IS

Daylight had come again. Daylight was my friend, because nothing extraordinary or frightening was typically going to happen during the light of day. This would be my time to bask in the mundane, to find reverence in the uneventful… until today.

“Dad–-dude, you got to check this out, it’s so sick!” Shane had swung my door open with an enthusiasm normally characteristic of his nature.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“Who cares–-dude, you got to see this. It’s so…”

“I know—sick! What time is it?” I interrupted.

“I don’t know, maybe twelve or twelve thirty, but you got to see this, it’s so gross!” he said, as he giggled with excitement, and left for the hallway. Seconds later, I heard the door to the deck open and slam close with the exhilaration only a twelve year old boy could appreciate.

I sat up, scratched my head, and tried to remember how I had gotten to my bed, only hours ago. Then I got to my feet and followed the invisible trail Shane had left for me. As I entered the family room, I saw Alley seated at the computer.

“Where’s your Mom?”

“Went shopping.” she said, with a monotone response. “She’s mad at you!” Alley added, with a heightened change of tone.

“Why?” I said.

“Maybe, because you left your disgusting puke-clothes in the middle of the bathroom floor? That’s pretty gross, Dad!”

“Oops!” was my only response. Looking out the back window towards the baseball diamond, I saw a small group of people, including my son, accompanied by a white pick-up truck with the letters DNR posted on the side. “What’s going on?” I asked.

“Something about a dead deer.” Alley replied, never taking her eyes off the screen.

“What?” I responded with surprise, as I slid the door open, jumped off the deck, and ran towards the gathering. About this time, a police car was making its way across the schoolyard from the front parking lot. My run soon came to a skidding halt once I was able to see what everyone’s attention was focused on.

It was a dead deer all right, but this went way beyond what I had expected, or could possibly ever imagine in my wildest and sickest dream. Front legs broken and woven through the chain-link backstop, spread eagle with its whole bottom half missing below its hollowed out chest cavity, approximately six or seven feet off the ground. The smell was of rancid flesh and remaining organs feasted upon by a host of flies, privileged to be in attendance.

Two policemen got out of the car, one of which started taking pictures almost immediately. The other one yelled over to the DNR officer who seemed to be still transfixed on the grotesque exhibit before him. “Hey! Are you the one who called this in?” There was no response.

I looked over to the DNR officer who was maybe six feet from me. “Excuse me! Bill? Is it?” I looked at the name embroidered on his shirt. It did say Bill.

Hearing his name, Bill finally answered. “Yeah, yeah, that was me!”

“Okay. This is Officer Williams, and I‘m Officer Daniels, but let‘s make this informal. I‘m Dan, and that‘s Frank.” Then, after a brief stare at the disgusting display, Dan continued. “Where’s the rest of him?”

“Don’t know! Gone! I searched the whole grounds and couldn’t find nothin!” Bill yelled back with his strong Georgian accent. Bill was an older man, maybe close to retirement. He stood better than six foot, with a husky build, a bent back, and a full head of silvery grey hair, accompanied by two thick and well-manicured sideburns. “Ain’t never seen nothing like that before!” he said, as he turned to make sure he had my attention. “Been doin’ this for close to thirty years now.” then with a short pause, he turned to the monstrous display before us and ended with, “Nothin’ like that!”

I looked over to see a couple of older kids laughing and making fun of the poor, dead beast. One of them mimicking what he saw by raising his arms out at each side, and smiling to the other boy.

It was then that it hit me. Why hadn’t I seen it right away? This was an exhibit; an obscene message for me and me alone. This particular baseball diamond was directly behind my house. Could it be a coincidence that he chose this one, when there were two other diamonds to pick from? My paranoia was kicking into overdrive at this point, as I commanded Shane to go home.

“But Dad, why?”

“Just do what I tell you, okay?”

“Whatever!” he said, as he walked away in disgust.

Soon, more of the neighborhood was starting to congregate, while the two police officers and Bill worked hard to free what was once a beautiful creature from the fencing, and its morbid ending. I now knew that he, whatever he was, was still out there. And in an intensely dysfunctional manner, he was making his point, whatever that point would soon prove to be.

“Look at this here!” Bill said. “Nothin’ was cut, and it don’t look like not a thing was bit or chewed either! It’s like the damn thing was torn in half!”

“How could that be?” said Officer Daniels.

“I don’t know!” Bill replied. “And I’ll tell ya another thing, all the innards in his chest?… ripped out!”

“What the hell’s going on here?” Daniels remarked, as the other officer just watched with little or no emotion. “Keep these people back! We got to get this out of here and to someone who can give us some answers!”

“What–-forensics on a dead deer? Are you serious?” said Williams, who had until now, been so quiet and submissive. “We’d be the laughing stock of the station–-of the whole damn force!”

“Whatever!” said Daniels. “Let’s get the damn thing in the back of Bill’s truck, and get the hell out of here.” Obviously his opinion was swayed by his partner’s remark.

And as they slid the remains into the large black plastic bag, and then dropped it into the bed of Bill’s truck, I noticed the look of concern on the old man’s face. Knowing very well he had the last say in what should or shouldn’t be done with the carcass, I could tell he wasn’t one to make any waves. And therefore he would most likely dispose of the dead thing, and move on with the rest of his day; quietly, just the way he liked it.

As both vehicles drove off, the crowd of people began to also move along with the rest of their day, quietly, or not so much.

But I stayed. Looking around, and then, around again. Watching and wondering if even in the bright light of day, he may be watching too. Just how long has he been watching me, or anyone else? Did he have some deranged master plan to carry out? Or perhaps there was no plan at all. Maybe he just acted on some sort of psychotic whim, and for whatever reason, I had caught his attention. It was very alarming for me to come to the realization that, unless I was able to have someone with me to experience what I had experienced, or may experience yet still, I was to be in this alone. I was to be David to his Goliath.

So far, nothing had crossed the line to prove life threatening or anything but crazy coincidence. It could also be that common paranoia has been a huge factor in my decisions and answers. Then again, if Bill was right, and something really did tear that deer in half, Goliath would prove to be an adequate name for the monster I would eventually be pitted against. And if the latter of the two should show to be true, God help me!

I continued on with the rest of my day as well. Staying close to common, and clinging ever so dearly to normal. Normal was exactly what I needed right now; cutting the grass, washing the car, and talking to ordinary people with ordinary issues. On the inside, I was an emotional train wreck waiting to happen at any given moment. Nerves bent and twisted as a result of the unknowing and unclear; standing forefront to the insurmountable magnitude of fear that lie shallow and waiting. Without trying too hard to push the boundaries of my imagination, I wondered what could possibly make things any worse than they had already been… some questions should never be asked, or even thought of, for that matter.

I was cutting the front grass while listening to a self-made play-list of favorite bands, when I noticed Corey standing at the garage door entrance waiving for my attention. I was immersed in Forsythe Falls’ “The Tormented”, when I was forced to dislodge my left earphone and stall the mower at my wife’s request.

“Hey–-when you get a minute, we need to talk about something!”

As if she couldn’t have waited till I finished. “All right,” I replied, loathing that I had been interrupted for no apparent reason. And yet, as I restarted the mower and continued on with my chore, I was overcome with curiosity. She knew this would happen, and yet my interest was such that after finishing the lawn, I postponed my clean-up to pursue her whereabouts. My search was short-lived as I came across her sitting under the shade of our massive maple tree, which covered the whole span of the huge deck. Facing me with her back to the yard, she sat with both feet elevated on the patio table and a cool drink in her hand.

“Don’t you look comfortable?” I said.

“Yup!” she replied with her cute little Corey smile. Then taking a sip of her drink, she asked me to have a seat.

Now facing her across the table, I asked, “Is this an interrogation, or are you going to ask me something?”

“Well, my Mom called me earlier.”

“And?” I smirked.

“Honey, I know you probably can’t get time off right now, but she asked if we could come and visit for a few days, so could we go? Please?” she asked, once again giving me that cute but deceptive smile.

“Florida, when?” I asked, slightly showing alarm.

“If you say yes, my Mom can have the tickets all set up through the travel agency before they close, and we could leave as soon as tomorrow evening!”

“Like I’m going to say no!” I replied, with a fictitious smile of my own.

“Wahoo! she yelled, as she jumped to her feet, scooted around the table to plant a kiss on my cheek, and dashed off into the house to make her call.

Once Corey left, I was filled with anxious regret, now facing the schoolyard, and undoubtedly a playground for my nemesis. The thought of being here alone in this house for three days was less than appealing. In fact, I was down-right scared. At first I had thought of maybe avoiding the house altogether, staying somewhere else, while still going to the dealership every day. This could work! Then reality began to settle in, just as the dark and dismal clouds which preceded the storm only two nights ago. Why would I put off the inevitable, whatever that may be? If something was destined to happen, it would happen regardless of when or even where, for that matter. Maybe it was fate that my family would be out of town for a few days. Maybe the scene was being set for some grand event to play out. I soon became overtaken by an epiphany, as I scanned the schoolyard with a sense of unbridled anticipation. No matter how frightened I was, and no matter how unprepared I felt at this moment in time, there was another storm coming; and I would have to face this one all by myself.

Then Corey yelled from the kitchen, “Hey! By the way. Shane told me about that dead deer today! How gross was that?”

“Pretty gross!” I yelled back, as I reached across the table for the drink she left behind.

“There sure are some sick people in this world!”

“Fucking inhuman!” I replied.