“I’ll pay you five bucks if you eat one.” Eddie Morgan taunted his little brother as he dangled a writhing worm over his head.
“Leave me alone already, Eddie.” George tried his best not to make eye contact with Eddie or his friends. He knew that it only made things worse when they knew they were irritating him. They lived in a small rural town with little to do on a Sunday afternoon. George tried to pass the time swimming or fishing in the lake at the north end of Brunson. Eddie normally found entertainment by harassing his thirteen-year-old younger brother.
“We’ll leave you alone. As soon as you eat the worm, bird brain,” Eddie continued as his two buddies watched the show.
George sat in silence, refusing to look up. He knew this would be a mild torture session because Jake was not with them. At nineteen, Jake Parnell had four years over the other boys. He was the definition of a classic bully. George thought he hung out with the younger boys because he was a bit slow in the head. Maybe he’d been hit too many times playing football. Whatever it was, Jake didn’t get along too well with kids his own age. The other two minions were Brian Johnson and Tim Oglesby. They seemed to go along for the ride in most situations.
“Fine, if you’re not going to eat it, then beat it, kid.” Eddie took the rod from his hands and plopped down on the dock.
Without containing their laughter, Brian and Tim took a seat next to him, and continued to see who could spit farther into the water.
George grabbed his bag and walked away from the older kids. Deep down, it bothered him they always won all the time, but it just wasn’t worth the fight. They would lose interest and he would be fishing again in an hour. It made him angry to think those boys really believed that two years of life made them that much more mature than he was. Personally, he thought it just made them look like buffoons.
He walked down the dirt path away from the three fifteen-year-olds, looking over his shoulder occasionally to make sure they weren’t following him. When he was sure he was alone, he took off at a slow jog toward the wooded area next to the old Miller place. The house was rumored to be haunted. He knew this is where having friends would come in handy because George had only overheard other kids at school talking about what had happened, so he never really got to hear all the juicy details. From what he’d pieced together, the Miller family had lived here in Brunson for years, before his family moved here. They had a little girl named Emily who was playing outside one day when she just disappeared.
George walked along the fence line of the property. He thought about the family and what they might have been like. There was a sign on the front gate that read, ‘Keep Out, Private Property’. He wondered if Emily was their only child. The other kids at school probably knew. Not that he could ask. He wasn’t exactly the type of kid to go and start up a conversation. He did know that little Emily just disappeared one day out of the blue. The Miller family looked for her for several years. Then they just boarded up the house and left town.
George had overheard at school that since the Millers still owned the house, the town couldn’t do anything with it, so now it just sat there untouched. The kids at school also said if you go there every year on the night of Emily’s disappearance, her ghost will appear at midnight in the window of her bedroom.
Of course, George didn’t believe half of what the kids at school talked about, anyway. This was the same group of kids that said that old man Miller went crazy after she disappeared, and that’s why the family left town.
George glanced over his shoulder one last time for good measure. He walked toward an old oak tree that stood in the back of the woods, partially overlooking Fox Lake. The tree was his own personal getaway spot. No one in the world knew about it. Whenever he wanted to be alone, he went there. Not that George wanted to be a loner. He dreamed of the day he would be popular like his brother and have tons of friends. He was just different from the other kids in his class. The tree had two large limbs that stretched out, making it perfect for a tree house. He knew his dad could build an amazing tree house if he tried, but because the tree was on private property, he didn’t dare ask his dad to help.
Over the past year, George did the best he could to collect old boards and nails. He made a platform between the limbs and even used a few of the boards to make a ladder to climb the tree trunk.
Once he was settled into his spot, he was able to relax again. He hated that Eddie bullied him so much. The two brothers were once very close. They’d been best friends when they were younger. He still loved his brother, but things were very different now. His brother always tried to impress the other boys. Occasionally, when it would rain, the two boys would hang out in Eddie’s room just like the old days. Those were his favorite times with his brother.
George picked this tree not only for the shape, but also for the view. From his spot, he could see the lake, and the back of the Miller house. The house sat on about five acres of land, and had a private entrance to Fox Lake. They had an old boathouse in front of the lake, which was severely weather beaten and in need of a paint job. It also had the biggest chain and deadbolt George had ever seen. Closer to the house was a child’s play set.
It was simple for the most part, an old aluminum set that had rusted over the years. It consisted of monkey bars, two swings, and a slide. The tree next to the play set had a tire swing hanging from the thickest branch. There must have been a second tree at one point, in the backyard, but all that remained of it was a stump directly in front of the boathouse.
He wished he was brave enough to get closer to the house, but he knew he’d be in trouble if his parents ever found out. He rummaged through his backpack, and found a bag of chips he had thrown in earlier. He sat there until the sun began to dip into the horizon