In the centre of the town there is a park. In the park there is a forest. In the centre of the forest there is a barren, circular patch where nothing seems to grow. That’s where Tommy and Billy were playing that day. The fifteen year old boys were playing in the vicinity of the barren circle.

1962

“Tommy to Billy, do you read me?” Tommy spoke into his walkie talkie.

“Loud and clear Tommy,” whispered Billy.

“Looks like nightfall is approaching, how shall we deploy, Billy?”

“Cut the army commander crap, Tommy, I don’t even know what the hell yer talkin’ about.”

“Okay, okay…see any good prospects?”

“Yep, there’s a hooker an’ er trick on bench three, down number two trail,” whispered Billy. “I think you should git your ass over here and check this out, man.”

“Where are you?”

“Where do ya think? I’m in the bushes behind three where we always hide, numb nuts… just some yards back o’ the bench…comon’ hurry up, Tommy!”

“Okay already, I’ll be right there.”

Tommy pocketed his Walkie Talkie and broke into a light jog along the forest trail. At number two trail he turned off and about five hundred yards before he reached park bench number three, he left the trail and picked his way through the woods until he found Billy hiding in the bushes.

“What’s up?” Whispered Tommy.

“Whaddya think’s up, dummy?” Billy whispered with a snicker, “some donkey’s dick…just check this out! He jerked his thumb in the direction of the park bench which was obscured by the bushes.

Tommy parted the bushes and was careful to not rustle the leaves. There, on the bench, just out of earshot, a couple was engaged in sexual foreplay. Tommy’s eyes bugged out.

“Holee sheeeee-itter!” He whispered. “It’s a twenty-five-buck hooker and her pea-brained trick…look… “He’s got his hand under her blouse!”

“Shhhhhhhhh…! Billy cautioned. “Looka the arms on that fucker…we’re talkin’ King Kong man….if he sees what we’re doin’ and catches us…we’re both gonna get extra assholes to shit outa….an’ they’ll be ripped for us free o’charge by that knuckle-draggin’ monsta!”

“He’s got her blouse open now!” Tommy whispered.
“Ooooh yes!” I can see too! “Tonight’s a winner, Tommy, we’re gonna get to see her tits, I jus’ gotta hunch.”

“Look he’s going for it,” said Tommy, oh, yes, they’re gonna go all the way and they’re not gonna finish up in a motel.”

“He’s tryin’ t’ get her bra unsnapped with one hand,” Billy whispered. “I looked at my ma’s an’ my sister’s… their bras got a tiny, kinda hook ya gotta undo…bet it’s tough to undo with one hand.”

“I’ll bet you tried to put those bras on your chest, too, ya preevert!” Tommy whispered, with a ‘Bugs Bunny’ imitation.

Billy flicked Tommy’s forehead with his middle finger.

“Shaddap!” I ain’t intrested in my mudduh or my sistah ya flea-bitten creep!” Billy whispered in the same voice, and then he imitated the sound of Bugs munching a carrot.

“Look,” said Tommy, “This guy must have practised with his ‘muddah’s’ or his ‘sistah’s’ bra, because he’s got the sonofabitch unsnapped…look…oh shit, there they are…look at how big her tits are! Look at how her nipples stick
out....god they must be the size of pencil erasers…hell no, they’re the size of blackboard chalk!”

“Lower your voice, you fuckin’ idiot!” Billy held his finger to his lips. “Yer whisperin’ too fuckin’ loud!”

“Nah…just listen to the wind in the leaves, Billy, I’m not any louder than that.”

“Okay, okay…let’s just enjoy the show…got the popcorn?

“Right here, but don’t rattle the bag or munch too loud…damn! She’s unsnapping his jeans…and he’s undoing hers…oh boy, we have scored Billy boy!”

“How can they do all that when they’re kissin’ and ain’t lookin’?” Billy asked, and his mouth hung open like a hippo’s.

“Shut your mouth, Billy…you look like a drip!” He muffled his laugh.
“Yer gonna get us found out yet, dipshit!” Billy did his Donald Duck imitation with his eyebrows knitted together in a frown. “Oh man, this is really heatin’up!”

“Yep, it’s getting hotter,” Tommy whispered.

“How can they do that?” Bill whispered.

“Do what?”

“No…I mean how can they just do it right there…ain’t they afraid somebody’s gonna come along?”

“Somebody did come along, moron.” Tommy bugged his eyes, stuck his tongue out, and panted like a dog.

“No, no…I don’t mean us, I mean other people like…just out walkin’ an’ stuff…ain’t they afraid somebody’ll come along right when they’re…well, ya know…cummin’ ‘er somethin’?”

“Ya, right,” whispered Tommy. “Then if they get to the sweet spot…where it’s impossible to quit…they’d just have to keep pumping until they were finished, even with people watching.”

“I know,” whispered Billy.

“Know what?”

“One time when I was strokin’ my hose and I was right at the sweet spot, my sister opened my bedroom door and I couldn’t quit…even though I wanted to…an’ fuck, she saw me…. my hand couldn’t quit strokin’….she saw me squirt…ever since then she don’t come without a knock…heh heh! But one time I caught her doin’ it too, so we was even.”

“I’ll bet!” Tommy whispered. “But these guys are safe, because they know that nobody ever comes down this trail close to dark...either he knows it or she knows it….or maybe both.”

“Nobody knows but us pweeverts,” Billy whispered like Elmer Fudd. “Hey, don’ eat all the popcone you waskawee wabbit!”

“Look their pants are off and he’s getting the rubber out!” Whispered Tommy.

“I saw some used ‘uns,” whispered Billy, “over at two bench…near the clearin’. Maybe when this show’s over we oughta go check it out.”

“Ya, maybe,” whispered Tommy. “Look, Billy, he’s leaning her back on the bench…oh boy…..oh boy….. he’s going to stick it in!”

In his excitement, Tommy shifted his squatted stance for a better view, lost his balance and rolled over into some dry twigs that made very loud snaps and crackles.

The couple heard it, of course, and the girl screamed. Her face turned crimson, she snatched her blouse and tried to cover her breasts.

“What the fuck?!” The big man shouted, grabbed his jeans and stuck a foot into one leg. “Who the fuck’s in there?” He yanked his jeans on. “I’ll get you….you….goddam you sonofa bitchin’ bastard!”

By this time Tommy and Billy were crashing though the trees and the undergrowth whipped their faces as they fled. The big man ran barefoot after them. They could hear him close behind, and in the confusion of the wild escape, Tommy cut across the forest to find a secondary trail that he knew. When he stopped to catch his breath, he looked around and Billy was nowhere in sight. Panting hard, he pulled out his walkie talkie.

“Billy, where are you, man?”

There was no answer.

“Billy, do you read me?” Tommy’s voice was a hoarse whisper.

No answer.

“Billy, quit fucking around and answer….are you okay?”

The walkie talkie crackled with some sort of strange static.

“Come to me, Tommy,” said a female voice with what seemed to be a British sounding accent.

“What? Who is this?”

“Come to me, Tommy,” the voice repeated.

“Well… what the hell…I don’t know who you are, or where you are, so why should I come to you?”

“Come to me, Tommy,” the voice insisted.

“I…..” Tommy attempted a response, but suddenly something seized his vocal chords and took control.

“Okay… I….I’m…c…coming.” Tommy spoke the words and he heard his voice as though he were a third-party listener. His feet and legs propelled him along, and it seemed as though they were not touching the ground. As he walked, he turned at precise locations, like a robot. He avoided trees and connected with appropriate paths without any plan. He moved as though drawn like an iron filing to a magnet. He was moving in the direction of the clearing.

At the edge of the clearing, he felt as though he had popped through a bubble. His clothing dropped from his body. Then, his mouth opened in horror at what he saw. In the middle of the clearing there was an apparition. It was a naked woman. She looked like a black and white photo negative in motion. Her white face was black and her black hair was white. She floated in the air about 15 feet above the ground in the middle of the circle. Her waist-length hair swirled all around her head, disturbed by forces far more strange than mere wind. Her arms were outstretched toward him and her long, white fingers beckoned him.

“Come to me, Tommy,” she repeated. Her lips moved, but the sound came out of his walkie talkie which he still clenched in his right hand.

The screams that gurgled up into his throat were choked. He felt a tingling power raising him from the earth…he was levitating, and as he moved toward her, in spite of his fear, he began to want her. She was terrifying but beautiful. His skin tingled and stiffened the hairs on his neck…but the sexual attraction he felt was far greater and it stiffened his male member.

She opened her thighs to receive him, and the closer he drew to her, the more he wanted her. When he came within her reach she seized him…her arms and legs wrapped around him like an octopus when it seizes its’ prey, and when they united, there was a discharge of energy like static electricity. Tommy’s pent up screams of terror erupted from his lips, and his ‘sweet spot’ continued for what seemed like hours.

When the throes of their strange union subsided, they descended. There was a circle of women, and all of them were naked under the yellow light of the full moon.

Tommy looked around in wonder. Then he snapped into his previous consciousness.

“Where am I?”

“You are where you should be.”

“I should be home…my parents will be worried.”

“Do not worry about your parents…they shall not worry about you.”

“What?” Asked Tommy. “Who are you…what’s going on here? Why are you all naked and talking funny?”

“We have summoned you here, Tommy, because you can help us, and we can help you.”

“How can I help you?”

“Some of our…friends…are in a prison cell…unjustly condemned to death.”

“What do you mean? I don’t know what is going on here or what you are talking about.”

“Just be still, Tommy, and listen. You must do exactly as we say, and when you have accomplished it, you can return home.”

“Why did you pick me…where am I?”

“We drew you here by the spirit force of your sexual magnetism that was our only means of connection to you. Amanda, with whom you united, is gifted in this….and now you are here.”

“Here.....where the hell is here?”

“Here is where you need to be…we can help you, Tommy, and you can help us.”

Tommy looked around at the naked women. They were holding hands in a circle around him…there were candles burning. There was a small fire.

“You got any marshmallows? What the fuck’s going on here…where am I goddammit?”

“Tommy, we have summoned you to the year 1628.”

“What...where is Billy?”

“It does not matter where William is.”

“Just listen to us.”

Tommy looked around. His face was crimson. The women were naked, and the yellow light of the flames licked their white bodies. The trees cast eerie shadows that danced like divas.
“It is all right, Tommy, although you can see us, we cannot see you, but we can hear you.” The group of women spoke in unison, like a choir, but the voices came out of his walkie talkie.

The strength drained from his legs and he fell to the ground prostrate.

“Well then, what the hell am I supposed to be doing? Am I a ghost? Do you want me to scare people or something? I want to go home!”

“Be at peace, Tommy…you will go home…but first we would like you to assist us.”

“How?” Asked Tommy.

“We want you to go to the jail and release our unjustly imprisoned sisters.”

“Unjustly imprisoned?”

“Yes they are charged with witchcraft.

“They are witches? Are you witches?

“Yes, but we believe that witchcraft should be allowed in the new world.”

“Why do you think I can do it, huh?”

“Because you are invisible, Tommy.”

“Oh, cool…and when do I get to wake up and find I’ve had one of the best wet dreams ever?”

“This is not a dream.”

The full moon ceremony ended. The women departed. One of the witches led Tommy to a barn.

“You can sleep here tonight, in the loft, and tomorrow I will show you what you must do.”

In the morning, Tommy awoke at the crowing of a rooster and there were men’s voices down below. He crept to the square opening in the floor and looked down. There were men dressed in old fashioned clothing. They appeared to be preparing for a day’s work. They talked old-fashioned English just like the women.
One of them began to climb the ladder to the hayloft. Tommy jumped back from the hole, but he was trapped because there was nowhere to hide. The man’s head came up through the hole; he looked at Tommy and walked straight

toward him. Tommy stepped out of his way. The man ignored him as he walked past to get a pitchfork that was stuck into the pile of hay.

Tommy held his breath as the man walked past him. Once again, the farmer ignored him and climbed down the ladder. He spoke a few words to the other men, something about, ‘hearing rats in the hay,’ then they left the barn.

“I’m invisible…I’m not dreaming.” Tommy muttered. “This is fucking real…what the hell am I going to do? How do I get out of here? My folks are gonna have a shit conniption…they’ll have the cops out looking for me.”

“Tommy? Are you awake?” The woman’s voice asked.

“Yes, and I’m wondering what the hell I’m gonna do because my folks are going to report me missing…they’ll have the police looking for me.”

“No, they shall not, Tommy.”

“How the hell do you know they shall not?”

“You will have to trust me, Tommy…please, come down from the loft.”

Tommy climbed down the ladder. The woman wore a floor length black dress. The bonnet, that covered her whole head, was like equestrian blinders. They wrapped right around her face and allowed only a small space out of which she could see only one direction at a time. These bonnets were mandatory in public.

“You sure look different today,” said Tommy.

“We must conceal our craft…nevertheless, we are being found out. In Salem they are burning and hanging our sisters…it may not be long before they begin doing the same here. They have two of our sisters in jail, and they will torture them to get the names of every woman in this coven. They may well burn every woman who dares look a man in the eye. You must help them escape, Tommy.”

“How can I do it?”

“It will not be difficult. I will show you the jail. All you need do is take the key when the jailer is sleeping, unlock the door and let them out.”

“Then can I go back home?

“Yes, you can.”

“Show me the way, then.”

“Follow me, Tommy.”

Tommy followed her on a fifteen minute walk to the village.

“Shit… this our town!” Tommy said, looking around in amazement at the antique buildings, the horses and buggies. “This is our town a long time ago…I…I can see that it is!”

“Shhhh…….you must be cautious about speaking too loudly and you must be careful not to bump into anyone, howbeit they cannot see you, they can both hear and feel you, dost thou……do you understand?”

“Yes…yes…I saw some men in the barn this morning but they didn’t fuckin’ see me.”

Tommy walked behind the witch to avoid bumping into people. She greeted them with extreme formality as she walked down the board sidewalk.

“This is the jail,” she whispered. “This building on the right.”
Tommy saw the bars.

“You must come back around midnight when the jailer is asleep. You will find the key hanging on the wall to the right of the door as you go in.”

The witch left him in town with an admonition.

“Remember what I have told you….do not touch anyone and do not speak that people may hear your words.”

“Okay…I read you loud and clear.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I understand.”

“That is good…and when you have released our sisters, please tell them to go to Hampton’s barn where you slept last night.”

“Yes, I will.”

Tommy spent the rest of the day wandering around the town. He looked at things and avoided people. He could see some structures that he recognized. He was still in a dream-like-state of existence when a voice snapped him into reality.

“Hey, dipshit…what the hell ‘r’ ya doin’ here?”

Tommy whirled around. Billy was sucking on the lollipop he had stolen from a store.

“Billy….what the….how the hell did you get here?”

“The most enjoyable fuckin’ way I ever got from point A to B in my whole life…some spooky woman practick-ally raped me in the clearin’, I popped through a bubble and here I am…how ‘bout you?”

“Well, same way…I guess…Billy, what’s going on…can you believe this…I mean, is this real?”

“Whaddya mean is it real? Yer talkin’ to me ain’t ya?”

“Yes….but why didn’t you answer me on the walkie talkie?”

“I never heard a damn thing from you….anyway I dropped mine when I was runnin’.”

“Billy, what did the witches want you to do?”

“They wanted me to bust some other witches outa jail and I told ‘em to git
somebody else ‘cuz I ain’t doin’ nuthin’ o’ th’ sort…I like the sex, but I ain’t fer helpin’ witches…besides, I couldn’ grab no key…I had trouble touchin’ stuff.”

“Well, I’m going to help them, I guess,” said Tommy.

“You gonna help ‘em?”

“Ya.....I guess. I ain’t for witches neither but I don’t think they should be burned or hanged….they said if I helped them, then they’d help me get back to my family.”

“They didn’ say that t’ me.”

“Well, they said it to me and I’m going to help them. Billy what are you doing here?”

“Whaddya mean, what am I doin’”?

“I mean, aren’t you trying to get back?

“Get back to what? Gettin’ a whippin’ from my Pa ever’ five, fuckin’ minutes for the serious crime o’ livin’?”

“Well… you want to get back all the same…don’t you?”

“Hell, no, an’ I couldn’t if I wannid to.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m dead, Tommy, I can’t go back now.”

“D…d…dead?”

“Ya….I’m pretty sure…”

“What do you mean you’re pretty sure?”

“The last thin’ I remember is when I try to run home outa them trails, that big fucker’s waitin’ fer me an’ he gets me by the throat he an’ he squeezes his thumbs inta my throat an’ nex’ thing I know, I’m floatin’ outa my body an’ some naked girl in the clearin’s got her arms around me….then I’m here….I think I got kilt by that big fellah, Tommy…I think he strangult me just like he did the hooker.” Billy started crying. “When I try to go home, the same thing happens all over an’ over agin’ so I give up tryin’….I like the sex but I don’t like gettin’ strangult all over again.”

“What?”

“I saw that hooker…she’s floatin’ ‘round here too…I think she don’t know what to do.”

“What do you mean…do you mean that hooker…that one we were watching having sex…do you mean that she is here…in this time…wandering around not knowing what to do?”

Billy’s eyes brimmed with tears. That’s what I think, Tommy. I think I’m pretty sure that guy killed her…I think he was plannin’ t’ kill her aroun’ the time when we was watchin’.”

“Oh…fuck,” said Tommy.

“Fuck what?”

“This is so weird….”

“Hell no, it’s fuckin’ great!” Said Billy, and wiped away the tears. “Shopliftin’s a breeze…there ain’t no cops within’ five miles an’ I’m invisible t’ boot.” Billy’s eyes brimmed again and he attempted laughter. “I just had some trouble touchin’ stuff, that’s all…had to relearn that…how ya know you ain’t dead too, Tommy?

“Because…I can touch things….and….I’ve….still got a job to do…the one you turned down.”

“You mean springin’ them witches? I didn’t turn it down, I tol’ ja I had trouble touchin’ stuff, how could I grab the key?”

“I see you learned how to grab some candy.”

“Yeah, I did….but when they wan’ ned me t’ do it I was upset….I couldn’t concentrate nor touch nothin’ neither…hey, howja like humpin’ with a white witch, nigger?”

“Don’t call me nigger you white, trailer trash,” Tommy said, “How did you like humping with the black one?”

“Who says she was black?”

“I say she was black…with tits like rockets…except she looked like she was white, didn’t she? Like a photograph negative?”

“Well dog my cats if ya didn’ hit the nail on the head….you saw her at the campfire an’ took a guess didn’ ya?”

Billy looked at the ground, tried to kick a rock, and his foot went through it. His eyes filled with tears again.

“Tommy, couldja do sumpin’ for me, nigger?”

“Sure, anything you want.”

“Look…couldja tell my sister an’ mother I’m okay?”

“Yes, I’ll tell them that, Billy.”

“An’ couldja tell ‘em where my…b…body is?”

“Your body?”

“Yes, my fuckin’ body numb nuts.”

“Where is it?”

“Where that knuckle-draggin’ sonofabitch buried it…it’s buried with the hooker….you know bench number two where I saw them French safes?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Well, just back ‘o that bench is where he strangult me….fuck I’m dead….I cain’t believe it….it’s your fuckin’ fault, Tommy…I told ya to keep quiet you goddam, stupid nigger….an’ he dragged the girl there too.”

“We’ll get even Billy…he isn’t going to get away with this.”

“We’ll get him….we’ll get even.”

“What the fuck difference does it make….I’m dead, Tommy….goddam capital, fuckin’ ‘D’ dead as in ‘Doornail.’

“It’ll make a difference Billy….you’ll see.”

“Yeah,” Billy said laughing, and the tears streamed down his face. “In the meantime….I’m gonna keep on rippin’ off stores o’ candy…..and coppin’ feels in the dark…you shoulda seen this girl las’ night…one o’ them witches…she started off fightin’ it….scared the shit outa her, at first, y’ know…me layin’ by her….invisible an’ all… then she wound up lovin’ it…she was a buckin’ like a Texas bronco an’ she couldn’ even see me….this bein’ dead ain’t so bad.” Billy wiped the tears from his eyes…this bein’ dead’s like bein’ alive somehow… without no pappy to whip me…horny girls wanna hump me….an’ free candy fer the takin'...sonofabitch if bein’ dead ain’t bein’ alive…sonofabitch if it ain’t!”

At midnight, Tommy looked through the jailhouse window. Just as the witch had said, the jailer was asleep on a cot. The empty whiskey bottle on the floor and the high volume of his snore told Tommy that there was little chance of the man emerging from his alcohol-induced coma.

Tommy turned the door handle and pulled. It creaked a little. He opened it just wide enough to get his body through. Once inside, he closed the door and
looked on the wall to his right…the big black skeleton key was there just as the witch had said.

Tommy grabbed the key and tiptoed over to the cell. Inside, on cots, lay two women. He turned the key and the lock tumbler moved with a metallic ‘clack’. Tommy glanced over at the jailer…he was still comatose. He touched each woman on the forehead and their eyes opened. They saw the open cell door and looked at each other with mouths open. They dressed and Tommy followed them out of the jailhouse and into the dark street. They both gasped when Tommy’s bodiless voice instructed them to go to Hampton’s barn.

“Go to the clearing, Tommy,” said the witch who guided him. “Once you are there, stand in the centre of the circle and you will feel a tingling force come over you…do not be frightened…you will be lifted from the ground and when your feet touch the earth again, you will be back in your own time….and thank you, Tommy.”

He did as she instructed, and as she had warned, the tingling force came upon him and he was lifted from the ground. When his feet touched again, it seemed as though a bubble burst and he knew that he was back home.

It was dark. He found his clothes at the edge of the clearing, dressed and looked at his watch. Time had not advanced even one second while he was away. It was very dark in the forest, but he knew the trails well and had the full moon’s light to help.

“I strangled that scrawny, nigger lovin,’ white, trailer-trash kid,” a male voice spoke from behind him, “and now yer next you little, nigger-sonofabitch,”

Tommy whirled around. The big man was racing toward him. Tommy’s feet moved faster than they had moved at any track and field meet. The big man had not counted on Tommy being so swift and when he lunged out to grab the back of his jacket, he missed by inches and stumbled headlong to the earth. He spat out a mouthful of dirt.

“You rotten little fucker….I’ll get you!”

Tommy could hear the heavy footsteps behind him. He knew that one misstep would be fatal. He ducked tree branches with the skill of a prize fighter, and he thanked God for all of his first-place ribbons in the one hundred yard dash. There were occasional curses from the big man as the whipping branches slashed his face. Tommy was gaining ground.

When he exited the park, he ran into the street and looked behind him…the big man was still coming. Tommy was fast in the dash, but he lacked endurance in the long run.

The city streets were empty…the store windows stared at him like the eyes of death. He raced around the corner of an abandoned building and into an open doorway. The stairway was in front of him. He had no choice but to ignore the ‘condemned’ sign and go up the stairs.

He mounted the stairs two by two and when he reached the third floor, he tried to abate his heavy breathing. He heard heavy running footsteps in the street. Suddenly, they stopped. The footsteps entered the building and he could hear their echo and labored breathing in the concrete corridor of the stairwell.

Tommy continued to climb the stairs two by two…twelve stories, and then he ran up to the rooftop. Below him he could hear the relentless, heavy footsteps of his pursuer.

‘I’m trapped now,’ he thought. ‘Gotta hide somewhere.’

His only option was a brick chimney that was located a few feet from the edge of the roof, and he ducked behind it just as the footsteps of the big man reached the top of the stairs.

“I’ll find you….ya little nigger bastard!” He screamed, and gasped for breath with heavy wheezes and coughs. His hands clutched his chest.
Tommy tried to hold his breath but failed. He let out a long puff of air and thought certainly that the man must have heard it. In the moonlight, he could see the long, black shadow of the man’s body approach the chimney.
“I know where you are little nigger,” he gasped.

Tommy felt his life pass before him…he remembered things long forgotten…tasted ice cream…pulled his sister’s hair…heard strange voices and saw weird visions of scenes from his life. Voices sounded reverberated. The long, black shadow drew nearer and Tommy waited….the big, rough hands seized his throat, lifted him in the air and began to squeeze.

Then out of the dark night it grew from a pinpoint of light. Glowing, white smoke swirled in a spiral at the edge of the roof top. Tommy’s jaw dropped in wonder as he saw the apparition take shape.

‘I’m dead,’ he thought, ‘this is what it’s like to be dead.’ Then, he heard a choking sound come from the big man’s throat. It was the sound of terror mixed with the curses of rage. He released Tommy and dropped him to the roof top.

“Ungggggahhhhhfugger,” or something to that effect, is what the big man said when he saw the apparition of the strangled prostitute. She was naked. Her neck was twisted over at an impossible angle and she had large purple circles on her throat. She floated toward the big man with her arms extended. Her hair flowed out all around her, she glowed white, and Tommy could see right through her to the buildings across the street.

“Jesarsaggahsha……wha jar goo to me shik fuck,” the big man shrieked, but the strange words came out Tommy’s walkie talkie which vibrated in his right hand.

The big man slowly backed up. As the ghost floated toward him, the blank, open eyes stared at him….the eyes of death stared into him…there was a rotten smell in the air, and her long white arms reached for him…death’s fingers reached to seize him when his calves hit the foot-high edge of the roof top. Her claw-length fingernails burned his skin like acid, and they sank deep into his throat as he fell. He emitted a blood-gargled scream. She stared into his eyes and spoke horrible, frightening things….secrets from his past that only he knew and before his body hit the ground, the stroke was fatal, and she seized the big man’s spirit, yanked it from his body and took it away captive.

Tommy walked to the edge the roof and looked down. Close to the streetlight, he saw the splattered remains on the concrete sidewalk. It looked as though someone had dropped a giant balloon filled with ketchup, guacamole and mustard. Mixed with these liquids, were what appeared to be pieces of gray sausage. The huge head, open mouthed in horror, was compacted to a thickness of two inches. A halo of thick gray noodles surrounded it.

Tommy told his story to the police.

“The man was backing up, I don’t know why, and he tripped over the edge of the roof top.”

Police found the two bodies behind park bench number two. He didn’t tell the police about the witches and the ghost, but he told Billy’s mother and sister everything. At first, they didn’t believe him, and when they walked with him through the forest to the circle clearing where nothing seems to grow, Tommy pointed at it.

“This is where thirteen of them were hanged…. I learned it from county history. Tommy opened a paperback book of local history and showed them. It says, ‘Jane Bell and Sarah Goodall mysteriously vanished from a locked jail cell.’ The people said it was clearly proof of witchcraft and because of that they all were caught and hanged.”

It was there….right there in the middle of the circle where they hanged them…that’s why nothing grows there…it’s a curse.”

Tommy pulled out his walkie talkie.

“Tommy to Billy come in please,” he said.

Mother and daughter looked at each other.

“Tommy to Billy….are you there?”

The hand piece crackled.

“Billy here….” The voice answered with a reverb effect.
Mother and daughter gasped.

“Goodbye mom, tell Pa to keep his horny hands offa sis or I’ll come an’ spook him…goodbye sis! I love you….always….will…I…”

There was a pause a crackle of static, and then a snicker like Bugs Bunny. Next came a voice came that sounded like Elvis’ and it said, “Thank you Tommy…thank you ver’ much.”