No Trespassing (Blog fiction)

The great fan of the air boat roared in their ears as they sped across the waters of southern Louisiana. They held their guns ready for anything in their path on the way to the meetup. The buyer wanted sufficient tree cover in the swamp for the purchase. Lemmy didn’t like the idea but he had drugs to sell. A buyer’s eccentricity could be tolerated most of the time. The coordinates led to an arrangement of shacks on stilts over the water. No one lived in them. They were entirely for deals like this. They were meant to look like some swamp person’s little hideaway. Something people in those parts left alone on general principle.

“There. There they are. Pull right up to them.” Lemmy said to his pilot. He adjusted his tie and tapped a finger on his machine gun strapped over his shoulder. Two more boats of Lemmy’s boys followed them in.

Booker and his guys were in row boats and pirogues. They came out of a part of the swamps you couldn’t take an airboat through. He preferred using thick trees to cover his exploits and knew he was tough to follow. He smiled revealing gaps from missing teeth and the sun shined on his bald head. Lemmy and his boys were suits and ties. Booker’s were scrap shirts and jeans. Lemmy liked machine guns while Booker’s guys carried rifles and shot guns.

Lemmy gave a friendly salute as his boat came nose to nose with Booker’s.

“You think you could pick and uglier place to meet?” Lemmy joked.

“What? You don’t like the greenery?” Booker gestured in a wide sweep of his arms. “This is home. Don’t talk bad about my home now.”

“Take it easy. I’m just busting your balls. I got your order here. Two waterproof plastic crates of white gold, just like you asked.”

“Excellent. We have your money the same way.”

A loud and low growling sound echoed through the shacks and across the water. All the men did double-takes of their environment to see what did it. They saw nothing.

“What the hell was that?” Lemmy said.

“Probably just the rugaroo. Legends around these parts say there’s a monster. Oooooo. Ha. I don worry bout it none. It’s not real.” Booker laughed.

That’s when a shack exploded off its stilts and flew over their heads with a savage snapping of wood pillars. Lemmy dropped to his knees while two of his men went into the water. Booker fell off his boat with a splash. The beast in the shack’s place stood 14 feet tall and nearly as wide. It had the head of the biggest alligator you could dream of and stegosaurus plates reached up from its back. Gator hated evil in his swamp. The legends were true.

Gator had been watching Booker and his men. He knew these men were up to no good and in his swamp to boot. Ever since evil men used science to make him into a monster, he patrolled his swamp. Not even littering college students escaped his wrath. But he only scared those. These men needed more convincing. Gator was happy to oblige. With a whip of his thick powerful tail, he turned the shack he hid behind into a flying arrangement of kindling.

Men yelled in terror at the sight of him and opened fire in panic. It didn’t matter what kind of guns they had, the bullets were worth less than falling acorns. Gator let out a roar that rippled the water and pushed boats away. Then he charged into their midst. He snatched a rowboat out of the water with one enormous hand, flinging its occupants into the air. He threw that boat at one of the air boats, smashing both to bits. More men were thrown into the drink. Two were severely injured.

Gator didn’t want to kill anyone. He did want to make sure he left a lasting impression on these men to never come here again. Another whip of his tail capsized every one of Booker’s remaining boats with a powerful splash and wave of swamp water. Another stilted shack collapsed into so much driftwood garbage. In moments, only Lemmy remained on his boat and all others were trashed. Booker stood up in the water choking for breath.

Gator grabbed Booker up out of the water and put him on the airboat next to Lemmy. He took up both plastic containers of drugs in one huge hand and showed them to the men. Gator cocked his arm back like a professional baseball pitcher and threw the two containers out toward the Gulf of Mexico. The two shocked men watched as over a million dollars in cocaine flew out of sight into the distance.

Gator turned back to the men and roared in their faces as they screamed like children. Lemmy felt himself defecate.

Gator left them with one word before turning and lumbering away.

“GO.”

Before disappearing into the trees, Gator picked up some wreckage and threw it at the last standing shack, reducing it to splinters.

Now they knew the legends were true. Word still got around. It’s his swamp. No trespassing.

Choose the ending: The Mastodon's Heart Pt 3

Welcome to the third installment of a story you guide. You read and you decide.

You are a renowned paleontologist and archaeologist. You are on a site that shouldn't exist, about to enter an open tunnel. You have special powers that you've kept secret so far. You have moderate super strength, telekinesis, and you get random visions. So far you've had one vision that showed the death of Professor Sigmund with Amikam stooped over him with bloody hands.

With the opening of the tunnel, you've decided you don't want to leave Professor Sigmund alone with anyone.

"I'm going in with you, Professor. I want ropes and harnesses and I'd like Jessica to stay up here and watch over the equipment." You feel far more confident in being able to protect the Professor with your abilities if needs be if you are close to him.

Jessica rushes away to gather the equipment you asked for.

"I will remain here as well." Amikam says. "I do not fit so well in tight spaces."

The tall Arabic man is right. His height could be problematic in a low tunnel. You feel fine with having both Jessica and Amikam out of the way. You put on your harness carefully while Jessica helps Sigmund with his.

"Let me just check things over." You mutter so that only the Professor hears you as Jessica walks away.  You find that, not only are his straps not tight enough, but one of them is torn halfway through. You say nothing, but rearrange the straps so there's no strain on the torn one. You personally check the anchoring on both ropes before picking up your flashlight. "Ready, Professor?"

"I am indeed, young lady."

The two of you enter the tunnel with your lamps on bright. The slope isn't as steep as it looked, so both of you find it easy to walk down. The dusty stale air makes you both feel right at home. You're further glad that Amikam didn't come in. He would have been stooping to walk. The tunnel has been carved meticulously to near smooth walls in places. It slowly begins a descent deeper into the Earth.

"How is everything?" Jessica's voice crackles on the small walkie you carry.

"So far, so good. We're in about 40 yards. There's something ahead of us."

"What is this?" Sigmund asks as his light plays across the circular stone blocking your path.

There is a defined edge around the stone, making it look like it could be a giant round door. There is a hole at the floor that's just big enough to crawl through on your stomach. You shine your light through the hole and see that it's about ten feet in a perfect cylinder shape. There are no visible levers or handles on your side.

"I think we're going to have to crawl through that hole." Professor Sigmund says.

You have a vision. It's dark, there's a loud rumbling sound and something tightens around your throat.

As you shake off the vision, unnoticed by the Professor, you wonder what you should do.

Do you crawl through the hole? Have the Professor crawl through? Or is it time to call for outside help? Think about it, and post your comment below!

Choose the Ending! "The Mastodon's Heart" Pt2

Image By Rembrandt Peale

Hello reader! Welcome to part two of our story where you will guide what happens next. You are a Paleontologist/Archaeologist. You are a top person in your field. You have special abilities that no one knows about just yet. You have moderate super strength, telekinesis and random visions. You have been called to Siberia to investigate fossilized remains that shouldn't be there. You already found a strange stone arrangement in the fossilized ribs of the mastodon and you've had a vision of death and blood.  Catch part 1 HERE.

 You decide to take a closer look at the huge stone with the ribs embedded in it. You know better than to take your visions too literally. You will have to take some time to get to know what's going on before you react. The tool marks are confusing because they seem too elaborate for the time of the Mastodons. Unfortunately, the equipment for carbon dating is extremely large and samples would have to be sent away. You simply don't have that kind of time.

"So this is old, but how old is it really?" You murmur to yourself.

"We've already sent samples out for carbon dating." Jessica piped in.

"I'm not about to wait for that. How much more of this stone can we uncover? It was obviously put this way on purpose. Look how it holds these ribs far out from the angle of the others." You make your way to where the stone meets dirt and rock. "And where does anyone find a chunk of obsidian this size? It must weigh over a ton."

"Oh, I agree. It's definitely out of place." Jessica doesn't realize you aren't talking for her benefit, rather your own process of thought.

You reach into you bag and bring out your father's hand pick. There's a hollowed out shape where the stone appears to edge with the dugout wall. The dirt and rocks fall away easily from the black stone to reveal a rectangular hole. It's big enough to put your hand in. You shine a small flashlight into the opening. At a distance that would be all of your forearm is a lever. You already knew this wasn't a natural arrangement, but now it's confirmed.

"Jessica, I need some twine." You say. "And get the Professor back here right away."

Minutes feel like years before Jessica returns with your request. She's followed by Amikam and Professor Sigmund. They watch with interest as you make a loop out of one end of the twine. You reach the loop in and slip it over the end of the lever. Your father taught you not to learn from the movies. Never put an appendage into and opening to pull levers if you don't have to. Use another tool to protect your hands. Once the twine is attached, you stand back a couple of feet and give it a firm pull. The lever has some resistance from age, but grinds into movement.

The ground under your feet rumbles as the stone lowers itself, revealing a tunnel.

"Incredible!" Sigmund exclaims. "We must get some lights and go in there."

"Whew!" Jessica waves a hand in front of  her face. "We should let it air out for a minute or two first."

You shine a flashlight into the maw of the tunnel. The ground slopes downward and away from your field of vision.

"It goes deeper underground from here." You say. "Better get some safety equipment together."

"I'm sure we can walk in a little way." Sigmund says, clearly excited by the find.

You remember your vision of the red stone and seeing the Professor's dead body. You wonder if you shouldn't suggest that he wait outside for his own safety. Still, you shouldn't enter alone.

So what do you do now? Do you suggest the Professor let you and someone else take a look first? If so, who do you take with you? Jessica or Amikam?