​

           

     The moon light lit up the night sky, during the fall of zero-four.  Louis Thellers’ house lights shut off for the night.  He laid down for the day when his last girlfriend that he broke up with a week earlier rang his phone.  She wanted to see him; she said she loved him.  He ended up agreeing to meet her at a park down the street from where he lived.  They hung up and he thought about how she would get there.  She lived across town and didn't have a car.  He dressed.

     Momentarily he sat in the seat with his hands under his thighs.  The heater didn't work, but the stereo did; he pushed a cassette tape in the stereo then placed the volume half way.  He pulled the light switch on and clicked the brights off by stomping on a button on the floor board.  Without signaling, he turned from the driveway and onto the bumpiest road that no one seemed to want to repair.

     He turned the volume up a little, when he noticed a car in the rear view.  When their lights turned to bright, he flipped his mirror up. The car accelerated, then drove beside him.  He looked to the car, while easing off the gas.  They smashed into him!  He slid off into the ditch; both cars stopped.  Someone stepped from the passenger side door, made his way to Louis' car, then sat on his hood.  He stayed seated when three more people stepped out of the car, one happened to be Amy, his ex.  He opened his door, stepped out without taking his attention away from her.

     'What's going on, Amy?'  Lewis asked her.

     She said nothing. 

     The guy stood from his hood then approached him.  He slammed Louis into the car with one hand on his neck.  A shot from a gun suddenly fired; a bullet casing bounced a few times on the concrete.  Amy and her two friends disappeared in the dark when they ran.  Amy's friend stood for a few seconds before blood trickled from his mouth.  They stared eye to eye before he dropped to the ground.

2

     Louis went to court three months after that night then sentenced to twenty-five years to a state penitentiary.  His cell mate, Raymond McDougles, he thought talked too much.  He kept children books in a pile next to his bed.  Out loud he would read and it dreadfully bugged Louis.  He would laugh at the porridge being too cold to eat.  Louis took one of his books and began to read about a squirrel.

     'Once upon a time, there was a squirrel named Raymond.  This little squirrel was very hungry, so one day Raymond went out for some nuts.  As he was walking along a dirt road, a car came rushing by!  Raymond didn't have time to get his fluffy tail out of the way, and the tire squashed his little, fluffy tail!  Raymond managed to crawl from the road, when a girl squirrel came up to him and helped him to her hole in a tree.  When they arrived, she began to kiss him all over his fluffy body.  Then she pulled out a gun. Bang!  Shot an arm off.  Bang!  There went the other arm.  Bang!  Then a leg went flying!'

     'Stop!  Don't read any more!'

     'It's a story.  I think,' he questioned himself looking at the cover, eventually tossing it to him.

     'I don't like that story,' he said, then he placed it on the very bottom of his pile.

     'I know what part you liked.  Have you ever been kissed by a squirrel?'

     ‘No,’ he answered, then threw his head on a pillow.

     The cell door slid open.  'Recess,' a guard notified them.

     They stood from their beds then fell in line with everyone else.  They could either visit outside or workout in the gym for thirty minutes.  Louis made his way to a bench press and Raymond stayed right behind him.

     'Spot me,' Louis told him.

     Raymond stood in position but could not lift the bar. He let out a soft grunt.

     'What's wrong?'

     'I can't lift it.'

     Louis pushed the bar up, brought the bar down to his chest, then back up.  He brought it down to his chest, then yelled, 'ah!  Raymond, get it off!'

     Raymond placed his hands on the bar, but couldn't lift it.

     'You're going to kill me!  Get it off!'

     'I can't.  It's too heavy!'

     Louis raised the bar from his chest then slammed it on the bench where it sits.  'You could have killed me,' he told him.

     'I couldn't lift it!'

     'Your turn,' he said, then stood.

     'Oh, I couldn't do that.  It's too heavy.'  He took a few steps back.

     'I'll hold on to the bar.  You can do it.'

     Raymond laid down, then Louis handed him the bar; it went straight down on his chest.  His expressions of I am in trouble teemed on his face and body.  Louis looked down at him, then rolled the bar onto his throat and held it there; he watched his eyes.

3

     Louis laid down on his back crossing his arms over his abdomen.  He imagined a nail slowly spinning.  Blood dripped from the point.  More bleeding nails appeared.  He reached over to grab a notebook.  He flipped through a few pages until he came to a blank page.  He drew a two by four with nails driven in it.  He closed his eyes to imagine a dark forest with a white shed.  The white paint had peeled off in many places, showing the wood.  He stepped down into the three sided, cracked cement entry, then grabbed the padlock.  The thought of the nails in the board gave him an image of the floor with these nails pointing toward the ceiling.  He felt this idea needed to be explored.  He turned the page to further explore his idea:

     Warren Clayton, Tim's son, had come to visit.  He had only been there for three hours, when Tim noticed police cars driving down the dirt road.  Tim wrote a note on a piece of paper, then pulled a key off his chain and forced the two in Warren's front pocket.  ‘Would you go to your room?’ he asked, knowing he would miss him.

     "Read it after I leave," Tim told him.

     "What's going on?"

     "I have to leave."

     A knock at the door rumbled throughout the house, then Warren asked again, "what’s going on?"

     The front door kicked opened; five officers rushed in.  "We have a warrant for Tim Clayton's arrest."

     "What's going on?"  Warren asked a third time.

     "Who are you?" officer Logan asked.

     "He’s my father," Warren answered

     Officer Logan noticed a father and son picture hanging on the wall.  "Your father kidnapped a young lady.  She escaped didn't she, Mr. Clayton?"

     ‘Kidnapped?  No, my father did not kidnap anyone!"

     "All clear?" an officer asked.

     "All clear," another one answered after they cleared the house.

     Warren stood on the threshold as they placed his father in the car.  They drove off; the house became quiet.   He emptied his pocket, then read, "the shed is real.  Like father, like son."  He stuck the paper in his front pocket.  “It is real,” he said, then headed out the back door.   “It is real," he said out loud to himself while following the trail.   "I do want to."  The trees blocked much of the sunlight.   "I do want to," he repeated.  He took out the note and key then re-read it out loud, “the shed is real.  Like father, like son.”   He slid the key in then it gently popped open.

​

     Warren drove from his driveway, then onto the main road where he parked on the side.  He stepped out of his car and stood by the door.  A car approached; an older gentleman who continued slowly and cautiously down the road.  Another car approached; a couple in their late thirties chatted with one another, then a young lady traveled alone.   "Please!  I need help!"  he screamed, before she stopped and pulled off the road.

     "Are you okay?" she asked.

     "Can you drive me to the hospital?” he asked, then fell to the pavement.

     She rushed to him, knelt down in concern for his well being.

     Warren grabbed her by the neck, then came to his feet.  He gathered her from the pavement, after forcing her into an unconsciousness state with a single blow to her head using a closed fist, to occupy the passenger seat.  When he sat down, he noticed a stopped car twenty yards in front of him.  They stared at each other, when he pulled onto his dirt road; he kept watch in his mirror.

     He pulled her out of his car, then tossed her on his shoulder.  He rushed around the house and made his way to the trail.  She came to and began to kick her legs and hammer punch his back.  Bending forward, she slid off him, he then grabbed her by the neck.  He heard sirens while opening the door.

     She looked up to tell him.  "I hope they kill you!"

     He threw her in, then slammed the door behind her.  Warren ran into the woods; he could hear an officer behind him.  The patrolman knew he would face little pain.  His run had been interrupted by a shot, then regained his balance. Shortly the tranquilizer bullet sent him slamming, shoulder first, on the ground.  An officer opened the shed door.  The young victim painfully made her way out.   "There's someone dead in there!" she yelled, covered in blood.

4

     ‘Roll that back,’ Sammy Walter wanted.

     Donald Hamilton clicked on the rewind icon, and it replayed Louis holding down the bar over his throat.

     ‘Hmmm.  I know the perfect cellmate for this guy.’

     ‘Who?’ Miss Bowman asked.

     ‘Check this guy out.’  He pointed and clicked a few times, then typed his last name first and first name last, then pointed and clicked again.  The screen brought up a page; he clicked on an icon that allowed the pc to read out loud: Profile for Tyranno Saurus Rex.  Gender: Male.  Age: Fifty-three.  Siblings: None.  Marital Status: Single, never married.  Children: None.  Highest level of completed education: Sixth grade.  Veteran: Not applicable.  Convictions: Two counts of Parricide in nineteen forty-eight; one count homicide in nineteen sixty-eight. Conviction notes: He had ingested his three victims.  Tyranno has been in salutary confinement for thirty-two years.  His parents gave him one-hundred dollars on his twelfth birthday and he spent it when he turned eighteen to legally change his name.

     ‘What a wonderful idea.’

     Sammy Walter agreed with Donald, ‘wonderful would definitely describe it.’

     ‘Where did Louis go?’ Donald loudly asked.

     ‘I’m hungry, guys,’ Sammy Walter said; they continued to laugh.  ‘Well, I think we should help out T-Rex a little.  We’re going to have to shave him.  I gag when I see a piece of hair on my food; how did this guy do it?  We'll tell him we need to shave his whole body because there is a lice outbreak.  Let’s get some clippers.’

     They went down a flight of stairs to the next level.  The barber shop stationed right down the hall.  The sign on the door read: MELTON VEGAS IS IN !

     ‘Hey, guys.  What’s going on?’

     'Do you have an electric shaver that you don't use that much?  I want to buy it.'

     'Yeah.'  He headed to a drawer to pull it open. 'This is a vintage one, but it works.'

     'Okay.'

     'I'll take ten bucks for it.'

     Sammy Walter pulled his money clip from a pocket, but only twenties were available.

     'I have a ten,' Melton Vegas mentioned, taking note of Sammy’s notes.

     'That’s your tip,’ Sammy answered.

     Melton Vegas thanked him, ‘thank you, sir.'

     Sammy Walter closed the door behind them. 'Okay, team.   Bowman get back to work.   Me and Don are going to take Pork Chop to the showers and make sure he doesn't get creepy crawlers in his hair any time in the future.  Then we'll place him in T-Rex's cell.  Ready?’  He clapped his hands once when he slightly yelled, ‘break!'

5

     Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang said Don's nightstick against Louis' cell bars.  'Front and center, Thellers!'  He slid his stick in its holster while waiting for Louis to approach the door.  'Turn around, you're getting cuffs for transport.'

     'Where are we going?'

​

     Miss Bowman loves being the top dog and every chance she gets to take another step on the chain of command ladder, she takes it while singing and dancing.  'Get back to work, huh?' she asked herself.  'I sure will.' 

​

     'Get on your knees, inmate Thellers!'  Sammy Walter told him and he did.  He plugged the end of the cord of the clippers into a wall receptacle, then announced, 'we have a bad case of lice going around.’  He asked, ‘yucky, huh?’ then flipped the on switch.

​

     She made her way to T-Rex's cell.  'Hey, Tyranno?'  He laid on the floor looking up to her.  'Hi.'  She knelt down.  'I have a job for you.'

6

     Donald followed Louis Thellers with Sammy Walter leading the way to his new cell.

'We need to decontaminate your cell.’  Sammy Walter explained, ‘spray and scrub it down real good for ya.  So, hang out in here for a while, okay?'

     Louis didn’t answer.

     Sammy Walter stood in front of T-Rex's cell while flipping through his collection of keys when Tyranno Saurus Rex kicked the cell door open, hitting Louis on the shoulder.  'Whoa!' Louis yelled out.

     T-Rex grabbed Sammy Walter by his clothes and forced him into the cell.  Miss Bowman came from around the corner with her gun in hand and looked Donald in the eyes and told him to, 'lock the door or else!'  He locked it fast.

     T-Rex shut Sammy Walter up right away by removing parts of his throat with his fingers.

     'This is incredible!' Louis Thellers told them.

     Sammy Walter broke away momentarily, then came up to the door; you could about read what he might be thinking by the look in his eyes.  'Bon Appetit, T-Rex,' Miss Bowman wished, when he came up to the door to bring Sammy Walter back to the floor.  'Don't worry, Don, for locking the door you’re placed on the innocent list.'  She looked at Louis and suggested, 'you would make a great freestyle swimmer.'