Category: Action/Thriller Publisher: Self-published on Smashwords.com
ISBN-10: 1301359416
Type: Fiction
Pages: 182
Copyright: September 2012
ISBN-13: 9781301359417
When Juni Little finds himself muddled in a controversy surrounding the inexplicable attacks occurring on the outskirts of a quiet community, he struggles to keep his family safe from the danger represented by both the mysterious predator lurking in the woods outside his back door and the people trying to bury the secrets of the giant beast along with anyone who gets too close to the truth.
Little tells the story of Juni Little, a young man on the verge of adulthood, thrust into the center of a mystery surrounding the sudden appearance of a ferocious creature stirring up fear among the local residents of the quaint tourist spot nestled against the backdrop of the Great Smoky Mountains in eastern Tennessee. First thought to be a series of mischievous acts by a few misguided teenagers in the area known for their own antics, the slaying of indigenous animals and livestock become a secondary concern of the Sevier County Sheriff when the list of victims suddenly include some of his constituents. Juni finds himself at the center of the controversy as the facts behind the emergence of the dangerous creature roaming the outskirts of the quiet community begin to surface. As he digs deeper he discovers a sordid truth beneath the surface of the sudden appearance of the horrific beast, a truth that by its own nature becomes a threat that Juni must face before it claims another victim.
Excerpt
PROLOGUE
All three McCullough brothers sat around the small campfire laughing about the latest prank Brock had attempted at school. Friday nights came only once a week and could not be wasted by the trio of teenage boys who found themselves more comfortable sitting on a rock around a campfire than in the classroom of Gatlinburg-Pittman High. They often found themselves in front of the principal when any mischief occurred on campus, regardless of their guilt or innocence. More often than not, the former applied. They had each other, and that was enough to get them through the rough spots of their teenage years.
Brock sat a few feet from the fire holding a long stick with a squirrel skewered on its end, skinned, gutted and ready to serve once the flames crisped up the outer meat. Brian, the eldest, looked at the fire and determined they needed more wood. He left his two younger brothers while he wandered down the hill to find some decent scraps to burn.
Blaine sat quietly listening to the sounds of the woods at night. "Hey Brock, did you hear that?"
"What? That? That was just Brian."
"No, man, I heard something. You didn't hear it?"
"Shut up. Stop being stupid. I invented that game."
Blaine perked his ear up towards the origin of the strange noise. "I'm not playing around. Maybe Brian circled around and is trying to spook us."
"One of you is being stupid for sure."
Blaine stood up and walked to the edge of the clearing where they had set up camp. He cupped his hand around his ear. "Brock, you don't hear that?" He paused for a moment hearing the noise again. "Brian?"
Brock turned to watch the antics of his two brothers unfold just in time to see a large shadowy figure leap from the dark pouncing on his twin brother. The beast made no sound as it crushed Blaine’s rib cage and shook him violently like a dog would a chew toy.
Brock leapt to his feet and disappeared into the darkness leaving his brother to his fate. Brian witnessed the same event but from a greater distance. He dropped the few branches he'd gathered and ran for help.
CHAPTER ONE
Juni sat behind a silent cash register listening to the rain tapping on the wooden shingles overhead. The low roar of the Sunday afternoon shower warmed his heart, that and the gentle trickle of the temporary brook running near the front stoop of the little art shop his parents owned. Those were the days he loved the most in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. He enjoyed the bright clear skies as well, but he was never more at peace than when listening to a cool rain fall on the lush green mountain roads of Sevier County. His parents had relocated to Gatlinburg, Tennessee when he was three years old, so that place was the only one he knew. Located on the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg was a tranquil tourist spot. The small shop they operated sold trinkets, souvenirs and modestly priced framed photographs that captured the essence of their small corner of the world. His dad had always been a photography buff but didn’t turn professional until they moved to Tennessee from Baltimore fifteen years earlier. All of the photos for sale in their shop had been captured by the lens of one of Samuel Little's cameras.
Their top seller by far, titled The Arrangement, was a candid photo of three bear cubs playing on the side of the road. The photograph recorded a once in a lifetime moment for the Little family. They were driving on one of the many winding roads that cut through the foothills of the Smoky Mountains when Juni’s younger sister, Maggie, first spotted the three little bear cubs on the side of the road digging through the spilled contents of a crate that had fallen off a truck. Juni’s dad snapped several shots, but the one he considered his personal Rembrandt was a photo featuring two of the three cubs up ended, nose first in the crate with their hind legs hanging out. Maggie later helped coin the name of the photograph, noting the resemblance of the bear cubs’ hind quarters spilling over the edge of the crate much like that of flowers out of a vase. That coupled with the word "ORCHID" printed on the side of the crate made it the obvious choice. They played around with several variations of names involving flowers, orchids, and floral arrangements, until Juni suggested they just go with The Arrangement. Once uttered it resoundingly became the favorite and stuck for good.
As far as monikers went, the name Little fit Juni more than he liked to admit. He was a good looking kid full of confidence, but he was small in stature, standing five foot six wearing his thickest souled shoes. What he lacked in size he made up for in heart. There were few challenges Juni ever shied away from. That was his nature.
Maggie was a rambunctious nine year old ball of energy. She loved to go outside in the rain and splash in the puddles. She often had to entertain herself at the store in the afternoons when her mom stopped by with her in tote while running errands. Normally it took two to run the shop, a rotation between Juni, his mom, and his dad. The odd man out served on another shift as the care giver for little Maggie Little. Juni had few issues with either role he was asked to fill. He found working in the shop relaxing and fulfilling as he contributed to the family’s finances. He enjoyed meeting new people, and they were all new people. In the tourist business repeat customers didn’t really exist, at least none that could be recognized over the spans of time between visits, for the most part. As for taking care of his little sister he didn’t mind that at all. They were ten years apart in age. She was an even tempered kid and for the most part did what she was told. But she had a great spirit that set her apart from other kids her age. She never needed to be entertained. If boredom was a sign of a lack of intelligence then Maggie was surely a genius. That being said, the main challenge was keeping up with her.
"Mom, can I pulleeeez go out and play."
Margo Little remained focused on her task at hand, unpacking the new shipment of postcards on top of a display case. "What kind of mother would I be if I let my daughter go play in the rain?"
"A very cool mother." Maggie replied as she began silently counting the flowers on the cover of one of the calendars on display.
"Well I am not taking you outside, and you know the rule."
"Why not mom? It’s just a little rain. It won’t hurt you."
"But it will get me wet. And right now I prefer to be dry."
"I’ll take her outside" Juni interjected. Juni had always enjoyed going out in the rain himself as a kid. Nostalgia took over where common sense left off.
Juni’s mom did not look particularly enthused with his offer. "I don’t know. I don’t want you two getting soaked to the bone out there."
"We’ll be fine mom," Maggie argued. "I have my slicker and Juni has his jacket."
"Yeah mom. We won’t wander off too far."
Margo paused. "I guess," she said, finally giving in.
Maggie squealed and ran to get her slicker from the coat rack. She grabbed Juni’s jacket as well and ran past Juni tossing it in his face, laughing at her spectacular aim.
Juni pulled the jacket off his head revealing his mussed up hair. "Don’t you think you should be nice to the person who just offered to take you outside in the rain?"
Maggie continued to laugh. "I am being nice. I brought you your jacket."
The two donned their rain gear and made their way onto the covered porch. Juni looked up at the sky reassessing his offer. Maggie sensed hesitation on his part and jumped out into the small stream running by the front steps.
The splash sprayed Juni’s pant legs. "Hey, you little…"
Maggie just looked back and giggled.
Juni extended his hand. "C’mon. Let’s go." They headed towards the marked trail that emptied out of the woods right next to their store.
Maggie skipped along as they went. "Juni," Maggie began. "What are you going to do after you graduate?"
Juni looked down and smiled at his sister. "I dunno. Why do you ask?"
"I heard Mom telling Dad that you are trying to decide if you want to go away to college or stay here."
"Yeah. And what do you think I should do?"
"Well…" Maggie paused, having given the topic some serious thought. "On the one hand college is very important. You will be shaping you future so not just any college will do."
"You sound like a commercial."
"But on the other hand you have the store. Mom and Dad are getting pretty old and will need someone to take over one day."
"Pretty old huh? How old is Dad, 47? Hmmm. I think we should keep that point to ourselves."
"And there is community college, so you could keep all options on the table."
"Well Maggie that is a very well laid out presentation. Which way are you leaning?"
Maggie hesitated a bit. "There’s one more thing."
"Yes?"
"Well…Mom and Dad would miss you a lot if you go away."
Juni grinned. "Would they?"
"Yes, they would."
"Well… I would miss them a great deal as well."
Maggie hung her head, avoiding eye contact.
Juni squeezed Maggie’s hand. "You know. That is a ways off from now. We don’t need to figure it out today."
Juni decided to change the subject. "So Maggie, now that we are deep into the woods, what do we do if we come across a bear?"
Maggie rolled her eyes. They had been over the rules a thousand times, but she humored him. "Stop. Wait for the bear to leave. If he doesn’t leave, back away. Never turn and run. If he follows you try to make a lot of noise and scare him off. Never turn your back to him."
"Good. That’s exactly right."
"Duh. We talk about that all the time."
"We talk about it because it’s important. You know I would miss you a lot if you got eaten by a bear."
"Don’t be silly."
"I would! I would miss you…plus…the poor bear. He’d get such a stomach ache."
"Juni!" Maggie smacked her brother on the arm.
"What? I’m just saying."
They continued walking down the path. The sound of the rain on the canopy of the forest began to diminish, though the droplets accumulated on the leaves above continued to fall. They reached the crest on the hill they were climbing and could see a split in the trail. They knew those trails well. The split rejoined into one trail just on the other side of a thick stand of trees. Maggie always wanted to race her brother to see which trail was faster. As she would often do Maggie dropped Juni’s hand and sprinted off without warning. Juni played along and took off down the opposite trail. He always beat her no matter which trail she picked. It was only about a hundred yards to the point where the trails rejoined. Within fifteen seconds Juni arrived at the juncture out of breath. He always liked to slow his breathing and lean casually against a tree as if he had been waiting for several minutes when his sister finally caught up. He played his part again as usual. He stared down the empty trail waiting for Maggie to emerge. Thirty seconds passed, twice the normal amount of time he would have to wait, and there was no sign of her. He began to worry. After roughly a minute he began heading down her trail to see what had happened. He considered the fact that she might be playing a prank on him and annoyance overtook concern as he convinced himself that was exactly what was in play at the moment.
Suddenly he heard a scream. He broke into a sprint heading towards his sister. He arrived within seconds to find her standing over a mutilated carcass just off the trail. Maggie stood a few feet from the badly mangled trunk of the body. One partial limb remained attached to the torso and the rib cage had been badly crushed. The carcass had been stripped clean of its hide and the head was gone. Juni studied it, but the remains were too mangled to make any guess what it was before being so viciously torn apart. It didn’t look like a typical kill from a mountain predator but that’s what Juni assumed it to be until Maggie pointed out the blood soaked shirt laying only a few feet away.
Juni grabbed Maggie by the hand and pulled her away heading back to the store. Maggie was shaken by the site convinced that she had seen the dead body of a person, not an animal. Juni wasn’t sure himself that she was wrong. Either way it seemed odd that the ribs had been crushed. That didn’t add up if it was an animal attack.
Within a few minutes they were back at the store. Juni downplayed the event in front of his sister. She was very upset by what she saw, claiming someone had been killed out there. Juni’s dad decided to call it into the Sheriff’s office just in case it was more than a dead animal.
It took the sheriff over an hour to show up at their store. Maggie had begun to calm down a bit but was still on edge. When the squad car pulled up she started pacing back and forth. Margo grabbed her daughter and took her in the back storage room to help unpack some merchandise that had been sitting in there for a few days. Maggie reluctantly complied looking over her shoulder as the large bellied man dressed in a beige and brown uniform climbed out of his car.
Juni’s father walked out onto the front porch greeting the sheriff. "Good afternoon. Sam Little." Mr. Little extended his hand. "This is my store. Please come in."
The sheriff removed his wide brimmed hat revealing his thin wispy comb over which he promptly slicked back down. He was a big man, a few inches over six feet tall weighing just over 250 pounds. He spoke with a thick southern drawl and had a big chaw of tobacco in one cheek.
"Mr. Little." The sheriff shook the extended hand of Mr. Little before entering ahead of him. "Sheriff Washburn."
"Sheriff Washburn, this is my son Juni. He and my daughter were on a walk when they discovered the body."
The sheriff looked around the store while Juni and his dad watched him. He was in no hurry. "Now Mr. Little, you say body. When we spoke earlier you said you weren’t sure if it was a person or an animal."
"That’s correct."
"Well then let’s refrain from calling it a body until we know for sure. Animals have carcasses. People have bodies. Calling it a body is sensationalizing the situation. We need to keep our heads about us."
"Sorry. I didn’t mean to imply anything."
The sheriff continued staring slowly around the shop. After a few seconds he donned his hat. "Okay son. Why don’t you lead the way to what you saw."
The three men followed the same path Juni had taken with his sister earlier. They came upon the mutilated carcass within a few minutes. Juni pointed out the bloody shirt lying on the ground. The sheriff picked up the shirt using a stick giving it a quick examination. He looked at the shirt, then at the remains. Then he spit from his chew.
"That ain’t no body. Best guess, I’d say it’s a deer." He spit again.
"What about the shirt?" Juni asked.
"The shirt isn’t torn. Not even one of the buttons is missing. If this were a murder, a violent murder like this looks, I don’t think the perpetrator would remove this men's XL shirt quite so carefully before he started hacking the guy to bits. Besides the deer’s head is over there."
Juni spun to see the remains of the head behind him. "Best guess, huh?"
"It was a pretty good guess." The sheriff spit one more time for good measure.
Samuel motioned for Juni to come along. "Sorry Sheriff Washburn for taking up your time."
"Don’t mention it Mr. Little. Kids see things and get a little spooked sometimes. It happens to the best of ‘em."
Juni didn’t like the way he was being dismissed as a kid who got spooked. "Well, I am sorry sir. Had it not been for the blood soaked shirt…"
"Easy mistake to make son. I’ve seen it all."
"So…" Juni hesitated for a second. "What do you make of the scattered carcass, the crushed ribcage? Doesn’t that seem odd behavior for a mountain lion or a bear?"
"More likely a pack of wolves did this. But you never know. Animals can behave peculiar at times. I’m sure it’s nothing."
"You don’t think a person might have done this?"
"It’s possible. Maybe some kids up to mischief. That could be it. Either way it’s nothing to get worked up about."
That night the four Little’s sat around the dinner table. Maggie had little to say and picked at her food. Juni tried to lighten the mood by talking about the latest scandal at school that week. According to reliable sources Brock McCullough got caught vandalizing the girls’ locker room. He ripped the tampon dispenser off the wall and clogged all the toilets with the contents. The idiot left his monogramed pocket knife at the scene and the blade was bent where he had used it to pry the dispenser open.
Juni’s story was met with a mild reaction from his parents and nothing from Maggie.
After a few moments of awkward silence that followed he thought he would try again. "So Maggie, Mom told me you entered this year's science fair at school. What are you doing this time?"
Maggie continued to stare at her plate.
"Maggie?" Juni prodded.
"I dunno. Probably some dumb idea."
Juni looked at his mom and dad. "Maggie, I bet I could help you come up with something cool if you don’t have definite plans yet."
Maggie raised her eyes. "Okay, if you want to help I suppose that’s okay."
"Sure Maggie, we can brainstorm tomorrow after school."
Maggie liked spending time with her brother. Any activity that brought them together was fun for her.
"So Juni," his mom said. "Maggie told me you two were discussing your plans after graduation."
The conversation had just taken a turn for the worse from Juni’s perspective. "What? Oh yeah. I guess you could say it came up."
"So I’m interested to hear what you’re thinking."
"I’m not sure. I think I need a little more time to decide."
"Well you did get accepted to the four colleges you sent in applications to."
"Yeah, but I’m not sure. It doesn’t feel right leaving just yet. I think I like the idea of starting off at community college first."
"Hey, that was my suggestion." Maggie beamed as she interrupted.
"That’s right squirt. You did suggest that."
Margo continued her line of questioning. "So why not just take the plunge and go to Tennessee? It’s not too far from here. You could come back any weekend you wanted."
"Yeah. I don’t know… It’s just that…"
"Just what Juni?"
"I’m not sure I’m cut out for college."
Samuel and Margo glanced at each other trying to withhold their look of shock.
Samuel picked up where Margo left off. "Juni, you are a straight-A student. You are the definition of college material."
"I know what you’re saying Dad but there’s more to it than just good grades. I still have no idea what I want to do, career-wise."
Sam Little folded up his napkin and set it on the table next to his plate. "Okay, so let’s play out this hypothetical scenario where you don’t go to college. What’s next?"
"Well Andrew Bynum from school said that Larson Poultry is hiring now. They start you at two dollars over minimum wage, and then I’d be eligible for a fifty cent raise after three months."
Juni’s mom shook her head and looked over at his dad.
Samuel paused for a moment before saying, "You know Juni. That might be a very good idea. But you shouldn’t wait until summer. Those jobs will be hard to come by after school lets out."
Margo stared with contempt at her husband. Juni was a bit shocked as well that he was so agreeable to the idea, even willing to allow him to apply for the job prior to graduation. There were two weeks left before summer break with finals that next week for seniors. It had been a firm family policy in the past that while school was in session no jobs outside the family business were allowed. It was a complete departure.
Samuel patted his wife’s hand reassuringly. They would definitely be discussing the matter later.
Maggie sat quietly in her seat smiling from ear to ear. That was the best news she had heard all day.
CHAPTER TWO
Juni showed up at the store after school the next day to find Maggie waiting there for him. He started to ask why she was there when he remembered that he had promised to help with her science project the night before.
"Okay, Maggie. Are you ready to get started on this?"
Maggie nodded and jumped down off the stool behind the counter and grabbed her backpack. She walked past him, out the door, and climbed into his Jeep Cherokee.
Juni waved goodbye to his mom and dad and headed out to his Jeep.
"So I was thinking… how about we go out behind our house down to that stream that runs on the back edge of our property and catch some tadpoles. Then we could take pictures of them every day and document how they turn into frogs."
"Nah."
"No? Okay, do you remember that place along Timber Creek trail where those crazy looking flowers grow? We could go out there and pick some of those and then look them up and show what genus and family they belong to and then you put the flowers in…"
"Nah."
"Okay… How about we go into the national park and…"
"Nah."
"What? I haven’t even told you my idea yet."
"I don’t want to do a nature project."
"What? Maggie Little doesn’t like nature. That’s all you ever want to do. Let’s go for a trail walk Juni. Let’s have a cricket race Juni. Let’s go camping Juni."
Maggie shuttered at the last suggestion.
"What? You don’t like camping now?"
"I can’t even think about that now. Not with that monster out there."
"Monster? Maggie, no, there’s no monster. The sheriff said it was just a wolf pack or a mountain lion or a bear, or maybe it was some kids up to no good. But it’s no monster. I bet it’s those McCullough kids. They’re always up to something."
"I don’t know Juni. It looked like the work of a monster to me."
"Yeah? And you know what the work of monsters looks like?"
Maggie looked over at Juni as she rolled her eyes. "Duh. You don’t?"
"Well I guess not. It looked to me like someone used very poor judgment. They probably left it that way to get a rise out of people."
"I don’t know Juni. Who could do that to that poor deer?"
"The McCulloughs! I keep telling you they are bad news. Or some other stupid kids. Kids can do some pretty horrible things sometimes. That doesn’t make them monsters. Besides, it’s over now. I’m sure they’ve had their fun. This will be the last we hear of something like this."
Within a few minutes they were at their house. The Littles lived in a very secluded house, situated on seventeen acres of hilly woodlands. It was Margo and Samuel’s dream home. For years they had lived in the city. Elbow to elbow with their neighbors. They liked people. They liked their neighbors. They just preferred them at a distance. Their closest neighbor was measured in miles. Even their store was closer to their house than their closest neighbor.
Maggie climbed out of Juni’s Jeep in the driveway and opened the rear passenger door to grab her backpack out of the back seat. Juni headed towards the porch ahead of his sister. Maggie slammed the car door and headed in after her brother until suddenly she froze in her tracks. Juni climbed the first few steps before he realized something was off. The crunch of gravel under Maggie’s footsteps had stopped abruptly. That was the thing about living in the middle of nowhere. There were few sounds except those caused by their own movement so when they suddenly ceased it created a massive void in the normal background noise.
Juni turned to find his sister frozen slowly turning her head to look behind her, beyond the Jeep.
"Did you hear that?"
"No Maggie. I didn’t hear anything."
"Something moved on the other side of your Jeep."
Juni walked back to his sister. "There’s nothing out here. It’s just your imagination."
"No! I swear I heard something."
"Fine Maggie. I’ll go take a look."
Juni headed around the back end of his Jeep. Maggie stood frozen in her tracks unsure of her next move. Juni swept the area hastily with skeptic eyes. He continued around the other side of the vehicle stopping once to kneel and check under the carriage of his SUV. Maggie listened intently to see if she could pick up the rustling sound again and in which direction.
Suddenly she heard it again and squealed as it headed quickly past Juni and towards her.
Juni jumped as well with the unexpected noise from behind him and subsequent squeal from his sister. He quickly regained his composure and darted back around the end of his Jeep trying to follow the noise. He finally caught a glimpse of the white powder puff tail of the jack rabbit as it cleared the hill top.
Juni shook his head in disgust and grabbed his sister as he headed back to the house. "See. You’re letting yourself get worked up over nothing."
Maggie quickly defended herself. "Technically I did hear something."
"Come on. Let’s get to work."
Juni and Maggie worked on her science project that afternoon at the house. By the time their parents had closed up shop and made it home it was getting dusky. Margo was too tired to cook, and Samuel made no move to pick up the slack in the kitchen, so they decided they would go out to dinner. They lived just outside Gatlinburg in an unincorporated part of Sevier County. Though the distance from their house to town could be measured on a GPS as just under four miles, the drive into town took almost fifteen minutes travelling the winding mountain highway 73. No one ever complained about the additional time to get from point A to point B. The drive relaxed both young and old, proving to smooth the edge off the most stressful days, and the littlest Little was in need of a little soothing that evening.
Maggie stared quietly out the window of her Dad’s SUV as it winded in and out of the turns. Daylight was failing, especially in the thick shaded areas of the roadway. Samuel turned on his headlights as they continued through the darkened passages of the Smoky Mountain foothills.
Maggie could feel the edge coming off as she stared into the dimly lit tree line. Samuel slowed up a little as he pointed out a doe grazing on the side of the road ahead. Deer were a common sight in those parts but Maggie always enjoyed seeing them. They were such peaceful creatures. The vehicle’s head beams caught the deer as they approached. Samuel was always wary of deer near the road at dusk so he maintained his slower speed until they passed it. Just before they had cleared the deer Margo’s cell ringer sounded. Samuel and Margo both glanced down at the phone briefly lying in the center console diverting their eyes momentarily from the roadway. In a split instant as the headlight beams swept passed the doe a shadowy figure leapt from the tree line tackling the deer before it could move.
Maggie barely caught the flash of the predator in the passing light as it pounced on its prey. She screamed.
Samuel nearly jerked the car off the road, startled by Maggie’s reaction.
"Holy… Maggie! Are you trying to cause an accident?" Her dad was generally even tempered but her outburst rattled him, and he was tiring of her continued abnormal behavior.
"Dad! Stop the car! I saw it. It was the beast! He jumped out and killed that deer!"
"Oh for heaven’s sake Maggie. Not with the beast again. There is no beast. There is no monster."
"Dad please. Turn around. You’ll see."
"Maggie. You’re being ridiculous."
"But Dad. I saw it. I’m not making it up."
Margo touched Samuel on the arm and spoke under her breath. "You realize she is going to be freaked out tonight worse than she was yesterday."
Samuel shook his head as he pulled off to the side of the road. He turned a tight U and headed back towards the spot they had seen the deer. Slowing down as they approached, he flipped on his high beams. The deer was gone.
"Well whatever it was Maggie, it’s gone now."
"What if it was that monster again Dad?"
"Maggie, there are no monsters. You have to trust me on this. You may have seen a bear or a mountain lion but that’s it. There’s nothing to worry about."
Maggie looked unconvinced by her father’s argument. She saw something and it didn’t look like anything she had seen before.
The Littles returned home after dinner without incident, but the mysterious sighting had put Maggie back on edge losing any ground her family had gained in calming her down over the past twenty four hours. With Juni’s help she had made significant progress on her science project, but she had a few remaining assignments she needed to work on, and she was unable to focus on any task. Her mind kept wandering drawing vivid memories of the creature she believed she had seen.
Juni had finished all of his homework and wandered down the hall to Maggie’s room to check on her. She lied on her bed with her chin propped up on her elbows and her feet kicked back but swinging one leg down every few seconds only to bounce on the bed back to its starting position. Her math homework sat next to her on the bed.
"So, do you need some help with your homework? Whatcha got there? Math? I’m pretty good at math."
"No thanks."
Juni entered the room. Maggie continued to stare into the corner.
"So, you seem a little distracted."
Maggie rolled over onto her side staring at her brother in disbelief. "A little distracted? How would you feel if you saw something, and your whole family just blew you off like you’re crazy?"
"Now come on Maggie. Be fair. We didn’t say you didn’t see something. We just question what you believe you saw. You probably did see a bear grab that deer. That happens sometimes. It’s a part of nature."
Maggie rolled her eyes. "I know that animals eat other animals. I’m not four."
"But doesn’t it stand to reason that you may have seen something perfectly normal and believable, and not some kind of monster? Let me ask you one question and then I promise I will let it go."
Maggie looked suspiciously at her brother, wary that he was trying to set her up.
Juni took her silence as acceptance. "Is it possible, no matter how remote, that what you saw could have been a regular old everyday run-of-the-mill bear or mountain lion?"
Maggie thought carefully for a few seconds considering her response. Finally she sighed. "I guess it could have just been a bear."
"And…"
"I guess it probably was just a bear."
Juni looked up at the black and white poster sized picture hanging on the wall. He sat down next to Maggie on the bed and motioned towards the picture. "Do you remember those bears we saw on the side of the road?"
"Yeah."
That picture was Maggie’s favorite of all the photographs her dad had ever taken. That day the Littles had found themselves within a camera shot of the scene as they drove by. Samuel carefully snapped several photos from inside the car while everyone kept an eye out for the momma bear.
Maggie smiled as she thought back about the cute little cubs.
Juni mussed his sister’s hair. "Okay, so how about that math homework now? Sure you don’t need any help?"
Maggie rolled back over on her stomach. "Nah. I’ve got it covered."
Juni got up to leave as Maggie pulled her homework over and began working the problems. Juni turned back as he left the room taking one last look at the photo hanging on the wall and smiled. He had fond memories of that day as well.
The next day, Tuesday, marked one week before the final day of classes for seniors at Gatlinburg-Pittman High School. The following Saturday was graduation. Juni had mixed feelings about graduating. While he felt like he was ready to take on more responsibility he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. He realized that his father’s insistence on him trying out the job at the chicken processing plant was a tactic to get him to realize the value of a college education, but he wanted to give it a try before making any big decisions about his future.
As Juni headed in from the parking lot towards the main building he spotted his friend Andrew, whose brother worked at Larson Poultry, getting out of his car. He waited for him to catch up so he could probe him some more about the jobs available at the chicken packing plant. Across the parking lot around the flag pole in front of the main entrance he noticed a big commotion brewing. Andrew and Juni walked over to see what was at the center of all the activity. They found Tim Merrick at the center of the mob showing off photos on his iPhone of a torn tree trunk. The tree looked like a fairly mature pine but it was hard to tell from the photos on the small screen. At first glance it looked like damage from a tornado but there had been no recent storms, and according to Tim that was the only tree damaged. Other pictures showed the top of the tree lying several feet away from the mangled trunk. The most fascinating image was a shot Tim took of the top part of the tree lying on the ground. It showed the claw marks of a bear, at least they appeared to have been made by a bear until Tim flipped to the next photo where he had positioned his foot next to the marks giving the photo the required perspective. The marks had to be almost two feet wide. Juni knew black bear claws would get as wide as six or seven inches but nowhere near the size of the marks in the photos.
Juni rolled his eyes, not because he doubted the authenticity of the photos taken by Tim, but rather from the dread that his sister would eventually catch wind of it. Gatlinburg was a small community. News like that, if it could be considered news, got around quickly. That definitely qualified for the local rumor mill. Maggie would get word and be back to square one all over again with the monster talk. He had no explanation for the claw marks and the twisted tree, but he assumed it would all come to light sooner or later that both were no more than part of an elaborate prank.
Juni peeled off first from the crowd with Andrew following close behind.
"So Juni, are you going to apply at Larson?"
"Yeah, actually, I think I am."
"Awesome! Yeah, my older brother said they are looking to hire another seven or eight guys to fill in on the line."
"Cool. Then I think I’ll drop by this afternoon to fill out an application."
That afternoon Juni drove out to Larson Poultry. The plant was situated just on the outskirts of town opposite of Gatlinburg-Pittman High. It was considerably larger than Juni had originally thought it would be, and the smell was as equally stunning. He followed the signs in the parking lot directing him to Human Resources.
As impressive as the size of the mammoth operation was, the offices that housed the administrative team that kept things running smoothly were rather unimpressive. Juni poked his head inside the door marked HR timidly at first until he got the feeling he was definitely in the right place. Behind the reception desk sat a very beautiful young woman, Miss Amanda Pressman, a graduate one year removed from Gatlinburg-Pittman High School. Juni remembered her as the most popular girl in her class.
He quietly approached her desk. "Excuse me. I’d like to fill out an application."
Amanda looked up from her computer screen and smiled. She opened a drawer pulling out a few pages, slid them on top of a clipboard and handed it to Juni. "Just fill out the first three sections, sign, and return it to me."
Juni took the clipboard, sat down in one of the two chairs in the reception area and filled out the form as instructed. Every now and then he caught himself stealing glances at the pretty girl behind the desk. He was sure it was Amanda Pressman. He didn’t know her personally as she had run in the most elite circles, and she was a grade ahead of him. She had long brown hair with a slight curl, beautiful brown eyes, and a smile that, when on display, made his knees give just a little. At least once she caught him glancing her way, but he quickly diverted his attention so he couldn’t gauge her reaction to being checked out by the dork trying to get into the chicken business.
Soon enough he had filled it out to the best of his ability and he walked back to her desk handing it to her.
"Thanks Juni. They typically go over these in a day or two and will give you a call to set up an interview."
Juni stood there like a dope. He was flustered, caught off guard by the sound of his own name. While she had just accepted a document from him where he had supplied his name it was highly unlikely she could have picked it off it so quickly, especially with a unique name like Juni. He always got double takes from his teachers throughout his school career when they read his name for the first time. His parents had come to the Smoky Mountains on their honeymoon and fell in love with the place. They especially loved the lush green landscape and one of their favorite trees in the park was the Juniper, his given name. Another was the Mountain Magnolia. Maggie was short for Magnolia and not Margo as many assumed when connecting mother and daughter. Despite all the baggage of having a unique name he actually grew to like his name for that very reason. But at the moment he was feeling very self-conscious about his unique moniker and standing there mouth agape was not really helping.
"Oh, yeah. Thanks. I’ll see you around," was the panicked response he could finally muster.
As he walked out he went over what he had just said. I’ll see you around? What does that even mean? How stupid. Not that it mattered. Amanda Pressman was the most attractive girl to ever come out of the Gatlinburg Pittman area. He would never have a shot with her regardless of how smooth he acted around her.
Juni arrived at the store considerably later than normal. He had told his parents he would be dropping by Larson to fill out an application after school, so they were not surprised or put off by his late arrival.
"So", his mom started. "How did it go at Larson?"
"Fine. I just filled out an application."
"Did they set up an interview?" his dad interjected from across the store.
"Not yet. The receptionist said they would get back to me in a few days." Juni looked around the store. "Where’s Maggie?"
"She went over to a friend’s house in town."
"In town, huh?"
Margo could tell what Juni was alluding to with his subtle comment.
"Don’t read anything into it. She has a friend in town."
"Has she ever gone over to this friend’s house before?"
"Well, no."
"Mom, we have to nip this in the bud. You saw how scared she is. She’s all worked up over this monster prank."
"Prank?"
Juni pulled off his backpack and set it down. "Tim Merrick snapped a few pictures of a mangled tree out near his house. It was a set up by someone. The tree had these enormous claw marks on it. It had to be some kids, probably the same ones who were messing around with that deer carcass."
Margo stood there quietly for a moment. She was holding back something and Juni picked up on it quickly.
"What Mom?"
"There was another oddly mutilated deer found today. One of the lady’s at the supermarket said it was found this morning. She mentioned something about claw marks that looked bigger than normal."
"Where did they find it?"
Margo paused again.
Samuel walked up behind her. "Where did they find it Margo?"
"Out on highway 73."
"Highway 73? Where exactly on 73?"
She didn’t have to answer. Juni knew exactly where on highway 73 the mangled deer was found, right where they saw it last. Maggie was right. There was something beyond the ordinary out there killing and mutilating the local fauna and it was big.
"Mom, we better go pick up Maggie before she catches wind of this."
"Maybe you’re right."
Jeff Martin, his friend, Hawk, and his dachshund dog are captured by Osage Indians. Eventually they escape and find their way home. Due to his unusual shape Adolphus is called a Spirit Dog.
