Tales from Jack Sailey’s Journal Presents
Disturbance up the Hill
The living room full of early 1990’s contemporary furniture was only occupied by a lonely looking man and the sound of the “Janis Joplin’s Greatest Hits Album”. The record player was playing with the distortions of the old vinyl, along with the slight malfunction that caused it to bounce every three cords. Aside from the two V.I.Ps of the room, there also resided the dual feeling of revolt and desperation. The true meaning of the atmosphere cannot be described in a simple paragraph. The best way is to completely dive into what is exactly going on. The purpose is that we must completely emerge ourselves in the complexities of the story.
I am that lonely-looking man. The only previous information of this scene that you may possibly need to know is that this is a trip into an alternative world. Not meaning that you or I have walked paths into subsequent areas. The reason for labeling this is simple yet complicated. The people in the story are not necessarily the cream of the crop nor are they the average community of our social life. Now that I have mentioned the parameters of the characters that we are dealing with, I feel it important to simply transition into their story. This is a story I have gathered among my travels abroad. I have flown on the clouds and dredged through the mud. What I came out with is a compilation of sorts. This is simply one of those stories. Tales from Jack Saileys’ Journal Vol. 1 presents Disturbance up the Hill. Enjoy.
1.
The tiny neighborhood of Lime Bay located in Steelo, North Carolina was covered with the stench of failure. It was the sort of place where dreams go to die. The occupants are at the end of their rope and have no intention to crawl out of the hole of despair that they have found themselves in. With all of this known, it is also very important to understand that these are not bad people. They are merely the victims of their circumstances. They go to work at jobs that provide barely enough to survive and no sense of pride. Even with the bad conditions at work, they face the day with a crooked smile and move forward. They raise their children with hopes that they may merely find themselves in a slightly better situation. The stars are not the ambition of most. Well, except for the children. They have that glimmer of hope that could light up the darkness at the lowest depths. The street that acts as the gateway for the people is accompanied by only five houses located neatly around a cul-de-sac. As you enter the neighborhood there is a house at the entrance which is atop a hill that leads down to the before mentioned pocket of houses. Six houses are all that occupy this street and the nearest residence or commercial property is five miles. They are slightly behind the curve when it comes to renovations and modern technology. The fact is this is one of those neighborhoods that you will die trying to get out of.
2
“Hey Travis, come check this out,” said the chunky red haired boy.
The red haired boy was filling his attention with the notion that he could build a fort with cardboard and a couple of pieces of ply wood. Ply wood, which was rotting.
“Alright man, I’m coming, hold your horses,” shouted Travis.
Travis began running across the blacktop to the side of Jason’s house. Jason being the red haired boy had always been the more optimistic and adventurous of the two.
“Really, you had me run to see your fort of cardboard, I told you it won’t work. The rain will ruin it,” spouted off Travis.
“Listen, why do you have to be such a dream crusher?”
“I am not a dream crusher, I am a realist, it’s like my dad always says, “Don’t know why your bouncing that ball, your just gonna end up a ditch digger”, and that is how I approach every situation. Why shoot for the stars and miss when I could aim at the mailbox and hit?”
“Well, my dad always says that if you shoot for the stars then you might at least get the moon.”
This was a common back and forth between the two. They knew that neither would ever cave on the issue. Why would they? This has been engrained in them and they developed a thick skin for critiques. They were enjoying their summer break, well, as much as they could live in the depleted area. Their parents could rarely give them the things that they wanted but they often found themselves trying to balance between the dreamer and the cynic. That summer was a turning point in their lives.
“Did you see it last night?” asked Travis.
“Of course I did, it was right on schedule, right at midnight.”
“Why do you think he does that?”
“I think he is some kind of weirdo or something.”
“Whatever it is, we should make it our summer goal to find out why.”
“Travis!” shouted a much too old for her age looking woman.
“That’s my mom, I gotta go, but we will meet up tonight for a game, and I’ll bring Scott, ok.”
“Cool, I’m about to go draw some plans for our reconnaissance,” said Jason.
They were referring to the house at the top of the hill. Every full moon there is a scarecrow that is placed on the front-right corner of the fence. Every full-moon for as long as the kids could remember. Now keep in mind that these are nine year old kids, there memory does not go back that far but it does excite some conversation.
3
6 pm
“Hey man, where’s Scott?” asked Jason.
“He is coming; he had to clean up his room.”
“Ok, cool, so what is on the agenda tonight?”
“Well, how about we play hide and go seek?”
“I could do that. It has been a while. Scott hasn’t come out in a couple of weeks.”
“Is he still shaken up?”
“Yeah, but he will get over it.”
“Hey guys,” shouted the extra skinny dark haired boy with a green cast on his right arm.
“Hey Scott, how’s the arm?” asked Jason.
“It’s good, well it itches like crazy but it doesn’t hurt or anything.”
“So, this is the plan, hide and go seek, no boundaries, and no holds bar,” explained Travis.
Travis always likes to give out the game rules. It allowed him to be in control of something.
“Who is gonna be it?” asked Scott.
“I will,” responded Jason.
“What’s base?” asked Scott.
“Man, you have been out of the game for a minute, you know the sewer is base,” said Travis.
“Oh yeah, sorry,” said Scott.
“Okay, let’s go, I am counting,” said Jason with a huge grin.
The other two boys sprinted off in opposite directions. Jason closed his eyes tightly because he did not want to accidently cheat.
“29, 30, 31, 32,33,34,35, ready or not here I come!” shouted Jason.
The chase was on. The true test was not in the hiding spot but in the escape route. You always had to think one step ahead of the seeker. The game was going to take a serious turn.
4
10pm
“Did you see in which direction he ran to?” asked Jason.
“No, I just started running,” responded Travis.
“Scooottt!” shouted Jason.
“This isn’t good, I looked everywhere.”
“Me too, I gotta go tell mom.”
“Good idea, it’s getting late.”
5
The search for Scott Dass lasted for three weeks before the local officials concluded the worst must have happened. There would never be any explanation to the neighborhood children or to the parents about what happened. The only circumstantial evidence is that now on every full moon there are two scarecrows placed at the front right corner of the fence at the house up the hill. What does this mean? Nobody knows but I have dedicated my life to finding out why. This is only the beginning.
Disturbance up the Hill
The living room full of early 1990’s contemporary furniture was only occupied by a lonely looking man and the sound of the “Janis Joplin’s Greatest Hits Album”. The record player was playing with the distortions of the old vinyl, along with the slight malfunction that caused it to bounce every three cords. Aside from the two V.I.Ps of the room, there also resided the dual feeling of revolt and desperation. The true meaning of the atmosphere cannot be described in a simple paragraph. The best way is to completely dive into what is exactly going on. The purpose is that we must completely emerge ourselves in the complexities of the story.
I am that lonely-looking man. The only previous information of this scene that you may possibly need to know is that this is a trip into an alternative world. Not meaning that you or I have walked paths into subsequent areas. The reason for labeling this is simple yet complicated. The people in the story are not necessarily the cream of the crop nor are they the average community of our social life. Now that I have mentioned the parameters of the characters that we are dealing with, I feel it important to simply transition into their story. This is a story I have gathered among my travels abroad. I have flown on the clouds and dredged through the mud. What I came out with is a compilation of sorts. This is simply one of those stories. Tales from Jack Saileys’ Journal Vol. 1 presents Disturbance up the Hill. Enjoy.
1.
The tiny neighborhood of Lime Bay located in Steelo, North Carolina was covered with the stench of failure. It was the sort of place where dreams go to die. The occupants are at the end of their rope and have no intention to crawl out of the hole of despair that they have found themselves in. With all of this known, it is also very important to understand that these are not bad people. They are merely the victims of their circumstances. They go to work at jobs that provide barely enough to survive and no sense of pride. Even with the bad conditions at work, they face the day with a crooked smile and move forward. They raise their children with hopes that they may merely find themselves in a slightly better situation. The stars are not the ambition of most. Well, except for the children. They have that glimmer of hope that could light up the darkness at the lowest depths. The street that acts as the gateway for the people is accompanied by only five houses located neatly around a cul-de-sac. As you enter the neighborhood there is a house at the entrance which is atop a hill that leads down to the before mentioned pocket of houses. Six houses are all that occupy this street and the nearest residence or commercial property is five miles. They are slightly behind the curve when it comes to renovations and modern technology. The fact is this is one of those neighborhoods that you will die trying to get out of.
2
“Hey Travis, come check this out,” said the chunky red haired boy.
The red haired boy was filling his attention with the notion that he could build a fort with cardboard and a couple of pieces of ply wood. Ply wood, which was rotting.
“Alright man, I’m coming, hold your horses,” shouted Travis.
Travis began running across the blacktop to the side of Jason’s house. Jason being the red haired boy had always been the more optimistic and adventurous of the two.
“Really, you had me run to see your fort of cardboard, I told you it won’t work. The rain will ruin it,” spouted off Travis.
“Listen, why do you have to be such a dream crusher?”
“I am not a dream crusher, I am a realist, it’s like my dad always says, “Don’t know why your bouncing that ball, your just gonna end up a ditch digger”, and that is how I approach every situation. Why shoot for the stars and miss when I could aim at the mailbox and hit?”
“Well, my dad always says that if you shoot for the stars then you might at least get the moon.”
This was a common back and forth between the two. They knew that neither would ever cave on the issue. Why would they? This has been engrained in them and they developed a thick skin for critiques. They were enjoying their summer break, well, as much as they could live in the depleted area. Their parents could rarely give them the things that they wanted but they often found themselves trying to balance between the dreamer and the cynic. That summer was a turning point in their lives.
“Did you see it last night?” asked Travis.
“Of course I did, it was right on schedule, right at midnight.”
“Why do you think he does that?”
“I think he is some kind of weirdo or something.”
“Whatever it is, we should make it our summer goal to find out why.”
“Travis!” shouted a much too old for her age looking woman.
“That’s my mom, I gotta go, but we will meet up tonight for a game, and I’ll bring Scott, ok.”
“Cool, I’m about to go draw some plans for our reconnaissance,” said Jason.
They were referring to the house at the top of the hill. Every full moon there is a scarecrow that is placed on the front-right corner of the fence. Every full-moon for as long as the kids could remember. Now keep in mind that these are nine year old kids, there memory does not go back that far but it does excite some conversation.
3
6 pm
“Hey man, where’s Scott?” asked Jason.
“He is coming; he had to clean up his room.”
“Ok, cool, so what is on the agenda tonight?”
“Well, how about we play hide and go seek?”
“I could do that. It has been a while. Scott hasn’t come out in a couple of weeks.”
“Is he still shaken up?”
“Yeah, but he will get over it.”
“Hey guys,” shouted the extra skinny dark haired boy with a green cast on his right arm.
“Hey Scott, how’s the arm?” asked Jason.
“It’s good, well it itches like crazy but it doesn’t hurt or anything.”
“So, this is the plan, hide and go seek, no boundaries, and no holds bar,” explained Travis.
Travis always likes to give out the game rules. It allowed him to be in control of something.
“Who is gonna be it?” asked Scott.
“I will,” responded Jason.
“What’s base?” asked Scott.
“Man, you have been out of the game for a minute, you know the sewer is base,” said Travis.
“Oh yeah, sorry,” said Scott.
“Okay, let’s go, I am counting,” said Jason with a huge grin.
The other two boys sprinted off in opposite directions. Jason closed his eyes tightly because he did not want to accidently cheat.
“29, 30, 31, 32,33,34,35, ready or not here I come!” shouted Jason.
The chase was on. The true test was not in the hiding spot but in the escape route. You always had to think one step ahead of the seeker. The game was going to take a serious turn.
4
10pm
“Did you see in which direction he ran to?” asked Jason.
“No, I just started running,” responded Travis.
“Scooottt!” shouted Jason.
“This isn’t good, I looked everywhere.”
“Me too, I gotta go tell mom.”
“Good idea, it’s getting late.”
5
The search for Scott Dass lasted for three weeks before the local officials concluded the worst must have happened. There would never be any explanation to the neighborhood children or to the parents about what happened. The only circumstantial evidence is that now on every full moon there are two scarecrows placed at the front right corner of the fence at the house up the hill. What does this mean? Nobody knows but I have dedicated my life to finding out why. This is only the beginning.
