Ongoing Story III...

He sits and ponders his fate for a moment as chaos ensues around him. Trying to grasp the situation that unfolded before his eyes he doesn't know whether to be thankful for missing the flight or that his fate should have been handed to him buckled in to Seat 2, Row 6. A sickened feeling comes over him as if he wants to vomit. The mere thought that at this moment if he were sitting the 640 feet facing him on the tarmac he would be dead. A odd calm rushes over him as he sits back in the chair at the flight gate.

After awhile he walks to the customer service counter, which by then is full. People trying to receive information on the event that happened on runway 4. The man gingerly walk to the side of the counter and waves at the woman, who an hour before, seemed so rude to him. She walks over and he whispered in her ear, "Thank You". Then turns and heads toward the exit of the airport.


Seven and a half years prior He moved from Salt Lake City because of a transfer that was forced upon him. Ultimatums he hated. But the job would pay more and since the company was providing the cost for his move... why not. Single since college the move seemed easy for the bachelor. Upon arriving in Minneapolis, he made the contacts in the company and settled in. A 9 to 5'er, 5 days a week meant that weekends were for being alone.

He was active socially in college but nothing serious. He once thought he met "the one" but it was a fleeting thought. Dedicated to finishing his education was a paramount in the final two years of college. Plus he promised his mother he would finish making him the first in his family to complete college. His father was molded from the working class types of his day. Dirty hands meant a good provider and his father had them. His mother never worked outside her home. It was taboo for married females to work and his father would never have it. It was his job to provide no matter what the finances were.

The man was the oldest of two boys. A strict upbringing filled with "Yes sir" and Yes Ma'am". His job was to look after his younger brother and make sure he was safe. A duty he grew weary of fast. They would play around the yard in the summers and winters. Vacationing was for rich folk and rarely did the family go.

The two boys were always together. He would make sure that the younger one minded his P's and Q's and would correct him when he strayed. The younger one looked up to his brother and listened when he would speak to him.

One day, in the spring of his 12th year, he lost track of his younger sibling. Frantically he looked all around the house in the basement and in the attic.

"Dang It!! Come on!!! You're gonna get me in trouble!", he yelled walking out the front door.

As he rounded the corner of the house toward the back yard he noticed his brothers yellow ball cap laying in the yard. Seeing this made him furious.

"Come Out!! This isn't funny anymore!!" he screamed.

Beyond the fence in the back yard was a large lot that wasn't used anymore. On the near side of the lot there were two plywood sheets laying on the ground covering two holes in the ground. Nobody knew what the holes were used for but they knew they were deep. A lecture by the father, years prior, telling them that they were dangerous and that they should be avoided. The fence between their house and the lot was chain linked and dilapidated. The bottom of the fence was bent off of the ground and easy to climb under. A project the father said he would repair but never got around to because of finances.

Walking closer to the fence, through the chain link he noticed that the corner of the plywood
sheets was raised on one side about 10 inches with a corner dipped down in one of the holes. He climbed under the fence and walked toward the covered hole. A noise sends the boy scurrying back under the fence and into the yard. He decided to try again after he retrieved a flashlight from his room. Back under the fence he went scanning back and forth for anybody who might be coming.

Creeping up to the hole, he peeks in to see what was in there. Blackness. The boy picks up a rock and tosses it into the hole. The boy whispers, "One, two, thr...". He hears the rock clang off the bottom. The smell of oil is heavy around the hole. He thinks to himself, " It's a big tank." He slides his feet closer to the hole to shine the flashlight in. He see something bright colored directly below the opening. Still unable to make out what it is he decides to lay on his stomach and look from the opening. What he sees looks like a ratty old yellow shirt. As his eyes adjust to the darkness of the hole and he realizes that his brother was wearing a yellow shirt. The boy jumps to his feet and runs back toward his yard screaming for his mother.