To read previous chapters, click here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
10
Donny sat down with a sigh. He clipped the seat belt together and
sat back.
“Enjoy your ride,” said the bellhop cast member in an Igor-like
voice. As the doors closed, he gave the group a thumbs up with a grin. At the
last minute, he gave the group a thumbs down with a frown on his face. The
doors closed with a loud clank and the elevator started upwards. Everyone
laughed. Everyone, that is, except Donny. Not only was he terrified because he
had hardly nothing to hold him down, he was also afraid of heights. What
Stanley had told him about the ride hadn’t helped ease his fears.
~ ~ ~
“Do you want to know something cool about the Tower of Terror,
Donny?” asked Stanley.
“Sure,” answered Donny.
“The elevator drops faster than gravity can pull it. The Tower of
Terror is the tallest ride in Walt Disney World. The motors that run the
elevators are more powerful than those that lifted the elevators in the World
Trade Center,” explained Stanley.
“I’m never going on that ride,” commented Donny.
~ ~ ~
Donny shook the flashback out of his head. He looked around him.
‘What am I doing here?’ he asked himself. ‘I said I would never
ride this and now look! I’m working here.’
Suddenly, the elevator doors opened to reveal a long hallway in
front of them. At the end of the hallway was a window. Five plasma-blue shapes
materialized about halfway down the hall. The forms took the shape of five
humans; four adults and a little girl. The ghosts began walking toward the
elevator, waving. They disappeared, leaving electric sparks behind them. The
window on the far wall started moving toward the elevator. Just before it got
to the elevator, the window shattered and the elevator doors closed. The room
began moving upwards once again. Once it hit the thirteenth floor, the doors
once again opened and the elevator began to move forward. He reached down to
grab Candy’s hand. She looked at him and smiled, looking as if she were having
the time of her life. He forced a smile that said ‘I wish I were on solid
ground, right now.’
Looking around, Donny saw all five ghosts doing something as the
elevator passed them. Looking forward, he saw that there was a large door in
front of them with swirling stars on it. The Twilight Zone music reached a high
point as Donny heard the door click shut behind the elevator. The elevator dinged
and it shot downward ten feet. Shooting back up, Donny saw an amazing and
horrifying sight. The elevator looked as if it were about to go through a
window. He could see all of the park from up here. The elevator shot down seven
stories and up nine. It shot up and down a few more times then slowed down as
it descended.
“You have survived the Tower of Terror. If you would like to check
into the hotel at any time, please visit again,” came the narrative voice of
Rod Serling in the background. The elevator came to a stop and the doors
opened. Donny fumbled with his seatbelt and ran out of the elevator, pushing
his way past kids, seniors, and other people. Sean hobbled out of the elevator
to find Donny standing next to an ECV. Cap helped Sean into his ECV which was
on the opposite side of the room than where Donny was standing. He stooped down
to look at the name tag of the ECV to see it read ‘Alberta Conmeyer.’ He looked
to his left and saw one of the elderly ladies he pushed past to get out of the
elevator waddling towards her ECV. As she sat down, she snarled at Donny and
hit him with her purse then sped away. Donny rubbed the newly tender spot on
his arm. His friends laughed.
“That was terrifying. Nothing that scary has ever happened to me
before,” said the eldest detective.
“What?” laughed Sean. “Riding in the brave seat or the old lady
hitting you?” Everyone other than Donny erupted into uncontrollable laughter.
“Riding in the brave seat, dufus,” Donny said with a snotty tone
to his voice. This only made everyone else laugh harder. The group walked over
to the area where guests can view the pictures that were taken of them as the
elevator dropped.
Everyone in the picture was smiling with their hands up. Donny had
a look of pure terror on his face and was white-knuckling the bars on either
side of him.
“C-can we p-p-please get out of here?” asked Donny, stuttering.
“Sure,” said Sean looking at his watch in the dimly lit room.
“It’s about 9:30.”
Sean glanced at the picture one more time to notice that he recognized
the family in the front left corner of the elevator.
“You guys! The Winklers were on that elevator with us!” shouted
Sean. The group hurried out of the old hotel and just about ran into the family
Sean was speaking of.
“Howdy Kyle, Robert, and the rest of your friends,” greeted Mr.
Winkler, warmly.
“Hello, sir!” Sean said. He introduced Cap.“This is our
God-father, Lee. Lee, this is Mr. Winkler.”
“Boy, you have almost your whole family here,” Mr. Winkler joked.
The two exchanged handshakes while the group began heading for the
Great Movie Ride. Up front were Candy, Donny, Sean, and his newly arriving
girlfriend, Kara. Behind them were Mr. and Mrs. Winkler and Cap.
When the group arrived in front of the giant Sorcerer Mickey hat,
they got in line for the ride that would bring them into the movies. Entering
in a side door, the group was awakened with a sight that they found quite
interesting. It was a mosaic that resembled Chinese life. The hallway that
housed the mosaic opened into a room with glass cases. Some of the movie props
found in the cases included the merry-go-round horse from Mary Poppins,
the checkerboard from Star Wars, and the ruby shoes from The Wizard of
Oz. There wasn’t much of a line so the group walked through the theater
that showed previews for John Wayne movies and the Sigourney Weaver movie, ALIEN.
The group once again walked onto the movie set of Hollywood Hills and loaded
onto the tour car. A cast member helped Sean out of his ECV and into a manual
wheelchair. The group was seated in the following way: in the front row was
Cap, followed by Donny, Candy, and Mr. and Mrs. Winkler. All the way in the
back row sat Jolly, Smiley, Sean, and Kara. There were a few people that sat
between the front row and Sean and Kara. The tour car started after the word
“Action!” was shouted and the audience was once again swept into the world of
movies.
Right after the ride began, Kara turned to Sean.
“Sean, I have something very important to tell you,” she said
uneasily.
“What?” he asked with concern in his voice.
“My father has informed us that we are going to be leaving two
days after tomorrow,” Kara explained.
“I see,” Sean said.
“It’s expensive to stay here and uh, I mean we have to go home
sometime, you know?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he agreed sadly.
The two sat back and brought in the scenery without enjoying a
minute of it.
After Sean had been transferred back into his ECV at the exit of
the ride, the group pushed open the door that led them back out into the park.
“Before we go, I need to use the bathroom,” informed Mr. Winkler.
At the same time Mr. Winkler walked into the bathroom, Shaggy walked in and
gave a strange look over his shoulder at Donny and Sean.
The group sat down at a landscaping island. After they had waited
awhile, Donny stood up to stretch out his legs. Suddenly, someone came out of
the bathroom. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Mr. Winkler. A man with shoulder length
hair and a grungy goatee wearing a tank top walked out. He turned and headed
for the group. In a scratchy voice the man shouted,
“STUPID KID! GET OFF THE CASE!” The man took a swing at Donny’s
head. Donny ducked and sprinted off down Commissary Lane. The man let out a
battle cry and ran after Donny, full of rage. Kara’s eyes widened but she
didn’t make a sound.
“Hop on, Uncle Cap!” yelled Sean, leaning forward in his ECV.
“Let’s see how fast this thing goes!” Cap did as he was instructed and Sean
gunned the engine. Shooting off against the prey and predator, they saw the two
disappear around the corner and onto New York Street.
Donny turned and sprinted into the “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie
Set Adventure.” Dodging giant grass blades, Donny complemented himself on
taking track so far through high school. ‘It sure prepared me for now,’ he
thought. He ran up stairs and under a giant ant. Looking behind him, he
realized that Grungy was still behind him.
Looking to the entrance of the movie set, Donny saw Sean in his
ECV with Cap hanging on to the back for his life shoot into the play area.
Donny ran up more stairs and found himself standing in front of a spider-web
like net. Without hesitating, he started climbing through the nets.
Once again glancing over his shoulder, he found that Grungy was
still following him. He sprinted up the last few feet of netting and found
himself at a dead end. He then realized there was a slide on the side of a
wall. He hurtled himself down the slide and out onto ground level where Sean,
Cap, and the ECV were waiting for him. He sat on Sean’s lap and Sean sped off
out of the play area. Speeding back to where the rest of the group was waiting,
Sean and the ECV unloaded its two irregular occupants.
“Let’s get out of here,” suggested Donny.
“I’ll go get your husband,” offered Cap to Mrs. Winkler.
“He said he would meet us back at the hotel. He said he would be
awhile,” she explained nervously. The group hurried down Hollywood Boulevard
and returned the ECV to the rental place. They made their way over to the bus
pick-up area and sat down at the benches.
“Hey, Jolly,” Sean began.
“Yeah?” he asked.
“What about your car?” he asked.
“We’ll come get it tomorrow after we drop Cap off at the Wardrobe
Department,” the elder fox explained.
After waiting ten minutes, the bus arrived and the group was
headed for home. Trying to write in the darkness of the bus was something Donny
found hard to do. Pulling out his notebook, Donny wrote, barely able to see
what it was he was writing.
7/21/04
9:37 PM
Boy that was scary! The nine of us (Sean, Cap, the Winklers,
Candy, Smiley, Jolly, and I)were all out in front of The Great Movie Ride when
this grungy guy tried jumping me and chased me right into the Honey I shrunk
the kids movie set thing. He chased me up into the spider webs but I escaped
down the slide. Sound like a kid game? Well it wasn’t. Just before he started
chasing me, he yelled “Get off the case!” Oh, did I mention that we escaped on
Sean’s ECV? It was a pretty wild ride. Well, more later. Oh, yeah. This
afternoon, Cap, Sean, and I returned back to the hotel from EPCOT. Our hotel
room was ransacked and someone had written a message to us on our mirror
telling us to get off the case. Is there a connection between the two
encounters or are these possibly the two criminals that killed Mr. Engler?
As he put his notebook away, Donny realized the bus had just
arrived at his hotel. As the group exited the bus, Candy held him back.
“I’ll meet you guys up at the room. Jolly and Smiley, don’t leave
until I get back. I’m gunna walk around with Candy for a little while. I’ll be
up in a half hour or less,” the elder teen said. The group headed off to their
hotel building.
“Donny,” Candy began catching and holding her boyfriend’s gaze.
“Is there something you aren’t telling me? Something about a case? And why are
so many strange things happening?”
Donny sighed. “You know how on our first date you asked me why my
ID said ‘Robert’ and I quickly avoided the question? It was a fake name. Candy,
I am a detective on a murder case.” Pulling Candy down next to him onto a park
bench near Lago Dorado, he explained the story to her.
“Sean and I were on vacation in Tampa Bay when another guest at
the hotel was shot and killed. The victim happened to be a multi-millionaire
who was also a philanthropist. TBPD put us on the case. Their lead was that the
culprit had kidnaped his daughter and another woman to pose as his family. Our
sources told us that the family was the Winklers. After a while, Sean decided
that Mr. Lucas Winkler wasn’t really the culprit but actually this man that was
always present whenever bad things happened to us. That’s why Jolly and Smiley
hang around with us. They are foxes.” At this comment, Candy’s eyebrows shot
up.
“That is why you were kidnaped,” Donny said. “Whoever it is we are
after wanted to weaken us so we would stop investigating. Anything you could do
to help would be greatly appreciated.
“Let’s head up to your room a second and let me collect my
thoughts,” Candy said. The couple walked up the stairs and headed for Donny and
the Mitchells’ hotel room. Knocking on the door, Cap came to the door and let
the couple in.
“Donny, listen to this!” Sean began. Donny sighed and flopped onto
his bed while Candy slumped into a chair near the desk.
“When we dropped Kara and Mrs. Winkler off at their room, the
phone rang. Mrs. Winkler went to go answer the phone but didn’t pick up the
receiver. Instead, she answered it using speaker phone. Kara and I stood and
talked with the door open while Mrs. Winkler talked with Mr. Winkler who was on
the other side of the telephone. She asked where he was and he told her he was
at 8TRAX, a nightclub in Pleasure Island. He told her he wouldn’t be back until
after midnight, that he was meeting someone there. Donny, you and Candy need to
go investigate what is going on. I can’t come because me in a wheelchair or on
crutches would be to obvious,” Sean explained, out of breath.
“Don’t you think we would be easy to recognize?” asked Donny.
“Not if you let us work our foxy magic,” said Jolly and Smiley in
unison, grinning.
At ten o’ clock sharp, the driver of a bus that drove to Pleasure
Island, Downtown Disney, and the West Side picked up two people from the
Coronado Springs resort: one man and one woman. The man looked to be twenty-two
years old with buzzed hair and an earring in his left ear. He had pasty looking
skin and had green eyes. He had a beard on his chin, soul patch included. The
girl had brown hair with blond highlights and two earrings in each ear. She
wore a pink lip gloss and had rosy cheeks. She looked to be about twenty-three
years old. Both wore wedding rings and were dressed for dancing. Walking to the
back of the bus, the couple were quiet the whole ride to the downtown nightclub
district. They got off without a word and both produced ID’s to prove they were
eighteen years old (The ID the girl, which was really Candy, produced was real.
She was almost nineteen. The guy, who was really Donny, just used the ID of
Robert Markes). They casually headed for the dance club based on the seventies
and eighties music, 8TRAX.
They found the club tucked away between the shops Superstar Studio
and Reel Finds/Changing Attitudes. Entering the dancing establishment, they
found the club to be very busy.
“How are we ever going to find Winkler here with all these
people?” Candy asked.
“This is where the detective intellect comes into play,” explained
Donny, casually strolling over to the bar.
“I was wondering if you could page a Mr. Louis McGrogen, please?”
Donny asked the bartender. “When he comes up here, tell him that the hawk
always flies under the lamp at midnight with a keyboard on its helmet at
midnight and give him this.” Donny gave the bartender a book of matches. The
bartender finished writing out the message and picked up the phone.
“Mr. Louis McGrogen, please come to the bar. A message is waiting
for you,” he said over the intercom. Donny headed back over to where Candy was
standing. After waiting a few minutes, McGrogen/Winkler walked up to the bar
and the bartender relayed the message and gave him the matches. McGrogen/Winkler
got a very confused look on his face, took the matches, shrugged, and walked
away. Candy and Donny followed him cautiously as not to appear suspicious of
anything. They took a seat off the dancing floor a few tables over from where
McGrogen/Winkler was seated. Every few minutes, McGrogen/Winkler would check
his watch. About an hour and a half since Donny and Candy walked into the club,
a woman walked over to Louis’s table.
The woman was tall with long, skinny legs and her hair up. She had
a medium colored brownish hair. She looked to be about the same age as Louis
was. Louis stood up and sat down as the woman sat down. After exchanging a few
words, McGrogen/Winkler and the woman stood up and walked out of the club.
Candy and Donny exchanged glances and followed Louis and his
female companion out of the club. Once they had exited the club, Donny and
Candy acted as hard as they could to look like they were married. Every once in
a while, the two would kiss. They held hands as they followed McGrogen and his
friend around.
McGrogen/Winkler and the woman walked over the bridge and into
Downtown Disney with Donny and Candy right behind. The two mysterious
characters stopped next to the Village Lake near the Lego dragon statues while
the detective and Cast Member kept walking to the Dock Stage where they sat in
the bleachers.
Candy took out her mirror to make it appear she was fixing her
hair or inspecting her makeup. In reality, the two were watching Louis and the
woman. The two were talking, expressing much emotion. They started to yell when
Louis slapped the woman. That only made her yell louder. She yelled so loud
that Louis took a step toward her. He grabbed onto the shoulders of her shirt
when she lost her balance and fell backward into the water. What she was
yelling from the water was now evident because she was screaming.
“LOUIS! LOUIS MCGROGEN! SAVE ME! PLEASE, YOU KNOW I CAN’T SWIM!
NO! LOREWIS! PLEREASE! HERLP ME!” Her head dipped below the surface. Donny
stood up and sprinted to the railing where the woman was drowning. Louis saw
him coming and sprinted away toward the bus station. Donny didn’t even care
about where McGrogen was going. He jumped over the railing and dived right into
Village Lake. He grabbed the woman’s shirt and hoisted her above water but she
began to try to climb on top of him.
“MA’AM, IF YOU WANT ME TO STORP, YOU NEED TO STOP TRYERING TO GET
ON TOP OF ME. I ERM NOT A FLOATATION DEVICE!” he yelled. Suddenly, both Donny
and the woman disappeared below the surface. Candy ran over to the railing and
watched as the last trail of bubbles popped on the surface of Village Lake.
11
Candy looked around and started screaming.
“HELP! SOMEONE’S DROWNING! HELP US!” No one was coming. There were
a few people around that looked as if Candy had been drinking or doing drugs or
hallucinating. Finally, someone ran up. It was obviously a fox.
“What’s wrong?” he asked calmly with a hint of panic in his voice.
“My boyfriend went in there to save a drowning woman and she
pulled him under!” Candy explained hysterically. Suddenly, Candy noticed a
figure crawling ashore a few feet away in front of the Lego dragon exhibit. It
was Donny. She ran over and helped him pull the unconscious mystery woman out
of the water. Once the two were on dry land, Donny collapsed onto the land and
passed out. The fox helped Candy roll Donny and the woman onto their backs as
he called for help on his cell phone. Candy saw that Donny was breathing, he
was just unconscious from the lack of oxygen and was physically exhausted from
the underwater fight. The woman, however, was not breathing. Candy ran over to
her and began giving her mouth-to-mouth. After a few minutes, the woman coughed
up water and began breathing again. She was still unconscious, though.
Candy dug into the purse that the woman had dropped on the ground
before she fell into the water and pulled out her ID. The ID indicated that the
woman was forty-two years old and lived in the state of New Jersey. The woman’s
name was Yensid McGrogen. Below Yensid’s name, it said that she was an
immigrant from...
“Hey!” the fox yelled, turning around to find Candy going through
the victim’s things.
“Um...” stuttered Candy coming up with the right words. “I was
trying to find out what her name was. I found it. It is Yensid McGrogen.”
“Alright,” said the fox as Donny started coming to.
The ambulance was pulling up and they hoisted Yensid into the
back. Donny insisted he was okay and the ambulance rushed the woman to the
hospital. The fox took Donny’s name and phone number and followed the ambulance
to the hospital.
Once the area was cleared of observers and the emergency
personnel, Candy turned to Donny.
“That woman was Yensid McGrogen, Winkler’s real wife,” she
explained. “What business did Winkler have with Yensid that required the two to
meet?”
“Well, let’s think. Yensid could have wanted her daughter back or
maybe Winkler intended on killing his wife because she knew too much but didn’t
succeed.” Donny thought out loud.
“Maybe,” Candy agreed. As the couple began walking toward the bus
stop they were dropped off at, Donny wrung out his shirt. Water seemed to gush
out of it.
“Did Winkler appear to recognize us?” he asked.
“I don’t think so. He ran away as you jumped into the water,”
Candy responded.
Arriving at the bus stop, the couple sat down and waited for the
vehicle that would take them back to their hotel. Donny was shivering
uncontrollably so Candy put her arm around him in an effort to warm him up.
When the bus for Coronado Springs arrived, the couple saw that the same driver
that dropped them off was driving the bus that picked them up. He gave them
frightened looks.
“Don’t ask,” Donny mumbled to him. He nodded and closed the bus
doors. Sitting down in the back, the two didn’t speak the rest of the way back
to Coronado Springs. In fact, Donny leaned his head on Candy’s shoulder and
fell asleep.
As the door closed behind the newly made up Candy and Donny, the
four detectives sighed and flopped either onto a bed or into a chair.
“Well,” said Smiley, checking his watch. “It’s almost ten o’
clock. We need to go home. Cap, I suggest you get a good sleep tonight. We’ll
be here to pick you up and bring you to Wardrobe at seven o’ clock tomorrow
morning.”
“I’ll be ready,” promised Cap. The four detectives exchanged
goodnights and handshakes and the two foxes left. Cap didn’t even bother taking
off his clothes. He just walked over to his cot and laid down. Pulling his
sheets over him, Sean’s uncle closed his eyes and rolled over.
“Cap,” said Sean, hobbling over to sit on the bed closest to the
cot. Cap rolled over enough to look over his shoulder.
“Yes, Sean?”
“Kara told me that they are leaving in exactly two days,” Sean
informed. Cap’s brow furrowed.
“Well then, you better get cracking on this case,” said the older
gentleman. He once again rolled over, leaving Sean sitting on the bed.
“I’m going for a roll in my wheelchair around Lago Dorado, Cap,”
Sean said. Cap responded with a snore. Hobbling over to and opening the door,
he put the wheelchair in between the door and the doorjam. He made sure a room
key was in his pocket and sat down in the wheelchair. Wheeling himself over to
the elevator, Sean pushed the button that would open the doors. He wheeled
himself into the elevator and pushed the ground floor button. The doors closed
and the elevator started its short descent.
The doors opened and Sean wheeled himself out into the hallway. He
crossed the bridge and passed through the doors into El Centro. Turning left at
the central fountain, Sean wheeled himself past Panchito’s, past the Jumping
Beans arcade and turned left into Fransisco’s, a bar/lounge area complete with
a bar, tables, televisions, and comfy sitting areas. As with the rest of the
resort, Fransisco’s was decorated to resemble a part of Mexico. At the entrance
of the lounge was a small wall fountain. There were windows that had candles in
them that would flicker every once in a while as well.
Sean wheeled himself to one of the tables near a television and
replaced a chair that was there already with his wheelchair. Pulling a pack of
cards out of his pocket, Sean began to play solitaire with himself. The man
behind the bar noticed Sean.
“Would you like something to eat or drink?” he asked in a Mexican
accent. The bartender had nicely combed black hair with a moustache, tan skin,
and dark eyes. He was wearing a nice vest and a white button up shirt.
“Uh, what do you have?” asked Sean.
“We have soda, tea, coffee, cappuccino, milk, water for our
drinks,” the man listed.
“Do you have flavored cappuccino?” Sean asked.
“Yes, we have french vanilla and double mocha,” the bartender
answered.
“How about double mocha?” Sean asked. The man began making Sean’s
cappuccino and whistling. Sean looked around to find that the only other people
in the lounge other than him and the bartender was a couple. The man had
glasses and black hair. He had a goatee and was holding his girlfriends hand
who was sitting across the table from him. His girlfriend had long brown hair
and had a beret resting on her head. The guy was whispering beatnik poetry to
the woman sitting across the table from him. Sean smiled and put the cards
away. Pulling out a book he had been wanting to read about an astronautic hero
named Joe Astro, Sean opened to the first page and began reading. The bartender
brought his cappuccino and the bill.
Sean took a sip from his drink and was pleased with the great
taste. He took another sip and started at chapter one.
~ ~ ~
Opening my eyes, I found myself in a normal looking bedroom that
seemed very familiar. I lifted my head off the ground and felt pain throb in my
temples.
“Where am I?” I asked aloud to noone in particular. Suddenly, a
door in a corner of the room opened and a creature whose body was a giant
eyeball walked in.
“You are on the prison moon of Jupiter, Europa, Mr. Astro,” the
giant eyeball said. I gasped. Only the worst of criminals ended up on Europa.
‘Why am I here?’ I asked myself.
I was suddenly overcome with thoughts that overcame me like a wave
from an ocean. I remembered hearing the order from the President of the United
States. I remembered being in my plane when she gave the news of the United
States being attacked with nuclear weapons by Russia and Japan. I remembered
hearing the order given to me and my colleagues to go around the planet Earth
in our bombers and destroy all life on Earth using the nuclear weapons. We did
as was instructed and landed our planes on the surface. I could hear my partners
and friends that were pilots crying out as their skin melted from the
radiation. I was the chosen one who was to make it to the Mars colony to tell
the residents of Earth’s demise. I blasted out of what was left of Earth’s
atmosphere and headed to Mars.
Looking out of the viewscreen, a large Union of the Galaxy ship
loomed ahead. This ship was what I was to board to make the great journey to
the Mars colony short. I watched in horror as a Confederate of the Galaxy ship
zoomed in and blew the UG ship to pieces. The CG ship shot out a tractor beam
and sucked me into the hanger bay, closing the blast doors behind me as my ship
entered the much larger ship.
I looked around my ship in the hangar to find Venusians running
toward it carrying bullaser guns, a combination of bullets and lasers that
always killed their victim. Anchors popped out of the floor of the hangar and
strapped themselves around the landing gear of the ship so it wouldn’t go
anywhere. The two hundred Venusians
lined up in front of my ship leaving a walkway for him to walk through.
I knew this wouldn’t end up good. The Venusian Captain, who was closest to the
ship called out to me.
“Joe Astro from planet Earth, please exit your spacecraft
immediately. Keep your hands where we can see them.” I did as I was told and
walked down the gangplank into the hangar bay. Standing at the end of the path
the Venusians had made between the two groups, I waited for him to show.
Finally, after four minutes, a figure strolled to the beginning of the walkway
between the Venusian soldiers.
The figure was decked out in clothing that said evil from two
parsecs away. He was dressed from head to foot in black with the clothing
covered in spikes. Pushing his cloak around to his back so his hands were free,
he revealed the sole reason his name was Spike; he had fingernails that were
like talons. They were five inches long and as sharp as a freshly sharpened
sword.
“Hello, Joe Astro,” he called as he walked down the walkway.
“Won’t you join me?” He waved me towards him and I did as was instructed. When
I arrived next to him, he turned around and headed back the way he came.
“I want you all to stay here and guard the ship. We wouldn’t want
anything bad to happen to it while Joe is gone,” he said as the door in front
of us opened. Stepping through it, he turned around and waved to his soldiers.
“Bye, now,” he said evilly. The next thing he did will haunt my
nightmares forever. He closed the door and pushed a button beside it, sealing
the door. He then pushed another button, opening the blast doors. The Venusians
were sucked out of the hangar and into space, choking for air. Spike grinned
and laughed evilly to himself. He waved a soldier in the room toward us. The
Venusian soldier came forward.
“Yes, sir?” he asked. Spike said nothing but simply pointed at me.
“Shall I kill him?”
“No, I want Joe Astro to suffer,” Spike said, simply. The soldier
took out an object that resembled a key chain flashlight and pointed it at me.
When the soldier pressed the button, everything got dark and my ability to move
disappeared.
~ ~ ~
Taking another sip of his cappuccino, something on the television
in Fransisco’s Lounge caught Sean’s attention. He checked his watch. The time
was close to midnight. A breaking news story was taking place in Downtown
Disney. Sean closed his book, making sure to save his place using his Psalm 139
bookmark. Looking up at the television set with interest, he asked the
bartender to turn it up so he could hear it. The bartender pulled the remote
from under the bar and joined Sean at the table. The news scene was shown with
an anchor in the center.
“So Kristin, what exactly is going on in Downtown Disney at this
hour?” came a voice from off screen.
“Well, Rick and Sue, it seems that there was a scuffle here about
five minutes ago. A man and a woman were walking through this area and stopped
next to the water. They had a disagreement and the man hit the woman, who fell
into the water. The woman couldn’t swim and the man left her.
“Apparently, a man nearby ran and dove into the water to save the
woman but the woman pulled him underwater. According to witnesses, the man’s
girlfriend was yelling for help but noone came running to help. Finally, a man
came and called for help. The woman’s savior survived and refused to go to the
hospital. The woman, however was rushed to the hospital. This just in,” Kristin
said, pressing her index finger into the earpiece in her ear. “The woman died
on the way to the hospital from loss of oxygen to the brain. The woman was a
tourist in Walt Disney World, forty-two year old Yensid McGrogen from New
Jersey. (At this, Sean gasped. ‘Could this be Kara’s real mother?) The
woman’s two saviors left the scene before police were able to question them.
Rick and Sue, this is the second murder on Disney property in about a week. Do
we have a homicidal man running around? Will Walt Disney World remain the
happiest place on Earth for much longer? Kristin Macholin, Channel 9 news.”
“Gosh,” said the bartender. “Something strange is going on here.
Someone should investigate the strange happenings.” Sean forced a smile.
“I’m sure someone out there is getting pretty close to cracking
the case,” Sean replied.
“They’re taking long enough,” the bartender said, walking back
over to his usual post.
“Well, I’m going to my room, now. Here is what I owe you for my
bill,” said Sean, placing money on the table top. Wheeling himself out of the
lounge, he entered the lobby to find people still wandering around the
building. Panchito’s was closed as was Jumping Beans. He pushed himself outside
and sat next to the bus stop, waiting for his best friend and his girlfriend to
arrive home. About ten minutes later, a bus arrived at the hotel. Stepping out
of the bus was a still nicely made-up Candy and a soaking wet, messy faced
Donny.
“What happened to you?” asked Sean.
“I went for a little swim in the Village Lake in Downtown Disney,”
answered Donny sarcastically.
“Really? Mrs. Yensid McGrogen just died from lack of oxygen there
about twenty minutes ago,” Sean said, not quite processing what Donny had said.
“What?” said Donny, shocked. Both Donny and Candy stopped and sat
down at the bus stop. The bus drove away. Candy burst into tears. Donny just
shook his head in
shock.
“Was that you that tried saving her?” Sean asked.
“Yes,” Donny snapped angrily.
After a few minutes, Donny said to Candy, “I’ll walk you to your
car.” He returned ten minutes later to the bus stop Sean was waiting at and
pushed him up to their room. Sean didn’t want to tell him another piece of
negative news but he knew he had to.
“Donny,” Sean began, hesitantly.
“Yeah?” Donny snapped once again.
“Um, Kara told me that uh, they are leaving in two days.”
“Great,” Donny said. “Not only did I fail at saving someone’s
life, we also are pressed for time in solving this case. No sleep tonight, Sean
my friend. We have to stay up all night and crack this case.”
“Alright,” said Sean. “Should we wake up Cap?”
“Good idea, little buddy,” Donny complemented as they arrived at
room 9503. Sliding their room key into the lock, they waited for the beep and
the flashing light and walked into their room. Donny flicked on the light to
reveal Cap laying on his cot, sucking his thumb.
“Does he always do that?” Donny laughed.
“He made me promise not to tell anyone,” Sean responded, giggling.
Donny walked over to the cot and started shaking Cap’s shoulder.
“Wake up, Merle,” Donny said in a quiet voice as Sean wheeled
himself in and closed the door behind him.
“He won’t wake up,” commented Sean. Donny started poking Cap on
the forehead. When that didn’t work, he started tickling Cap. When that didn’t
work, Sean said once again, “That won’t wake him up.”
“What will?” asked Donny.
“Give me your cell phone,” said Sean, holding out his hand. Donny
unhooked it from his belt and gave it to Sean. Sean dialed a number and the
hotel room’s phone rang. Cap jumped awake and fell out of his cot.
“Wha?” he asked, groggily.
“Rise and shine, sleepy head,” said Donny, helping the older man
up off the floor.
“What time is it?” Cap asked. Sean glanced at the display on the
cell phone.
“Almost one o’ clock in the morning,” he responded.
“What are you doing waking me up, then?” he asked.
“We need to finish this case. We are running out of time.
According to Sean, the Winklers have two full days here,” Donny explained.
“One thing before we start, then,” said Cap. “I need coffee or I
am going to be very grumpy and stressed.”
Sean stood up out of his wheelchair and got onto his crutches.
Hobbling over to the bathroom nook where the coffee maker was located, he put
the required amount of water in the pot and poured the coffee grinds into the
machine and started the process.
Donny folded up Sean’s wheelchair and put it behind the hanging
shirts in the closet nook to get it out of the way. Sean hopped himself on his
crutches back over to his bed and sat down on the end while Donny opened the
miniature refrigerator next to the television and pulled out two cans of Coke;
one for him and one for Sean. Once Sean was sitting on his bed, Donny handed
him his soda and sat down in a chair at the table.
“Alright, boys. Tell me, why are we working on the case at
one-thirty in the morning?” asked Cap.
“We have a lot to do with a deadline,” said Donny.
“What do you mean?” the elderly gentleman asked.
“Kara told me today that they are leaving exactly two days from
today,” Sean explained.
“That’s right! Well, let’s cracking,” Cap said enthusiastically.
“We have six and to work. Winklers wake up at seven-thirty. Your job for the
day is to spend all day with Kara and get any info out of her as possible.
Smiley and Jolly will be picking me up at seven.”
“Let’s review the facts,” said Donny opening his pocket notebook.
Cap sat back in his chair. Sean took out his writing notebook and pulled a
piece of paper out to take notes and observations on.
“Alright,” began Donny. “Before we start, who do we count as
suspects?”
“Shaggy and Mr. Winkler,”
Sean winced.
“Just think, Sean. If we crack this case and Mr. Winkler ends up
being the perp, you could save Kara’s life,” Cap explained.
“Evidence for Mr. Winkler,” Sean said, writing ‘Lucas
Winkler/Louis McGrogen’ on the piece of lined paper and underlining it.
“Number one: he kidnaped his daughter and Ms. Leotta. He also
bought fake Ids for all three of them,” read Donny as Sean wrote on his
notesheet.
“Number two: Kara seemed to get a hold of McGrogen’s business card
easily as if there were many in the room. Usually if the card doesn’t have your
name on it, you only have one. Kara said that McGrogen was her father’s friend
but according to you, she seemed hesitant to explain to you who Louis McGrogen
was.
“Number three: Winkler called his own daughter by the wrong name.
How can you call your own daughter by the wrong name?
“Number four: according to Kerkstram, the suspect has the same
features as Winkler.
“Number five: Winkler said he would be on his run for much of the
afternoon, yet only five minutes after you came inside, he was coming back to
his room. Also, he ran into you, knocking you over.”
“So? Maybe he forgot something. And I don’t think he ran into me
on purpose,” said Sean.
“I think he was eavesdropping,” Donny commented.
“I don’t,” said Sean.
“Boys! Can we please get along? We don’t have much time,” said
Cap, pouring himself a cup of coffee. Sean sighed.
“I’m sorry, Donny. You are right. I’m just stressed,” apologized
Sean.
“That’s okay, Sean. Let’s solve this so we can really take
a vacation,” said Donny. “Number six: you said that Kara told you her parents
were divorced yet we see that they are both here, spending time together. Also,
I haven’t heard a single shout from next door so we know that they aren’t
fighting.
“Number seven: after Candy was kidnaped, she turned up in the
Winkler hotel room. She says that a custodian with the name tag ‘Juanita’
kidnaped her then deposited her in a hotel room that just so happened to be the
Winkler’s.
“Number eight,” said Sean. Donny gave him a surprised look. “When
Kara and I left you guys to go through Pangani Forest Trek, she told me she was
abused by someone when she was older with a baseball bat. I have reason to
believe the ‘someone’ was her father. I don’t know if this has to do with the
case but if this is true, it shows that he abuses his daughter. If he abuses his
daughter, he obviously doesn’t care if he kills a few people.”
“Number nine: did you see how good Mr. Winkler was at the
Frontierland Shooting Arcade? He played like three times and hit every target
many times without missing once. He could very easily have been the shooter.
“Number ten: at 8TRAX, Mr. Winkler responded to Louis McGrogen
when he was paged over the intercom. Also, Yensid called him Louis, as well. If
Winkler is the perp, why did he try to drown his wife? Was he afraid she was
going to talk?”
“That’s a good start,” commented Sean. “Next, let’s talk about
clues that may point to Shaggy as being the culprit.” Sean wrote ‘Shaggy’ on a
separate piece of paper and underlined it.
“Number one,” read Donny out of his pocket notebook. A loud snore
erupted from the opposite side of the table from where Cap was sitting. Both
boys turned their attention to the older detective to find he was sound asleep.
“Just let him sleep,” said Sean, rubbing his eyes. He glanced at
the clock on the bedside stand next to his bed. “Man, Donny. It’s already a
little after three AM.”
“Yeah, we’ve been working for a long time. Let’s take a bathroom
break and we’ll continue at three-fifteen,” said Donny.
Sean hoisted himself off the bed and onto his crutches and hobbled
to the bathroom to empty his bladder. He hobbled back over to his bed to sit
down but realized he needed more energy. He took another Diet Coke out of the
fridge, making sure to put a Mountain Dew on the table next to Donny’s pocket
notebook. Donny walked out of the bathroom with a smile on his face.
“Man, that felt good,” he sighed. Sean sat down on the bed and
picked up his notebook and paper. Preparing his pen to write, he nodded to
Donny to signify he was ready.
“Is this for Shaggy?” he asked over the loud snoring of Sean’s
uncle.
“Yeah,” answered Sean as Donny started flipping through the notes
in his notebook.
“Alright,” he began. “Number one: when I was attacked and was
pushed over the edge of the banister, you hit the attacker, sending him over
the edge and into the plant below. After helping me up, we looked down and
noone was there but we did see Shaggy across the courtyard.
“Number two: Shaggy was sitting right behind the bus driver the
day the bus went over the edge of the overpass.
“Number three: he was sitting next to Sean on Kali River Rapids
and was the one that offered to clip you in. Maybe he was the one that
sabotaged the seatbelt.
“Number four: Shaggy has been seen in various other places
following us around. That isn’t as many clues as there are for Mr. Winkler
(Sean glared at Donny), but that doesn’t mean anything. These are very
important clues.” Donny finished.
Donny glanced at his notebook. “Oh, man!”
“What?” asked Sean.
“There is one more category of clues,” Donny began.
“So? What’s wrong with that?” Sean asked.
“The clues involve many people that aren’t Mr. Winkler and
Shaggy!”
12
“What?” asked Sean. “Come again?”
“According to my notes, there is a whole group of people that
don’t fall under the Shaggy or Winkler column. This could pose as a problem,”
Donny explained.
“Well, let’s make a column for the miscellaneous clues,” Sean
suggested.
“Good idea, little buddy,” Cap muttered in his sleep. Donny and
Sean burst out laughing.
Sean leaned down closer to the fresh piece of paper he was about
to start a list on and wrote ‘Miscellaneous’ and underlined it. “Go ahead,” he
said to Donny.
“Number one,” Donny began for the third time. “Someone put pepper
on my food that first day here. I don’t know if that was an accident, if
someone did it without knowing or if it was on there originally when it was
served me, or if someone did pepper my food knowing I was allergic to it.
“Number two: someone
chloroformed you and Kara the first night while you guys were at the Carousel
of Progress during the E-ride night. You said that the person had thick
glasses, very tan skin, and a goatee. Is that correct?”
“Yeah, I believe it is,” answered Sean.
“Alright. Number three: while we were on the Haunted Mansion, the
power went out. I don’t know if that was just a freak accident or if someone
wanted to come and try to hurt us in the darkness.
“Number four: Juanita claimed that someone that an old man with a
cane kidnaped her. What did he want? What were his intentions?
“Number five: Candy said that she was kidnaped by someone that
closely resembled the Juanita we met later that night. Was this the old guy
that kidnaped Juanita earlier in the day?
“Number six: someone killed Juanita. Did they do this to stop her
from talking any more about the two kidnaping incidents or to punish her for
talking?
“Number seven: someone named Jason Euchre hired a hitman to kill
Donny. Did ‘Jason Euchre’ really hire a hitman or was this guy working on his
own and lie about being hired? And where did he get the Coronado Springs
uniform?
“Number eight: someone ransacked our room. What were they looking
for? Did they just want money? Or were they looking for something else? How did
they get into our room? Did they break in or did they steal a room key? Or do
they work for the resort?
“Number nine: bullets found in both Barry’s body and Margaretta’s
neck are both different. Are there two or more culprits? Someone must have a
very large grudge on the Englers,” Donny finished.
“Is that it?” asked Sean.
“Yeah, now the only thing we need to do is force Mr. Winkler to
slip-up or meet Shaggy. We need to do it in two days, too,” said Donny,
standing up and opening the curtains to see what was going on outside. It was
still dark and their was no sign of life stirring outside yet. Sean looked at
the clock on the bedside table. The clock read five o’ clock.
“Well, we still have a few hours until things start opening around
here. Smiley and Jolly don’t come to pick Cap up until seven. What do you want
to do?” Sean asked.
“I wouldn’t mind taking a short nap,” said Donny.
“Me neither. Maybe we should make a battle plan before we do,
though,” thought Sean.
“Good idea,” agreed Donny. The two talked for another ten minutes
about how to elongate the investigation if it needed to be elongated and were
asleep by five-fifteen.
At six-thirty, Sean’s watch alarm went off. Straining to open his
eyes from the exhaustion, he saw that Cap was awake, wide eyed and breathing
hard in the chair the teens had left him in the night before. He had obviously
woken to the alarm.
“Time to get up, Cap. Jolly and Smiley are going to be here in a
half hour,” yawned Sean.
Sitting up, Sean turned off his alarm and looked over to his
partner. Donny was still asleep. Turning around, Sean picked up one of the
pillows off his bed and threw it at his friend. It hit Donny in the face,
causing him to groan. Sean lifted another pillow to throw at his friend but
Donny put up his hand and grunted, “I’m awake!”
Cap stumbled off into the bathroom and took a quick shower so he
could have a sufficient amount of time to get dressed and eat breakfast. He was
out of the shower in three minutes, tops. Donny was up and in the shower after
Cap was dressed. Sitting down in one of the chairs at the table, Cap bent down
to put on his socks. Sean laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Cap asked, sitting up. Sean pointed to the
chair opposite the side of the table Cap was sitting at. It was the chair Cap
had slept in during the night. Donny looked where Sean was pointing to find a
great, big drool spot.
“Was that from me?” Cap asked.
“Yeah,” Sean chuckled.
“I didn’t know I drooled in my sleep,” he commented.
“You snored and talked in your sleep, too,” Sean informed.
“Really? What did I say?” asked Cap, curiously.
“‘Good idea, little buddy’,” Sean laughed.
“Really? I wonder where that came from,” Cap said, stumped.
“I don’t know. Donny and I laughed, though.”
Cap leaned down to the refrigerator and removed a small carton of
milk. He set it on the table and grabbed a styrofoam bowl and a box of Fruit
Loops. Opening the box, he poured the cereal into the bowl until it was half
full. He then opened the milk and poured most of it into the bowl. He dipped
his spoon into the cereal and shoved it into his mouth. Suddenly, his face
screwed up into a grimace.
“What’s wrong?” asked Sean.
“I accidentally put chocolate milk into my cereal,” said Cap,
walking to the trash to throw it away. Donny’s hand shot up into the air and he
grunted something almost ununderstandable.
“I’lL hAve it,” Donny’s voice cracked. Cap shrugged and handed it
to the young detective who sat up in bed and began ferociously devouring the
contents of the bowl. A knock was heard at the door. Cap grabbed a banana from
atop of the fridge and a Coke from the fridge and walked out the door.
“Finish this thing, will you?” he asked as he pulled the door shut
behind him.
“See you later, Unc!” said Sean, excited for his uncle. Looking at
the clock, Sean said to his friend, “It’s seven oh three, Donny.”
Donny looked over to Sean and shaking his head, sloshed all the
milk and cereal in his mouth loud enough for Sean to hear.
“Gross!” Sean yelled quietly. “Don’t do that!”
Swallowing the contents of his bowl, Donny shoved another spoonful
into his mouth. “Wher aw wre gouringah today?” he asked (translation: Where are
we going today?).
“I don’t know. You can call Candy and we’ll hang with the Winklers
all day,” Sean said. Donny swallowed the food in his mouth and set the newly
empty styrofoam bowl and spoon on the bedside stand. Picking up the phone, he
dialed the front desk.
“Hello, front desk,” came a gruff female voice.
“Hi, I was wondering if Candy was in,” Donny said joyfully.
“I’m sorry, but Candy has been transferred to another part of the
Walt Disney World resort. May I help you?” the woman on the other side of the
phone asked.
Donny felt a lump grow in his throat. “Um, n-no, thanks anyways,”
Donny said, grimly.
“What’s wrong?” asked Sean as Donny glumly hung up the phone.
“Candy doesn’t work at this hotel anymore,” Donny commented.
“I’m sorry, Donny,” said Sean. Donny didn’t say anything in
return. He just stood up and walked off to the bathroom and closed the door
behind him. Sean heard the water of the shower turn on and sat back in his bed.
He bent down and pulled his portable CD player out of his backpack, which was
next to his bed. Slipping his headphones into his ears, he started the music
and began jamming to his favorite Christian rock band, Relient K. Fifteen
minutes later, Donny walked out of the bathroom with a towel tied around his
waist.
Walking to Sean’s bed, he helped his young friend up onto his feet
and steadied him. Sean thanked his friend and hopped to the bathroom. Sitting
on the little bench used by handicapped people in the shower, Sean gave himself
a sponge bath, carful not to get his cast wet. After he was done, Sean hopped
out of the shower and found clean clothes on the toilet. Donny must have put
them there, Sean thought. He dressed in silence. I can’t stand silence, Sean
thought to himself. He started humming the tune to the Pirates of the Caribbean
attraction.
After he was dressed, Sean hopped out of the bathroom. Donny was
laying on his bed, remote in hand, staring at the television. A second look
told Sean that Donny was sleeping. The reflection of the television shined on
Donny’s eyelids, making them appear open. Looking at the clock, Sean realized
the time was close to seven-forty five. Sean sat down on his bed after turning
the television off. A whistle was heard from the Winkler’s room. A few seconds
later, Sean realized that the whistle was their shower running. The whistling
stopped. Five minutes later, it started again. Sean hopped off his bed and
grabbed his notes that were taken overnight and read through them, looking for
something to tie the clues together. Around eight o’ clock, the whistling of
the Winkler’s shower stopped. A few minutes later, the door of the Winkler’s
hotel room opened and closed. Sean quickly stood up and hopped to the door.
Throwing it open, he yelled quietly down the hall. “Kara!”
The young girl with her parents looked behind her. The trio
stopped. “I’ll catch up to you,” Kara said to her parents. Running to Sean, she
threw her arms around him. The last thing Lucas Winkler saw was his daughter
helping her boyfriend into his hotel room.
“So, how are ya?” Kara whispered casually as she quietly closed
the hotel room door behind her.
“Good,” Sean said. Two faces suddenly filled the picture window
next to the door. They were the faces of Lucas Winkler and his wife. Kara threw
open the door. Looking over her shoulder, she gave Sean the ‘I will be back in
a second’ finger.
Making sure the door was closed behind her, she exploded into a
fury of anger. “What are you doing?” she yelled angrily.
“Making sure that kid and his friend don’t rape you. They are
weird, Kara. I don’t like you hanging around them,” her father said lovingly.
“I don’t think it is fair that you pull us away from Tampa without
a reason so suddenly. First, you divorce mom. Then you find this woman and drag
her along with us to Disney World? You make me go by a different name. Dad,
what is going on? I’m worried about you,” said Luke’s concerned daughter.
“Should I tell her?” Winkler asked to no one in particular.
“No, of course not. Then you would have to kill her,” he said, once
again, to himself. Kara got a terrified look on her face.
“You’re crazy!” Kara yelled.
“Kara, my name is not really Emmy. It is Dr. Lyndi Croft. I am
really your father’s psychiatrist,” said the woman Kara thought was her
father’s girlfriend. Tara took Kara’s hand and Lucas, Lyndi, and Kara sat down
against the wall of the hallway.
“Your father is schizophrenic. I didn’t want to tell you because I
was afraid I was going to spoil the trip for you. It wasn’t your father that
divorced your mom, but your mom that divorced your dad. Your dad thinks that
the three of us are secret agents on a mission. That is why he has given the
three of us false names. He lives in a fantasy world. He has been schizophrenic
since his family died in the attack on the World Trade Center on September
eleventh. I’ve been meeting with him since grief counseling on the twentieth of
September, 2001. When he decided to go on vacation, he asked that I come along
but stay in a different hotel room so you didn’t wonder what was going on,”
Lyndi explained. Kara leaned past Lyndi and looked at her father.
“I’m sorry, love,” he said. “Me too.”
“Um...I-I’ll meet you at the food court,” Kara’s voice wavered.
She stood up and knocked on Donny and Sean’s door. The door opened and Kara
walked in. The door closed and both Lucas Winkler and Louis McGrogen saw Kara
pull the curtains closed of the hotel room so her father and his nurse couldn’t
spy.
When the door closed, Donny awoke with a scare. He sat up and
looked around for Sean, thinking his friend had left without him. He saw that
Sean was sitting on his bed.
“Have a good nap?” Sean asked, not looking up from his notes.
“Uh...” Donny stuttered, wiping sweat from his forehead. He
glanced at the clock, which told him he had been sleeping for a little less
than forty-five minutes. “Yeah. Who just left?”
“Kara’s mom and dad wanted to talk to her or something. She’ll be
right back,” Sean said.
“I see. Do we know what is going on, today?” Donny asked.
“No,” Sean answered. “It sounds like they are arguing about
something outside, though. I hear an awful lot of yelling.”
“Yeah,” said Donny. A few minutes later, an aggravated knock came
from the door. Sean hopped off the bed and glanced into the eyehole, finding a
crying Kara. Opening the door, his girlfriend gently pushed past him and pulled
the curtains of the window closed with a jerk.
“Close the door,” she cried. Sean complied with her order.
Sitting down on Sean’s bed, she buried her face in her hands. Sean
sat down next to her. The young detective tossed the pieces of paper with the
clues written on them to his friend to study. Sean let his girlfriend cry for a
few minutes. He knew from experience that sometimes a good cry is needed before
any words are exchanged. Ten minutes passed and Sean took her chin in her
hands. Lifting her head gently so he could look into her eyes, Sean asked,
“What’s wrong?”
“You know how my name is Kara Winkler?” she cried hysterically.
Sean nodded. “Well, it’s not. It’s Becky McGrogen.” Sean tried to act
surprised.
“It is?” he asked.
“Yeah. And do you know why?” she asked. Sean shook his head no,
his eyes wide with concern. “My father is a psychotic skitzo! He made me call
myself Kara Winkler because he thought he was a secret agent in the F.B.I. or
something. Well, he isn’t he is just a psychotic loser.” Once again, she buried
her face in her hands. Sean put his arms around her and looked at Donny who was
taking notes in his notebook. Making eye contact with his partner, Sean noticed
that Donny looked as surprised at this interesting development as he was. Becky
pushed herself out of Sean’s arms after half a minute and looked into his eyes.
“I’m sorry for lying to you,” she said. “I don’t know why I faked
my name. It was stupid anyway.” Becky gave a soft chuckle. “Yeah, it was
stupid,” she said softly. Donny walked up to her and handed her a tissue. She
grabbed a tissue and caught him in a big hug, as well. Donny gave her a hug in
a friendly way. She let go of Donny and blew her nose. She stood up and walked
to the bathroom nook and turned on the faucet. Looking at herself in the
mirror, Becky laughed at the face that stared back at her. “Ha, I look like a
wreck,” she giggled. She cupped cold water in her hands and splashed it in her
face to clean off the dripping make-up and make it appear she had not been
crying for twenty minutes. She took a deep breath and grabbed a tissue. She
blew her nose and walked over to Sean’s bed, sitting next to him.
“Gosh, I’m so stupid!” Becky yelled. “Tomorrow is my last day
seeing you and I tell you my real name today! You know that woman he’s with, my
mom, Emmy Winkler? Well it turns out she is his psychiatrist that went on
vacation undercover with us in Tampa. I thought she was just some woman he met
while we were there. But I thought it was strange being as he is having an
online affair with some woman from Tennessee. That’s why my parents split,
because dad was going out with this Rachel Gramburg from Tennessee.” Sean put his arm around her. He decided to
change the subject.
“So, uh, what are we doing today?” he asked.
Becky shrugged. “Let’s go to a water park,” she suggested,
sniffing.
“What ones are there?” Sean asked. Donny stood up and grabbed the
water park brochure off the bureau. He opened it and flipped through the pages.
“Well,” he began. “There’s Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon.”
“Is there a description?” Becky asked.
“Blizzard Beach: ‘What do you do when a freak snowstorm hits
Florida? Build a ski resort, of course. But as our lift went up, so did the
temperature, leaving some of the world’s fastest, longest, slushing, gushing,
downhill thrills.’ It looks pretty cool. It has a sixty-mile-per-hour water
slide, some tube slides, and a wave pool,” Donny commented.
“What about Typhoon Lagoon?” Sean asked.
“Looks like an older water park,” Donny said. “‘Boats were tossed
and palms were bent. And when the storm of storms finally blew out to sea, it
left behind this topsy-turvy tropical playground. A paradise for snorkeling,
sliding, and bodysurfing.’ That looks cool, too. It has a humongous lazy river
and a very big wave pool, as well as tube rides and a shark snorkeling reef.”
“I think Stanley told me that Typhoon Lagoon has sandy beaches,”
stated Sean.
“That’s cool,” said Becky.
“Let’s take a vote,” said Donny. “All those in favor of going to
Typhoon Lagoon, raise your hands.” Donny raised his hand to demonstrate. No one
else raised their hands.
“Blizzard Beach?” All three hands were in the air. “It’s settled,
then. Blizzard Beach it is.”
“I’m going to go get my bathing suit on,” Becky said.
“We’ll be here,” Sean said. Becky walked out the door and into her
room to get dressed. Sean hobbled over to the bureau. He grabbed a bathing suit
and put it on; Donny did likewise.
“Wait a minute,” Donny said, looking at Sean. “How are you going
to swim? You can’t get your cast wet.
“I don’t mind sitting and watching. It’s not like we’re going to
be there all day, anyways. I’ll just make sure to bring a book along for
something to do,” Sean said. A moment later, a knock was heard at the door.
Sean hobbled over to it and opened it. Standing outside was Becky. She was
wearing a short skirt and sleeveless tank-top. She was carrying a beach bag
covered in a floral pattern. She had sunglasses on and flip-flops on her feet.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Let’s go,” said Donny grabbing his sunglasses off the bureau.
Sean grabbed the sunglasses that clipped to his normal glasses and hopped into
his wheelchair. Becky pushed Sean out of the hotel room and Donny pulled the
door closed behind them. Sean threw his book and watch into Becky’s beach bag
and opened a tube of suntan lotion. He squirted a glob into his hand and smeared
it onto his nose. Becky laughed. Donny sprinted ahead and caught the elevator
before the door closed. Once they arrived at the ground floor, they crossed the
bridge and stopped at the bus stop. As Becky pushed him towards the bus stop,
Sean noticed something on the roof of the bus stop. A sign that hung down from
the ceiling read ‘BUS STOP.’ Above the words, there was a picture of a
bus. Seen in the windows of the bus were five people. The middle silhouette was
none other than Mickey Mouse, himself. Sean pointed this out to his friends.
The group waited fifteen minutes for the bus that would take them to the
winter-based water park. Once on the bus, Becky pulled a cell phone from her
beach bag and called her dad.
“Hi, daddy. The boys and I are going to Blizzard Beach. No, you
don’t need to come. Alright, I’ll be home by midnight. I love you too, daddy.
Say hi to Lyndi for me. Bye.”
“What time is it?” asked Sean. Becky looked at the face of her
cell phone.
“Nine-thirty,” his girlfriend responded. Sean nodded. About ten
minutes later, the group arrived at the water park. The trio were relieved to
find that they had the kind of tickets required to have admission to the water
park. Walking into the park, the group found a large ski lodge turned into
clothing store. Coming around the corner from behind a tall brown building, the
group saw an amazing sight. Towering above them was Summit Plummet, America’s
fastest water slide. Summit Plummet appeared to be a very tall ski jump. Every
once in a while, someone would shoot down the hill and disappear. The only
indication someone had been on that water slide was whenever they disappeared,
a spray of water would shoot off the end of the jump.
“Whoa!” Sean and Donny said together, in awe. Becky just smiled.
“Let’s go,” she said. She pushed Sean through the crowds and into
the major part of the water park. The group crossed a bridge that was over
Cross Country Creek, the lazy river and past the lazy river to a less busy part
of the water park. They found three chairs by the wave pool in the area nearest
to the Downhill Double Dipper, a tube slide where two guests race through a
tunnel and down two short hills. Donny helped Sean out of his wheelchair and
into a beach chair.
“Sean,” Becky said pulling off her sleeveless tank-top and skirt.
“We’re going to go swimming and go on some slides. We’ll check up with you
about every hour. We can get some lunch about one. Alright?”
“Sure,” Sean said, pulling his copy of The Adventures of Joe
Astro from Candy’s beach bag.
“Love you,” she said to her boyfriend.
“Love you, too,” Sean responded opening to where he left off.
“See you, man!” said Donny.
“Adios,” Sean mumbled. He looked up from his book to watch his two
friends walk away, gazing in wonder at the gigantic water slides. Looking down
at his book, he folded the pages he already read behind the back cover.
~ ~ ~
When I woke up, I found I was suspended in midair. Looking around
me, I found that what was keeping me in the air was two tractor beams. I found
I had an itch on my nose. I reached up to itch it when I noticed...I couldn’t
move any part of my body except my head. I looked ahead to find someone
standing in the archway ahead. It was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen.
She was wearing a tight flight suit that hugged her figure. She had blond hair
that reached down to her shoulder blades and deep brown eyes. If she were from
Earth, I would have guessed she was Native American.
“Need some help?” she asked in a sarcastic tone.
“It would be nice,” I said in a strained voice.
The girl walked over to the control panel that housed the dials
and buttons that controlled the double tractor beams and pressed a few buttons.
A low whine was heard and I dropped to the ground. She ran to me and helped me
up, making sure to steady me so I didn’t fall down. My legs were weak; I didn’t
know how long it had been since I was put into the double tractor beams. After
I got control of my legs back, she let go and stepped back.
“You’re Joe Astro, aren’t you?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I answered. She stuck her hand out for me to shake.
“Lusie Burgra,” she said.
“Aren’t you a smuggler?” I asked.
“Do you know any other Lusie Burgra?” she asked.
“Well, no,...”
“I didn’t think so,” she interrupted.
She went behind me to undo the metal binds that held my hands.
When she came back in front of me, I saw an old woman holding the keys.
“You-you’re a Shafter?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said, changing into a perfect copy of Spike. “You
like?” she asked.
“Yeah. What’s your original form?” She shifted back into the young
woman I first saw with the tight flight suit.
“You know, I was in prison here, too,” Lusie said, leading me out
of the tractor beam prison.
“How did you get out?” I asked.
“I shifted into Spike and the dim-wits let me out,” she laughed.
“I see,” I responded.
She changed her form into that of the frog-looking alien species,
Rybert, which was the species Spike used on his ship to take care of the
prisoners.
“Pretend I am a Rybert so that we can get out of here,” she
screeched.
“Alright,” I answered. Stepping into the corridor in front of us
was none other than Spike himself.
~ ~ ~
Sean looked put his bookmark in his book to keep his spot and set
the book on the ground next to his beach chair and lifted his head to watch
people swimming in Melt Away Bay, the wave pool. Every once in a while, he
would get a whiff of burgers and fries. The sun was blazing hot. Sean’s throat
was dry. He took his watch out of Becky’s beach bag and looked at the face. It
read ten thirty-five. Sweat formed on his brow and started trickling down his
face. It has to be close to ninety degrees out here, he thought. Some young
adults were coming his way. As one of the guys walked by, Sean got his
attention.
“Um, excuse me, sir?” he said. The guy stopped, turned, and looked
down at Sean.
“Yeah?” he asked. The young man had a red bathing suit on. He was
with three other college-aged kids; a kid with a blue and yellow striped swim
suit and two girls in tight bikinis.
“Would you mind getting me a souvenir cup of Diet Coke? I’ll pay
you back when you return and I’ll also offer a tip,” Sean asked.
“Really? Sure!” the kid agreed. “What did you want?”
“A souvenir cup of Diet Coke,” said Sean.
“Alright,” the kid said. “Come on, gang!” Him and his friends
walked away towards a restaurant shack to get Sean his drink, leaving Sean,
once again, alone.
“SEAN!” the yell came out of nowhere. It came again. “SEAN!” He looked around but could not find the source of the yelling.
He heard it again. “SEAN! UP HERE!” It was coming from his
left. He looked and didn’t see anything. Looking up, he saw Becky and Donny on
the Downhill Double Dipper, the racing tube slide. They waved at him and
disappeared. Suddenly, he saw two tubes shoot out of the tunnels and down the
two hills. The tubes splashed into the landing pool and skipped to a halt. A
dripping wet Donny and Becky climbed out of the pool, laughing their heads off.
They turned around to look at the times to see who had won. Becky’s arms shot
up in the air and she yelped. Donny laughed and gave her a playful shove. The
two walked out of the exit and deposited their tubes on the conveyor belt that
would carry them up to the top for other sliders to use.
Candy brushed her hair out of her face and around her ears. Sean
smiled sadly then looked angrily down at his leg covered with the cast. “If it
wasn’t for you,” he said. “I that would have been me on the water slide with
Becky.” His two friends came running up to Sean.
“Hey, man!” Donny said, breathlessly.
“Hey, my cute cripple,” Becky said lovingly.
They both grabbed a towel and sat down on a beach chair on either
side of Sean. The college kid came back with Sean’s drink.
“Hey, thanks man!” said Sean, taking his wallet out of Becky’s
beach bag as the kid handed Donny the souvenir cup and the receipt.
Sean glanced at the receipt and handed the kid a ten dollar bill,
which covered the price of the drink and a small tip.
“Thanks again!” Sean said as the kid and his friends walked away.
Sean took a greedy sip of his pop. “Hey! This is Coke, not Diet Coke!”
Sean’s friends laughed.
“So, what did you guys do?” asked Sean.
“Let’s see,” began Donny. “We went on the Snow Stormers, which is
a toboggan race, we went on Downhill Double Dipper just now...”
“I won by the way,” Becky interrupted.
“You got a head start,” laughed Donny.
“DID NOT!” she yelled. The three broke out into hysterical
laughter.
“We also went on Runoff Rapids, which are tube slides,” finished
Donny.
“I’m bored. Do you think I can go on the lazy river without
getting my cast wet?” Sean asked.
“We can try,” commented Becky. Donny helped Sean up and the young
detective’s two friends helped him to the entrance of Cross Country Creek, the
half mile long lazy river. Once there, Donny caught three inner tubes that were
floating by. He picked Sean up and set him on the tube, making sure his cast
wasn’t touching the water. He looked over to see Becky hop on her own tube and
grabbed onto her boyfriend’s. Donny hopped onto his tube and grabbed onto
Sean’s as well. Then they were off! Well, they were off lazily, anyways. The
tubes floated past buildings covered in melting snow and into a dark cavern.
Inside the cavern, Sean spotted holes in the ceiling. Pouring out of the holes
was the coldest water Sean had ever felt. It was so cold, it actually felt like
freshly melted snow. The tubes floated out of the cavern and towards the front
of the park. Suddenly, Donny felt water shoot on his back. Looking behind him,
he saw three boys about nine years old squirting mounted water cannons at the
passing tubers. Eventually, the tubes passed the children and floated under a
bridge. They emerged with a island cabin standing in front of them. They heard
a voice inside the cabin sneeze. Out of the chimney came sprays of water that
rained down upon the tubers. Soon after that, the three friends came upon the
place they got on. Donny hopped out of his tube and pulled Becky and Sean out
of the mainstream of the lazy river and to the stairs. When they arrived, Becky
hopped out and helped Donny hoist Sean onto dry land. The two helped Sean to a
restaurant and to a picnic table.
“What do you want to eat?” Donny asked Sean, taking his wallet out
of his back pocket, letting it drip dry.
“How about a burger and fries?” Sean asked.
“That sounds good,” said Donny as him and Becky got in line.
Sean smiled at his friends. Looking down at his watch, he realized
it was a little after noon. He wondered how Cap was doing...
Driving into the parking lot of the Magic Kingdom cast member
parking lot, which gave the three access to the wardrobe department, which was
located in the Magic Kingdom Utilidors. The wardrobe department supplied
costumes for all the Disney World employees, Smiley explained to Cap.
“What we need you to do, Cap,” began Smiley “is to try
investigating where this Jason Euchre is getting the costumes. We’ll come pick
you up to bring you to lunch at noon.” Smiley pulled his car into the parking
lot and took off his seatbelt. He pulled the keys out of the ignition and
stepped out of the car. Jolly got out of the backseat as Cap opened his own
door. They started walking toward the entrance to the Utilidors, when Cap
remembered he accidentally left his cell phone in the car. He told Smiley, who
unlocked his car using the lock remote.
Cap let a car pass and jogged to Smiley’s car. Opening the door,
he reached into the front seat and grabbed his phone. He clipped the cell phone
to his belt and crossed the road. A black Sedan was approximately fifty feet
away. As Cap crossed the road, the car accelerated. Cap looked up to see the
car speeding toward him. He ran across the road, only to find that the car
moved with him, in an effort to hit him. He was still one hundred feet from the
building’s sidewalk entrance. He relied on one last burst of speed to get
himself across the ground but suddenly got a cramp in his left leg. Collapsing
to the ground, he waited for the squish that was about to follow.
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