Chapter 6
Early Sunday morning I got out of bed and went downstairs as
quietly as I could. My dad worked late on Saturday. Sunday mornings were his
time to sleep in. Everyone knew that disturbing dad on a Sunday morning could
ruin their day.
The sun was still below the horizon but there wasn’t much time
before daylight. I had no time to waste.
I went to the back door and outside. There was a chill in the air and I only
had on a tee shirt. I had goose bumps before I even started. I took the alley
between the houses to the side road. I looked over the whole neighborhood to be
sure there was no movement or activity around the big blue house.
I had to cross the street which put me in the open briefly, and
then I stayed near the edge of the houses until I got to the church. I could
see where the power company, at least I thought it was, had been from the
trampled grass. There were also insulation clippings from wire that littered
the ground. Why the new wire? Then I saw some new very fine wire had been
installed on the outside of the house but it wasn’t electrical wire. It was for
an antenna.
I followed the antenna wire around the house and saw it attached
on the back side. It ran all the way up to the roof. I know it hadn’t been
there before. That must be what was being done last night, but why? A noise
like a chair being slid out from under a table on a wood floor broke the
morning silence. Was someone in the church?
I looked around the yard again and moved closer to the house by
the lilac bushes. I heard a crackling sound like a radio searching for a clear station
signal. What was going on here?
The house went suddenly quiet. Then I heard a door slam. I hunched
closer to the house and stood very still. I was shaking. I don’t know if it was
from the cold or just being afraid of being seen, maybe both. Then, I saw him.
He was still wearing a black suit, shoes and hat. He was still six feet, four
inches tall and he was still peering around looking to see who was watching.
But, he didn’t see me.
As soon as he was out of sight I made a bee line for home.
When I walked in the back door mother was making pancakes and
sausage. It sure smelled good. I could have eaten a horse. She asked me where I
had been. I told her just walking and went back to my room.
It was Sunday morning. Church would be the first order of
business, then, we would come back home and have our Sunday dinner. It was my
favorite day of the week and the only one we all ate together. But, I still had
the problem of skipping church tonight so we could look inside to see the congregation.
That would have to wait. Right now I was ready for some sausage
and pancakes. What a day! It was only 7:00AM and I had already begun the
adventure.
Herb Ratliff. October 30, 2012, All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments: