COURTESY OF WAYNE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY WHERE I RENT BOOKS TO READ FROM
NUMBER 12 OF 40 FROM THE BOOK "STORIES YOU WON'T BELIEVE" BY: LONNIE E. BROWN COMES THE ONE TITLED
"UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS"
"UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS"
NIGHTTIME WAS THE BEST TIME FOR PLAYING PRACTICAL JOKES. WHEN YOUNG MEN IN THEIR TEENS OR VERY EARLY TWENTIES WORKED HARD IN THE FIELDS ALL DAY, THEY WERE READY TO RAMBLE AND RUSTLE UP SOME FUN AS SOON AS THE SUN WENT DOWN.
TOM (WHO WOULD BECOME MY FATHER-IN-LAW) AND HIS BEST FRIEND EDGAR SET OUT ONE DARK SUMMER NIGHT TO PLAY A TRICK ON A FARMER WHO LIVED NEARBY. IT WASN'T THE FIRST TIME THEY HAD PAID THIS MAN A VISIT OR INDULGED IN THE SAME ROUTINE. IT WAS SIMPLE ENOUGH, BUT THE FARMER NEVER SEEMED TO CATCH ON. TOM AND EDGAR WOULD TAKE A COUPLE OF COWBELLS, HIDE IN THE FARMER'S CORNFIELD, AND BEGAN RINGING THE BELLS. THE FARMER, THINKING THE COWS WERE IN THE CORN, WOULD LIGHT HIS LANTERN AND COME RUNNING OUT TO ROUND THEM UP. AS SOON AS HE WOULD COME OUT, TOM AND EDGAR WOULD BE QUIET AND THE FARMER WOULD THINK HE WAS MISTAKEN. AS SOON AS HE'D GO BACK INSIDE, TOM AND EDGAR WOULD MOVE TO A DIFFERENT PART OF THE FIELD AND RING THE BELLS AGAIN. WHEN THE FARMER HAD COME OUT SEVERAL TIMES, LOOKING TIRED AND MYSTIFIED, THE TWO PRANKSTERS WOULD GET BORED AND GO HOME.
ON THIS DARK SUMMER NIGHT, FATE STEPPED IN TO MAKE IT A NIGHT OF RECKONING FOR THE TWO YOUNG MEN. THUNDER RUMBLED IN THE DISTANCE AND LIGHTNING STREAKED ACROSS THE SKY AS THEY APPROACHED THE FARMHOUSE. NEITHER WORRIED ABOUT STORMS. BESIDES, THEY THOUGHT THEY WOULD HAVE TIME TO BRING THE FARMER OUT FOR A FEW SEARCHES BEFORE THE STORM ACTUALLY BROKE. THEY WERE VERY, VERY WRONG.
THEY HAD NOT BROUGHT LANTERNS, BUT THEY HAD COME EQUIPPED WITH THE COWBELLS AND THE GUN THAT TOM ALWAYS CARRIED. BEFORE THEY COULD RING THE BELLS, CLOUDS SWIRLED OVERHEAD AND RAIN POURED FROM THE SKY. AT THE SAME TIME, A HUGE BALL OF LIGHT HOVERED OVER THE FARMHOUSE AND RAINED DOWN LIKE FIRE WHILE THE STUNNED BOYS WATCHED. THEY RAN FOR SHELTER IN A SHED BY THE SIDE OF THE YARD, AND THEY COULD SEE THROUGH THE WINDOW THAT THE THE FARMER'S WIFE WAS ILL IN BED, TENDED BY SOME NEIGHBOR WOMEN. THEY TOOK THE FIREBALL AS A WARNING THAT THEY MIGHT TRULY UPSET HER WITH THEIR ANTICS, SO THEY WAITED UNTIL THE RAIN SETTLED INTO A LIGHTER BEAT, AND THEY HEADED HOME.
THEIR RETREAT WAS UNEVENTFUL UNTIL THEY CAME TO THE BANKS OF THE LITTLE CREEK THEY HAD TO CROSS TO GET HOME. THE WATER WAS HIGH FROM THE RAIN AND IT FLOWED SWIFTLY UNDER THE FOOT LOG THEY HAD TO WALK ON. ONE WRONG STEP IN THE DARK ON THAT NARROW FOOT LOG, AND THEY WOULD FALL INTO THE FLOODED CREEK AND BE SWEPT AWAY. THEN THEY FELT THAT SOME HIGHER POWER DECIDED TO REWARD THEM FOR NOT BOTHERING THE FARMER AND HIS WIFE THAT NIGHT. A LITTLE FIGHT, LIKE FOXFIRE, APPEARED AT THE END OF THE FOOT LOG AND GUIDED THEM SAFELY ACROSS. WHEN THEY REACHED THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SWOLLEN CREEK, THE LITTLE LIGHT DISAPPEARED AS MYSTERIOUSLY AS IT HAD COME.
THE BOYS WALKED IN SILENCE UNTIL THEY CAME TO EDGAR'S HOUSE.
"YOU CAN COME IN AND SPEND THE NIGHT," EDGAR OFFERED.
TOM DECLINED. THEY WOULD BE EXPECTING HIM HOME AND HE DIDN'T WANT HIS MOTHER TO WORRY. HE ONLY HAD TO CROSS A COUPLE OF FIELDS AND HE WOULD BE THERE. HE SAID GOODNIGHT AND WENT ON HIS WAY. HE NO LONGER HAD HIS BEST FRIEND WITH HIM, BUT HE HAD HIS GUN. HE FELT SAFE ENOUGH.
TOM HAD GONE ABOUT HALFWAY THROUGH THE FIELD WHEN A FLASH OF LIGHTNING SHOWED A DARK FORM IN THE FENCEROW UP AHEAD. THE LIGHTNING WASN'T TOO BRIGHT NOW, BUT TOM THOUGHT THE THING MOVED WHEN HE DID. HE STOPPED AND THE THING IN THE FENCEROW STOPPED, TOO. IT WAS WAITING RIGHT BY THE PATH HE HAD TO TAKE. HE PULLED OUT HIS GUN AND FELT GREAT COMFORT IN THE FAMILIAR FEEL OF IT.
"WHO'S THERE?" HE CALLED, TAKING A STEP FORWARD.
THERE WAS NO ANSWER, BUT IT SEEMED TO MOVE CLOSER.
"SPEAK OR I'LL SHOOT!" HE CALLED.
THERE WAS NO ANSWER. THEY JUST MOVED CLOSER TOGETHER. TOM AIMED AT THE TARGET. HE WAS A GOOD SHOT. HE DIDN'T HAVE TO WORRY.
TOM FIRED AND SAW THE THING MOVE. HE HAD HIT IT, BUT IT STILL KEPT COMING. WITH HIS NERVES ALREADY ON EDGE, TOM FIRED FOUR MORE TIMES, AND EACH TIME, E COULD TELL HE HAD HIT IT, STILL, IT STOOD UPRIGHT.
TOM HAD ONE BULLET LEFT AND HE HAD TO MAKE GOOD WITH IT.
I WON'T FIRE UNTIL I AM FACE TO FACE WITH THE THING, HE THOUGHT.
IT WAS DARK, BUT HE KNEW HE WAS TOO CLOSE TO MISS. HE FIRED HIS LAST SHOT AND RUSHED UP TO SEE WHAT ENEMY WAITED THERE IN THE DARKNESS. HE COULDN'T BELIEVE IT. HE HAD SHOT THE TOP OUT OF A LITTLE BRUSH.
HE TOLD THAT STORY OFTEN. HE SAID IT TAUGHT HIM ABOUT DIVINE INTERVENTION AND HUMILITY. AND IT TAUGHT HIM NEVER TO FIRE A GUN UNLESS HE KNEW WHAT HE WAS SHOOTING AT!
WRITTEN BY: LONNIE E. BROWN
FROM THE BOOK "STORIES YOU WON'T BELIEVE"
THIS ONE IS TITLED "UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS"
COURTESY OF THE LOCAL LIBRARY
😄🤏 a little light comedy by Lonnie E Brown