The Monster in the Mist.v2 (Bill, Thomas, Jan, Nathan)

Oct 23^rd, 1986: Halloween is rapidly approaching. Rumors are running wild of a monster in Hemenway Park. Meanwhile, a strange fog shrouds Lake Mead in mystery. As if the below-freezing nights are not enough! More eerie with the occasional blaring of a noise from the TV tower near Charlie Gate south of Boulder (cross between a foghorn and a sick cow mooing).

14yo Jimmy/Hick (Bill): Jimmy added height to his bowler hat by adding a paper-mache stovepipe crown. Wearing his black pinguin style long coat, he paraded before his mom, “So, how do you like my magician costume for Halloween?” But mom concerned, “Ms. Mary from church told me about a man roaming the streets lately. You know what I’ve said about strangers. Promise me you’ll be with friends when you go ‘Trick or Treating’.” She licked her finger to tame his cowlick. “MOM! I’m not a baby anymore!”

Frank, 13yo Computer Geek (Thomas): Frank made another entry in his notebook as he recorded how high his cat Johnny 5 could jump today. He yelled downstairs, “Mom, is breakfast ready? Mom? Dad? Hello, anyone home?” He used the house intercom and still no answer. He found the note on the kitchen table. “Long days and longer hours at work (at the Loop); dad and I will be gone another day or 2. I left instructions for the maid to care for you.” Frank interpreted the meaning, “Great! She forgot to get my Inspector Gadget costume. Guess I’ll have to tailor one of dad’s overcoats.” He grabbed 75 cents from dad’s change bowl so he could call his brother later.

Thomas, 11yo Weirdo (Jan): Thomas pulled the green smock over his white shirt and black tie as he paraded in front of his older sister while slowly squeezing green fluid from a syringe, "Dr. Hyde is ready for his patients.” Ellie rolled her eyes as she called out, “Mom!” She too took one look and asked, “Where do you get these ideas? What movies is that theater matron letting you watch? I swear, that girl and her black lipstick and makeup is nothing but trouble. Oh, you’ll learn some day. Nothing but drama.”

Finn, 13yo Jock (Nathan): Finn was already at school on the practice field pushing the sled around. His teammates already chiding him, “Don’t tell us you plan on the ‘treat’ part of Halloween with that weirdo Thomas. It’s ‘trick’ time this year. Come on man, join us as we TP some houses. Rick is bringing a box of eggs.” Finn ignored them as he explained, “Thomas plans to be a doctor; he’s going places! I think I’ll go as a football player.” And that’s when coach interrupted, “2nd string needs to pick it up. Jerry Anderson is out for the rest of the year. Broke both legs last night. Ha, claims he was chased by a mummy.”

 

School: Teachers struggled to maintain order in the classrooms with various pockets of kids whispering about the alleged “mummy was seen near Hover Damn cursing all in Egyptian.” Others doubted, “Just an adult dressed up early for Halloween.” Jenny had her own opinion, “Just a depressed man searching for true love.” The retort, “Gaa. Gag me with a spoon!” Brainy California girl Erica Sanders mocked, “Mummies are not real! My brother Ben saw it around the park and said it was just a burn victim loose from the hospital.”

Thomas challenged her, “Not real? Then why do you call the mummy ‘IT’. You said ‘it’, not ‘he’. Erica rolled her eyes, “Whatever. At least I got a 105 on Mrs. Alberts text.” Which prompted Frank, “Only 30 questions and no bonus questions little miss ‘know-it-all’. Which means the best you could get was 100 and I already claimed that score.” As Erica turned up her nose and huffed away, Jimmy questioned, “My test only had 10 questions.” To which Frank pointed out, “There were more on the back.” “Ah man! She said it was a quiz and they only have 10 questions.”

In Biology class, Thomas asked the teacher to explain mummification. At first, Mr. Rogers nixed the topic till he saw the entire class interested. He pulled out a book and began to read to the class. Throughout the lecture, Thomas asked more pointed questions. When the bell rang for end of class, the other students looked at Thomas as the expert on the subject. “You know, there’s talk about going on a mummy hunting after school. Care to lead us?” Thomas blushed from the attention but declined.

Between classes, Jimmy suggested, “Let’s visit Jerry in the hospital and hear what he has to say. Maybe get a clearer idea where to start and what to look for.” Finn suggested later as he had after-school practice. Which gave Thomas time to go to the library to search for a National Geographic book on the subject. Jimmy used the time to meet Alvin in the junkyard to find parts to upgrade their robot ‘MOTO’.

4:30pm, Hospital: As they crowded into room 117, Finn tossed a football to Jerry, “Thought you could practice ‘locking the rock’ while you’re laid up. Don’t worry, I’ll bring a 2^nd bag to collect candy for you. So, tell us, did you really see a mummy?” Jerry explained his sundown run thru Hemenway Park, “He just stepped out of the brush all wrapped in linen shouting strange words. I took off in the opposed direction and he gave chase. I looked back over my shoulder and must have tripped on something. Broke both legs. Screamed like a… because I thought he surely had me. But the man or thing just ran away.” Jimmy asked, “How tall was he? Did he run or shuffle like they do in the movies?” As they left the hospital for the park to look for footprints, Frank noticed, “Thomas, where did you get that stethoscope?” [That and a clipboard from the hospital; the little thief!]

5pm, Hemenway Park: The park was more of an older teen hangout with stone firepits littered with cigarette butts. “Spread out.” Frank was the first to find dirty gauze stuck in a low brush. Finn found another almost shoulder high in a tree. As they examined them, “Dang! Medical, not linen like an Egyptian mummy. Smells of detergent; antiseptic. Maybe he was a burn victim as Erica’s brother thought.” And that’s when Finn flinched when he heard something in the brush. He threw a rock. “Ow!” New kid at school, Lucy Acker stepped out carrying a magnifying glass and notebook, “Did you find anything? You help me and I’ll help you. Erica’s blackmailing me to do her work.”

As much as Frank tried, Lucy wouldn’t divulge the blackmail matter. But she did offer, “Erica and her brother Ben know the mummy has been seen here at the park and also the beach. Others claim it comes out at dawn.” As they resumed their search together, Finn called out, “Over here. Sneaker prints; probably Jerry’s. But here are barefoot prints too. Adult size.” As they looked at their watches, they realized, “Time for supper. Let’s rejoin at 7pm at the beach.”

Thomas and Jimmy swung by the hospital Emergency room, “Uh nurse, did you have any burn patients checked in recently?” She looked down her nose at the kids, “We can’t release that info. Run along.” Jimmy pressed her, “Well, we found bloody medical gauze so maybe the man hurt worse. Can you give us extra gauze in case we run into him?” She suggested the police but left to get extra bandages for them. Which gave Thomas (dressed in his Halloween doctor outfit) the chance to slip behind the desk and peek at the register. “Four burn victims last week. One signed in as John Smith and gave a false address. There’s no street named Franklin in town. It lists extensive leg and arm burns. And notes he spoke poor English.” Jimmy as lookout soon coughed to signal the nurse’s return. As they left, Jimmy handed Thomas a doctor’s coat, “Found it on the rack and thought it would aid your costume.”

7pm, Beach: Sundown and VERY cold, near 20 degrees! Very uncharacteristic even for October. Dozens of foggy flashlight beams flashed from the beach area as the squawk of walkie-talkie chatter filled the air. Hovercraft blinked in and out of sight across the beach. “It’s Loop personnel all over the beach!” The kids focused on voices coming from a nearby tent on the other side of the barricades. They snuck forward to eavesdrop. “…traces. We must contain, they cannot break free. Keep broadcasting. They are playing a game... reports from Alpha Gate.”

And that foghorn blared again. But this time different; a sharper tone and pitch. Frank realized, “The other sound in town was a recording. Someone must be broadcasting from the TV tower. This sound is clearing as if real, coming from Lake Mead.” Frank squinted with deep concern, “That’s my dad!” All of the Loop personnel seemed to point at a shadowy egg-form hovering over the lake. The kids gasped when they saw tentacles hanging below it. But they also noticed the Loop men running toward the lake or climbing onto hovercraft to zoom toward it.

Lucy lost it and ran away. Maybe she did as a decoy. Frank got that itchy feeling… something watching. “Finn, what’s behind us?” The jock turned and saw a fog-silhouetted form, “It’s a shirtless man with bandages on his chest and face over by the campground.” With the tent now deserted, Finn and Thomas entered while Frank and Jimmy inched toward the man.

Tent: Finn wandered thru the menagerie of equipment as if taking inventory. He joined Thomas at a table where the weirdo studied diagrams of the egg-shaped form labeled ‘DIM-9’. Thomas concluded, “Short for 9^th Dimension… alien.” Finn gasped when he realized Thomas was stuffing the folder inside his backpack, “Are you crazy?!” Too distracted and preoccupied to realize the Loop men returning, just outside the tent. The boys scrambled toward the back of the tent and crawled out, under the side canvas wall. Still close enough to hear outrage inside the tent, “We’ve been robbed! Where are the files? Sound the alarm!”

Campground: The man long gone when Frank and Jimmy arrived. They found tracks in the sand but were uncertain whether coming or going or whether they were shoed prints of Loop personnel. Best they could tell the prints led south back into town. Best guess: Hemenway Park. At least Frank found a candy-bar wrapper. Non-American by the lettering. Their search cut short when they heard the sirens and yells of “Thief.”

9pm Regroup: Luck that the boys ran into each other to compare notes. Jimmy suggested, “We could put some candy inside the foreign wrapper and use it as bait at the park.” Thomas offered to scan copies of the diagrams he found to add to the bait trail. Finn reminded all, “It’s late and we have school tomorrow.” Thus, Thomas and Jimmy went home while Finn joined Frank for a sleepover of Atari games all night long.

Morning School: The boys were like celebrates during lunch hour, “Lucy told everyone how you guys saw aliens AND the mummy!” Thomas struggled to listen as he rubbed sleep from his eyes (he had stayed up to study the diagrams and notes). Classmates prodded for details. Sitting at another table, Erica pretended not to care or listen; even though she ‘accidently’ dropped her spork that slid near the boys’ table. Thomas rambled, “No mummy. The man did check into the hospital under the alias name ‘John Smith’. A foreigner who brought his own candy. Frank found the wrapper, but we can’t tell the language. Show em Frank.” Erica scoffed, “Shows you how much YOU guys know. That’s German.”

Jimmy became concerned teachers might hear about their involvement and tried to change the dialog, “I heard adults on the beach talking about all of this being a promo gig for the Bangles latest song Walk Like an Egyptian.” Multiple girls broke out in dance and song at the idea.

5^th Period Assembly: The classroom speakers squawked, “All students, please assemble in the auditorium.” The Boulder police were center stage with an announcement, “There was theft of important papers last night. Boulder Beach is closed to ALL visitors.” Frank raised his hand, “By what authority? Same authority that let those dinosaurs loose?” Most kids had no idea what Frank was talking about. The police and principal ignored the interruption and continued their announcements. And Frank kept raising his hand and interrupting. Finn joined in, “What about the mummy?” NOW the police were getting irritated, “Perhaps we should cancel Halloween.” Silence filled the auditorium.

Laying a Trap: Lucy joined them. First to the library to get a German/English dictionary, “In case we find him and need to ask questions.” Jimmy brought leftover candy from last year [as Frank pointed out, “Who has leftovers?!”] Finn brought rolls of toilet-paper, “I thought we could dress someone up as the mummy for Lucy to take a picture as evidence to get Erica off her back.” They entered the park and began laying their bait trail.

Almost an hour wait in the shadows before they heard drunken singing coming from the north end. “Winos out already? But I can’t understand the words. German?” They approached to find a man slumped on a park bench, wrapped in gauze stained with fluid that didn’t look like blood. Frank thumbed thru the dictionary, “Hallo?” The man replied in broken English, “You come to harass the freak?! The foolish scientist? Experiments gone horribly wrong. Leave me alone, I’m going home to my apartment.” The kids followed with Jimmy offering to replace bandages. “Stay away kid. You don’t know what I’m like under these bandages.” Maybe said to drive them off. Opposite affect: curiosity lured them to follow.

They helped him to his apartment filled with: test tubes, beakers, vials of liquids, scientific equipment. Walter Böhm tried to scare them away by taking off his chest wrappings, “See? No, you can’t see.” He was right. Parts of his chest invisible. Finn poked at it to check if it solid. But Thomas was distracted by all the equipment. [Failed Luck] “Ouch!” The others turned to see him holding his hand, burnt from spilled liquid from one of the beakers. Walter chided, “Now they are going to get you too.” Thomas tried to immediately wash his hand in the sink. His hand no longer burned, just tingled.

Jimmy asked Walter, “Who are ‘they’? The Loop people?” Walter corrected, “The aliens in the eggs. Beautiful, mysterious. They know how to cure me. They lure me with their calling.” Frank played his recording on his TRS80. Walter perked up, “Yes. They are calling me. I am the key to helping them get home. They arrived a week ago. They speak to me thru the horn noise. You saw their shadows at the beach. I got scared. I should have gone to them.” Looking at Thomas, he added, “Soon, you will look like me. Fading from view.” Thomas greeted the idea with awe. Finn warned, “Invisible. Won’t help your school attendance record.”

Slowly sobering, Walter continued, “I need to get to the beach. Midnight. Join them. Let them transport me too so I can see the wonders of the universe.” But the kids warned how the beach swarmed with Loop personnel. Walter asked for their help, “Maybe you could distract them.” The kids looked at Frank, “Maybe you can get your dad to help.” Long pause till Frank picked up the apartment phone and dialed his dad’s personal cellular brick phone. “Hi dad. Saw you at the beach last night. We’ve been talking with Mr. Böhm. At least what we can still see of him.”

Mr. Stone interrupted, “Frank, put Walter on!” Frank covered the phone and looked at Walter who shook his head. “He’s not here right now. He did say he needs to talk to the aliens to help send them home. I thought you could help. You’d want to help.” But dad spoke with authority, “I’ve told you about ‘stranger danger’. Walter is not all there in his mind. You all need to be EXTREMELY careful! Go home and stay there! Send Walter here and I’ll deal with this.” Frank answered, “Dad? Are you still there? Your voice is breaking up… I… click.” Jimmy broke the silence, “Great. So now your dad and all the Loop people know Walter is coming. We HAVE to help now whether we want to or not.”

New Plan: Walter advanced his timetable, “Sunset. Meet me at the southern Cooling Tower.” The kids used the hour to gather gear: flashbulbs for Jimmy’s camera, a bag of footballs for Finn’s arsenal. Tense moments at the tower when Loop people challenged them, “You kids need to go home. It’s not safe out tonight.” Thomas sent them on a chase, “We’re just running away from that mummy we saw at the park.” Walter stepped out of the shadows, “I’ll need distractions. I can use a hover-sled to get to the Alpha Gate where the aliens wait.”

CLIMAX

Lucy wrapped Finn in the toilet-paper. The 2 of them began their chase scene, “HELP! The mummy is after me!” Finn had to remember to go slow as Lucy not as athletic.

[Move action plus his Pride (Nothing stops me when I’m running) = 2 success]

Jimmy programmed MOTO to broadcast the foghorn recording and to flash its lights as he sent it across the beach to attract attention of the search parties.

[Tinker plus Iconic Item (multi-tool) to disable pursuing Loop craft = 3 success]

Thomas and Frank snuck across the beach with Walter where they found 2 hovercraft.

Frank started one and took off northeast with his TRS80 blaring the foghorn recording.

[Lead plus Pride (can find use for anything) plus Luck-reroll = 2 success]

Thomas jumped aboard with Walter on another, “I’ll need to return the craft, so the Loop people don’t realize what you’re up to.”

[Comprehend plus Pride (want to know things) = 1 success]

Frank looped his craft west and found Thomas’s craft idling beneath a hovering alien egg. Voices tickled their inner thoughts, “What do you desire?”

Thomas was consumed with the desire to know all about them. His wish granted as visions filled his memories: their world, their anatomy, their science.

Frank thought about the future of Earth and whether 100-megabit processers were possible. He too was flooded with visions of technological advancements from 1986 through 2022.

The voices continued, “Are you coming?” Thomas thought of his animatronic bird and other experiments in his attic and declined. Frank declined when he grasped how HE could help make technological advancements happen.

CONCLUSION

Finn and Lucy made a grand exit from the beach with Loop people in pursuit with flashlights attacking the fog.

Jimmy stood next to the barricade with MOTO in his arms as police confronted him, “We told you kids to stay away! Go home.” Jimmy paused before his put his foot under the barricade and etched a line in the sand. He then took off running.

Thomas and Frank stood on their crafts in awe as they watched Walter lifted toward the hovering egg. “Mama!” He suddenly ripped apart by the multitude of dangling tentacles that then seemed to suck up shimmering fluids left behind. Their fuel to return to their dimension.

Thomas felt tugging on his hand and recoiled in fear he too about to be ripped apart. Instead, shimmering fluid leached from his hand. Thomas remorseful as he realized his thoughts of being ‘the invisible man’ now gone.

Both Thomas and Frank were apprehended when they returned the craft to the beach. Mr. Stone confronted his son, “You’re grounded for life!” Thomas offered a bribe for mercy, “I found the missing documents. Someone left them on that hovercraft.”

HALLOWEEN CLOSEOUT

The police announced they had arrested the crazed man and Halloween was now on. The kids knew better.

Finn and Lucy reprised their ‘mummy and damsel in distress’ act as their Halloween costumes. Finn offered 2 bags when the adults met them at the doors, “One’s for my friend Jerry laid up in the hospital with 2 broken legs.” Jerry’s bag got more. And Lucy welcomed being accepted as a new student in Boulder. With new friends.

At each door, Jimmy doffed his magician hat and pulled out an empty hand, palm up. “It’s a miniature invisible mummy.” His lame joke and act only lasted 3 doors. Next, he tried his squirting flower, which only lasted one door as the adult NOT happy at getting wet. At least his card tricks earned him candy reward for the rest of the night.

Thomas had also been grounded. He sat in his room bothered by what he’d seen out on the lake. Now even more easily scared. Spooked. He had to get out: he snuck out the window and joined his friends ‘trick or treating’. Mom caught him climbing back into his bedroom window. She added another month to his prison term. It was worth it; he needed the isolation to review copies of the DEM-9 diagrams and notes.

Frank’s parents gave him a break and allowed him to go treating, “Just one night break.” Dressed in his Inspector Gadget costume they bought. Each house adult who greeted him oohed at his cat ‘Johnny 5’ hidden under his hat. He was making a killing in candy but ‘Johnny 5’ wasn’t liking his take and expressed his displeasure with claws to Frank’s scalp. They came home early and retired to their room. Till mom called up, “Frank, you have a visitor.” It was Erica offering him candy, “I thought with you being grounded…” Frank quipped, “What did you put in it? Do I need to get it X-rayed?” Erica took a bite as proof as she thumped his shoulder, “It’s not bad to have an intellectual equal.” Frank didn’t miss a beat, “I wouldn’t say you’re my equal… but if you want to catch a movie or something sometime…”