Finishing Up

Finishing Up

 

Chapter 11

 

 

Carl rolled out of bed. Standing in the middle of his bedroom he stretched and then quickly stepped into his bathroom. He was relaxed and happy. Everything had been coming up roses. Finishing up his morning ablution he quickly dressed and hurried downstairs; there, he entered the kitchen from the garage entrance.

 

“Carl, darn it, I’m never going to get used to having that entrance from upstairs”

 

Carl, by that time, had grabbed a glass and was pouring orange juice from the pitcher on the breakfast table. “Yeah, but it’s so much faster than going all the way down the hall to the other staircase.”

 

He sat down and sipped on his juice while watching his mother fix breakfast.

“Morning Dad,” he greeted his father as he stepped into the kitchen.

He watched as his Dad walked up behind his mother and hugged her, and then kissed the nape of her neck.

Turning, he returned the greeting. “And morning to you Carl; anything big on your schedule today?”

 

“Nah, just the last day of school, nothing big. This is really my last day of school at the high school so I will most likely be saying good bye to a lot of acquaintances.”

 

“Oh, Laura and I talked it over, and thought we would have one last date. Well not really a date. She’s giving a small party, and wants me to meet some of her friends I have never met. I think I’m being shown to her new boy friend.”

 

“Oh, do you know him?” his dad asked.

“Nope, he does some track and field. That’s not too bad; better then football anyway.  I swear it must be all that hitting on the Helmet that makes them so dumb.”

 

“What is your summer going to be like, do you want to go somewhere for a couple of weeks?”

 

“Nah, me and Uncle Rick are going to have to set down and do some figuring. We have been waiting for some free time and for mom to finish up the books.”

 

“I finished the books three weeks ago!” His mom stated as she took her seat at the table.

 

“Yeah, I know mom. Anything important I should know about?”

 

“The company is building up too much cash reserve. It needs to be put to work. If my sister Clara knew anything about business, I could show her these books and she’d never worry about going to the poor house. This last month you’ve sold over 10,000 units of Power Supplies at $1,800 each, that’s revenue of over 18 million. That’s with expenses of less than 5%; of course, we have had to pay the IRS 25% upfront.  That was after paying the state 8%. You are now in the position where you are making money from your money.”

 

“But that’s still a tremendous amount of cash in your reserve.”

 

“I really hate to distribute it as that just adds more to the IRS pocket book.” Carl said. .”Let’s convene the board of directors this evening, I suggest we distribute like $150,000 to each stock holder as dividends.”

 

“But I need to start getting ready for college. Dad, I will be in another state. I will not have ready access to all of you, my family. So I need to get an emancipation decree to allow me to make purchases and act like an adult while I’m there.”

 

His father stopped with a fork of food half way to his mouth then continued. “Yeah, I see. Are you going to live on campus? Or are you planning to rent an apartment off campus?”

 

“I need real privacy, I’m thinking of buying a house, but we have only a couple of months to finish all of that.”

 

“Well have you decided on the college you want to go to?”

 

“Yeah, it’s in East Missouri, the East Weatherford Liberal Art Institute.”

 

It got quiet for a minute, “Why there, son?” his father asked.

 

“I have no idea, except it felt right when I finally pinpointed it.”

 

“It’s less than 400 miles from here, south of St. Louis and Northwest of Farmington. So, I might have Uncle Rick to come with me to check out any house I decide to buy.”

 

“That sound like a good idea son,” his father finished his coffee and excused himself and left the breakfast nook.

 

Carl sat there in the quiet looking at his mother.

 

“You did not mean to do it I know but you hurt you father’s feelings.” His mother said softly.

 

“What? How did I do that?”

 

“By saying you would get your Uncle Rick to go with you to check any house you found.”

 

“But…but mom, Dad doesn’t know anything about building construction!”

 

“I know that and you Dad is smart enough to know that also, but it the father son thing. He would of appreciated you asking him. Then he would have suggested Rick.”

 

“Mom, when will I learn all of this grown up things?”

 

“Haw haw, never! If my parents were still alive I would still being making mistake with them. Your parents never think you are grown, if you can remember that then you can figure out when not to step on sensitive toes. And remember it when you have kids.”

 

“By the way any suggestion for the buildup of cash in the corporate accounts?”

 

“Well, diversification for one: Mutual funds, municipal bonds, treasury bills, no more than 25% of it in stocks. No utilities! If tocks in the auto industry then only the automobiles manufactures that are going big in electric cars.”

 

“Bring that up this evening; also keep a couple million in readily liquid funds.”

 

“Carl, what did you mean when you said that college felt right?”

 

“Well mom, I tried to use divination to find a college. It was real wild, all over the map until I define my question. I asked to find the best college that would be right for me and my future.

 

“Then it locked on that college like I fired an arrow at a target. I mean no hesitation at all. I even contacted that Homeland Security agent and asked him if there was any reason not to go? He looked a little surprise, and then he made a comment that got me to wondering.”

 

“He said kind under his breath, ‘we need to open an office there’.

 

[read The Novice Sorceress, especially before continuing this to part 2]

 

 

 

End Part I

 

 

____________________________

 

 

 

 

 

My thanks to TxAgBand59 for his editing and proofing help. But the final results are mine and all criticism should be loaded onto my shoulders.

 

© Virgil Lee Fuqua III and ‘vlfouquet.wordpress’, 2008-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Vlfouquet and Virgil Lee Fuqua III with appropriate and specific direction to the original contents.

 

 

Ready To Go

Chapter 10

Ready To Go

 

 

They had all gathered at Carl’s home that night. Uncle Rick, Aunt Clara and Peggy had come over for the meeting that Carl had called. Carl’s father had once more been called out of town so was not present.

 

Sitting around the dining room table, they all sat silently waiting for somebody to start talking.

“Well since I asked all of us to come over tonight I guess I better start the meeting. Today some people tried to kidnap Peggy almost in front of her school.” Carl said.

 

“The Homeland Security has no idea who they were. They have some pictures and a mixture of DNA. Even with them almost on the scene they were not able to stop them from getting her into a van and start driving away. It was only when they tried to drug her that her protection was triggered. That worked, but what happens when they grab one of you to uses as a hostage, trying to force us to do what they want?”

 

He waited, hoping that one of the adults had an answer.

 

“Well, Carl, can’t you put one of those wards on each of us?” his Uncle Rick asked.

 

“Maybe, but the problem comes about in setting the safeguards to prevent the wards going off by accident and taking out innocent bystanders. Let say they use some gas to just put you to sleep, and then they use an ambulance to take you away. They have not crossed over the threshold that sets off the ward. But they now have gotten you under their control.”

 

“One thing we can do is to get enough material to prove you are you, so that we can use it to find, or even transport you to a place of safety. Then, we set a ward on you that even you can’t take off.

 

 

They spent the next couple of hours getting the identification items together. First he took a digital picture of each one of them. Then he took the memory card from the camera up to his computer where his reader took the pictures from the card and stored it on his computer. He then printed two copies of each picture.

 

Returning down stairs, he then pricked each of their thumbs, and had each of them put their bloody thumbprint on the back of their picture, and sign their name in full across the blood. Next, he took a clipping of hair and finger nails and taped some on the back of each of their pictures.

 

He folded the pictures and placed them individually in a Ziploc sandwich bag. Turning to Peggy, he handed her one set of identification materials. “Peggy, hide these and put a real big ward on them; I will do the same here in my lab in the basement.”

 

“That way, we each can rescue all the others. Mom, as soon as Dad is home we need to get his picture and have him put his fingerprints on the back side. You get some hair from him; hey!, trim his toe nails.”

“As soon as you get two sets, send one to Peggy and get me the other set.”

 

With that he got up, and went down to his lab. When he entered his first ward at the bottom of the steps he could feel it; then the next one and the next. In the area under the basement he opened his file cabinet and put all the identification material in the bottom drawer.

 

As he started back upstairs he paused to read the Placard on the wall.

 

“You are entering an ultra top secret area as designated by the Department of Homeland Security. Trespassing in this area without authorization is a felony punishable by 20 years in a maximum security prison.”

 

Behind him he heard a beep and a flash of light for each step he took. Even knowing, he could not help but look at where the flashes of lights and beep came from, there was a closed circuit camera recording him. Looking away, as if to hide his face, he found himself facing another set of cameras.

 

These cameras had magic in them. They took pictures of the person on the steps and nothing could block their vision. The pictures were sent automatically to a server in Amity, Missouri. He waved as he continued his trip back upstairs.

 

Carl paused at the top of the stairs; there, on the side wall, was a file holder where his family could put things for his attention. Such as letters, papers or just notes to remind him of things or messages from people. It was empty; it was mainly a backup system for things that came up while he was gone.  This is where his mother would put his father’s identification materials when she got them.

 

When he reached for the doorknob, he froze. He had forgotten the ward protection for the family. He closed his eyes and leaned forward until his head rested against the door. He grabbed his own ward on his chest in his left hand, and held his other hand palm up. Visualization could be very important here. One, two, three and four items appeared in his hand. Straightening up, he continued to the dinner table where the rest of his family waited for him.

 

Peggy was setting there big eyed. “I felt that Carl! What did you do? You did it outside a circle! After all the warnings you have sent to me!”

 

Carl dropped in his chair. “I should not have done that. I’m sorry Peggy, but I didn’t want to tramp back down those steps sending more pictures to that DHS server in Amity! There would have been some agent banging on the door wanting to know what I was up to if I had made two trips down there.”

 

They set there staring at each other for a time.

 

“Yeah, that’s why I rarely go into my own lab at home now days; it’s so invasive. I throw up a temporary circle in my garden when I want to do something new.”

 

“I think of it as just another ward, one that is just a little more annoying than the others.”

 

“I did a full transmutation spell with materialization carrying a protective ward.”

 

Carl brought his right hand to the table and dumped the items he was carrying. He pushed one to his Aunt and Uncle. They were a pair of hands clenched together; engraved on them were the words. “In these protecting hands, my love for you will always abide.” With a twist the hands could be parted, and each person could wear one.

 

The set he pushed to his mother said the same. “I think Dad will not object to wearing his when he reads the words engraved on them.”

 

His mother removed hers and put it on. He watched as his Aunt and Uncle did the same.  He and Peggy stared at each other, feeling the wards as they snapped into place.

 

His Aunt’s and his Uncle’s wards were interconnected! He had not done that! But when both wards snapped into effect an additional element came into played. Their hands reached out for the other and he could see the glow from each join, as their hands touched.

 

Now almost the whole family was protected. If anything happened and they disappeared he could find them. Carl would have bet that his dad had enough things, photographs, hand writings and hair samples laying around that he could use to find him if he was snatched. The problem was that until he got the ward on his person, he could be physically harmed.

 

That night, Carl and his Uncle Rick returned to the factory to do the setup. The workers had finished the refurbishing of the interior. All the conveyors were in place; the only thing missing on the assembly line was the ‘energizer’ for the Power Capsule just before the two conveyers met. There, in the joining of the two roller conveyors, a person would pick up a Power Capsule from one set of rollers, and insert it into the Inverter on the second set of rollers.

 

The Inverter then would be pushed on down the merged set of rollers, where the next person would lock the toggles on the power capsule, turn the power capsule on to the selected setting for that Inverter, then give it another push down the line. 

 

The next person on the line would flip the power cage shut and put butterfly nuts on the anchoring bolts. Then, close the inverter top, and give it another shove.

 

The next person would use a power screw driver to drive the final screws shut. Then it was the tester who would flip the switch on the front and test the voltage coming out from the outlet plug.

 

The labels were put on the outside with the date and serial number on them. Then, the next person boxed the Inverter, and put the final label on the outside of the box. The last person then sealed the box, and set it on a pallet.

 

When the Pallet was full, a person would pick it up with a forklift and moved it to the shipping area.

 

That night he, with the help of his Uncle Rick, assembled the energizer. This was a lead foil blanket draped over the conveyor rollers. A person on one side would switch the finish Power Capsule to off, then gently shove the capsule through the covered energizer, the rollers had a downward slant under the drapes, so that the capsule would continued to roll until it exited the other side.

 

Inside the draped area there were two glowing balls the capsule flowed past. They acted as storage for the magic spell and released the spell as the capsule passed them. They simply instilled the magic that let the energy from a higher dimension leak into the capsules.

 

The energizer was locked to its location any attempt to move it would cancel the spell.

 

It took Carl and his Uncle Rick about two hours to set up the energizer and put the spell in it.

 

He had a hard time sleeping that night. He worried about the attack on Peggy and when the next one would come. He was anxious to see if the factory worked as well as he hoped.

 

____________________________

 

It had taken them almost four full weeks to get the factory setup and organized. For more than a week, they had assembled capsules and then disassembled them. They had done every step of the assembling process with all the employees working each station of the assembling; from loading the conveyor rollers at the supplies area, to actually putting finished product in shipping boxes. The only step that was not actually the same as the real assembly was the lack of the energizer for the capsules. However, the un-energized capsules had been allowed to roll through that stage as if the energizer was in place.

 

All of them, his Uncle Rick, Peggy and himself were sure that the real assembly would work. Their floor supervisor, Luis Gonzales, was confused as to what the final product would do, but he was sure they could put them together with no problems. After working through each station himself he was also sure that this could be a mixed gender assembly with no problems. The final station was a 30 lbs lift to a pallet and most women could lift that little weight with no problem. But he understood that it would be better to have someone with muscle to do that last station.

 

They had ordered a large quantity of different sizes of lift belts, and all workers that had to pick up any weight over 10 lbs were required to be wearing a belt at that time. Uncle Rick had held a meeting with the entire employee crew presents to explain that failure to wear a belt would lead to termination. He did this with a member of the local employment commission present.

 

He further pointed out the cameras all over the building that recorded all action on the work floor at all times. Then he took them to the eating lounge and break area, where he also showed them there were no cameras.

 

He stressed that on their time they had privacy, but on his time it was his time, and privacy did not exist. All workers, male or female started at $12.00 an hour; they would be schedule for 40 hours a week. They would be paid time and half for any time over 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week; except for 15 minutes before the schedule start time and after schedule stopping time. 

 

There would be time on job raises, and positions raises. Luis Gonzales had taken charge his second day on the job and began showing some of the others how to do the work on most of the stations. By the third day, he had paid so much attention to the things around him, that he could handle any station with the same skill level of any of the other workers, if not better.

 

Uncle Rick not being a fool, and knowing that they themselves could not be present all the time, made him Floor Supervisor. His pay went to $15 an hour for a 45 hour week. But only 40 on the clock, the remaining 5 hours could be staggered as he thought needed.

 

Angie Bikinis, their office manager, was paid the same. $15 an hour for 40 hours on the clock, and an additional 5 hours as she thought was needed. Her four office workers were paid the same as the factory workers, $12 an hour.

 

Each member of the work force signed an employment agreement to these conditions, plus acknowledging their awareness of the policy on sexual harassment, racial, national and religious policy. On site, no harassment of a person for his religion or sexual orientation; no solicitation for religious or political purpose was allowed.

 

They continued to practice until the first Monday in February. That was to be their first real and full workday. Carl, his mother, Uncle Rick and Peggy would be there to watch the flow of the work. First, to be sure everything worked and second to see if it could be improved. Luis and Angie were both advised ahead of time that it would be a real work day that Monday. So, they were jittery themselves.

 

Carl and Peggy had gotten excused from school ahead of time. So, bright and early that day they arrived at the factory.  One of the things Carl had implemented was regular breaks in the days work. They had enough workers to let some go for 15 minutes break twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon. With two shifts of one hour lunch breaks, helped by slowing the flow of the lines for those two hours.

 

The first thousand units finished had packing slips and shipping papers waiting. They were being sent to the research and development department of every major home construction company in the state, for “testing”.

 

They had invested around $300,000 dollars in property, insurance, and supplies, now it was just a matter of time.

 

There was not one construction company out there that could allow their competition to start exclusively building and selling homes with free electricity supplied. So as soon as they had tested those powered capsule converter units they would have to start buying them and making them the center of their all electric houses.

 

Now it was time to put his nose to the grindstone, the school grindstone. He had been coasting the last month. Now he had to catch up.

 

Their first day had gone so well he had to slap himself a couple of time to be sure it was not a dream. It was not. They had taken it easy and had completed 120 units. They had shipped 98 units. They had not been able to convince Fedhex that they had 120 packages at 30 lbs each to be picked up. If they did not make the required pickup the next day they would contact United Brown Trucks and see if they could send a big truck over to pick up the shipments by pallets.

 

They had a call that day from Home Workers; they had received the brochures Carl’s mother had mailed out. They wanted a couple of the power packages to test. The ones they were going to send had instruction for changing the power setting internally. The warranty on those units would be extended to resetting them at factory if they ceased to work.

 

If they set them up as a limited service facility, it would make them a much more attractive business dealer. They could be resetting the switch on the power capsule to double the power output of the packages.

 

“Uncle Rick, I need an electric car with no power package in it. Those batteries are expensive, and all that regenerative braking a waste of time. I need an all electric car, with disc braking system. Why try to make the car so different from a normal car? All we need is no internal combustion engine and all the accessories for the said engine.”

 

“Oh my god! Not only have you set yourself up as the enemy of all the major power companies but now you going after the gasoline companies!”

“Why have only 20% of the big businesses mad at you when you can have half of them?”

 

____________________________

 

 

 

 

 

My thanks to TxAgBand59 for his editing and proofing help. But the final results are mine and all criticism should be loaded onto my shoulders.

 

© Virgil Lee Fuqua III and ‘vlfouquet.wordpress’, 2008-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Vlfouquet and Virgil Lee Fuqua III with appropriate and specific direction to the original contents.

 

 

Power Factory

 

The Quantum Knight

Chapter 9

 

“Okay, can you throw a prototype together?” Asked his Uncle Rick.

 

“Sure; we need a piece of stainless steel, some Aluminum and some hard plastic.”

 

His uncle knew where everything was in the warehouse and came walking back to the work area carrying an empty plastic bleach bottle, A stainless steel mixing bowl and an aluminum wheel. Carl looked at them laying there on the worktable.

 

Carl got up and starting setting up the ritual; first he molded the bottle into a plastic ring about three inches wide with a plastic film that stretched over the opening from the center of the ring band. Then he shaped the steel into a half capsule. The plastic slipped right over the edge of the steel for about an inch, than locked over a ridge that circled the steel cap.

 

He held up the steel cap, and rotated the plastic ring setting it over the open end of the steel cap. Next he shaped the aluminum into an almost identical shape and size cap as the steel one. This he took, slipping in the plastic ring until it too locked in place on the ridge line of the inserted end.

 

Carl held up the capsule. The steel portion gave the capsule a substantial weight. He now rotated the plastic ring that was at the center of the capsule; it locked into one position, and wouldn’t move if you rotated the ring all the way right.

 

He made a mark on the plastic and a matching mark below, on the aluminum.

 

No matter how hard you tried it, the plastic would rotate no further to the right. Now he made a second mark on the aluminum and rotated the plastic ring back until the mark on the plastic aligned with the new mark on the aluminum.

 

He made it so that the assembly locked in that position until enough force was applied to rotate it once more in either direction; now he added one more mark on the aluminum. Now when the plastic mark was aligned, it locked the ring once more; this time it could only be unlocked by turning it in the original direction. 

 

He stood staring at the capsule, which resembled a giant medicine capsule. The ring would now rotate to three different positions locking fast in two of those positions. He rotated the plastic so that when the steel was on the bottom of the capsule it locked to the far right. Above the mark on the aluminum the word “Off” appeared. Over the center mark “Half” appear and all the way to the left “Full”. Leaving the capsule set to “Off” he did the magic needed to activate the Power Capsule. He picked up some rubber gloves and put them on.

 

It had just hit him how dangerous this could be! Next, he hooked up a voltammeter to the two ends of the capsule and set the dial to the 500 volts max. Then he twisted the plastic ring to half. The dial of the voltammeter went to 220 volts and hung there. All of them stood there looking at the meter. Finally Carl reached over and rotated the ring to ‘Full’ the needle flipped over hitting the dial stop then drifting back until the gauge read 440 volts. Carl looked at the capsule for a minute then it changed, each end of the capsule forming a flat terminal connection.  Damn! He needed a converter also.

 

“Peggy, do you have the design I came up with for the inverter?”

“Yeah, Carl, here are the plans you drew up that I redid with the CAD software.”

“Wow! The capsule delivers too much power! These designs are for low voltage like 12vdc to 120vac, nobody thinks about 220-440vdc to 120vac. It needs a heavy duty step down transformer!”

 

“This is too much power! My estimate is that it’s over 44 kilowatts. He moved his hand over the capsule and it split in to four separate capsules, each at one fourth the original size.

 

In fact, they looked a lot like heavy duty fuses. These capsules’ settings were 12, 24, 48, and 120 VDC. Now he had to set the voltages and mount them in an inverter for the AC current.

 

He began to work on another design for the inverter, using pictures he had taken from the Internet. Soon there was a small metal cabinet sitting on the workbench. It had a standard outlet socket for power.

 

Inside the cabinet was a squared cage; inside of the cage, he inserted one of the power capsules; the ends slid into the terminal connection, and a snap of the toggle locked it down.

 

He twisted the selector band to 24 volts. Closing the protected cage around the power capsule he used a butterfly nut to lock it closed. He closed the cover of the metal case and used screws to lock the cover closed. The unit weighted about 30 pounds. 

 

It had four LED lights on the outside, Red, no Power, Green Power on, than two Amber lights one over each of two levels. One labels said ‘110 VAC’ the other ‘220 VAC’. Below the lights was a selector switch. He turned it; the Red light went off, the Green and first Amber light came on showing the unit was set for 110 VAC.”

 

He carried the unit to the power room where the outside power had been disconnected a couple of weeks earlier, when he had installed his first power source. Uncle Rick turned off the demonstration power source, and then disconnected it.

 

The warehouse Emergency Power lights turned on, providing enough illumination to maneuver. Rick pushed the demonstration unit back and out of the way.

 

Carl set the new power source on the floor. Then he hooked up a cable to the unit, and then to the input connector outside of the fuse box.

 

Once connected Uncle Rick threw the switch turning the power source back on. The dim lights of the emergency power kick off as lights and noise from all the normal electrical function came back on. They had previously set up a multitude of alert sensors around the power connection.  If it over heated an alarm would go off alerting all of them Uncle Rick, Carl and his Dad via their cell phones.

 

A meter at the power distribution box gave 2,100 watts as being used in the warehouse. This set up was done with magic alone. But everything except the charging of the power capsule could be done and built by anybody.

 

While they had done no heavy work, the effort of planning, and using magic to make their prototype had taken a little out of them. Time wise, almost the whole morning was gone. 

“Carl, we need to stop and have a light lunch before heading to the Civic Center. The Aikido competition starts at 12:45.”

“Durn I forgot about that.”

“So let’s go, we can stop at the Henny near there.” His Uncle Rick said.

 

So that what they did; Carl left his car in the warehouse, and picked up his Gym bag. He joined Peggy and Uncle Rick in their car.

 

They got a quick lunch, Carl settled for a chef salad and some iced tea. Even though the hamburgers with French fries were tempting, he knew they would not have settled before his first match.

 

It was a lot easier Saturday then it had been the night before. Carl went straight to his locker where he had left a couple of things. This time he had to put on headgear protector, shin guards, gloves, foot protection and groin protector. When fully dressed he exited the locker room and headed for the auditorium.

Aikido was originally derived from jujitsu but was developed as a more spiritual art. Over time it became more involved with joint grips and safety of the opponents. However, over the last twenty years that had changed. Some blows were added and more intense defense created.

His Sensei had not hesitated to extend certain techniques. Currently, Aikido competitions outside Japan were getting closer and closer to mixed martial arts.

 

Carl approached the first Official he saw, “I am Carl Black, Orange belt, 16 years, 140 lbs. Aikido.”

 

The official looked at him and a sneer appeared momentarily as he directed him to the side of the floor. Carl did note he wrote his name down on a clipboard. Carl then went to the same area he had waited the night before.

 

This time there was a difference, no white belts. Half of the competitions waiting for their match were wearing black belts. Carl looked and saw that like the night before a lot of people were on the floor warming up.

 

Instead of going to the side, he found an open area and joined the warm up. By the time the officials called to clear the floor he was loose and his muscle felt fine.

 

Carl took a place almost at the end of the row of people waiting to fight. When they called out the first set of names they started at both ends. Four black belts and four yellow belts were the first’s matches. The blacks took the floor at the other end of the auditorium; while the yellow belts took the floor just in front of Carl.

 

He noticed that all the yellow belts were older than he was; he was probably the only teenager.  Two black belts and one yellow belt were completely eliminated in the first match. One of the three yellow belts who were still competing had won one fall of his match.

 

The very next match Carl’s name was call. Entering the circle area he noted that his weight was almost the same as his opponent though his opponent was at least 7 years older.

 

The official directed him to the Black ‘x’ and his opponent to the Red ‘x’  Carl had not forgotten the bowing, first to the judges, then the official of his match, then to his opponent. The official backed away, saying “Fight!” at the same time.

 

Carl’s opponent slowly moved forward; having only seen two fights he wasn’t sure of the best methods for starting the fight, so Carl waited, moving slightly to the side. Suddenly his opponent moved to grab his wrist. Carl dropped to his knees bringing the wrist down and using the leverage did a wrist throw. His opponent flipped in the air and landed on his feet.

 

Carl did not hesitate he was up and moving into his opponent who was turning to face him. His hand shot up and grabbed the throat adding pressure and throwing his opponent completely backward out of the circle.

 

“Black, first fall with a neck throw.”

 

Carl backed up and waited his opponent’s return.

 

It was becoming automatic; he blocked grabs and twisted wrists and arms. He took the next two yellow belts he faced with no falls lost, giving him three matches. He was the only yellow belt still competing.

 

His next opponent was an Orange belt. He used a leg sweep to take Carl down for the first fall. There were no objections so it must be legal. He had never been shown a leg sweep for Aikido. He stepped back and requested a conference with the official.

 

“Sir, I have never been instructed about leg sweeps in Aikido. So can I use Jujitsu hold and throws?”

 

“Yes, any holds and throws are legal from Jujitsu in Aikido.”

 

Oh well Carl thought. He bowed to his opponent. The man came across the ring flying. Carl jumped toward him and dropped to one knee. He grabbed the Gi tunic and pulling it tight, came to his feet, lifting his opponent into the air. Twisting, with a shoulder hip throw, he used his shoulder as a fulcrum into the opponent’s hip and threw him into the mat.

 

The official was screaming “Break!” Carl backed off and watched. An EMT quickly entered the circle and examined the opponent; finally the EMT help the opponent get to his feet, and shook his head. Turning to the official the opponent shook his head and almost fell. The EMT helped escort him to the circle’s edge where he stopped, and turned to face Carl. He bowed a full bow to Carl, who returned it with full respect.

 

“Black match point with one fall, opponent unable to return to the center.”

 

The official turned to bow to Carl. Returning the bow then Carl turned to face the judge’s table and bow.

 

By the approach of the end of the Aikido competition Carl had won 7 matches with the loss of three falls. By the last match, he was facing blue belts.

 

By this time it was late, so he was on the Black ‘x’ and bowing to the Blue belt. Carl quickly came to the conclusion that this opponent was very good. He went to both knees as soon as Carl stepped toward the center. This lowers the center of gravity. It also gives the person kneeling more leverage. It also allowed the person the ability to slide on his knees.

 

A person practiced in the technique appeared to float over the ground. It could be very distracting.  The match lasted longer then any other one he had fought. Mainly he was tired. But eventually he got an arm bar while his opponent was trying for a wrist lock. The both of them held for minutes before Carl’s arm bar gave more leverage and brought surrender.

 

On the last fall, he went straight into his opponent going to both knees in a slide that ended with a duel wrist lock.  Again his opponent was force to surrender.

 

He dragged himself to the shower and got cleaned up. Before he left the locker room an official came to notify him that he was schedule for the early rounds on Sunday, starting at 10:00.

 

Carl was worn out and just wanted to go home and rest. He thought for a minute of telling his Uncle that he had had it. No More! Nah, His Uncle would never understood a quitter, way in the back of his mind, was the thought his father would never forgive a quitter.

 

Neither would care a bit if he lost but to quit is something else. He knew he never would not with those two as living example of what men in his family were like.

 

Once home he took another shower and then crawled into bed. He had nightmare that night. He was constantly coming up to the ‘x’ marks and hearing the Official say “Black number three thousand and twenty-ninth match.”

 

When Carl got up the next morning he was as tired as when he went to bed. He could remember every dream he had. He could actually visualize each of them; see the holds and throws that he had used to win. Even the hundreds of grips, throws, and holds that he had not yet been taught.

 

At the civic center his Uncle Rick wandered into the locker room after a while.

 

“Carl, you might have a problem.”

 

“What kind of problem, Uncle Rick?”

 

“I see your Sensei, in discussion with the judges. There is a mass of officials around the judges table. I heard you name a couple of time. I think a decision is being made that he does not like.”

 

“Well, I wonder what kind?”

Carl and his uncle walked out of the locker to the auditorium floor. There he reported to the floor official to report in.

 

“Carl Black, yellow belt, 16 years, 140 pounds, Mixed Marital Arts.

 

“Awh, Mister Black, you must report to the judges table.” He waved to the side of the auditorium where the judges table was setting.

 

Carl turned and headed that way, his Uncle Rick followed.

 

Approaching the judges table he came to a stop and bowed. Then he waited. A short time later he was motioned forward to the table. There were over seven high level sensei setting at that table including his own. Sensei Inoue stood and bowed to him. He returned it.

 

“Mr. Black, many here feel that you are not fighting in you true belt level. I have explained that you were completely untrained when you started with me less than six months earlier. But most after seeing the two skill set you have fought in the last two days cannot believe it. So, the consensus of this board…” He halted, and looked over the gathering sensei, “You will be awarded the rank you have earned before you will be allowed to compete today.”

 

Carl looked around and all he saw was a bunch of people staring at him. He figured bowing would never get him in trouble.

 

He bowed to the table, then individually to his sensei. The big man in the center reached down, pulled out a belt and handed it to the sensei on the end. He took it and stood up. He bowed and said something in Japanese.

 

“Mister Black, the honorable sensei Ilyowk is proud to award you the brown belt first in Jujitsu.”

 

Carl was shocked, a brown belt! He expected at least two more years of training before he would even attempt to win it. Carl stepped forward and took the belt. He bowed and backed away. Everybody waited. He removed his yellow belt and put his new brown belt on; in jujitsu there are two stripes that go on a brown belt before they are awarded a black belt.  Of all the martial arts Jujitsu is the slowest to award belts.

 

Once Carl had put his belt on he bowed to the judges table and started to back up. The senior sensei raised his hand to stop him. Another sensei at the other end of the table began speaking. Once again his sensei spoke up. “As senior sensei of Aikido it is his duty to award a brown belt with double stripes to you.”

 

Two black belts came up to him on either side and undid his belt removing it, they then wrapped two thin strips of tape around the end of his belt. Then the youngest black belt replaced his belt and fastened it. They both backed off and bowed. Carl was frozen; he was now one step below a black belt.

 

His sensei dismissed him to the floor. He moved down toward the area that he considered his and took the floor to warm up. Then the announcement to clear the floor came. Carl turned and found himself in the middle of orange and blue belts, so he slowly walked up the line until pass the halfway mark where brown belts showed up. There were not many brown belts; just the other side of them was a mass of young black belts.

 

Carl slipped into the end of the row of brown belts with blues on one side of him.

He sat and watched as one after another black belts were called. From the other side the orange belts were quickly eliminated and they started on the blues. No brown belts had been called yet.

 

After an hour two brown belts were called. Carl sat up to pay attention to their skill levels.  With intense focus to observe everything he was shocked. Their skill levels appear no better than blue belts he saw fight the day before.

 

They seem to go through the brown belts quickly. His name was called. He quickly reported to the official and took his position on a newly replaced Black ‘x’ that had worn off the floor. He had bowed to the judges table as he turned to face the officials he saw  one judge nudged another and nodded at his match area.

 

He did his final bow before the match started and waited. His opponent was one of the brown belts who had lost his match but taken one fall. “Fight!” He attacked full speed, leading with a clothes line slash at his neck, but followed through with an inside leg sweep.

 

Carl was never fool, he went over the leg sweep as he went under the clothes line, grabbing the opposite tunic edge he pulled as he went around the outer edge of his opponent when he stopped moving his opponent was in a full body spin and left the circle.

 

The second fall was just as easy. He used a leg throw to lift his opponent but kept hold of him and dropped him with a shoulder throw.

 

They called the two remaining brown belt before he had returned to his waiting area. So, his next match was against a black belt. It was very unusual, half the judge’s table was watching; it was likely to be one of two such matches today. The winners of the brown belt match that was going on would most likely face a black belt.

This one would eliminate all the non black belt competition.

 

Carl came to the match area and bowed in. The official stepped back before bowing in and was exchanged with a higher official. Ensuring that we were ready he uttered the command. “Fight!”

 

The Black Belt moved on Carl like smooth ice. A blow went at his head, a kick to his gut, and then he was reaching to grab his gi. Carl moved his head an inch, his forward hand blocked to the outside and then moved into the hand reaching for his gi, he did an outside inside leg sweep and the black belt found himself trying to stand on his back legs as his body twisted trying to follow the leg that was going up into the air.

 

Carl grasped the body it touched his, and held tight. He used to it as a fulcrum to twist his own body around his opponent, then let his body drop with a twist. The black belt rolled through the air a three quarter of a turn then slammed into the mat. All the air in his body was ejected. Carl continued his roll and came to his feet. He waited a second to hear the official call. He began to move back toward his opponent as he heard no call. Then it came, “Break!”

 

He pulled up short and backed off. The official was now standing over his opponent then he went to one knee as he waved in the EMT.

 

For the first time Carl saw the offside hand of the official going up and down. He watched it when it moved sideways after a count of nine, he was sure it was a match sign.

 

The official stood and faced the judges table bowed. “It is a Black match point, full body twist take down, Red unable to come to the center.”

 

Carl had kept his attention on his opponent, who was helped to his feet to exit. The opponent turned to face him and bow. He returned the bow then rotated to bow to the official.

 

By the time the tournament was over, Carl had lost three matches but won at least one fall in each of those matches. He had also won three matches in which he lost one fall also. When his final match was called the judges table gave him a standing bow as he left.

 

He was completely dazed. With no idea what had just happened except it was considered unusual. His sensei came into the locker room to talk to him. He had not expected Carl to compete so his wins were very unexpected. After an hour of talk Carl understood that he should go now. That Sensei Inoue would give him his beginning black belt the next week.

 

The next day at school, a couple of the less abusive athletic came to him with the “Grats! Good job.” They offered him a fist bump and went their ways.  He was at a loss to understand until later when a friend of Laura’s sat down with them and open a paper to the sport section. There on the second page was a photo of him throwing a brown belt about 5 feet in the air being thrown by him. They had list how many matches he had won.

 

If that had not been too much before they got out of the lunch room one of the junior coaches came over to his table gave him a formal bow then said.

“Excellent performance, Mr. Black.”

Then he turned and left.

The first thought that hit him was ‘I will never be able to keep out of sight now’

 

They left the lunchroom for their classes. Carl had noticed that Laura was drifting away from him. They were not in each other pockets like they had been earlier. Leaving school together he drove her home, and as she started to get out of the car he pulled her over and kissed her gently “If you need me or anything from me let me know Laura.”

 

She stopped as she was pulling back and looked at his face, and then smiled back at him.

 

“I know Carl, you are my best friend, but I know that now. Good luck to you.” She turned and walked into her house.

 

Carl eyes misted up as he drove the short distance to his house. He pulled into the garage and then sat there for a time. Finally he got out and walked into the house.

“Carl, it’s unusual to see you come in this way.” His mother mentioned as he opened the refrigerator to get a soda.

 

“Had something on my mind, Laura and I have decided to go our own ways. We are still friends, but not a relationship type.”

 

“Oh, I am sorry. She is a great person.”

 

“I know mom. But it could have gone the wrong way, Dad told me to take it easy and let it build naturally. Well doing that let it fizzled out as just friendship.”

 

“Do you blame you Dad?” she asked.

“Nah, I could have let my hormones get in the way, made me think she was the greatest thing to ever happen to me. But she was not. She is a great friend. That is what she it.”

 

“Oh well I got to head over to Uncle Rick’s warehouse.”

“Drive carefully, get something to eat.”

 

Carl left his school work upstairs and changed his clothes. Soon he was driving over to the warehouse.

 

He was mentally planning the factory, he didn’t know what machines to put where but he knew the machine went here and the incoming supplies, aluminum and steel caps and the plastic rings would be stored here. Most of the inverters would be ordered as pieces and assembled in the factory.

 

He had been looking at a system so that no power capsule could be sent through the charger with the switch on. If they did that they would come out hot with lots of voltage and wattage on them.

 

Carl pulled into the warehouse parking which was actually inside now.  He got out of his Chevy and walked over to where his Uncle and Peggy were looking at some plans on the drafting boards.

 

“Carl, I think we have the block plans finished. Now we need a building.”

 

“Are you sure?” He asked after all he had just been thinking about this on the way over.

 

“Yeah, we have two roller conveyors that merge after the capsules are charged so the workers can insert the capsules into the inverters and lock them up. The Power Capsule’s assembly and charging is the simplest step. Steel cap, plastic ring and then aluminum cap and it’s finished.”

 

“The power capsules enter the charging chamber and then exit it fully charged. The two lines merger and the capsule are placed in the finished inverter assembled on the 2^nd line. Then it’s closed and locked shut. We have a complete power system.”

 

“A metallic label with the serial number is placed on it. Then it’s put in a shipping case and the second label goes on the case. We get our lawyers to apply for export permission.”

 

Okay Carl, I got a place that’s for sale right next door. Even though it’s not the best it is right on our property line and we can merge the two properties. So let go look at it.” His Uncle Rick suggested.

 

The inspection took no time as the building was abandon and his Uncle had the keys. After a thorough inspection Carl agreed that it would work; with some magic maintenance to the building.

 

Peggy was full of optimism, so as soon as all three agreed they shook hands on the deal.

 

The next day his Uncle had an attorney makes the arrangement for buying the other building. Carl made sure to clean it up and fix anything structural that needed it. Carl came in and used his magic to get everything ready.

 

His Uncle got the insurance, building and liability for both building in place. Everything was about ready. Carl made a duplicate power source and installed it in their factory. Then he placed wards on the building, properties, and vehicles, inside and out.

 

They notified the employment commission that they were hiring a hand full of office workers, and about twenty-five unskilled labors. The interviewing started on Saturday morning. It took them almost four hours just to hire five women to work in the office. Carl’s mother came in to help the first day.

The first employee was a fifty-five year old woman who had been fired after working at one place for twenty years. She got sick and had to miss two days of work.

 

They hired her to be their office manager. She was asked to stay and help with the interviews. Right at the beginning Angie Bikinis, the new office manager, eliminated two of the other applicants.

 

As she informed them, during a job interview the applicants should be putting their best foot forward from the moment they approached the business. The two in question were talking about how they really needed the job as their boyfriends were out of town and they had no way to call them, so  they needed a good job in an office with phones.

 

The rest of them just set back and watch her handle the applicants from that time onward. That was when the interviews starting moving.

 

Peggy and Carl had to go to school. So it was up to Angie, their office manager, and Uncle Rick to get things moving at their new factory. Uncle Rick had the new employees start to put the factory together.

 

He had ordered section of manual rollers so that things like boxes could be pushed down. The workers put these together they reached from steel cap storage to plastic ring storage and finally past the aluminum cap storage.

 

On the other side of the building the parts for the inverter were added to another push conveyor section.  A whole area of the power capsule assemblage was missing, as it had not been built yet.

 

 

Then the trucks started arriving. They had ordered enough parts to make 50,000 power capsules. The laborers moved the supplies into storage as fast as they were delivered. Then the parts to make the power inverter began to arrive as they, in most cases, were standard parts from regular manufacturers they expected no problem with delivery.

 

The final step was packaging it was very generic no flashy pictures, just data. Like the marketing for the devices, it consisted of the raw data.

 

Carl’s mother, mailed out thousands of brochures. To every licenses Construction Company in the state.  The brochures stated what the device did, 120—220 VAC at 200 amp, at 60 hertz, 44 kilowatts. The weight, physical size and the cost, $2,000 the final statement was the warranty, 50 years if returned sealed. Any opening of the device voids all warranty and liability.

 

At school Carl was having a much easier time socially then the previous years. He and Laura still hugged and greeted each other but no longer lived in each other’s pockets.

 

Carl also began to recognize the agents of Homeland Security. They did not try to hide from him. In fact they even waved at him every so often.

 

Then it happened one day, right after school let out Carl heard a loud explosion. A car passed him with lights flashing in its front grill area, another showed up behind his car.

 

Then his cell phone rang, he used the no hand system in his car. “Carl.”

 

“This is Agent Blake, Mr. Black, someone just tried to kidnap your cousin. That’s where the explosion is. We are headed there, stay between your escort vehicles.”

 

“Is she okay?” Carl asked.

“Oh, yeah our reports are that she had no problems.”

 

Carl and his escort vehicles pulled up a block from the middle school that Peggy attended. There were pieces of a vehicles spread over a 100 feet radius in the center of the radius Peggy set on the curb crying.

 

Carl barely stopped his car and ran to her. She jumped up and met him with a flying leap.

“Peggy, Peggy are you okay?”

 

All he got were grunts and whimpers as she nudged his neck. Finally she stopped and pushed back.
“Carl they grabbed me and threw me into a van! Then one of them started to give me a shot!”

“Did he stick you?”

 

“Nah, the needle broke when he tried to stick it in me.”

She wiped her eyes and a grin began to show. “I remember everything you told me. I never take my medallion off. Nothing dangerous can get to me.”

 

“Then the man tried to hit me. When his fist got near me my shields activated. There was a red flash and then I was sitting on the curb.”

Carl looked up at the Agent standing nearby. “What happened?”

 

“Just like she said we’ve been told to give you kid’s breathing room so we were closing in when there was a flash and she was sitting on that curb. The van no longer existed except in small pieces.  We are viewing the cameras that were focused on her at the time. It looked like her shields expanded instantly to about 100 feet. Hopefully we will be able to use DNA to identify who they were. We do have some photos.”

 

“Peggy you did just what you needed to do.”

_________________________

 

My thanks to Grumpybear and TeNderLoinand TxAgBand for their editing and proofing help. But the final results are mine and all criticism should be loaded onto my shoulders.

 

© Virgil Lee Fuqua III and ‘vlfouquet.wordpress’, 2008-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Vlfouquet and Virgil Lee Fuqua III with appropriate and specific direction to the original contents.

 

Martial Arts or Magical Arts

 CHapter 8

 

Spring Semester

 

Carl pulled up to the curb in front of Laura’s house. She leaned over the console to give him a kiss, and then jumped out to rush into her home. Carl hit the window down button.

“Hey Laura! Come over tonight and we can study together.”

 

“Okay, I’ll call you later to let you know, see you!”

He watched her hurry into her house. She was a great friend. If she decided not to come over he would get with his Uncle Rick to see if there was anything useful they could do for a couple of hours.

 

Then it hit him! He turned his car around and headed to his Uncle’s house. Peggy was great with CAD software. Her plans for the garden for Carl’s house were in his workshop; as soon as spring arrived the three of them were going to convert their backyard into fairy paradise.

 

But right now, he needed to design a factory that could build Power Capsule that nobody could duplicate. Then he would build a flying car! The Power Capsules would power them!

His brakes squealed as he stopped in front of his Aunt and Uncle house. It was Friday an unusual day to start school but with the shake up in the Department of Education the rules were that school had to start the first weekday after the New Year. So the best the school district could do was start school on the 2^nd a Friday. Peggy would love his suggestion that she do a sleep over.

 

He did not run to the front door! He moved a little fast but he didn’t run! Carl stood there for hours pounding on the door while holding the bell button down.

His Uncle jerked the door open, “Carl! What’s wrong, boy^”

“Peggy^ Where are you Peggy?” He hurried into the house looking for Peggy. Carl did not see his Aunt step into the living room as he headed for the upstairs.

 

“PEGGY!” He hollered at the top of lungs. By that time he was running up the stairs.

“Carl! Wait boy, she’s not up there.”

He had made it to the top of the staircase before what his Uncle had said made sense. PEGGY was not here, somebody had stolen her!

“Who took Peggy?” He screamed as he almost fell down the stairs. “Tell me! Who did it? I’ll reduce them to sub-atomic particles, and then reduce those to quanta of energy!”

 

“Carl, son calm down, nobody took Peggy. Its Friday night, the 2^th, tonight is the City Martial Arts for juniors tournament. She went with her class at the dojo, we’ll be leaving soon. Now what is wrong, that you’re flying around without wings?”

 

“Oh, I was going to get her to come over for a sleepover. I have some idea and I need her skills with CAD software.”

 

“I thought you two had finished the designs for the garden?”

“Oh yeah, got the plans, and put them away until spring.  This is something new! Hey Uncle Rick! I’m going to need a factory! I’m going to start making Power Capsules similar to our power supply in the warehouse!”

 

“Settle down Carl, you’re jumping around like a rabbit in a cage full of Dobermans!”

“Oh, sorry but the idea just popped into my mind.”

“Well you see, I know how to make a power source that needs no fuel, and will basically last forever. What I am going to do it make them so they don’t last forever. They will be simple, easy to manufacture capsules, easy to assemble and to operate. But, if you take them apart, they cease to function.”

“Each one must first be energized here in our factory.”

“They will be two halves of different conducting metals, with an insulator between them that acts as the control. Twist it; turns it on and increases power by one order of magnitude. The insulator will have a plastic film that separates the two halves. The whole thing is a farce, a distraction; it works because I will make it work.”

“I need Peggy to help me design the capsules and the manufacturing process to put them together. We will need to design and build an alternator to convert the pure DC current to AC with a selection of current and cycles.”

“Well that all sounds good, but now we need to get to the Civic Center. That’s where the tournament is being held.’

“You mean Peggy is really going to compete? Why?”

“Oh Carl, I know you were never into that competition thing, but Peggy wants something that says she was good, great or the best.”

“Okay, it was just that all those jocks always seemed like bullies to me.”

“You know, you could compete also. Your Sensei will be there, and can clear you as qualified. You did get the yellow belt for your knowledge of the Kato’s.”

“Nah it’s too late. I’d have to get my parents to sign the application form.”

“No it’s not too late. I can fax them the forms, they can sign them and then fax them back to us at the center. Just make sure you have your Gi in you car.”

 

Carl hesitated, and learn the meaning of the saying ‘he who hesitates is lost.’ The parking lot at the Civic Center was a mad house; hundreds of people filled the sidewalks. The entrance to the Civic Center was crammed with people trying to get inside.

He walked with his Aunt and Uncle. “Where do we go?”

They gave no answers; maybe they didn’t know the answer. But soon Uncle Rick pulled them out of the people headed to the auditorium. Carl at first had no idea where they were going, but finally spotted the signs directing them to the Tournament Organizers. They entered a huge office with dozens of people examining papers and charts.

“Yes, may I help?” asked a man sitting at a desk.

“We need to get an application filed and fees paid. I had the application faxed to this ofice.”

“Name of the applicatant?”

“Carl Black, 16 years old, yellow belt aikido, Japanese Jujitsu, Mixed Martial arts, Inoue dojo of Tulsa. ”

The man looked up at him, studying him.  

“Master Inoue rarely teaches the mixed arts. I hope you honor his teaching here today.”

Sensei Inoue was one of the few people outside his family to whom he gave his full respect. One reason was how he had evaluated Carl the first time they met. The man got up, and walked across the room, where a bank of printers was located. He quickly returned with the application that Carl’s parents had signed and faxed to the center.

 

Sitting down, he looked over the application, and then looked up at them. “Everything appears to be in order. Your class division in Jujitsu will be starting in one hour; you must report to the weigh-in area as soon as possible, fully geared up. Gi, protective cups and shin protectors. For mixed, you will need head gear, gloves and foot protection.”

 

With that he dismissed them. Uncle Rick, who seemed to know the place like his warehouse, led them away. Aunt Clara was looking all over the place. Uncle Rick dropped Carl off at the locker room, telling him they would wait at the entrance to the auditorium.”

 

The locker room attendant signed him in and gave him a locker, towel and a lock with a key. He charged ten dollars, which made Carl dig through his papers to find that Uncle Rick had paid the $150 application fee for three different divisions.

 

He put all his clothes and extra gear in the locker and locked up. Finding his Aunt and Uncle at the entrance way from the locker room, he handed his key over to them. At that time a man in a black gi with a Red Dragon embroidered on the back show up and asked for his papers.

 

“See that area over there? Find an empty spot, kneel there, and wait until your name is called. At that time come to your feet. Bow to the judge’s table over there, report to the nearest official, who will wear a red sash around their waist. Have you ever competed in an open tournament before?”

“No Sensei.” Carl said and bowed to the man.

“Hum that’s good and bad. You have no bad habits to unlearn, but you have no good ones to help you. The most important rule is always show courtesy. Bow to all official, bow to your opponent before fighting, and after winning or losing. A person who is always courteous is never dishonorable. Go!”

 

Carl bowed, turned away, and walked over to the area the official had shown him. He found an empty spot between some white belts and yellow and orange belts. He then took a kneeling position. He knelt there for a few minutes; then noticed some people stretching and limbering up. He had not done that! He knew that it was a real no-no not to have his muscles ready when facing an opponent. He came to his feet bowed to the judge’s table then turned to look for the nearest official.  Finding one watching the people stretching, he walked over to him, and bowed as soon as he had the man’s attention. “Sensei, I have not had a chance to warm up. My I do so?”

 

He looked at Carl’s belt then asked, “Which division are you competing in?”

 

“I will compete in three, Japanese Jujitsu, Aikido and mixed martial arts weight 140 lbs and 16 years.”

“Very good! The Jujitsu will be first and very soon. Go get warmed up.”

Carl took a position at the end of a line of people. Then for the next sixteen minutes he twisted, stretched and fell.”

 

“Attention everybody! Take your positions!”

 

Carl looked around all the people on the floor were exiting the mats. He headed over to where he had previously knelt, but before he got there, he could see the line was longer and the space between belts and white belts had moved down the wall. He finally made a space between the color belts and the whites and knelt.

The competition started, and right away he saw that they were doing four matches at a time. It was white against white all four fights. Carl listened as the guys to his left discussed each match near them. They basically tore down each of the fighters. To hear them, none of them were any good.

 

His own opinion was the fighters were fair. None of them would give him any problems.

 

The guy to his right must have heard his name, as he came to his feet bowed, then approached the nearest official. He was directed to the far end of the auditorium. Carl followed the fight as much as he could from his awkward angle. The fight went to full three falls. His neighbor won.

 

Carl watched as the winner was directed to another official who took the winner over to a table where something was done. He brought his attention back to his area of the auditorium. That was when he noticed that the whites were thinning out. If you lost with no falls you left. If you won one fall of the three, then you came back to the kneeling position, and waited some more.

Then those were called a second time to face off with one of the others that had taken one fall. This time, if you did not win the match you were gone. Carl was thinking that probably meant he be out of here quickly.

He sat up and looked around; Peggy’s name had just been called. There she was on the far side, darn.

 

They trained at different times so he really had no idea how good she was. He watched closely. She was facing a girl that was a little larger then she was. They bowed, and the other girl jumped her, grabbed her Gi and did a move into a hip throw. Just as the other girl went for the twist to lift her up on the hip, Peggy did a full leg sweep. The other girl was down!

Wow, that was good.

“Carl Black, yellow belt, Sensei Inoue Tulsa Dojo.”

He quickly got to his feet, bowed to the judges, then stepped over to the nearest official. “Carl Black, Sensei.” He said with a bow.

“Take your position on the black ‘x’.”

He moved over to where a Black taped ‘x’ was on the floor. There, 15 feet away was a Red ‘x’. Another yellow belt contestant took his position on ‘X’.

“Attention, this is two falls out of three. A partial fall counts as a half fall. You will bow, when I say “Fight” you will come off the ‘x’ the match begins. If you leave the circle it counts as a fall.”

He backed away slightly “Fight”. Carl had watched enough of the other matches to know the best way to go, was quickly engage. So he was moving as the word coming out of the official’s mouth. Then he did the really unexpected, Carl went for an arm bar. With that firmly in his grasp, he pivoted, and his opponent went down on his face. Carl stood there holding the bar, until the official looked closely at what he had and said, “Break, first fall.”

 

Carl dropped the bar, and stepped back when his opponent got to his feet. He bowed and held it until his opponent returned it. “One more fall by Black will be match, Red still needs two falls.”

 It helped keep Carl confusion down that he called him Black. “Fight” He had let himself get distracted and his opponent was determined to make up for that last fall.

 

Carl stumbled back as the opponent bulled into him, trying to push him out of the circle. He dropped to the mat and swept his legs out, catching the other fighter across his shins. It was almost a trip but not quite. Carl came back to his feet, and was on top his opponent as he came up to his feet. Carl reached over and took a firm grip on his opponent’s gi, with that he now controled the other’s movement.

 

It was a classic shoulder throw that rattled their part of the auditorium. Carl kept his grip until the official could see that he still had hold of his lapels. In jujitsu, the matches were almost true sports that judo evolved into. They were not supposed to let the opponent go until he was down. In Mixed Martial Arts, with that same throw, he would have let go while the opponent was still at least a foot above the floor.

 

After the match, Carl had to go through the paperwork. Finally, he was told to return to his position on the side. As he returned to his position, he spotted his Aunt and Uncle, so he went by where they were seated.

“Carl that was good! You were looking sharp and crisp.

“Yeah, how did Peggy do? I saw one fall but then they called me.”

Uncle Rick grinned and held up his video camera, “She took the first two falls. I got you and her so you can see them later.”

Carl returned to his position. The yellow belts had thinned out a bit; neither of the two mouthy critics that had been sitting to his left were there. He looked over the matches on the floor they were not in any of them. After kneeling he learned over to the contestant who had not been called yet.

“Where did the two motor mouth guys setting between us go?”

Looking over at him, he grinned. “Wham bam thank you mam, they are gone.”

“Wow, that fast?”

“If you’re not good to start with then it takes no time to be eliminated.”

Carl’s neighbor turned to face the floor once more. Then he got to his feet as his name was called. He was pretty good. He took the next fighter with two straight falls. Then he was back. Carl listened but he never said anything. No bragging, just good straight skill. He knelt there thinking about what he was seeing. These matches were in most cases just good straight skill versus skill.

Carl was enjoying himself. This was fun, stretching his abilities to the fullest. He was good, he finally admitted. The next three matches were breezes, even the last one where he was paired with an orange belt.

 

He had to keep telling himself don’t get over confident. One of these more experience contestants was going to clean his clock. Then his fifth match started. His opponent had an Orange Belt with two stripes on the ends. He was not sure but thought that meant he was about to go up a belt.

 

His opponent simply walked out to the center of the ring and reached out to grasp his gi. Carl did not wait; he turned the reaching arm into another arm bar, and forced his opponent to his knees. That was a far as he made it. The opponent grabbed his pants leg and pulled his feet up off the floor. Carl started falling backwards and the arm bar started to come apart. He twisted, sticking out his leg; it came across his opponent, and instead of Carl falling backward on his back, he was now falling forward into his opponent’s chest.

As they fell he got his grasp on both the left and right lapels. With a twist, using his falling weight he had a legal choke hold on his opponent. He exerted pressure. He felt the official who was now crouched over him watching. His opponent had one of his legs trapped under his body, the arm on that side was trapped under Carl and his right hand was pushing the collar of the gi to the right putting pressure on the neck. “Break!” The official said!

Carl let go of everything, and then moved carefully, to be sure not to apply pressure from his leg. He felt a grip on the back of his gi lift him up. Then he was standing upright and backing away from his opponent.

 

He watched as an EMT team rushed into the ring. This part of the auditorium got very quiet. Then one of the EMT held up his hand with a thumb up. They waited, and then waited. Finally, a bell rang and the official turned to the judges table where one of them was standing, pointing to his wrist watch.

 

The Official turn to face the audiences, “Black, full take down for the first fall.” He paused, “Red failure to come to the center of the ring for the second fall, match point to Black.”

Carl slowly turned to his opponent who they were helping on to a stretcher. Carl bowed to his opponent, and held it until the stretcher was out of the ring. Then he turned to face the official and bowed to him. Then he turned to the judges table where all five judges were standing and bowed. He was shocked as all five gave him a bow. He walked over to the table where the winners went.

“Is he okay?” were the first words out of his mouth.

“Yes, it was his own fault he should have retired with a slap to you or the floor. When you’re beaten, there is no reason in competition to take it to extremes. His Sensei will have a lot to say to him.”

 

Carl returned to his position at the side. There were huge empty spaces. There were no yellow belts left. He looked at the floor where an orange was facing a blue. The blue was playing with him. He saw the official was frowning at the blue. Then finally that match was over. As the blue started to leave the official called him back; Carl was close enough that he could hear the dressing down the official gave the blue belt.

When it was over the blue belt stumbled away. Carl waited, only an hour and a half had passed since the tournament had started.  There was some stirring around at the judges table. Finally they were calling names again. He watched as a blue went to the circle nearest him. Then he heard his name, but that had to wrong there were no more yellow or orange belts. 

He stood and approached the official that had chewed the last blue belt out. “Sensei, I am Carl Black.”

“Red ‘x’ this time.”

For the first time he didn’t get the Black ‘x’ to start with. He was facing a blue belt; a high ranked blue. The expression on the Blue’s face said it all. A look of disbelief flashed on his face, and then followed by one of distain.

 

Carl bowed to the official. Then to his opponent; he held it while the Blue belt just stared at the judges table.

 

“Prepare to fight Black.” The official stated.

His head whipped back around and finally he gave a sloppy bow. “Fight!”

Carl didn’t wait; he hit his opponent with a full body block staggering him backwards. It was not going to be enough as he stopped his motion toward the edge of the circle. As Carl bounced, he reached out and hugged his opponent closer to him. His right leg went between his opponent legs, and did a forward leg sweep while pushing him away. His opponent had one leg to support himself, and he was up on his heel. He reached out, grabbing for anything he could get, and caught Carl’s gi at the mid-point on the front.

 

He twisted as he felled, and Carl went with him. The pull rotated Carl, and he was going to land on his back. Carl brought his right arm down and locked the left hand of his opponent in his tunic. Then he added to the twist rotating his body instead of his back, it was going to be his left side that hit the mat. Carl did not have time to think. What was about to happen was not illegal. In fact in Mixed Martial Arts he might have even tried to do what was happening accidentally. But with all the angular momentum he was about to break his opponent wrist.

With a twist of his mind he cast a spell; the arm flexed and did not break. But it was locked tight and his opponent had no leverage to break free. He slapped the mat behind Carl. The official was right there “Break!”, “Break!”

Carl rotated his head to see the Official, “I can’t. It’s locked; I can’t release his arm.”

“HOLD! Both of you do not move.”

 

Within seconds a group of men were kneeling around them then slowly, they began to reposition the two of them. They in fact, had both of them up in the air at one time. But slowly they came apart. Carl saw flashing lights and knew that cameras were recording this for future examination. The final act was to slide his opponent’s hand out of his gi where the tunic had been twisted around it.

Carl stood facing his opponent as the official step up, “Red’s fall with a wrist lock take down.”

“Center!”

Carl looked at his opponent who was twisting his wrist around and around. He turned to the official and held his hand up; the official went to him and they talked.

Returning to the center, then official made the announcement. “Black forfeits the match.”

“Winner is Red”

Carl staggered around in shock. The official told him he was the only undefeated contestant in his division. That was it for the night. The Aikido matches would start Saturday in the afternoon. Peggy had won three matches, lost one, and tied one, which was very hard to do. He showered, and left his gear except his gi in the locker. The gi needed a good washing.

It was not all that late so they went by to get some clothes for Peggy, and to get a copy of her CAD software to take to Carl’s house. They sat around in his basement work area discussing what he wanted. He sketched out what the Power Capsule would look like, and the possible material they would be made of.

Then he sketched out the alternator designed to convert the DC current of multiple hundreds of volts and amps to AC at 50-60 cycles. He went on the internet and found where he could have stainless steel half capsule made. Then he did the same for aluminum. Then a plastic company that could make the insulator to go between the two pieces of metal. By the time they went to bed they had a plan outline.

 

At nine the next morning Carl was up and on the phone. He soon had a price per unit of stainless steel half caps. Then it was the aluminum manufacturer’s turn. It was ten thirty by the time he had gotten a price quote from the Plastic molding company. At one thousand units he could get all the parts for $33,000 dollars.

 

It was time to get his Uncle Rick involved. The two of them piled into Carl’s car and went to her house. They found that Uncle Rick had gone to the warehouse. They were soon on his trail.

 

When they told him what they wanted to do, he just shook his head. “You do know you are going to make a lot of enemies with this?”

“Yeah, that’s why I waited until I had it fully figured out. The converters or alternators can be built by anybody. But the Power Capsules can be made only by me or Peggy. We can buy the converter and install the power capsules then sell the entire package.”

“I’m thinking a small unit that turns out 120-220 volts at 50-60 cycles, will be just what is needed to run a household.”

 

“We can sell them at about $1,200 and make a real profit. Just the saving on electric bill will pay for one in a year.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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My thanks to TxAgBand59 for his editing and proofing help. But the final results are mine and all criticism should be loaded onto my shoulders.

 

© Virgil Lee Fuqua III and ‘vlfouquet.wordpress’, 2008-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Vlfouquet and Virgil Lee Fuqua III with appropriate and specific direction to the original contents.

 

 

, Sorry to all my readers, this is my first day home from 6 weeks in the hospital, I will return very soon.

the above

Off To Work We Go

Off to work we go

Chapter 7

 

 

 (Previoously)

Next Carl simply pointed and a stream of fire leapt from his finger and blew large holes in the rock face. Rock shattered, and the air was full of shrapnel. Carl saw more than one piece headed their way; without thought he stepped in front of his Uncle, covering him with his own body.

 

He felt the thuds as the shrapnel hit him. But he never budged from his position. When it was over, he checked his Uncle quickly to be sure he was okay. Then he checked himself, not a single piece of shrapnel had been able to penetrate his costume or knock him down.

____________________________

 

Carl checked his Uncle Rick one more time for any hits or injuries. There were none, he did not notice that his Uncle was checking him out just as thoroughly as Carl had checked him.

“You are okay.” Carl said with relief in his voice.

“Yeah, boy, I am sure glad you didn’t do anything like that at the hotel! What the heck was that?”

 

“First was the Light Saber; I made one better than they had in Star Wars. The Second was a direct fire burst from me. That was a surprise I just expected the fire to hit and splash. But the heat was too intense, it actually melted elements in the rooks into gases and the rocks exploded.”

 

“Carl, I would say you got some real weapons there. How many times can you fire them?”

“I have no idea, I powered them internally; the source is the same as those miniature suns I make. Probably forever, and I can jack up the juice.”

 

“God! You can’t let them fall into the hands of anybody else!”

“Here Uncle Rick fire it over my shoulder.”

With that he handed his Uncle the Light Saber. Then he crouched down.

“Boy I can’t what if I make a mistake?”

“I don’t think anybody can fire them but me Uncle Rick. So just point it at the cliff and push the button.”

With that encouragement his Uncle Rick brought the Light Saber up and pointed at the torn up rock face and pushed the button; nothing happened.

“Nothing happening!”

“Yeah that what I thought; the power source is internal to me.” Carl reached over and took the Light Saber back. He slid it into a holster on his belt.

 

“What about the costume?”

“It worked also it did not get a scratch, or even a nick. Then it absorbed the force and used it to anchor itself so that the impact was zero. Now that could be something the military could really use.”

 

“Nah, somebody would steal them or sell one of them. Then you’d have invulnerable criminals robbing banks. Things like that, you just keep for yourself.”

 

“How come I can hear you plain as days with that helmet covering your head?”

 

“It’s just passing the vibration of my speech back outside the helmet.”

 

“Okay, one more question, have you grown three to four inches?”

“I don’t know; I know I feel just like I normally do. I think it’s an effect of the costume.”

“You ready then, son?”

 

“Yeah Uncle Rick let’s go get the Caterpillar.”

 

Carl once more dressed in his regular clothes over the costume. They drove back to Ft. Smith and found the warehouse address that his Uncle Rick had been given.

 

He parked his pickup outside the door to the office and went along inside.

 

Awhile later he came back out and got into the pickup. He just sat there for a minute or so.

 

“Carl they insist that they have to be here when I pick up the Cat and all the pieces.”

 

“Oh, I’ve got an idea; take us to a hardware store.” He pulled his hood back and the face mask and helmet softened and folded up over his head and laid down his back once more.

 

They ended up at one of those giant discount places. Carl found them interesting just like he did that family owned one at home. They just didn’t have the feel of those smaller stores.

 

But they had what he was looking for, a thermoplastic heater. This would melt the plastic sheet into one totally sealed mess!

Due to the size and to make it truly ‘portable’ they bought a propane electrical generator to power the heater.  Then Carl spotted the plastic sheeting. They actually had a dispenser similar to Scotch Tape. It held a three hundred pound roll of plastic and had a cutter blade. It took a while but the store mounted all three devices on the back of Uncle Rick pickup.

 

As they drove off his Uncle Rick commented. “We need to buy another truck for these trips, maybe after this sale.”

 

This time, Uncle Rick drove around behind the warehouse to a working area where parts of trucks and cars were laying everywhere. A man came out as they backed up to the Cat. It was huge; Carl could see the broken window in the operator cab. The steel cage that had held the glass was warped and slightly squash.  The tracks where completely missing on one side.

He could also see that a couple of the road wheels the tracks ran on were missing; the spindles that were supposed to hold them were broken off.

 

“Wow, Uncle Rick this thing met the Jolly Green Giant, and he wasn’t feeling jolly.”

 

“That’s strange, that almost the same thing the previous owner said happened,” a voice spoke from behind them.

 

There, standing behind them was a person with a long mustache. “He went bankrupt and we got a foreclosure order before he could file. So we recovered the property. That was good money after bad. It cost a fortune to bring this in. We’re going in the red on this deal. But it will get it off our books.”

 

“Excuse me sir, but I thought these things were just about impossible to damage.”

“Son, nothing is completely impossible to damage. It’s just a case of apply more force. In this case the previous owner was trying a massive tree poaching; the trees were not on land he had rights to. He had been warned by the Indian Council that it was considered holy land. They even got a court order from a federal judge. That’s why we were able to get a seizure order before he could file bankruptcy. He was in jail. Not that I expect he will be tried. They transferred him to a mental institute for evaluation. He keeps insisting that this huge green furry thing picked up the Caterpillar and slammed it repeatedly into a mountain.”

They stood there staring at the man who had just told us this outrageous story.

“The Indian Council, just said one word, ‘Mundoo’ it means the Great Spirit.”

“You seem to be up to date on this Indian Council.”

 

“I am a junior member; I am three/quarter Western Cherokee. They get upset every time I attend, it’s my mustache. They hate it, it a sign I’m not a full blood.”

 

“I don’t go along with all the mystical crap that my ‘forefathers’ believed. But I went out there when we recovered the Cat. It was strung along the mountain side for about half a mile. And there were no tracks to show how it got where it was. We lucked out; there was a low level stream that we were able to get a crane and hauler up to reach the site.”

 

“So there it is. And now, if you have the cashier check, it will be all yours. You must remove it in three days. As it is, I will have to get our shaman in to cleanse the place. Half my workers will not even come in sight of this area.”

They stood there as the manager walked off. Without speaking, they started to pull the plastic sheet off the roll. Carl then helped pulled the edges up and over the Cat.

 

Taking a quick look around showed them the Manager had been right. There was nobody in sight of where they stood. Carl quickly circled the whole area where all the parts had been stacked. Using the chant he had used on the last Caterpillar, he soon had the bulldozer in one piece. Then the plastic closed in on the Cat.

 

They heated up the thermoplastic heater and Carl walked around the Cat blowing the hot air over the plastic. The thermo heater was just a prop, acting as a decoy while he chanted a spell. It was the spell that melded the plastic together into one huge shrink wrapped bundle.

 

“Carl, this is different plastic sheeting then what we laid out in our warehouse. Will that make a difference?”

 

“Uncle Rick, you have to understand, this is similar to exercise. You go to a gym lift weights, run, swim, and do pushups. Then you go out on a field and learn to play football, you can now run further and hit harder than if you had first come to the football field instead of going to the gym.”

 

“The more things I do the better I am at doing them. There are laws in magic. When you first start, those laws are very important. They act as road map showing the way, and helping you get from point A to point Z because you went to point B,C,D,… first.”

“But because you went to those points you now know in a mystical way where all those points are. You no longer have to go to each individually. I don’t have to have everything exactly the same each time. The  idea itself is now a symbol that I can use.”

 

“Everything here is sealed, nothing can open our shrink wrapped package. So we don’t have to send it now. We can call the package from the warehouse instead of sending it to the warehouse.”

 

“So, Uncle Rick let’s go.”

 

They put all their equipment back into the pickup, drove out of the work area, and headed home to Tulsa.”

 

“Well I guess all that costume and stuff was a waste of time.”

 

“Oh no, Uncle Rick, I’ve been watching you. You never throw anything away. I don’t mean trash, I mean like a broken part. You always set it aside to look at later. I have seen you repair parts that seemed to be absolutely worthless. So I have learned there is very little in life that is a waste.”

 

Carl called his Mom and let her know they would be later getting home. She had lots of questions, but he explained that the people in Ft. Smith had been very obstructive.

 

They drove straight to the warehouse. As they drove up to  inside door, Carl checked out the wards on the property.  There had been a couple of low level attempts to get on the property, but they been shunted off easily. So nothing serious had even been tried.

 

The lights came on inside, as his Uncle drove up to the opening doors. Once inside he turned and backed up to his work area. Carl climbed out of the truck and walked over to the laid outstretched plastic sheet.

 

Carl waved his hand and the plastic appeared to melt into the concrete floor. He walked over to the edge, and then began to walk around the plastic coated area in a large circle.

 

His Uncle came over and carefully avoided stepping within the plastic area. There was a flash of light, and a giant Caterpillar stood inside the warehouse. But Carl did not stop; he kept circling the area and chanting. The plastic slide off the Cat and flowed like liquid down to the floor. Once more a Caterpillar sat in front of them looking like new.

 

Carl staggered over to his Uncle’s office and found a seat. He leaned back and fell asleep.

 

“Carl, Carl you need to wake up! Let me take you home.”

 

“I’m awake; let me doze for a minute more. School doesn’t start until 8:30 I got time for just a little more sleep.” He tried to roll over and couldn’t do it.

Suddenly, he was awake. Sitting up he looked around. Oh; the warehouse, he thought. His Uncle was leaning over him.

“Wow Carl when you wake up you really wake up.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing you fell asleep and I let you doze. I cleaned the plastic away from the Cat and took a lot of pictures. It runs smoothly. I already got it listed on eBay. Bids are already coming in. The very first bid was $100,000.”

“What did you set the buy out for?”

“One million, plus $25,000 for transportation.”

“So let’s get you home. Your mother might be thinking about killing me.”

He didn’t remember going to bed. Carl woke after the sun rose still in his clothes, both sets, but with the covers up over his head.

 

Three days later while Carl  and his parents were sitting down to breakfast. Uncle Rick knocked and then staggered into the breakfast area after Carl’s Father let him in.

“Coffee please!” He begged.

Carl’s Mother quickly poured a mug for him. He gulped it down, and then held the mug out for more.

As he slowed down to sipping the coffee all of them were staring. Uncle Rick looked over at Carl. “Kid we did it!”

“Somebody made the buy out?” Carl asked astonished.

“No; the buyout has to stand alone for thirty minutes to be final. Somebody made it, and it was bid higher in less than 5 minutes. It finalized at 8:00 this morning at 1.47 million dollars!”

Carl sat there gaping like a fish out of water.

“Yeah, that makes you $700,000; I think you got your college fund.”

“Wait a minute Rick, what are you saying?”

“Joe I am saying that your son share of our last deal is over $700,000. Of course that’s gross, before expenses come out. But that was only $45,000, that machine was a busted wreck.”

“Tell you what; I’ll drop you off at school, and we can talk on the way.” His Uncle said.

“Mom?”

“Go ahead Carl.” She held up her hand at his Dad who was about to object.

“Rick, I’d like to see the books.”

“Sure Grace. I have to file a tax report by the end of the year. Quarterly reports are just one of the banes of operating this kind of business.”

 

They got in the truck and started to school. His Uncle told him that he had nothing on the burner right now, and that he needed to start researching heavy equipment junkyards. So, for the rest of the year, they would do minor construction demolition. Rick would put in bids at the lowest possible price; after all he needed no equipment or explosives to take the place down or to excavate a hole. In relation to the huge Caterpillar restoration work it was pennies. But they would have revenue of 25-35 thousand a month.

 

The rest of the time it was just school for him. They bought a new heavy duty super-cab with four wheel drive. The reel of plastic dispenser was moved to the rear bed of the super-cab, as well as the thermo heater and power generator.

 

In November, when the temperature really dropped, he built a power system in the warehouse that would supply all their electrical needs. Then all the heat was converted to electric power. In their secured power room, a small canister shaped device poured DC current into an alternator that made 220volts and 200 amps at 60 hertz. It would work until the materials it was made of wore away, in about 100 million years.

He dated Laura regularly; their relationship went so far but no further. His Dad had been right; they liked each other but it was not love, not the love that marriage and family was based on.

 

They were friends, and probably would always be friends. But that was it. He helped her plan her post secondary school life. She had found a college in Virginia that was one of the leading lights in the field of Nanotechnology.

 

She had worked hard and received notice of a scholarship award that would cover books and tuition at that college. Her parents would have to only cover living expenses though high these were nothing compared to the non-resident tuition and the books.

 

Carl was happy for her; but knew, though he would miss her, and she him, she would miss the college more if she did not take it.

Carl did not know where he was going. Just that he would.

The basement had become a laboratory again. Only now it was really esoteric. His protected area was under the garage. It had wards and shields in all six directions. The walls, ceiling and floor were all super hardened; Carl figured that he could explode a nuclear device in that area and not even shake the building.

 

One of his experiments was a floating device that ran off simple electricity. It was the materials which made it work. A tube containing liquid neutronium; this was circulating at huge speed inside the tube. The neutronium had such high mass that it had a noticeable gravitational force just by itself. Then the high speed rotation generated a gravity field at 90 degrees to the rotating tube. This caused the tube to float.

 

It was interesting, strange and very dangerous. If the container broke the free neutronium would expand immediately, generating millions of degrees and melting an area the size of Texas. For safety, he had placed a quantum trap on the device. If it began to lose containment, it would instantly be displaced to a neutron star.

Carl could not see any way to make use of the device easy and safe. So it looked as if Alcubierre warp fields were the way to go. Not that they were much better, he would have to release the method of his zero-point energy source.

 

By the time they made it through the holidays. Carl was glad to be back in school.  He had piled up his credits, two more semesters and he would graduate. This semester was all advanced courses. The morning sessions were at the High School but then he would spend the afternoons at the local Community College. He would start the next year Fall Semester full time at the Community College. Then transfer for the Spring Semester of next year to a senior college.

 

“Hey, Laura.”

Carl caught up with her as she stopped to look for him. They hugged and he kissed her on the cheek.

“Carl, you’ve grown!”

“Yeah it happens when you don’t see someone for a month. You look like you did some growing too.”

She did, maybe an inch or two taller but she looked like maybe an incher or two fuller in the bosom also; made her look ‘hot’, real hot.

She grinned and pulled her shoulders back.

“Yeah I know.”

“How did you make out for Christmas? I still have your present at my house.”

“Oh, my Carl you shouldn’t I did not get you anything!”

“Hey, if it was really about exchanging gifts then we would just be giving gift certificates. No gifts are just a way to say I like you I hope you like me.”

 

“So; my gift is not based on a gift that you might give me.” He hugged her to him one more time.

“Are you giving me a ride home today?” Laura asked.

“Nah, Laura, you’re going to have to run alongside the car; that’s a silly question.”

“Okay, why do you have that silly grin on your face?”

“I bought a car over the break. I turned sixteen while you were gone and got my license!”

“Oh my God, you didn’t!”

“Yeap got a Chevy Equinox.”

“Equinox? What is that?”

“It’s what they call a cross-over. It’s like half van and half car. It’s real nice on the inside. It has leather interior, navigation system and a rear-view camera system.”

 

“Carl you sound like it’s brand new?”

“It is! Bought it right off the dealer showroom floor, we did get a deal on it as the new models were already coming in.”

 

“But Carl, I thought your family was having financial difficulties from new home and everything.”

 

“Nope, a turns out my mother is a cutthroat when it comes to dealing. She made out like a bandit on the houses. Then I started working with my Uncle Rick, we do construction and salvage and restoration on vehicles. We made some good deals ourselves.”

“Okay, I just don’t want you getting in over your head.”

“Don’t worry; I actually have my college paid for unless, I decide to go to Harvard or one of those Ivy League schools.”

“Boy! That’s great! Have you decided yet where you are going?”

“Nope, I have a funny feeling it’s not going to be where I would normally go.”

 

“Okay, I am just glad you will be going.”

 

They stopped outside of Laura’s class; Carl gave her a peck on the cheek. Then turned and hurried to his class. It was like that the whole day. They’d find each other then separate, this semester they did not even have the same lunch time.

 

He waved at her as she was leaving the lunch room and he was entering. He had lost any aspect of his former shyness and was making new friends. So he was not lonely at lunch. A group of them had started making the lunch time a meeting where they discussed all kinds of weird things, since most of them were involved in advanced science courses.

 

“I am telling you Quantum Physics is bull!” Jerry, a transfer student, stated loudly and firmly.

Carl spoke out without thinking. “Nah it’s just magic which makes it hard for the straight science type person to understand.”

“Magic? See if a person thinks magic is all you have to know, then you know it’s all bull!”

 

Carl finished off the hamburger he had bought for lunch. “No that where you are wrong. Einstein hated it. That why he never was able to come up with a unified field theory. It was just too weird for him. So don’t get upset that you can’t figure it out neither could Einstein.”

 

The table got real quiet and everybody was staring at him.

Jerry, the new kid, was staring at him. “So you understand Quantum Physics do you?”

“Sure like I said it’s just magic. The same thing that apply to magic apply to Quantum Physics.”

Jerry pulled out a science magazine and flipped through it to an article. “Here; explain how this is the same as magic.”

He opened the page and held it up, ‘Quantum Entanglement breaks the speed of light!’ was the article headline.

“First; Jerry, do you know anything about Magic?

“Of course not, why should I?”

“Then we will have a tough time talking about the matter, it’s as if you will be speaking Chinese and I will be talking in Russian. So let’s get some guidelines laid out.”

Carl was going on autopilot, in fact his subconscious was fighting a battle and losing it trying to get Carl to shut up.

 

“Magic theories of almost all types have certain specific laws. The most important is ‘Do what you wish with harm to none; what you sow will be returned three fold.’”

 

“That part is one that a lot of people compare to the Golden Rule from the bible.”

“But the laws that are the operand of magic are:‘The Law of Similarity’ and ‘the Law of Contagion’.”

“What you have there with Quantum Entanglement is the same thing as The Law of Contagion.’” Carl looked around the group and saw that half had smirks on their faces.

 

“I have not even read that article but I bet you I can describe in general terms what the experiment consisted of.”

 

“They took something I don’t know what and then divided it up. Then they took one part to a distance from the other part. Then they did something to the first part and the second part did something they detected. Now the problem they have is that the detection was a time interval multiple times the speed of light from the incident at the first part. How am I doing?”

 

“You read the article!” Jerry accused him.

“No really, I did not need to read that article, they been doing these kinds of experiments every since the mid 1930’s, when Einstein first got involved. He called it that spooky thing at a distance.”

 

“He did everything he could to get around Quantum physics but it’s real, and a fundamental aspect of our universe.”

 

“Now we know the physics says it is. So let’s look at ‘Magic’ in fact the Law of Contagion, which basically states anything that has been part of another whole is still part of it even when separated. Think about that and now thank about the experiment. Two parts that act as if they are still one part, and react so fast that it’s as if they communicated faster than the speed of light.”

 

“In magic this law comes into play with things as simple as a voodoo doll, you take things from a person: hair, nail clippings, sweat or blood. Then, through a ceremony you combine these into a doll.

 

Now the doll uses the Law of Similarity, an object that resembles another object is that object. The Doll resembles a person so with that person’s parts in it, it is that person. What happens to the doll will happen to the person. Of course more is needed than that, but that’s the simple foundation.”

“But as I said, quantum physics is the connecting force that ties magic to the real world.”

 

“Anybody here know what Arthur C. Clarke Third law is?”

 

The ‘yeah’ outweighed the ‘what’ from the group.

“Then I need say no more.”

 

He stood up; took his tray to the dish room, and dropped it off.

After school, he walked out of the school building with Laura to the Student Parking Lot. Laura stopped and stared when Carl guided her to his car.

“Oh my God! It’s beautiful!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

____________________________

 

My thanks to TxAgBand59 for his editing and proofing help. But the final results are mine and all criticism should be loaded onto my shoulders.

 

© Virgil Lee Fuqua III and ‘vlfouquet.wordpress’, 2008-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Vlfouquet and Virgil Lee Fuqua III with appropriate and specific direction to the original contents.

 

 

No More Allowance

Due to the notice of some major grammar error and editing lacks this posting has been reedited.

 

No More Allowance

 

Chapter 6

 

 

In the morning, the first thing on his mind was that he was taking Laura on a date that night. He picked up his clothes from the night before and remembered his Uncle Rick had him sign a receipt for some money. There it was in his pocket two hundred dollars in twenties. He had been so tired last night he had been lucky to find his pockets to put the money in.

 

Today, he got his billfold out and put the money away. He felt good, so he got out a pair of dressy casual slacks and a matching polo shirt. After adding a light windbreaker he was ready. His homework was in the printer output tray. He picked it up, folded it carefully, and placed it in his backpack.

 

In the breakfast nook off the kitchen, he sat down as his mother set a plate of food in front of him.

“You’re looking nice today Carl.”

“Thanks Mom.”

“What’s up for day?”

“The furniture delivery is coming today, a lot of it. You’re getting a new bed set, a computer workstation for your PC, printer and scanner. I want to put a table and a couple of easy chairs in there, too. Some book cases, and also a large screen TV.”

“But Mom, can we afford it?”

“Yes dear, we have made out like bandits these last couple of weeks. Turns out that our insurance company had received certified copies of all the state and federal inspection of our home. That was before they denied us our money.”

 

“When the attorney your dad was talking to in Tulsa heard that. he filed a law suit for fraudulent practice. They have agreed to a full payment plus 25% as penalty. The lawyer said he settled for the penalty. So we got the full amount, paying off the mortgage took less than a third of the payment, so we got two-thirds of the insurance money as ours. “

 

“Then there’s the fact that our new house payment is forty percent of what we had been to paying! We are actually making money off the old house. Oh, we are carrying enough insurance to actually rebuild this house if anything happens to it; plus renter insurance on our personal property.”

 

“Well I guess that’s good. Ehg Mom.”

His mother turned to look at him then she grinned. “Tonight is you date night right?”

“Yeah, it is.” He answered distracted for a minute.”

 

“Well, then I know we forgot to give you your allowance this last month. I will have it for you when you get home tonight.”

“Mom, that not what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh, what then?”

 

“Uncle Rick had me signed for some money last night. He gave me two hundred dollars.”

 

His mother stood there for a moment then she turned the stove off and set her cooking utensils down. Then she pulled out her cell phone and pushed a speed dial button.

 

“Clara, I need to speak with Rick is he there?—- Hi Rick, Carl was just telling me that you gave him two hundred dollars last night.— Okay we’ll wait.” She hung up the cell phone slipping it back into her pants pocket.

 

“Your Uncle Rick said he’d be right over. I don’t like that. It seems as if he doesn’t want Clara to hear what he has to say.”

 

“Well Mom gets your food over here and eats. That is one thing out of the way when he arrives.”

“Where is dad?”

“He left early wants to get to work early so he can make sure everything in his office is done, and leave early. Then we’ll be free to help you out tonight.”

 

They sat quietly finishing up their breakfast and then clearing the table and stove. Then she made a pot of coffee. The front doorbell rang and Carl went to answer it. He let his Uncle in the house. Uncle Rick looked like he always did.

 

“Grace you are looking good.” He pecked her on the cheek. Then he looked back at Carl. “You too kid, very good.”

Mom directed them to the den where she had a table and three chairs waiting. She sat down and waited for us to sit. “Okay, Rick what is up?”

 

“Grace, nothing really it’s just that Clara does not understand business. Every since we’ve been married, she acts like we are going to end up in the poor house any day. I have tried to explain what I do, and how much I make, but every time she hears I spent a thousand here or there she has a fit!”

 

“Well why do you spend a thousand here and there anyway?”

“To make more thousands, there and more here.”

 

“Listen Grace, last night I picked up a Caterpillar Excavator, I spent like $20,000 dollars for it; that’s salvage value for metal price. By that, I mean if I take it apart I can get that much out of it for parts and just the metal. But that’s not what I do. I will spend even more money to get it up and running. My plan was to sell it for around $60,000; I would double the money I spent.”

 

“But that not what I’m going to do now. I placed a picture of the machine on eBay last night, with a quick buy price of $150,000. It was taken as of 8:00 this morning.

 

“Okay, but my question has to do with you giving Carl here two hundred dollars last night.”

 

“I did not give him two hundred dollars. I let him draw on his earnings, two hundred dollars. You see he’s the reason I got $150,000 this morning for the machine. He moved the Cat to the warehouse last night that was a $2,500 dollar job by itself. And I would have been lucky to get it done for that amount!”

“Then he saved me another $10,000 I had earmarked for fixing up the Cat. Instead of getting $60,000 I made $90,000 more than I planned. So I take out the expense of $25,000, I made a $125,000 dollars; the papers you signed the other day made him a minor partner in a LLC; he gets 49% I get 51%, so let’s just say he has $61,000 dollars he has earned and last night he drew out $200.”

 

“Are you joking Rick?”

 

“No; I could never explain this over the phone with Clara behind me screaming about going to the poor house. Carl, every time I do a deal like this I have set 10% aside in a trust for Peggy when she turns 18. So last night you made like $6,250 for Peggy and she doesn’t even know it.”

 

“Now, anything else Grace?”

“No I guess not Rick.”

“Well I’ve got to run; the haulers will be at the warehouse by 10:30 to pick up the Cat.”

 

Carl was sitting there with a slight case of shock. He had made $61,000 last night. He had thought two hundred was a lot of money.

 

“Well, Carl, it looks like your days of getting an allowance are over.” his mother said.

 

“Mom! What am I going to do with that kind of money?”

“Now? Save it. Your Uncle spent $20,000 up front to get the chance to make more money. I understand why Clara is scared. She has never understood anything about business.”

 

“Now, some of your money will be used for the next purchase of things to sale. If it costs $20,000, then $10,000 will come from your $61,000 so you will only have $40,000 left to draw on. I remember now what the bylaws said. He took the first risk for the company but now you will share equally in the risk and rewards.”

“Also, there will be money there to buy your car when you get a license.”

“Oh Wow my own car!”

“Carl have you ever heard the expression that ‘Money talks but doesn’t sang or dance’?”

“No Mom, what does that means?” Absently as he visualized the car he would buy.

“Well, you can imagine the attention if money jumped up and started singing and dancing down the streets. Soon everybody would be out there trying to grab it. So money doesn’t sing or dance, it does not attract attention to itself. So when you buy a car, you do not buy one that everybody will look at and point at. A nice strong and safe car is what you will buy.”

“Oh Mom!”

She sat there looking at Carl.

He slowly began to nod his head. “Let’s get you to school”, She said.

 

_____________________________

 

It was a nice day in school. No dumb jocks, easy lessons that he sailed through, and Laura everywhere he went; a very nice day. Today the Physics teacher’s lecture was over speculation in Physics. Carl noted the fields he mentioned, warp fields, anti-gravity, lasers, Quantum entanglement, and Casimir effects almost all of which he had used with his ‘magic’.

 

One of the things he had found out about Laura was she was just as enthused with science as he was. She was more into chemistry than Physics, but saw that in some ways they were connected. Chemicals were held together by physics principles. And the field she was interested in was Nanotechnology.

That was almost the ultimate merging of Chemistry and Physics.

 

As they were waiting for his mother to pick them up, one of the juniors that played football came over to the bench they were sitting on.

“Are you Carl Black?”

Carl looked the guy over; he had seen him around mainly at Pep rally before a game. He was not as obnoxious as other members of the team.

“Yes, that me.”

“Guy, listen I’m not here; some of the other guys are blaming you for losing our first string offensive line. There’s talk that they are going to get even. So be careful.”

With that he turned and walked away.

“Carl? What was that about?”

“Remember those guys who fell down and got suspended from school. That was our first string offensive line. They jumped me earlier in the year before we really met.”

 

“They were going to try it again in the hall there when they lost their pants. They are blaming me for their suspension.”

 

“That’s crazy!” Laura said.

“Yes it is, but then, so are they. It must be from hitting their heads so much playing football.”

 

His mother drove up then so they quit talking about primitive primates.

 

That evening his mother drove him to pick up Laura at her house. He got out of the car; and walked up to the door, and rang the bell.

The door opened and a very large man stood there looking him over.

“Are you Carl? Come in.” he stepped out of the way.

Carl stepped past him as he closed the door behind them. Laura came tripping into the room/

“Carl, you’re looking good!”

“Laura, that’s what I’m supposed to say to you. Now it will look like I’m imitating you. But Laura, you are looking great.”

She was looking great; the dress wasn’t as fancy as a party dress, but it was very nice. She was wearing a light coat of makeup. In her hand, she carried a clutch purse and a light sweater in case the night got too chilly, which it would soon. It was mid fall, and the weather fluctuated from warm to chill day to day.

 

As he escorted her to the door, her mother called from behind them. “Let me see you one more time.”

They turned and her mother took their picture.

“Have fun but be careful.” Her father said as he close the door behind them.

 

His Mom drove them to Tucks, where Carl had made reservations. Tucks was a very nice restaurant that specialized in American food. Nowhere as upscale as La Chevez, or Gutenfuze, two restaurants that specialized in European style cooking.

He knew from their conversation that Laura loved seafood, so he was sure she would like the food they served here.

 

Carl didn’t really notice his food, he simply ate it while talking with Laura. He knew he had ordered a seafood platter that was almost like a plate of appetizers.

Then his phone beeped; he had forgotten about his new cell phone. Pulling it out Carl answered it.

“Carl, your dad here, I’m heading your way.”

“Thanks Dad!”

He looked around; the plates had been removed and all that remain on the table were their drink glasses.

A folder was sitting right next to him. He opened it and looked at the ticket. Egh! The meal came to $33.95. He pulled his wallet out and put two twenties inside the folder.

 

“My Dad is on the way to take us to the movies. So I guess we should go out front and wait for him.”

 

With that, he stood, and pulled her chair out so that she could stand up. As he shoved the chair back under the table, he noticed the smiles on people’s faces all around the dining room. One elderly lady was almost grinning she winked at him and nodded.

 

The waitress appeared and opened the folder seeing the two twenties, she smiled also.

“Hope you had a great time, please come again.”

 

They stepped outside the restaurant and he helped her slip her sweater on. The temperature had dropped, and a light breeze was blowing. His Dad drove his car up in front of them.

 

Newton theatre was the main one in their part of the metropolex. People, and on Friday, a lot of teenagers came from all the small towns around Tulsa to this complex. It had twenty screens so there were a lot of choices. Few people even worried about what they were going to see until they arrived. That meant lots of lines not moving as people examine the marquee to see what was showing.

 

It hit Carl at that moment; they had never discussed the movies they liked. He did not think she would like the action type that he did. He reached over and grasped her hand where it rested on his arm.

“Well Laura, what are we going to see?”

“That is going to be a hard choice they are showing four older movies, plus eight new ones. I didn’t get to see that ‘Easy A’ when it first came out. Nor the ‘Let Me In!’”

“Well the ‘Easy A’ is humorous but ‘Let Me In’ is a vampire movie, and not one of the romantic ones.”

“Ehg, no not that then, well we could see one of the new ones.”

Carl started to smile. “Did you see the ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ when it came out?”

“No I didn’t.”

“So then let see it. Then later, we can rent the DVD of the ‘Easy A’ and sometime see it at my house.” Carl said.

“Okay let do that.”

Carl led her to the empty space in front of the ticket window. He was putting a twenty in the slot as he said “Two for Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” At that moment, he got shoved completely into Laura and almost knocked her down.

 

Helping her to stand upright, he turned and spotted the three football players smirking at him. He stepped in front of Laura. Leaning toward the box office slot he said.

“Get the manager and call the police; I’m charging these three with assault and attempting to rob me. Your cameras should show it all.”

“What!” The one in front screamed. “You attacked us.”

“Oh, I just stepped up here, ordered two tickets, handed my money to the person behind the window, and then assaulted you by falling on my girl friend here. Yeah. That’s very believable. They’ll want to run drug tests on you three. It’s obvious that you’re doped out of your minds.”

The door behind the booth open and a man wearing a suit stepped in. He looked at Carl and the girl gripping his arm. Then he looked at the three hulks glaring at him. Nobody outside the booth could hear what he and the clerk was saying. Then he turned and exited the booth; then he came out the theater door.

He did not even look at Carl, but stepped right up to the three football players.

“The whole business of attacking this customer from his rear is recorded. The police are on the way. When you did that he had his wallet in his hand and had just placed money in the slot. Let me tell you what it looked like on the play back; it looked like you were attacking him to rob him. Now, if you look behind you, that’s Sgt. Wilson; he is our night security, he is also an off duty police officer, so I would not make anymore moves if I were you.”

 

“You three! Hands on your head then slowly kneel. You will maintain that position until those police cars you hear in the distance get here.”

 

The manager said one more thing to them.

“Your pictures will be printed up and posted in every box office in the metropolex as ‘Unwanted in Theatre’. So don’t come back. This is official notice you will be charged with unlawful trespassing if you are found on Theatre property in the future.”

 

He turned to Carl and handed him the two tickets. They entered the theatre.

“Laura I’m sorry, I never expected anything like that.”

“Carl, you have nothing to apologize for, it was those apes that were in the wrong.”

Carl examined his tickets; there were two additional coupons behind the tickets. Free sodas and popcorn!

 

The movie was absolutely silly, stupid and very funny. They laughed and joke, drinked their sodas and ate their popcorn. Carl had an amazing time. Then at the end he turned to Laura and bend to kiss her forehead. She would have nothing to do with that, as her arms went around his neck and pulled him down to her mouth. At first it was tentatively feeling around with their lips, but finally they got fitted together.

 

The world went away. The hugged each other, holding their kiss for what seemed like forever. Finally, Carl felt a nudge on his shoulder and broke his kiss looking around the auditorium was lit up and one of the ushers was grinning at him.

“Sorry, but we have to clean up for the midnight show.”

“Midnight shows? MIDNIGHT?” He quickly checked his watch and saw that the time was 11:20. “Oh my god, Laura it’s almost 11:30. My Dad must be looking for us.”

 

They got out of their seat and hurried to the lobby. There standing at the front, his Dad was talking to the manager.

 

“Sorry Dad we kind of fell asleep in there. The Usher just woke us up so he could clean the place up.”

 

The manager had turned when Carl had begun speaking to his Dad and was now standing there with a grin on his face.

 

“Yes, I have seen that happen a lot in my Career. People fall asleep all the time.”

His Dad looked at him with a question on his face, then he looked at Laura and his eyebrows rose. Carl then looked at Laura in the light and choked. Her lipstick was smeared all over her face. He did not hesitate but rotated her around and walked her to the ladies room. She gave him a funny looked but went into the restroom.

 

A minute later he heard a loud ‘eek’ from inside. When she finally came back out she had wiped all of the lipstick and smoothed her makeup around. Her face was a little red, but she then handed him a couple of damp hand wipes.

“Wipe your face off.” She said.

Carl did not hesitate, he began scrubbing at his face.

They then turned and rejoined his father who was still talking with the manager.

“Come again soon.” The manager said as they exited the theatre.

 

His Dad drove up in front of Laura house at 11:40. Carl got out walked her to the door. As they stepped up to the door it opened, and her father stood there with a frown on his face.

“Sir, I am sorry, but we got out late at the theatre. I didn’t know how late until we were in my Dad’s car an on the way.”

He looked him over and then looked Laura over; her father noted how she was clinging to his arm for support.

“Next time call. We were getting worried.”

“Yes sir, I will need to get your home phone numbers and cell numbers so we will never be out of touch.”

“Good Idea.” He turned and walked further into the house, leaving them in the doorway.

Laura turned and grabbed his neck to once more give him a real kiss. This time Carl kept his awareness and broke the kiss with a big smile.

“See you later Laura!”

He skipped all the way back to his father’s car.

“Carl, I know you will not want to listen but please do. Take it easy. Both of you are new at this. So don’t push and don’t be pushed. Let it come easy don’t let hormones and lust get in the way of a great friendship. Think! Life is a long road; you sure don’t want to start down the wrong path. Remember, it’s her life too.”

 

“Egh, I am not sure what you are saying.”

“Okay, if you continue to see Laura, and go out with her, you’re going to have a lot of alone time with her. Kissing and petting can lead you further and further into doing more things. Remember it’s both of your responsibility to be sure that both of you are protected. You never leave the house without a condom.”

 

“I will talk to your mother who I am sure will talk to your young lady.”
“Aw Dad…”

“Don’t worry, your mother will just love doing this, she always wanted a second child; a girl, in fact.”

Carl kept his mouth shut; he remembered the conversation in the Hospital when she told the Homeland Agents she could not have another child.

 

Saturday morning he was up early, for him, and for a Saturday. He went through the kitchen like a speed racer, a bagel in the toaster, and glass of orange juice in a driving mug. Then he slapped some butter and Jam on the bagel and was sitting in the garage with the door open waiting for his Uncle.

 

He drove up before 7:00, Carl climbed in eager for the trip. “Where’re we going today?”

 

“Ft. Smith, Arkansas it’s about 140 miles one way. The trip will take us about six hours round trip. It’s another Caterpillar a larger one this time. It’s partially disassembled; got a real good price on it.

“Uncle Rick I don’t want anybody to see me doing magic. It would be bad if they tried to track me down. There are more idiots’ then smart people in the world. You think someone seeing someone else perform magic would leave them along.”

 

“I always thought that the Salem witch trial were proof positive that they were not witches. I mean if you could do magic there ain’t no way they should be able to hang, burn of drown them.”

 

“I know what I have done to protect me and my family. Uncle Rick, you really don’t want to know what will happen to anybody that comes after Peggy’s family.”

 

“She’s just a little girl!” Uncle Rick insisted.

 

“You just saw her Star Trek shields; you didn’t see her ship’s phasers or photon torpedoes.”

 

“So to help prevent any such incident I want you to stop at an Army and Navy store before we go to get that Caterpillar. No, let’s make that a costume store.”

 

A couple of hours later, on the edge of Ft. Smith they found a costume store.  Uncle Rick followed him around as he browsed through the thousands of costumes.

 

“Carl aren’t these too small for you?”

“Size doesn’t matter, it’s the similarity to reality that is important. I just need the symbol. The shopping cart was slowly filling up with the individual items he had been tossing into the basket. The store was also a toy store. When questioned, the manager admitted that they switched over to Christmas items after the Halloween season was over.

 

Uncle Rick paid with a debit card. When they tried to find a cheap motel room they were out of luck, there was a convention of some kind in town and all the lower cost rooms were taken. They finally settled on a suite at an upscale hotel. 

 

“Sorry about this Uncle Rick.”

“Carl, don’t worry. You’re the master of magic here; if you think this is necessary, then we go for it. I find the deals, the items to get and sell. See, a perfect partnership.”

 

Carl set up a working area where the tables and chairs were placed. First to test the concept he got the toy light saber out. Taking it out the package, he laid it on the table. Then he read the description of the toy. He had never played with one when he was younger, at that early of an age he was already messing with chemistry sets.

 

He removed the battery space cover. Then he examined the LED light source that lighted up the inside of the plastic blade.

 

“Hun, I could make a better toy then this!”

 

“Oh?” his Uncle said.

 

Carl absently said, “Yeah.”

He laid that on the bed and went to the next toy, a space or battle helmet. He gave it a only glance, then laid it to the side. The next thing he picked up was a knight’s helm he examined it closely. Hum, not bad; a good replica even if done in plastic.

 

Carl looked around; his uncle had gone into the second room, stretched out on the bed, and fallen to sleep.

 

Carl took a roll of white wrapping paper he had purchased, and cut off enough to cover the table. Then he used his markers to make a circle and a pentacle inside the circle. He folded up one of the costumes that was all silvery gray and placed it in the center of the circle.

 

He pointed his finger at each point of the pentacle where they touched the circle; above each, miniature suns appeared, each one a different color. Three times he said the spell he had created.  He felt as if space itself was warping, as all the suns flared up, and then settled back. He snapped his fingers, and the suns were gone.

 

He reached into the circle and picked up the costume he had laid there. It was definitely not the costume he had put there. Shaking it out, it opened up, and he was holding a suit of silver gray material, that while feeling light, was very substantial. It had Velcro like tabs that peeled back easily. He stripped out of his clothing and stood there completely nude.

 

Folding back the upper part of the garment he stepped into it. The bottom of the legs had what looked almost like booties. His feet slid into them easily. Then his arms went down the sleeves that had gloves at the end. His hands easily went into the gloves, which then shrank to skin tight, as the booties had done previously.

 

Carl then pulled the shoulders up, and as he reached to close the Velcro closures they did it themselves.  He turned to face the mirror, and saw that he was completely enclosed; including a hood over his head that was skin tight everywhere. There on his chest was a large letter ‘Q’.

 

He felt perfectly comfortable. He twisted and stretched; the material did not bind or bunch up anywhere it felt almost like his skin. He strode around the sitting area and spotted something on the table. In the center was a piece of plastic. He picked it up; it appeared to be a transparent plastic mask. He held it up to his face to look through it. Where the edge of the mask touched the hood, the material of the hood closed over it. Letting go he turned to look in the mirror.

 

His face was completely blank, nothing showed through it. Next he put the light saber in the circle, followed by a belt that was supposed to have all kinds of goodies on it. When he was through, he stood in front of the mirror in his ‘Q’ suit, with the short handle of a light saber hanging from the belt.

 

He was a little scared to test what he was wearing in the Hotel. If they worked, he could destroy the hotel; if no success, and then he was going to be embarrassed. He kept looking at the large ‘Q’ on the chest, “What did that mean?” Nothing in his visualization equaled that ‘Q’.

 

He absently picked up the knight’s helm and put it on. As he let go, the hood of his clothes flowed up and over the helm. He could feel the helm changing. He looked at the mirror once more; now the hood had disappeared.  His head was now encased in what appeared to be a glass helm, except that his face was still not visible.

 

Though the helm appeared to be completely air tight he was having no difficulty breathing.

 

“What the hell!” He twisted completely around facing the door to the bedroom his Uncle had been sleeping in. There stood his Uncle Rick, bug-eyed with surprise. Carl froze.

 

He was looking straight into his uncle face which was impossible his Uncle was six feet tall, while Carl was only five feet nine inches.

 

“Who the hell are you? Where’s my nephew Carl?” With that he started straight for Carl.

Carl threw up his hand and said, “Stop.”

 

His Uncle Rick came to a dead stop. He tried to move; his arms and hands moved, but his feet seemed to be glued to the floor.

 

“What!”

Carl was thinking quickly, he needed to let his uncle know that this was him. With that though the helm swung up and folded itself down his back.

 

“Carl? Is that you?”

His Uncle asked tentatively, his eyes were going from Carl’s feet to his head.

 

“Yeah Uncle Rick it’s me.”

 

He was still staring at Carl.

 

“Well I understand the ‘Q’ at least if nothing else.”

“You understand the ‘Q’? What does it mean?”

 

There was a pause, and then his Uncle said what he thought.

“’Q’ for question, like what the fuck happen while I was asleep?”

 

“Oh, I used those things we bought, and did some magic to them. I don’t know for sure what all I have here. I think that I let my visualization run wild.”

 

“Well then what do we do next?”

“I need to go somewhere and test them.”

His Uncle thought for awhile, “I know a place. It’s an old rock quarry on private land. I know the owner; if I can contact him, he will let us go there, and you can test away.”

 

“Okay that sounds like what we need.”

His uncle pulled out his cell phone and stated phoning.

Carl set down where he had left his clothes and started putting them on over his costume. After he was fully dressed in normal clothes, and had put his work shoes on over the booties, he did not feel a bit uncomfortable. No over-heating or tight clothes, or anything; he felt as if he was just normally dressed.

 

His Uncle turned and did a double take. “Where’s the costume?” he asked looking around for it.

“I have it on underneath my clothing.”

 

“Well I contacted my old acquaintance. He said go on out, that the key to the padlock was hidden in a hollow rock on the right side of the gate.”

 

In the morning, they got up and check out of the hotel. The things they had bought, in addition to those he had used, they dumped in the trunk bed. It was a thirty minute drive to the old quarry.

Carl stripped out of his regular clothes when they got there, standing in the booties. He reached for the folded down hood. But before he could touch it the helm unfolded and was once more encasing his head.

 

“Uncle Rick can you hear me?”

“Sure I can hear you why…” He had turn toward him and now noticed Carl was once more fully covered in the costume.

Carl turned to face toward the quarry and the hill which had been torn open to mine for gravel. He pulled out the light saber, and pointed it toward the hill, and pressed the button on the hilt; a solid shaft of light slowly extended itself from the hilt until it hit the rock face.

 

A loud crackling sound was emitted by the rock as it shattered and fell down the face. He moved the saber across, then down and across the back, up, and a large rectangular area of rock fell out of the cliff.

 

Next, Carl simply pointed, a stream of fire leapt from his finger and blew large holes in the rock face. Rock shattered and the air was full of shrapnel. Carl saw a more than one piece headed their way; without thought, he stepped in front of his Uncle, covering him with his own body. He felt the thuds as the shrapnel hit him. But he never budged from his position. When it was over, he quickly checked his Uncle quickly to be sure he was okay. Not a single piece had been able to penetrate his costume or knock him down.

 

 

 

____________________________

 

My thanks to TxAgBand59 for his editing and proofing help. But the final results are mine and all criticism should be loaded onto my shoulders.

 

 

© Virgil Lee Fuqua III and ‘vlfouquet.wordpress’, 2008-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Vlfouquet and Virgil Lee Fuqua III with appropriate and specific direction to the original contents.

 

 

Home Sweet Home

 

Chapter 5

Carl was stuffing his face. Aunt Clara had made what he thought of as her best meal, meatloaf and mash potatoes. He was listening with half an ear to his Mom.

“Yes I signed a lease earlier today. We went by on the way home from school so Carl could look it over.”

“Grace there was no rush for you to move!” Aunt Clara gushed as she put another piece of meatloaf on his plate.

“Well I knew that Clara, but Carl was uncomfortable sleeping on the couch. He’s uses to his own privacy.”

“Huh?” Uncle Rick looked at Carl a moment. Carl tilted his head toward Peggy who was concentrating on her desert.

“Egh HUD!” His uncle eye brow headed toward his hairline as his eyes twitched toward Peggy.

“I like him being here. He’s the smartest person I know. I can get to sleep when he is here. I just lay down next to him and I fall right to sleep.” Peggy innocent comment had both her parents staring at her then back at Carl. He looked at both of them and nodded slightly.

 

“Oh well then if you found a place which you can afford and he will be more comfortable then we have no right trying to keep you here.” Aunt Clara was all right with the idea now that she thought she understood.

 

“Well Carl, I’ve got your house all bundled up in my warehouse now. I built a staircase up to the front door so you can get in. I made a slide from the front room window to the floor. So all you have to do is set things you want on the slide and they will slip down to the warehouse floor.” Uncle Rick said, as he took a bite of his desert.

 

Both Aunt Clara and his mother stopped talking and then stared from his Uncle back to Carl.

“Staircase?” His Aunt asked.

“Slide?” Carl’s mother asked.

Carl looked at his Uncle who was looking at him with a spoon halfway to his mouth.

“Egh, huh?”

“Uncle Rick, why don’t we go by the warehouse and let them see what you are talking about. Then we can all go by our new house.”

“Great Idea, son! That way they can see everything and make plans for moving your things into the house.” Uncle Rick recovered quickly.

 

It seemed like seconds, an all of them were piling into the truck and car heading to the warehouse first.

Carl stood back as Uncle Rick showed his wife and Carl’s mother the bundled up house. There was a strong and sturdy staircase going up to the front door of the house. Uncle Rick had cut the plastic away from the door and had opened it.

To the side going in the opposite direction of the stairs was a wooden slide with sides leading from the front room empty window casing, to the ground floor of the warehouse. There were a few items resting on the floor where Uncle Rick had tested the slide.

Both his mother and Aunt Clara were standing there with wide eyes and gaping mouth saying basically the same thing. “Oh My God!” over and over. Peggy was standing between them with a big smile on her face.

“I told you, Carl is the smartest person in the whole universe!”

 

Carl headed up the staircase and was soon inside their old home. As he explored he found it was a mess! Broken glass, shattered wood casements; his room was just as much a shambles as the rest of the house. Then he dug deeper; his clothes were mostly just mixed up with the debris in his room. His computer monitor did not appear damaged. He began to separate all the parts of his computer set up. Soon he had it all sitting in the hallway. After moving everything to the front window, he leaned out.

“Uncle Rick can you pull my things off the slide as they get to the ground?”

“Sure son, give me a second to get over there.”

Soon Carl was letting one piece at a time slid down the wood trough. His Uncle pulled them off and to the side as soon as they neared the bottom.

Then Carl dumped clothes he found that didn’t appear to have anything wrong with them.

Peggy had joined him and had done the same thing for his mother’s clothes. Then they stood in the doorway into the kitchen and stared. Carl turned and looked at Peggy who slowly looked back at him.

“Peggy, don’t ever cast a major spell without a circle! The only thing that saved my life was that the spell effect was confined within a circle.”

“Yeah, Carl this looks like you got hit with the Enterprises main phasers!”

There was nothing that could be salvaged from the kitchen!

They turned and exited the house. Mom and Aunt Clara were folding clothes and packing them into garbage bags. Uncle Rick was putting all his computer equipment in the truck bed. Afterward he laid the garbage bags of clothes on top of the equipment.

 

____________________

 

Uncle Rick backed his truck up to the garage doors. Mom and Aunt Clara went into the front door while Carl took the keys and opened the garage doors. He then showed them the garage entrance into the house. They dumped the garbage bags in the wash room.  Then he showed them the stair way to the basement and upstairs. Uncle Rick froze like a light had exploded in his head.

 

Peggy ran down the stairs to the basement, she uses to visit my laboratory all the time when she came over. Carl could hear her “Cool! Neato!” as she explored it. Then she ran back up the stairs but continue to the upstairs. “Wow, Neatorama!”

Carl and his Uncle carried the computer equipment up the stairs and into his room.

 

Later, all of them met up in the den. His mom and Aunt Clara were discussing the placement of furniture in the den. The chairs, bookcases and the desk that would be put in the room.

 

Uncle Rick had look through all the rooms upstairs and now entered the Den after looking the rest of the downstairs over.

 

“Grace, can you afford this? It must cost a fortune?”

 

“Only $500 a month I paid the first and last month of a six month lease.”

Both Uncle Rick and Aunt Clara stop speaking and looked at each other.

“How?” Was the only word spoken afterward by Uncle Rick?

 

“It has been haunted for at least the last four years. The original family was all murdered by a gang during a home invasion.”

“The real estate actually sold the house twice, but the first family let it go into foreclosure; the second family was all in a hospital and started a law suit over hazardous environment.”

“They settled but then found themselves with an unsalable house, so they tried to rent it, anything to remove some of the red ink in the books on it. I signed the lease with an option to buy at $60,000.”

 

Peggy spoke up “Haunted?” which was echoed by her parents.

Carl’s mother looked over at him.

“Not anymore, I took care of that earlier. I also put up some very strong wards. No more home invasion will ever happen here again.”

 

“I am planning on going down to the Real Estate Company tomorrow and make them an offer of $50,000 with a clear release for the house with an ‘as is clause’ I expect them to fall all over themselves to sign the contract. Then I will get the mortgage for 15 years, and the payment will still be less then what we are renting it for.”

“Then when the insurance check comes in we will pay off the mortgage on the old home and have plenty left over to furnish this one.”

“Wow, that’s good! The lot will be yours free and clear. Yes!”

“I want to move in here with Aunt Grace and Carl!  This place is neat! They got two extra bedrooms upstairs!”

“Nope ain’t happening Peggy! You can have a sleep over every once in a while, but if we lived together, we’d start fighting. I love you like a sister, but just like a sister if you were in my pocket all the time we would fight. Think about it.”

“How many friends of yours tell you about their horrible brothers? I don’t want to be the horrible brother. If it was necessary, that would be one thing but this is not. I will come over and sit in your fairy garden with you plenty of times. In fact, you can design one for us.”

Her face which had been squinting up like she was getting ready to cry cleared. She then smiled, “I will make you the best garden in the world.”

Everybody took a sigh of relief. Then Peggy came over and hugged him, looking up at Carl she said.”Brother? I like that.”

 

 

The next day his Dad came back from his business trip. But when his mother got through telling him what she had done he relaxed. He took them all out to eat that night. In the conversation over the meal and afterwards, both Carl and his mother kept all mention of magic completely out of it.

 

His father was very pleased that Uncle Rick wanted Carl to work for him part-time. So that part was good to go. His Dad finally had to go with his Mother to sign the new mortgage. He came home and just wandered over the house in a daze.

Finally, he came out of it.

“Grace how did you get the price so low? This house is worth at least $200,000 at the minimum!”

“Yes dear I agree, but to the company my release to take the house ‘as is’ was worth the discounted price. You see they been sued once over the house, and had to foreclose once, and they had not been able to rent it to anyone for more than a month.”

“There is nothing wrong with the house. Rick went over it with a fine teeth comb.”

“It just that reputation, one person hears something and passes it along, now we have two people talking and it builds, then it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Every accident, everything that goes wrong, builds the bad reputation.”

“The talk started when the original family members were all murdered by a gang of home invaders.”

“So we get the best luck in the world.”

“Carl.”

“Yes, dad?”

“At your age I would have killed to have a setup like your room. You have almost a separate apartment with your own entrance. For this to work don’t make me be the bad guy here.”

 

“I won’t Dad. I will be busy mostly studying, but I am thinking it will be easier on you, for me to have my own entrance that doesn’t disturb you if I come home late.”

“Late? What are you talking about?” His mother had finally heard what he and his Dad were saying.

 

“Grace, he’s going to be going on dates soon, he might be late some nights.” His Dad stepped in.

“I see. Well here’s the deal, when you are gone leave your door open. I will never go into your room if the door is open. If close I expect you to be in the room and answer when I knock. If no answer, I will open the door and look inside.”

“Yes, Mom.”

“With those conditions, you are now responsible for cleaning your room and getting your clothes washed and dried.”

“Oh mom!’

Then Carl started to laugh, “A Deal Mom.”

“Dad, a months until I can get a license, then a car.”

 

Carl’s days in school had improved. It took him a week to be almost hundred percent recovered. In the meantime, Laura kept walking with him to classes. Afterward, they continued to stroll through the hallways of the school together. She did not walk to his classes that she was not taking anymore. But she did wait for him and he did the same for her when either of them got tied up with the teachers after class.

 

Then one day a week or so after his recovery from the accident, the four dumb jocks came strolling down the school hallway shoving the other kids out of their way. Carl spotted them when he and Laura were in the middle of the hall.

He had thought of what he would do if this or something similar happen. The problem was he never thought about Laura being with him.

“Hey it’s the twerp. Lets thump the twerp some more!” with that they diverted and headed straight for Carl.

He did not wait, “Hey it’s the low riders look at them showing themselves like the perverts they are!”

In his mind he did the equation ‘A = coefficient of friction plus B = slippery’.

Suddenly the group slipped on the floor as their pants slid down their legs and settled around their ankles. The real bonus with this is low riding pants were against the school dress code. 

 

Now nobody saw them, wearing low riders. But his loud voice saying so and pointing then tripping over their pants convinced every student in the hall that they saw all four jock strutting down the hall with their pants hanging low.

 

When the teacher on hall monitoring reported the incident the principal was on hand in no time. When the jocks could not keep their pants up even to get to the office, he was convinced as well.

Carl heard later that they had gotten a 5 day suspension.

As they waited for his mother to show up Carl asked Laura to go out to dinner with him that Friday and a movie afterwards. “Of course I will go!” was her answer.

His mother drove up at that time. She had come to expect them to be together and drove straight to Laura house.

Carl got out as well and bends down to talk to his mother. “Mom I going to stay a minute or two, I be home real soon.”

His mother smiled at him and nodded, then drove off.

 Carl took Laura hand as they walked up to the door. Inside she introduced him to her mother.

“Mom, this is Carl Black. He is in most of my classes.”

“Mrs. Tarleton, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Well it’s nice to meet a friend of Laura. Would you like a soft drink or some milk?”

 

“No thanks ma’am. I wanted to ask your permission for me to take Laura to dinner and a move this Friday. The dinner would be at 6:30 at Tucks and the movie would start at 8:10 at the Newton. I will have her home by 11:30.”

 

“Why you have really plan it out. I will say I think you are doing a splendid job of settling my nerves. Laura, is this, what you want?”

“Oh yes, Mom.

“How will you get to the restaurant and then the movie and back home?”

 

“Either my Mom or Dad will take us and return to pick us up.”

 

“Well in that case I will say yes; you may have the honor of escorting my daughter that night.”

 

Carl floated the entire two blocks back to his home.

 

That night, Carl joined his Uncle Rick at his warehouse where they laid out a sheet of plastic cut from the roll Carl had used to help move his house to the warehouse. Then they drove for three hours to another town two hundred miles away.

 

They drove up to the heavy equipment place and around to the rear, where a guard let them in to the back lot. Soon his Uncle was showing him the Caterpillar. He began to cuss.

“What wrong Uncle Rick?”

“Somebody has started disassembling it; it looks like some of the parts are missing.”

“Did you buy it as it was?”

“Yeah, I did, I mean I knew it was not working. But all the parts were here. It was still fully assembled.”

“So it was yours at that time?”

“Yeah. I’m going to get my money back. This was done after I bought it.”

“Don’t worry about it Uncle. Just stepped back and be my look out.”

Carl stood up and began to walk around the huge Caterpillar. Three times he circled the big machine chanting all the time.

‘One piece it was and will be again.

Many pieces make up one piece

All pieces know their place from many

Let there be one!’

 

He kept chanting over and over as he circled the machine with the completion of his third circle there was a flash of light and there before them was a complete Caterpillar tractor. It had a shovel on the back and a blade on the front.

“Egh, Carl, that not what I bought. Mine did not have the shovel on the rear.”

“Well it did to start with. Do your purchase order or bill of sale states otherwise.”

“No it just state model number and serial number of the machine.”

 

“Well then help me with a piece of plastic sheeting Uncle.”

 

It took two of them hardly any time to get two sheets of plastic draped over the caterpillar. Then Carl did his three circles chanting the same chant he used the previous week to move their old house into the Warehouse. He pulled a sun ball out for the energy he needed and then there was a flash of light. The Caterpillar was gone.

 

Uncle Rick and Carl quickly got into the truck and drove back to the rear gate where the guard looked the truck over and waved them through.

Later back at the warehouse Carl and his Uncle were studying the bundled wrapped Cat.

“Do you know what was wrong with the machine Uncle Rick?”

“Old age I reckon. Poor maintenance, broken parts, wore out. Kind of like some people I know. What I will have to do is replace the parts that are broken, clean up the ones that are still structurally good. Oil and grease the moving parts then start it up and see if it will be good.”

 

“Wait a minute Uncle Rick.”

Once more he began to circle the bundled up tractor; around and around three times once more. There was a bright flash and a brand new Caterpillar excavator stood with a blade on the front and its articulated shovel on the rear.

Carl turned to his Uncle who was standing there mouth gaping once more. “There you go Uncle as good as new.”

“My god boy! How did you do that?”

“It’s magic Uncle Rick. I just made everything new. All the pieces has the original serial numbers. It just the pieces have been restored to its original condition.”

“Boy I bought that at salvage for the metal price. With what you did I can get top line used price that’s a $200,000 piece of machinery now. We will make about $160,000 on this one machine.”

 

Carl did one more thing before leaving that night. He set up wards to protect the whole property and inner wards for individual buildings and major pieces.

 

He was tired when he arrived home that night. It was later than normal as he stepped up to the garage door. He turned and waved at his Uncle as he pulled out. Stepping into the garage he lowered the door. A light had automatically come on when he opened the door. 

 

He unlocked the door into the house and then locked it behind himself. Up the stairs he went then into his room. Shutting his door behind him he smiled knowing his mother would see his door closed if she got up anytime at night.

 

He took a warm shower then fell into bed; slept like a rock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

_________________________­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

 

 

 

My thanks toTxAgBand59 for his editing and proofing help. But the final results are mine and all criticism should be loaded onto my shoulders.

 

© Virgil Lee Fuqua III and ‘vlfouquet.wordpress’, 2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Vlfouquet and Virgil Lee Fuqua III with appropriate and specific direction to the original contents.

 

 

 

Magic Transportation, LLC

Chapter 4

Magic Transportation, LLC

 

Carl turned and looked at Peggy who was looking at him. “Gods and Goddesses?” he said.

_____________________________________

Peggy slowly started to smile, “Goddesses?”

 

“Alien most likely!” Carl said.

He watched as Peggy wander back over to the swing. He heard her murmuring to herself, “Fairies? Brownies? Elves!”

Carl left his aunt’s house with his mother and headed to the hardware store. “Why do you need to go to the hardware store Carl?”

 

“I need some things to help me clean up our lot. Later I’m going to need a lot more things to expand my lab.”

“Well, don’t forget you’ve got to get back to school tomorrow.”

“Yeah, from what the Agent said, I’m probably going to need to replace almost all my things.”

 

“I know we may have to hold off on some things, this is going to cost us a lot; especially replacing the house. I don’t know if we can get another one as good for the insurance money when we get it.”

 

“In the meantime we need to lease us another place to live so we can get out of my sister’s home!”

 

“Yeah, sleeping on the couch is really awkward for me. Peggy is up a lot at night and she just wanders in. Last night she climbed in to the couch with me. Let me tell you that was startling, when I woke with her hugging me in her sleep.”

 

“Oh,oh! I see, I bet that was funny.”

“Well mom, she’s more like my sister than a cousin or anything else. I would not want to wake up with my sister hugging me in her sleep!”

 

“Okay, then while you are in the store, I’ll be on the phone to a property management firm trying to find a house.”

 

“Yeah, do that mom!”

 

Carl got out of the car and hurried into the local hardware store. It was not the cheapest being one of the old family type stores. It stayed in business through service and location, being almost centered to the older residential area of town.

 

He was wandering around looking at everything. Every time he came in it happened. He would get absorbed in seeing the myriad of items the store stocked.

 

“Can I help you son?” An elderly employee had walked up behind him.

“Oh yes, sorry. It seem every time I come in you have something else I had never seen. I need some strong plastic wrap, or sheeting.”

 

“How strong, does it need to be flexible or ridged?”

“It needs to be strong, but flexible is a plus. Especially if it can be folded up after being used so that it can be stored”

 

“We got some rolls of polyvinyl that is fairly strong but cuts easily. It’s over here.” He turned and headed toward the rear where the painting supplies were displayed.

 

“We only sell by the roll, and the shortest is 100 feet by 20 feet. That is $11.99 which is pretty cheap. The roll is 5 feet wide as it is folded twice before being rolled up.”

 

Carl picked up the roll or tried to, it was heavy! “Wow, you would not think it be so heavy.”

He examined the edges of the sheet and saw that it was very flexible and strong.

 

“This is just what I need! I’ll take it.” The man tilted the roll up on its edge then let it fall over his shoulder, straightened up and carried it to the front cash registered. Carl watched; he estimated that roll weighted a good 80 pounds. But the elderly man had handled it as if it weighed nothing.

 

He laid the roll on the counter. He saw Carl staring at him as he turned to walk away. Smiling at Carl he softly said.

“Technique, son, it’s always about the technique do it right and you have no problems. Sloppy and I could have pulled my back.”

The girl rang up the roll of plastic, charging it to the credit card he handed her. When she tried to move the roll she grunted and stepped back, looking around for help. Carl went over and got a shopping buggy. He placed it against the counter, and slid the roll edgewise into the cart.

“I’ll bring the cart right back.”

With his mother’s help it took no time to slide the roll into the back seat.

 

“Now I need some foot wear to work in, these shoes you got for me are okay for school but not around a work area.”

“I guess it’s going to be Payless then Carl.” His mother said.  

 

 

“This area over here is out of the way and we will not need to work on it for weeks. There is nothing cluttering up the area, and no leaks or anything to damage your things if you stored them here.”

 

Carl was looking this part of the warehouse over. His Uncle Rick was right this would be perfect as a temporary storage.

“Uncle Rick, could you help me bring that roll of plastic in here? I am going to need a clear area to cut it and this place is perfect.”

 

“Sure Carl, let me get a dolly.”

In no time his uncle rolled the plastic roll into the warehouse and over to the area they had designated as storage for Carl’s family.

 

Using a tape measure from his Uncle, Carl rolled the plastic out and cut it when he had material enough to cover the area. Then he did it two more times. Leaving the roll behind, Carl folded up the two extra pieces he had cut and returned them to his uncle’s car. Returning inside he took the final cut piece and unrolled the plastic. It covered the area they were going to use for storage.

 

Carl waited a minute until his uncle got busy with something else then did a quick enchantment. The plastic flattened itself out and held tight to the floor it was lying on.

 

“Whenever you’re ready Uncle Rick; you can just drop me off at our house. I can make it back over to your place later on my own.”

 

As we drove off from the warehouse he noticed his Uncle Rick looking at him.

“What you going to do boy, some of that magic you and Peggy been doing?”

Carl thought for a minute, “Yeah, I going to move our house into your Warehouse space.”

They swerved for a second but his uncle got control of it. “That’s going to be one hell of trick!”

“Yeah, and one of the reason I want to do it at night. Once everything is in the warehouse then mom can sort out what is damaged from the undamaged things. We are going to be hurting for money soon.”

 

“Hum, can you move other thing not just your house?”

“I guess, I am really just learning Uncle Rick. Why?”

 

“I own this old warehouse Carl. Lock stock and barrel as they say.  I plan on using it to store things I purchase for resell. One of my big expenses is hauling those things back to here.”

 

“Right now, I’ve a chance to pick up a broken down Caterpillar real cheap. With a little elbow grease, I can triple the money I spend. But the cost for hauling it in is huge. If you can do it, then I can pay you, and I save money and time.”

“That sounds great! If I can make some money it will help to make up for what happen at our house.”

“It’s a deal then. Let see what happens with your house, if that works we can see what ‘Magic Transportation Company’ can do for me.” He laughed.

 

Two hours later they pulled up in front of Carl’s old home. At first it looked just like the last time he remembered being here. Then you noticed the broken window panes. The house appeared to have a lean to it now. Carl and his uncle got out and began to walk around the house examining as much as they could without entering it.

 

From the rear you could see that most of the damage had happened where the kitchen had been. It was no longer there, the room above the kitchen was gone also.

Using the flashlights they had brought with them Carl peered in and saw that the floor above the basement was gone. It became obvious with a closer examination that something in the basement had exploded. It had blown the basement right up through the kitchen and out the second floor roof.

 

“Wow! How did I survive that?”

“Where were you Carl?” his uncle asked.

Carl pointed down and to the side in the open basement.

“Right over there is the last thing I remember Uncle Rick.”

“Well, either you are the luckiest person on earth or one of the Star Trek shields you and Peggy have been talking about was around you.”

 

“That’s it! All the action was inside a circle that was cast around the working area. It directed the majority of the blast directly upward!”

 

“I sure will remember that. Never cast a major spell without a circle first!” Carl paused, thinking then he looked at his Uncle.

 

“Uncle Rick, do you still keep that camera in your truck?”

 

“Yeah, I take pictures of things I find that I am not sure about and look them up in catalogs and on the internet it helps me price them.”

 

“We need to record this. Peggy needs to see what can happen if you’re not careful.”

 

His uncle looked him dead in the face; and his eyes widened, than he looked back at the damage done to the house.

 

“Yikes! Yeah, let me get the camera real quick.”

 

Carl went with him and got the folded up sheets of plastic out of the rear of the truck. His uncle came back with his digital camera and began shooting pictures of the house from the front to the back. Then he took dozens of close ups of the basement up through the kitchen area and the roof.

 

While he was taking pictures, Carl had laid the first sheet of plastic sheet across the front of the house and along each side. The last sheet he stretched across the back of the house.  He stepped back afterwards and waited for his uncle to finish.

 

“I guess that’s enough. I will email you copies of all the pictures Carl. You need to keep track of what you do also.”

 

“Thanks, I know, for a couple reasons. As a warning of what happen when you make a mistake and as a help to learning.”

 

They stood there for a couple of minutes, neither of them making a move or saying anything.

 

“Egh? Carl, do you want me to go back to my truck?”

“Oh, no Uncle Rick, in fact I would appreciate it if you stayed with me. I was just thinking. ‘How the hell am I going to do this?’ It one thing to casually say I’m going to move our house from this lot to your warehouse, but when the actual act has to be done I’ve got to overcome my own fear of failure.”

“Do you know how you are going to do it?”

“Yes, it’s similar to how I got into your house through the shields Peggy had put up.”

“So, you know that it will work?”

“Well, like I said your house proved the concept works.”

“So this is just stage fright then?”

“Yeah.”

“Well I remember what I was told. The first time I had to stand up at the Mule-deer Lodge and give a speech. Imagine everybody sitting bare ass on the toilet. Do it boy!”

 

Carl grinned at his Uncle. Then he began to walk around the house in a circle. He chanted a little saying as he did so.

 

“Around and around the house we go

Bind, bind and bind this place

Cover, cover and cover it again

Plastic, plastic from ground to roof.

Cover, cover the house is covered.

Bind the house in plastic tight.”

Three times he did this circling the house counter clock wise.  As he passes his uncle he noticed him staring at the house with his mouth gaping wide. Carl glanced at the house and almost stumbled. The plastic was creeping up the walls of the house. 

 

He stopped at the end of his third complete circling of the house and looked at what he had done. The house was completely covered in plastic; in fact it looked like it had been shrink-wrapped as the plastic was ‘skin tight’ on the house.

“Wow, that’s something else son. If this works I can see great things for the ‘Magic Transportation, LLC’ in the future.”

 

“Now, that will hold the house together so it does not fall apart when it gets to the warehouse. This is the big one. With that he chanted the formula he had invented.

“a=A, b=B, a+b = A+B” he visualized the steps he had taken one big roll of plastic. Three cut sheets from one roll. All sheets were one sheet, one sheet is in the warehouse all sheets are in the warehouse.  There was a loud whoosh and a glowing hemisphere appeared over the house than collapsed.

 

Carl and his Uncle Rick stood there looking into a gaping hole in the ground. The house and all its contents had disappeared. Carl looked at the lot with the scattered rubbish left over from the damage to the house.

 

“Backup Uncle!” he warned him. The he visualized what he wanted and pulled energy. A cyclone appeared in the middle of the lot. As it whirled it sucked up all the loose trash and then even the ground excavating an area twice the size of the previous basement. Then it rose and disappeared into the sky headed for the local dump.

 

Next he melted the earth hardening the walls and floor of the newly excavated basement. His final act was to create a barrier to keep people out of the lot so they did not fall into the hole.

 

He was tired, being able to create energy from nothing or zero-point space meant he had not had to use his own energy to do the spell. Most old style Practitioners of the Arts would have had to do that, but the mental effort to hold the thoughts and visualization was still hard work.

 

He took a deep breath and rested for a moment. His uncle eased forward but was stopped by the invisible barrier.

“Boy you are just full of surprises! That a $5,000 excavation and you did it in minutes not days.”

 

“I am tired! That took a lot out of me.”

“Well if you’re through here let’s get going.”

“Could we stop at the warehouse? Just to be sure the house made it, Uncle.”

“Can’t think of a reason not to; a few to do.” His uncle said.

At this late hour it took almost no time to reach the warehouse. Inside they found the house all bundled up and shrink wrapped waiting to be opened.

 

Carl took a second look, the house appeared taller than it should. Stepping closer he tried to see through the plastic sheeting around the house.

“Well I be darn! Look at that.” His uncle Rick exclaimed.

 

Carl did look, the house was taller, the basement and the ground around it supporting the house was now wrapped in plastic sheeting. That wrapping was holding all of it together.

“Uncle Rick, Mom’s going to need some help getting into the house when she comes over here to sort through everything.”

 

“I can help there Carl. I will throw a staircase up to the first floor and anchor it so she has no problems.”

“Thanks Uncle.”

“Boy, I want you and me to go partners in a business I’m thinking about. I bring my business skills and contacts. You bring your magic. If you agree I can have my Lawyer draw up LLC papers and we will be in business within the week.”

 

“What kind of business Uncle Rick?”

“A little of this and a little of that. First, transportation of heavy awkward objects. Then the demolition and excavating business”

“Our big profits will be in the lack of expenses. No big trucks or drivers to haul things around. Then no equipment to dig or blow things up or down.”

 

“Like that basement you dug tonight the cost for something like that is around $5,000 and take maybe two whole days. You did that in less than an hour.”

 

“I don’t know Uncle Rick, Mom might not like it.”

“Your mother like my wife is conservative. If they had their way we’d still be cooking Mammoth over an open fire.” Carl laughed. He could see it in his head. His mother, basting a haunch of Mammoth over an open flame. “Yeah, you are probably right but still she’s my mom.”

 

“What I want is your agreement, I will convince the parents. Also, I can’t have my partner getting beaten up so tomorrow we find you a martial art studio and you learn self defense. I can’t have my partner getting shit kicked out of him. Don’t worry I will pay for it.”

 

 

The next morning Carl was dropped off at the high school by his Mom. Everybody was staring at him. He guesses he looked a sight. He had a bandage on his head, an arm in a sling and he walked with a limp. These were all injuries from the explosion.

 

Now he hobbled down the hallway to his first class of the day. Being a little early he was the first person in his Physics class. At least he would not have those four dumb jerks picking on him here. They had to take a non-academic science course such as geology. They would never qualify for any courses such as Physics, Chemistry or even Biology.

 

The Physics at least kept his mind in the classroom. Laura Taltson kept her eye on him through the whole class period. This was a little nerve racking as she was one of the prettiest girls in school. When class was dismissed she hung back watching as Carl loaded his books into his back pack. At which point, she asked the question he was totally unprepared for.

“Can I carry you backpack for you?”

 Carl froze looking at her with his mouth gaping. “egh eh egh, what did you say?”

“I asked if I could help carry your backpack.”

Carl just stared at her, but finally he had to answer. “Yeah, I would appreciate it.”

 

She reached over and grabbed his backpack by the shoulder strap. Then she turned and followed him out of the class. That was when he remembered she was in his Government class as well as his Physics class.

 

They walked in silence until almost at the Government class room. “What happened to you?”

Carl did a quick glance at her, “We had an explosion in our basement last week. I got caught in it.”

 

“Oh! My Dad mentioned that, I did not know it was you, though. He did say that it was a mystery, that they did not know what could have done it.”

This was the first time that Carl had been able to talk to Laura. She was a popular girl in school, as attested by how many times someone would say something to her as they walked to their Government class.  She was also a take charge type person. She maneuvered him into a seat next to her on the front row, and then helped him get his books and papers out of the backpack.

 

Carl did not know what was happening. Laura was definitely visible everywhere in school that day. She escorted him to his next class which she was not in. When he exited that class she was waiting outside to take his backpack. The final class of the day his calculus class she was again waiting for him.

 

“Laura, what are you up too? I really appreciated your help today. But this is the first time you paid any attention to me except to say ‘Hi’ as you sat down near me.”

There was a quiet paused. “That’s not quite true.  You helped me in middle school when I fell down. You made sure I got to my classes and carried my books. Then you just faded away when I no longer limped.”

 

“Oh, you feel that you owe me for that?”

“No, I never felt that way. I just remember how nice you were to me. Now I got a chance to get to know you better. You are going to take longer than my skinned knee took to get well.” She looked at him and smiled.

Carl moved to an empty bench outside the school and sat down. Laura joined him. “My mother will be here to pick me up soon.”

“Oh, that means we can talk. I noticed ages ago, you are in the advanced course program.”

“Yeah, just like you are.”

“Yeah, I am not sure what I want to do. But college is sure in the works. This way I’m getting a lot of courses that will take care of my first year in college. I am hoping to get some scholarship money to help out. Firemen don’t make a lot of money.”

“The insurance company is giving us a lot of bull about paying up. Until then we cannot get us another house.  My Mom was looking today to lease a place. We have to replace everything.”

“Wow, everything?”

“Yeah, look, new shoes, new jeans, new shirts and even new backpack. We might be able to salvage something but now much.”

“My gosh, I don’t know what I would do if I had to replace everything.”

“You might ask your dad, he must see things like this all the time. I learned that you can get separate insurance for your belongings. We only had our house insurance.”

They sat there for awhile in comfortable silence. Then his mother pulled up. “Laura, let us drop you off at your house.” Carl said as he stood up.

She looked at his mother hesitantly, “Okay I guess, if it’s not too far out of your way.”

They got into his mother’s car. As they sat down in the back seat Carl explained to his mother. “Mom, this is Laura Taltson, she has given me a hand all day. Can you drop her off at her house?”

 

“Sure, hi Laura, where do you live?”

“2345 Oliver St.” she said softly.

“Oh that no problem, that two block off of Taylor street where I was going.”

So that sat back and relax as his mother drove them to Laura’s house. It was a nice single story house in the middle of the block.

Laura turned to get out of the car but stop as Carl rested his hand on her arm. Looking at him, she saw a nice smile on his face. “Laura, as soon as I am able to get around better I am taking you out to a dinner.”

He moved his hand and watched as she exited the car and hurried to her front door there she turned and waved at him.

 

“She appears to be a nice girl Carl.”

“Yes she’s in half of my classes; in my first class as I was getting my things together she offered to carry my backpack. I was shocked speechless; a girl, offering to carry my books. She is a very popular girl in school. We got a lot of strange looks. I’m going to take her out to dinner later when I have recovered more.”

 

“Good! Now here is where I was going.” She pulled up in front of a two story brick house. A sign in front with the name of a real estate company and saying ‘For Lease’ told why they were here.

 

“Mom! This place is bigger than our home. Can we afford to rent it?”

“Yeah, there’s a problem with it. They would love to sell this place. From what I leaned they can’t keep it occupied. They can’t get an offer for it. They will rent it for $500 a month with a six month lease.”

Carl turned and looked at his mom. “What wrong with it. I may not know much about real estate. But I know that our mortgage was like $1,100 a month, and house payments are less then rent.”

 

“There is this thing in law where you have to tell the truth about conditions of a house before you can sell it. I got the facts out of them. It’s haunted. A whole family was murdered by some home invasion people six years ago. Nobody since has been able to spend more than two weeks in the house.”

“I took a chance bases on what I’ve seen you and Peggy doing. We will buy it when you tell me it’s cleared.’

“So let inspect it.” She said getting out of the car. Carl got out of the back seat and joined his mother as she walked up to the front door.

She inserted the key and opened the door. Carl gripped her arm as she started to step inside. “My turn Mom.”

He pulled her away from the open door. Turning he began to walk around the house counter clock wise. Under his breath he began a chant. He felt the beginning of the wards building up as he completed his second circle. His mother had retreated back to the car. He felt the pressure increasing as a resistance was encountered. With a twist of his mind a miniature sun appeared and began to feed him energy. He in turn used that energy to sweep the house from basement to attic.

Just as he approached the last couple of steps needed to complete the third circle there was a flash of light and a glowing portal appeared with a ‘whoosh’ multiple balls of light flashed from the house into the glowing portal. He made the last step and the circle of protection was completed. The glowing portal faded and everything appeared normal once more.

 

He turned to look for his mother and she was standing in the street on the other side of her car. Her eyes were huge and her hand was over her mouth.

“I think its okay Mom. Come on let inspect it.”

It was a much nicer house than the one they had been living in. Downstairs was a kitchen, dining room, living room, den or office area with lots of outlets.  Off the kitchen was what his mother called wash room. It had washers and dryer connections with an exit to a garage.

There was actually a three car garage. On the other side of the kitchen, there was a pantry with lots of room and shelves. The basement entrance was in the garage. The door from the garage was in an alcove that had stairs going up and down.

After inspecting the basement, which was almost twice the size of their previous basement they took the stairs all the way up to the second floor which had a door leading into the upper hall way. The hallway ended to one side almost immediately at a door that opened into an apartment build over the garage. It has a small kitchenette a large bedroom and its own huge bathroom. Carl took one look at it and said mentally ‘MINE!’

There were three more bedrooms two across the hall from each other and at the end of the hallway an even larger Master Bedroom. Coming back out of the master bedroom they found a hall bathroom right next to the master bedroom bathroom.

Carl looked at his mother, “Can we buy it? Can we afford it?”
His mother had a look of shock on her face he could hear her muttering, “$500” over and over to herself. Finally she pulled some papers out of her purse and began to examine them closely.

Carl learned later that the contract his mother had signed gave her the option of buying the property in the next six months at a ridiculously low amount. She told him the amount was about a third what the house should be worth.

“Is it haunted Carl?”

“Not anymore, I have no idea what it was, maybe just an energy trap from the violence, but it’s clean now. And as soon as I add a few more things it will never happen again.”

Even as he was telling his mother this he was reinforcing his wards. They were already at what he conceived to be ‘Level 10 Shields’ the place would survive a zero point targeted nuclear blast. He expanded the shielded area to the property lines. Then he put up an inner shield.

 

In the basement he reinforced all the foundation and structural supports. Then he hardened the floors and walls and put in more wards to contain all energy created in this area within the area. No more exploding basements.  It was large enough to make two areas, one to do experiments and the other to study and relax in. He loved the connecting stairwell.  He could come from his bedroom directly to the basement without disturbing anybody else in the house. With the connection to the Garage when he got his license he would be able to come and go without disturbing them also. He reinforced the ward/shields over the garage doors so nobody could slip in behind a car.

“Carl, we need to go.”

“Yeah mom, oh, that’s my room over the garage.”

“Carl, I know it’s ours for the next six months but it’s awfully big for us.”

“Mom, I saw your face as you went through the dining room and kitchen, and that’s not counting the pure look of greed when you were in the den. How much do they want?”

“$65,000” she said softly. Carl turned slowly and looked at her. He knew enough to know that his mother would be stealing the place if she bought it. She looked over at him as they locked it up.

“They had twenty different renters, none would stay more than two weeks and that was a family that only moved in that last two days of the two weeks. At first they tried to sale it. The people who bought it abandoned it in one week, and they had to foreclose. Auction was at $99,000; that family ended up in the hospital and sued the real estate company for selling a hazardous home without warning. They won the suit.”

“That scared the Real Estate Company so they tried to rent it. One of the women in the office said they actually hired a paranormal investigator he is in the hospital also. “

 

“Now they give full disclosure so as to cut down on their liability. I think I could bargain them down to $50,000 with no problem if I sign a complete release on all warranty.”

“How much a month would that be?” Carl asked.

“Less than the rent is, and that a 15 year mortgage, with no down payment. Than we would use the insurance money to payout our old mortgage and still have some money left over to help with furnishing. It scares me Carl. We will be better off in six months then we were before this happened. We will own an empty lot where we use to live, be buying a better home, and paying less than we did before.”

“Carl, you Uncle Rick talked to me today. He explained that you two had agreed to go into business together. He would bring his business experience and contacts. You would supply the magic. I am skeptical or was, than he took me to his warehouse and showed me our home. That was a shock. Then he explained what he had seen. He is right. If you can do that on a regular basis you two will make a small fortune.”

“I want you to go to college! So I will agree if you promise me keep on studying and go to college.”

“Mom, I know that I don’t know everything. I know that college is more than just a piece of paper saying I have a degree.  I think that what you really want of me is to learn how to learn and think; yes I can agree to that with no problem.

“I think I can learn to do things that can be translated to the regular world. Like a power source that can make energy available at dirt cheap rates, maybe even the stars eventually. But I know I need to learn more.”

They drove away from their home to be when it hit him. Their new home would be less than two block from Laura Taltson. A grin settled on his face as he leaned back to contemplate the future.

_________________________­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

 

 

My thanks to Grumpybear and TeNderLoin and txagband59 for their editing and proofing help. But the final results are mine and all criticism should be loaded onto my shoulders.

 

© Virgil Lee Fuqua III and ‘vlfouquet.wordpress’, 2008-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Vlfouquet and Virgil Lee Fuqua III with appropriate and specific direction to the original contents.

 

 

 

One With The Universe

Chapter 3

 

Carl was sitting in the swing in his aunt and uncle’s back yard, ‘Peggy’s Garden’ as they called it. He was watching Peggy float in her favorite relaxing pose, a full lotus three feet off the ground. “How the heck are you doing that?”

Peggy opened her eyes and gently floated to the ground. “I simply make myself one with the universe and all things are possible.”

 

“Ehn Yeah, I understand. You say to-may-toes and I say to-ma-toes that makes all kinds of sense.” This was the major problem with Carl and Peggy sharing information on magic. She was a true believer. He was not. She saw it all through rose colored glasses. Carl looked for the clear signs of unknown science and technology, ready at any moment to jump in and measure it.

 

Peggy had been able to put Star Trek level shields around her home. She could make and throw fire balls and float like Buddha. And while nobody had seen them, Carl was sure that any real attempt to get through her “shields” would see her bringing out phasers and photon torpedoes.

 

Carl thought for a minute, “why not?” With a little thought, he could have had something similar.  He had read at least three speculative articles on how to generate gravity fields and to use them for an anti-gravity effect. But all three were absolutely impossible with today’s technology. “Darn I’ve got to get my laboratory fixed back up.”

 

“Good luck with that.” Peggy said as she stood up and walked into her house. Carl brought his legs up and stretched out in the swing seat. Propping his head up on the arms of the swing he began to contemplate his place in the universe.

 

First the shields he thought. There were potentially a dozen ways to do them. Use ‘Maxwell demons’ to make the molecules of air solidify along a razor edge so that no material substance could penetrate the barrier created. Simply removing all random motion on that edge would do that. But, that would not stop particles smaller than air molecules such as photons from a laser. How about a vibrating electromagnetic field at a frequency so high that it would rip atoms apart? Nah!

 

He closed his eyes and went to sleep.      Alcubierre warp fields surrounded him as he cruised away from earth at multiple times the speeds of light. Faintly he thought nah, takes too much energy to hold those warp fields, but that was the same problem with all those anti-gravity theories. What it came down to was E=mc². Yeah that was it, energy… energy… energy… was mass which will warp space. Carl came to his feet screaming, “ENERGY!”, and there it was, a miniature sun floating above the garden.

 

The backdoor slammed open and Peggy ran outside to see what he was doing. Not far behind her came two men in suits.  Aunt Clara was right on their heels.

 

“Carl what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

The two men froze, looking up in the air at the miniature sun. Peggy cocked her head to the side and Carl saw her snap her fingers like she did when working a powerful spell. Nothing happened that he could see. She slowly turned to face Carl.

 

“One with the universe.” She said calmly.

 

Carl looked up at his sun. This was not a ball of flame. It was obviously a solid ball of energy. One of the men was talking on a mike clipped to his collar. The other was trying to convince Aunt Clara that she needed to get back inside the house.

 

Carl had begun to dance around the yard, still screaming “ENERGY” every so often. He grabbed Peggy and threw her into the air, where she caught herself with a smile and just floated.  Aunt Clara had never seen Peggy float.  She stopped asking questions and just stood there with an open mouth. The man who had been trying to get her back inside the house now was standing staring at Peggy with his mouth open.

 

Carl thought if this did not stop soon they were going to have a several mouths full of bugs. He looked up at Peggy, “It’s like Archimedes said, give him a lever long enough and he could move the world. He was right! But the lever is ENERGY!” He began to spin around like crazy and slowly drifted up into the air where he grinned at Peggy. He tried to get into a full lotus position but his legs were just not flexible enough to do so.

 

He waved at his sun and it blinked and went out. He continued to float next to Peggy. The backyard started to fill up with more and more suits showing up. “Carl, Carl we need you to come down here.”  He looked down at the yard and there was his mother with her arms about Aunt Clara.

 

“Okay mom! Hey Peggy your mother looks a little worried we better get down there to them.”  With that he began to slowly drift to the ground.

As his feet touched the ground, his mother grabbed him in a hug. Then she squeezed. “Mom egh I can’t breathe!” She loosened her grip on him. He looked over to where Peggy was getting the same treatment from her mother.

 

Through the backdoor Special Agent Drake appeared. “What have they been up to now?”

At that half the men in the backyard all started talking at once. He held up his hands and they all stopped. Then he pointed at one of the two first men to first appear in the back yard.

 

That agent tried to calmly explain what he had seen and what he thought he had seen. By the time he finished he was talking so rapidly that his words were one long garbled sound.

 

Agent Drake again held up his hand, “Clear this area, men remember this is top secret DHS.”

Then he walked over to Carl. “Okay, in understandable words, explains what got my people in such an uproar.”

 

“Where to start, did you know that Peggy can float?”

“Float? No, I did not, but that’s just levitation. A lot of witches can do that.”

“Peggy show him, like this?” he asked as Peggy once more floated up off the ground and resumed her favorite position of a full lotus.

 

Agent Drake walked over to where she floated and then around her. He closed his eyes and just stood there. Then he opened them and gazed over at Carl. “Can you do it too?”

 

“The first time I saw her do Magic when I got ready to go home she was doing it. I could never figure out how? She is just floating. I don’t believe in magic I think I have told you that. Well if she was moving I could accept that better. Then it’s just a ballistic trajectory from point A to point X along a curve I can work that out. But just floating, defying gravity! No Way Jose! Can’t be done! Not without a large bag of lighter than air gas.”

 

“Well I was sitting here all afternoon watching her do that!” He pointed at Peggy.

“She kept saying she was one with the universe. Gobbledly gook!”

“I lay back on the swing over there and trying to contemplate how it could be done. I mean, I know of at least three theories on gravity that might be able to do it but they are so far beyond earth technology that it’s the same as saying impossible!”

 

“Well I fell asleep. I was dreaming that I was inside a warp field cruising away from earth at multiple times the speed of light. I though Nah, takes too much energy to generate the warp fields. Then I kept going, but that’s impossible it takes too much energy! I woke, and jumped to my feet. I think I went a little crazy. I started screaming ENERGY! Archimedes stated that if he had a long enough lever he could move the world. What he really meant was that if he had enough energy he could move the world. It all comes down to ENERGY! With energy all things are possible!”

 

He turned and pointed up in the air, “ENERGY!” and his miniature sun appeared once more. Drake glanced at it then back at Carl. Then he slowly turned and looked at the sun. In a whisper he said, “Energy?”

 

He then looked at Carl who was grinning and slowly drifting into the air. “ENERGY!”

Then with a thought that twisted space itself Carl was surrounded by a glowing ball: a full spherical force field. Then it was gone and Carl once more just floated in the air, but around his neck was a chain from which a pendant now hung.

 

“Wow Carl! That was neat; you have a portable shield!” Peggy was grinning at him. He held another chain and pendant out to her.

“Here this one is for you. Activate it just like your house shields.”

 

Peggy took it and put it around her neck and then she too was surrounded by a glowing ball. Then it went out and she was grinning at Carl. “It was transparent from the inside. I could see everything!”

 

“How did you do that?” Agent Drake asked.

They turned to look at him, “We are one with the universe!”

 

“Agent Drake I want my laboratory back. That means our home. When will you clear everybody out so we can move back into our home?”

 

“Your home is still unsafe. The damage to the supports and walls was too much. It will have to be completely torn down and rebuilt.”

 

“Mom?”

“Your dad talked to the insurance company and they won’t pay. They said that we had to have been storing dangerous chemicals inside to have done that much damage. Your dad is talking to a lawyer.”

 

“Mrs. Black, that won’t fly. All of our tests show no chemical residue except those normal from escaping gas after the explosion. We will have a talk with them and ask to see the test that beat ours.”

“Agent Drake, vacate the premises of all officials. I will level and remove all the damaged structure tonight. Mom, I will need a place to put all our personal property until you sort through it. Can you rent a large storage area for that?”

 

“Your Uncle has a vacant warehouse that he is remodeling he said we could use it to store things until we get our place back.”

 

“Okay, I will get with him when he comes home to find out where he wants us to put things. When will dad be home?”

 

“His job called him away to Dallas; he should be back in two days.”

“Okay, I will have our lot cleared by then. I take it that all the utilities are off?”

 

“Yes, we had to do that before any of our inspectors or the state could go in to look it over. I will give you authorization to reclaim you property and take full possession by tonight.” Drake told him.

 

“Carl, Peggy and both of you parents, we have tried to keep all of this under wraps but it has gotten too big. Word has gotten out. Somebody, I do not know who, will in the next couple of weeks make an attempt on you two kids. Most of what they have found out about you two they will blow off as just cover up to hide what you really did. What they will think and believe is that your two children are super geniuses who have invented something new. What, they don’t care. All they care about is getting it for themselves.” 

 

“I am stationing a team of eight agents here in town. There will be three female and five male agents. That way there will be one female on every shift. I ask you to contact them if any problems come to your attention. I will see that you have all this information. I have to go myself. My boss had a situation in Texas and it moved to East Missouri and he wants me to make a follow up.”

 

“Carl, you don’t believe in Magic. What’s your feeling on Gods and Goddesses? The girl I have to check on called up a Goddess who has made her a protégé. Let me tell you she is scary!”

 

“Well I’ll be back tonight.” With that he turned and left.

Carl turned and looked at Peggy who was looking at him. “Gods and Goddesses?” he said.

 

Peggy slowly started to smile, “Goddesses?”

 

 

 

 

 

My thanks to Grumpybear and TeNderLoin and TxAgBand for their editing and proofing help. But the final results are mine and all criticism should be loaded onto my shoulders.

 

© Virgil Lee Fuqua III and ‘vlfouquet.wordpress’, 2008-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Vlfouquet and Virgil Lee Fuqua III with appropriate and specific direction to the original contents.