Flash

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“Are you ready?” Levi asks

“Grandpa, tell me a story,” I say. He grins. 

“I’m dress’n the part. Aren’t we go’n fly fish’n.” He spins like a ballerina in a tutu. I sigh and shove him off the porch. 

Levi is one strange dude. But you have to love him for it. I still can not believe he talked me into going firefly hunting.

“Remind me again why are we catching lightning bugs?” I say.

“It’ll be fun. I promise. Besides, what else are ya go’n to do? Watch TV?. Play video games?” I look at him and shrug as we stroll along our street. 

The cemetery is about a ten-minute walk. The creepy part is that it is right next door to our school. Who ever heard of a graveyard running alongside a school. When I was a little kid, I used to imagine the teachers were zombies.

“What do you want for your birthday?” Levi asks. 

“A Polaroid Camera.”

“A Polaroid? Why do you want that antique camera?”

“You do not have to wait to get the film developed,” I say.

“Who knows? You might get your wish.” Beads of sweat drip from my forehead and into my eyes while we walk by Markeddy Elementary School. 

Levi Shivers. “The name of our school gives me the heebie-jeebies.”

“Me too,” I say. Brother Markeddy used to hang around the cemetery. He would talk to himself and decorate the graves with fresh flowers. One day, he disappeared. Poof. How does someone vanish? The entire story reminds me of a horror movie.

“Are you ready, Grasshopper?” Levi asks as he smirks. We nod three times and then run up the bike jump and onto the graveyard’s main path. 

The lightning bugs blink like a Christmas tree. Levi swings the mesh net. He catches five fireflies in one swoop. I close the lid to the jar at the same time that he drops them in. Levi looks at me with an excited sparkle in his eyes.

“Over there,” he says. We sprint towards a group of fireflies hovering over a tombstone. They scatter and fly out of his reach. He runs in the direction of another cluster of lightning bugs. They avoid every swing, swang, and swoop. 

I laugh. He glares at me for a few seconds. And then he joins me on the grass. Before he can say anything, I unscrew the lid. One firefly lands on my hand for a moment. It is almost as if it is saying, “Thank you.”

We follow our lightning bugs with our eyes as they join their friends in the night sky.

“Don’t you feel better?” I say.

“No.” He crosses his arms and pouts. “Now what are we going to do?”

I smirk and say, “I have an idea.”

“I can’t believe we’re do’n this,” Levi says in a whisper. We walk along the sidewalk that leads to an old two-story house. On either side of the walkway is a statue of a dog growling. 

They remind me of the time when I was delivering the Neighborhood Watch Newsletter. I turned the corner and two doberman pinschers blocked my path. They scared me to death with their jaws open, bearing their canines. I sprinted down the street screaming. I must have run fifty yards before I realized the dogs were only statues. Boy, I felt like a moron.

“Are you ready?” I say. Levi lets out a long sigh. I crack a glow stick. My sweaty palms turn the knob and the front door creaks open. The echo of my rapid beating heart rings in my ears as we enter the house of Brother Markeddy. Levi jumps back. He swipes a web from his face. I laugh.

“This isn’t funny. I don’t need a spider bite in the middle of my forehead.”

“Come on.” I give him a friendly shove. The reddish-brown timber winks at me from under the dust. The green light echoes through the shadows of spiders clinging to their webs.

I skim through the pictures resting on the mantel. “EEK,” Levi screams. An enormous spider dangles from the ceiling fan. It stares at him with a smile. I flick it across the room. 

“Stop acting like a girl. Come on.” He sneers at me.

We leave a trail of footprints leading up the stairs. We browse through each of the bedrooms. Nothing interesting or scary. 

“What’s this?” Levi asks.

“The Crown Jewel.” Dust covers a cord hanging from the hallway ceiling. I yank on the rope and the trapdoor does not budge. I try again and all I get is a mouth full of grit. 

“How about a little help here?” Levi strolls next to me.

We grab the nylon rope and lift our feet off the floor. The creaking of the door opening rings throughout the hallway. Bugs drop from the trapdoor. They crawl over our heads and down our back. We scream, dance, shake, and roll back and forth on the wooden floor. It is a heebie-jeebie nightmare. 

The ladder squeaks while we climb. We pause with each step. The attic is empty except for the figure standing in the corner. 

We creep up to a statue. An expression of terror is frozen across his face. His arms are over his head. He must be protecting himself against something sinister. The weird part is that he resembles Brother Markeddy. 

Levi turns toward a rectangular object at the statue’s feet. He picks it up and blows the dust in my nose.

I sneeze several times. “Hey, watch it.” I say. 

“Sorry.” We brush the grime off. “What is it?” I grab it and give him my best Joker grin. 

“It is a Polaroid.” I turn it over and see if it has been damaged. Resting on top of the flash are two snake heads. Weird. “Have you ever seen a camera with snakes on them?”

“It might be a Viper Polaroid, says Levi.” I shake my head. “Take my picture.” I chuckle. He puckers his lips as if he’s posting a “Selfie” on Instagram. I depress the button on the camera. No flash. No click. The camera must be...

Levi collapses. He is sprawled on the floor. I kick his foot. He does not move. “Stop kidding around. Getup.”

Okay, okay. I need to check for a pulse. He may have diabetes or something. My hands shake as I grab his wrist. Nothing. I inch my way towards his mouth. I lean my cheek in to feel his breathing.

Levi licks my cheek like a dog. “Gotcha.” He giggles. I punch him in the chest. 

“You are a punk.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” He chuckles again. I offer my hand. Levi grabs it and pulls himself to his feet. 

“Is the camera broken?” Levi asks. 

“I do not know,” I say as I depress the button again. Nothing.  

“Happy Birthday. You got your camera.” He smiles and then punches me in the arm.

“Yeah, thanks. We should get out of here.”

A small finger pokes me in my back. I groan and turn onto my stomach. Two hands grab my shoulder and shake me back and forth. 

“Me, Me. Getup,” Alexi says. I squint at her.

“What are you doing in my room?” She smiles and then walks over to the Polaroid and picks it up. 

“Where’d you get this?” I jump out of bed and slap her small hands and place it back on the dresser.

“Do not touch it. Ever! What are you doing in here?”

“Dad has a surprise.” She grabs my hand and leads me out of the room.

As we enter the garage, Dad is polishing a bike.

“Happy Birthday,” he says.

I tilt my head to the side. “My birthday is not until tomorrow.” 

He has a silly grin on his face. “I couldn’t wait. Take her for a spin.” 

“Yes, yes.” Alexi says while she jumps up and down and claps her hands. 

The midday sun echoes a vibrant red while I roll my BMX down the driveway. I look back at Dad and Alexi smiling. If my Dad smiles any bigger, he will kiss his ears.

I zoom down the street pedaling faster and faster and then slam on the brakes. I skid about a foot. This is sad.

I wave and smile at the same time that I ride past the house. Then I race to the other end of the road and slide two feet this time. Yoo, hoo. Two feet. I am the next Gary Young.

I turn the bike around and heave on the handlebars. The front tire barely comes off the ground. I try again. The same result. I think this is the definition of insanity. What can this BMX do? 

I pedal until I am up to a good speed and then I lift one hand off the handlebars. No problem. Then two hands. The bike weaves back and forth before I regain control. I continue pedaling down the street with no hands. 

“Yoo, hoo,” Dad screams. I race up the driveway and then skid. I look back at the tire mark and frown. 

I weave in and out of the crowded sidewalk as I pedal down Main Street. The cars buzz back and forth, leaving a trail of exhaust that lingers a few feet above the road. It is like standing on the bus ramp at school but a hundred times worse.

On the corner is Pop’s Kuntry Store. The cool air blasts me in the face as soon as I walk through the front door. I turn left and then follow the aisle to the back. I set the Polaroid on the counter.

A clerk with a red apron turns around. “What do we have here?” the old man says. 

“My camera stopped working.” Pop turns the camera over and replaces the battery. He stares at the Polaroid for a moment and then at me.

“Where did you find this camera?”

“It it is mine,” I say. 

“Mind your elders! Where did you find it?” Pop glares at me. I look at my shoes and sway back and forth. My heart beats faster. I rub my sweaty palms on my shorts. What am I going to do? He knows something.

“You know, Brother Markeddy had a camera identical to this one.” He peers at me as he fiddles with the Polaroid in his hands.

“Do your parents know you went in Brother Markeddy’s house? This camera was nothing but trouble.”

We stare at each other in complete silence. I wait for Pop to blink. Then I snatch the Polaroid and sprint down the aisle.

Ding, dong. 

“Hey, Buddy. What’s going on?” Levi Says with a smile. I scrunch my eyebrows together. His face becomes serious. “Anything wrong?”

“We need to talk.” Levi crosses his arms and waits for me to tell him. I shake my head. “Not here. Something weird happened to me at Pop’s.    

Levi Steps closer. “Of course, something strange happened. He is looney.”

“We need to go for a ride. You never know who is listening,” I whisper.

He nods. “Mom, I’m leaving.”

We pass a group of high school kids playing street hockey as we pedal down the road. 

“Okay, spill it. Wait, a minute. Is that a new bike?” 

“Yeah, I got it this morning. It is an early birthday present.”

“It looks so cool.”

“Thanks. Anyway, I took my camera to Pops Kuntry store...” We stop in front of the school and grin at each other. 

“Go,” Levi yells. We pedal as fast as we can before going over the jump. “Yoo, hoo,” Levi screams. The pebbles scatter while we skid on the cemetery’s main road. 

“The clerk knows we were at Markeddy’s,” I say.

Levi faces me. “The real question is how?” I shrug. We stare at each other for a moment. “Does the camera work?” 

“Not sure.”

“There’s only one way to find out.” Levi struts down the road as if he is a runway model. He stops. Turns his head and puckers his lips. Our laughter bursts out like an explosion.

We walk like models over to a gravestone that is surrounded by flowers. I take out the camera. The echo of snakes hissing rings in my ears as I depress the shutter button.

I step back and look around. Nothing. “Did you hear that?” 

“Hear what? Are you looney?” Levi says.

“Never mind.” We step forward and peer at the flowers.

“Cool,” we say in unison. The vibrant colors of the flowers disappeared. We bend over to get a closer look. I flick a petal with my finger. It falls to the ground and shatters.

That is odd. I tap the top of the flower. The remaining petals crumble to the ground. 

“This is so awesome,” Levi shouts. Our smiles gleam with excitement. He lets out an evil laugh and then we kick all the flowers over with a swoop and a swap.

A blanket of debris covers Darlene Smith. We cackle while we run to the next group of flowers. 

“Medusa, cast your spell.”

“Why Medusa?” Levi asks.

“You do not pay attention in class. Medusa turned people into statues when they look into her eyes.” Snake hissing rings in my ears when I depress the camera’s button. The flowers turn to stone. We chuckle. The statuettes splatter over the gravestone with a single swoop from Levi’s foot.

“Let’s create some more flower statues,” Levi says with excitement. I nod with a grin. For the next ten minutes, we run around the graveyard and kick over the flower statuettes.

“This is so awesome. We have superpowers,” I scream as we ride our bikes along the path that leads to the cemetery’s exit.

“We are evil superheroes, Levi says.”  

“You mean villains.” 

“I have an idea how we can use our powers for good.” I raise my eyebrows.

“What do you have in mind?” Levi chuckles while he stops in front of Brother Markeddy’s house. 

“Why are we here?” I say.

“You’ll see.” 

I punch him in the arm. “Just tell me.”

He grins and says, “It’s better if I show you. You won’t believe me anyway.”

I follow Levi towards the front door. We step closer and closer. Levi stops inches from the doorknob. Then he veers to the right and we walk along the side of the house. He looks at me and laughs. I scowl at him while I walk a step behind him. 

We stop in front of a mound that is three feet wide and four feet tall. Interesting. A large dirt pile on the side of Brother Markeddy’s house.

“I stopped playing in the sandbox when I was six,” I say.

“Look closer.” I peer at the soil. A few ants crawl here and there. I shrug my shoulders. 

“What am I supposed to see?” He smiles and hands me a stick.

“Poke it with a stick,” he says with an Australian accent. Levi chuckles and takes a few steps back. I am not sure if I should poke the dirt or not. Why is Levi backing up? I hesitate for a moment. I hold the stick a couple of inches from the mound. What is the worst that could happen?

I shrug my shoulders and stab the mound. A swarm of fire ants crawls up the stick. I back up a couple of feet. The ants follow me. I take a giant step backwards. The ants keep coming. They move faster and faster.

“Run,” Levi says. He giggles at the same time we jog down the street. He thinks this is funny. How is this funny? Ants are like piranhas. It is obvious he has never heard of army ants. After a couple of minutes, we stop and collapse on the grass. 

I scowl at him. “You knew about this?” I say in between heavy breaths. He chuckles again. “Where did they come from? I have never seen an ant hill that big except in horror movies.”

“Dunno. I found it this morning.” 

Brother Markedy’s entire lawn is covered in a blanket of ants. They are moving back and forth in a frenzy. It is creepy seeing that many ants in one place.

“You know, we’re doing the town justice. Someone could get killed,” Levi says.

“I know. It just feels wrong to annihilate an entire colony.”

“Are you kidding me? Your Dad uses fire ant poison after he mows. What about Lexi? Could you forgive yourself if she wandered too close to Brother Markeddy’s house?”

“No, I guess not.”

SSS, Flash! 

I pedal down the street in a daze. Everything moves in slow motion. What have I done? I turned a mound of fire ants into stone. I know I am protecting my sister. But it still feels wrong. 

“Hey, Buddy. Wait up,” Levi yells. I pause and then continue pedalling. “Where are you go’n?”

“Home, I guess.”

“Not yet. We gotta do one more thang.” I do not even look at him. I am not sure I want to do one more thing. Medusa was fun at first. But now it gives me the creeps. It is beginning to be nothing but trouble. 

We pedal in silence for a few minutes. Levi grins and says, “Trust me.”

“Trust you? You told me to poke a giant ant bead with a stick.” He looks at me for a second. Then he turns his head and chuckles to himself.

We pause in front of Billy’s house before pedaling two houses down. We drop our bikes in front of an old white house.

Well, it used to be white. Now it is some other color. I am not sure what color to actually call it. My Mom calls dirty water muck. So, the house may be a muck colored.

We flick and flack the leaves from the overgrown hedges that run along the perimeter of the backyard. A chain dangles from the collar of a pit bull. 

I gasp. I can not believe I am staring at the dog that put Billy in the hospital. 

Snoring echoes throughout the yard. The Beast sleeps in the corner. It is as if he does not have a care in the world. My blood begins to boil. 

What did sweet Billy do to anyone? According to Levi, he was playing in the pool when the Beast attacked him. Billy would have been killed, if the police had not arrived. 

I give Levi an approving nod. “Let’s do this,” he says. He pulls out a handful of tiny pebbles and throws them at the Beast. The red, tiny rocks fall short of even getting close to hitting him.

“You throw like a girl,” I say.

He punches me in the arm. “You try.”

“No problem.” I spit on the ground and get into my best Justin Verlander pose. I reach back and throw. The pebbles shower the lawn a good three feet in front of the Beast. We laugh. “It looks like we both throw like a girl,” I say.

“We need to get closer. Come on.” Levi climbs the fence. 

“Are you nuts? Do you remember what happened to Billy?” I whisper.

Levi laughs. “We have nothing to worry about. Medusa will protect us.” I shake my head before climbing the fence and hop into Beast’s house. 

We hold our breath as we sneak up to the pit bull. Then we stop one Dad's length away.

“Get ready,” whispers Levi. I nod. My hand trembles while he throws the tiny pebbles at the Beast. He wakes up with a start. Shakes his head and charges after Levi. I lose my grip and drop Medusa. The batteries roll into the grass. 

“Now,” Levi shouts at the same time that he sprints across the lawn towards the fence. I grab the camera and dart after the Beast. 

“Yoo, hoo. Say cheese.” SSS, Flash! The dog turns to stone. We pet the Beast as if he is about to attack.

“You sure took your time,” Levi says. 

“I dropped the camera. You should be thanking me instead of badgering me.”

“Thank you." He punches me in the arm and then runs towards the bikes. I giggle and chase after him. 

“Happy Birthday,” Mom, Dad, and Alexi sing as they enter the dining room. The candles flicker and dance to the rhythm of their singing.

“Make a wish,” Mom and Dad say.

“Make a wish,” says Alexi while she claps her hands and jumps up and down. 

I close my eyes... "Wait a minute," Mom says. She dashes from the room and returns with a camera. 

“Where did you get that?” I say. She ignores my question. 

“Say Cheese.” SSS, Flash!