old man sat in his favorite spot on the wooden porch of his house, which was also beginning to show its age. He had placed a cushion on the bench that sat along the wall of the house. More recently, sitting for any length of time caused his back to ache more and more frequently. Yet he loved to relax out here. He enjoyed the fresh air and the views across the meadows all the way up to the nearby forest. It brought delight to his heart to listen to the chirping of the birds and the rustling of the leaves in the fall.
He spent almost every day outside, if the weather permitted it at all. He never got bored because this was his time to let his thoughts drift and roam with out interruptions. In recent years, more and more memories dating back to his childhood and adolescence returned to him like old friends. He liked that and was sometimes quite astounded as to how much detail he did remember.
He could literally smell the cakes his mother used to serve every Sunday. He was not so fond of his school memories because he actually had not liked school back then. But he frequently basked in the memories of childhood friends. They had pulled of some pretty crazy practical jokes on people and as he reminisced, he frequently had to laugh out loud. If someone had watched him sitting there all by himself and laughing his head off, the secret observer would certainly have had misgivings about the old man’s sanity.
Often, yes very often indeed, he would think of his wife and the life they had shared. How often had he hurt her out false pride or because he insisted on being right instead of taking her into his arms and enjoying every hour they could spend together? She had passed on six years ago - left him as the pastor had put it back then. His world had become darker in the aftermath of her death. He had blamed God and the world. He had cursed his own fate and the fact that he had to continue to live without her.
His children had all gotten married and moved to Prisco into a cute little house. They had told him he should move in with them at the time. Nonetheless, he wanted to stay here, in his familiar surroundings, protected by his own four walls. This was his home and he would never have felt at home anywhere else. Once the children had had their own baby - a son - he was happy for them along with his wife, who was still alive at the time. Since then, almost thirty years had passed and the baby had grown into a man.
Well, he wished that were true. He wished the baby had grown into a man. Yet his grandson was still a child. His body had grown into that of a man, his mind had not caught up with this development. Despite that fact, the old man had always considered his grandson a special gift.
The grandfather always said: “The Lord above must have had a plan when he made him like that. One day you will see.......”
He always let the sentence trail off without finishing it. He had not always been a man of faith. In fact, he’d rarely attended church services, and if he ever did, he did so because his wife demanded he did. All of that had changed the day he had buried his brother-in-law in the woods. This tragedy had lead him to believe. While he was still not a regular church attendee, he did talk to God a whole lot. He talked to Him, told Him stories as if He was an old friend. They had conversations every day. It brought him inner peace and satisfaction.
And so it was on this day, when he sat outside and surveyed the meadows and the forest, just like he did every other day. But today was a different day than the days before. Something made him shudder, although the autumn sun’s warm rays did make the temperature on the porch rather comfortable. He had an uneasy feeling, a premonition that had bothered him for days. At night he continued to wake up exhausted in the middle of a dream and could not remember any of it. Normally, he was a very sound sleeper who awoke refreshed every morning. Something was about to happen, something was wrong. He stared hard at the edge of the forest, but did not recognize anything that would have been strange. Everything appeared to be completely normal.
The thing stretched its mental tentacles invisibly. Searching like a blind person, it felt around in the dark and listened. The creature kept searching and searching. About a quarter of a mile away, a rabbit was gnawing away at a bushel of grass. All of a sudden, its ears shot upright and began to listen. At first, the animal heard an almost inaudible whisper, next a buzzing sound similar to that created by a swarm of bees. Just before the bunny could flee its spirit was brutally forced aside and a cold glimmer appeared in its eyes. The thing had taken control of the animal like a flash of lightning. Initially, the rabbit continued to move as if it were unsure of itself; almost like a drunken rabbit. Its heart raced like crazy. A short while later it turned into the direction of the forest edge and began to run.
CHAPTER 4
Rita Miller had since arrived at Doctor Ness’ office with Hanky. The doctor was awaiting them outside the door as he had already been briefed by Ben Johansson. Doctor Ness rushed down the short stairway in front of his house to meet the small group. Rita still had the children in tow, given that Hanky’s plight did not allow her to take them back to school first. Hanky, who was still holding Rita’s hand was shaking as if he was running a high fever.
“The boy must be in a state of shock,” the physician mumbled under his breath.
He thanked Rita for offering such prompt help and promised her that he would take care of the rest. He carefully took Hanky’s hand out of Rita’s and led him into his house. He kept talking to the poor lad in a soothing tone. Rita watched the two until they had disappeared inside the house. Then she took the pupils back to school.
As soon as the doctor and Hanky entered the practice, Hanky began to scream at the top of his lungs. “It’s coming, the evil thing is coming. Hanky scared. Doc, we have to run. Fast. The bad thing is coming.”
He ran around the room in circles, saliva dripping from his mouth. When the doctor finally managed to grab him by the arm, Hanky pushed him aside as if he were a doll. Doctor Ness rushed over to his medicine cabinet and pulled out a syringe and a small bottle of a strong sedative after a brief search. He drew the medication into the syringe, which he hid behind his back while holding it in his right hand and approaching Hanky. Hanky continued to scream and appeared to be unable to locate the door because he was in a state of panic. Wildly gesticulating with his arms he ran through the treatment room, causing a few objects to tumble and fall. When an aluminum bowl hit the ground, he was briefly distracted and stared at the silver item on the floor. The doctor seized the opportunity and gave Hanky the injection into his arm. The young man was so flabbergasted that he ceased his screaming for an instant. The medication worked almost instantly and Hanky dozed off. He fell hard against the ground and lay there with his limbs convulsing. Doctor Ness wiped the perspiration from his brows and went outside to get the nurse. A few minutes later, Hanky, tied down with leather straps, was resting in an auxiliary room of the practice. His lips moved as if they wanted to scream out a warning although the young man was sedated:
“The evil thing is coming........”
CHAPTER 5
The rabbit had reached the edge of the forest. It was looking around as if in search of something. A short while later, it hopped off in the direction of Prisco.
Jerry Prado’s farm was perched on a hilltop just above Prisco. Jerry’s property was small. He had only two workers who helped the farmer and his wife Lynn to take care of the animals and the fields. Today was a quiet day at the farm. The men had gone to the fields and Lynn was meeting with friends this afternoon. Only Max, the dog, was relaxing in the fall sun. He was a friendly dog who was happy to welcome any visitor. Flies were swarming through the air and the constant clucking of chickens traveled through the air from the hen house across the way. Max got up lazily, shook out his coat and trailed over to his water bowl. As he slobbered drinking the water, he noticed movement on the adjacent meadow. He immediately stopped drinking and took a closer look. Yes, indeed, a rabbit was just sitting there, staring at him. It did not appear to be frightened in the least. Max’s fur began to stand up and he snarled in a low, deep throated tone. The rabbit had to have heard him, but it continued to sit in the same spot. He had never seen anything like that in his life. Even the annoying farm cats took off when he snarled at them. Lowering his head he slowly moved across the yard.
At this precise moment, the farmer’s Ford rambled into the yard, with