to save the harvest.

"This is gonna be a treasure trove," I repeated to myself once I got out of the door. I click on my flashlight and it turns on. This can't last long, because these batteries aren't fully charged. I'd say there's about 48% left in 'em. I click the button to turn it off and head towards the dark woods, away from civilization. The path was fine, until the gravel turned into dirt, and the dirt path disappeared and got covered up by small leaves and that orange stuff. It didn't take much longer until I had to use my flashlight. It was still sunset, but the trees had swallowed me whole. I knew the path back. I was fine.

It got darker. It's not worse. Just darker. I keep an eye out for stone or deep, dark holes. After some searching here and there and everywhere, I find what I'm looking for. A cave. This is the right one because I hear a river running deep inside. I head down. There's the river. Over there's the cave exit. And more sunlight. Then I see it. It's a house, but in ruins. There was a bunch of torn wood and some old concrete on top. The whole place looked so ugly to see and the walls look all crumbled up. Suddenly, I hear a howl of desperation behind me. "It's just a trick," I mutter to myself. "People these days." I look at the roaring river, then back to the house. After lifting off a couple of boards, I realize that yes, the house is in ruins. But a part seemed...missing. I could see this theory because the house ended at the living room. The couch was there, but there was also a pipe leading nowhere. It was a special type, one of those that connect to furnaces. And furnaces go in kitchens. So where is it? I explore the side of the river. There's a narrow passage along the other side of the rapids. But there the drop was slightly higher than the shallow part. I make my way across the rocky ridge. Eventually I reach a stopping point where the trail expands. There was a path to the exit, where the cave ended. "Turns out I came here for nothing." Turning back, devastated, there was a corner where the trail shifted. A small door and window stood. It looked in good condition, almost new. I turn the handle and open the door. Once I saw inside, I gasped. This was the house's other half! And not only that, it looked like a base.

A base belonging to Jackson Alexander.