Michael Bjorklund

Diversity /Pop US Lit

ePortfolio Reflection

 

               

      I have never had the opportunity to write my own short story. This assignment has opened my eyes to how much goes into writing a story. Even just a fifteen page story requires hours and hours of planning. I changed my story close to four times before I even finished the first paragraph. I admire those writes who are able to captivate people through hundreds of pages of text. The main problem I ran into was making sure my story flowed and read easily. There were many passages that I had to cut out or change to help speed the story up and flow easier.

               

                Before I took this course I knew little if nothing about Detective Fiction. I now understand what the difference between amateur detectives, private investigators, and police detectives. Also I learned how detective novels reflect on the society in which they take place. They address issues about racism, drugs, alcohol, politics, and everything else. One of my favorite things about the development of the detective fiction genre is that it started off with a chimpanzee as the murderer. Overall the Detective genre is exciting and very thought provoking. It is a fun challenge to solve these puzzles.

Stakeouts are exhausting because of the amount of waiting, but I know today will be the day for success. The house we are watching has been vacant for nearly a lifetime or even a couple of months.  

Summer days are always the same here, the southern winds pick up and before you know it you feel as though you are part of a British expedition, stuck in the Sahara Desert searching for water, as your mouth fills with sand. That’s how today felt, and it wasn’t even 11:00 a.m.  Even in this blast oven the jobs gotta be done.

We are waiting in our camos, staged in the boulder field just behind the house.

 Alice leans over and glares at me.  Her face is covered in paint as if ready to hide in the Arabic sands of Saudi Arabia, “This is boring, no one has lived here in years. Why are we wasting our time?” questions Alice

I pause a moment to think.  I have always been the leader of our squad, and Alice has been my partner since I can remember.  We have done almost everything together. What she said is true, it looks as if someone had dropped an atomic bomb in the back yard and let a colony of spiders take up residence throughout the house. Well… maybe not that bad, but it sure was creepy.

“Momma says that there are a couple folks moving on in and are going to fix the place up.  Our job is to know everything about them, who they are, what they like. We got to know the works.” I mock back, knowing that I knew something that Alice didn’t.

I feel like I’m James Bond, off to spy on the bad guys, trying to find out what their evil plans are.  I know I won’t be able to trust these new people. I thought of all grownups as enemies, except for mom and dad and grandpa and Alice’s parents, other than that, I know grownups are out to get me. That’s why Alice and I made a top secret base out in the boulder field that separated our houses from the towering plateau.

Being an eight year old is tough.  No one believes you.  My mom says I always over exaggerate and my dad says my imagination is over-reactive.

Just then we hear it, the roar of the truck's engine.  I strip the binoculars from out of my pouch, I feel as though I have beat the land speed record. I fling them to my face and begin to stare. This is worse than I thought… not only were there old people, I saw they had a son, too.  They step down from the truck, stretching as if they had been stuffed in a coffin for over a month.

The dad is truly scary, he is bald, has a thick beard, towers like nine feet tall, and looks as big as the boulders that surround our town.  Now the mom isn’t scary one bit, she is skinny and has a great big smile as white as fresh snow, with the nicest eyes.  They made an odd match.

Here came the worst; the kid.  I see him now, a bully, as big as the trunk of a tree, just the sight of him makes me shiver with fear; he is going to find our top secrete base and ruin it. There is no doubt about this. I am scared not only for my life but for the life of Alice.

“I want to look,” wines Alice. “You have been looking through those binoculars for like an hour, it’s my turn.”

“Fine” I say half in fear half in anger.

“Ww-oh!” Gasps Alice, “They are big! Do you think that boy will kill us? He looks like a tank.”

The reason we both come to the same conclusion is that there are these two kids Popper and Chubby, who are the school bullies.  They have been known to punch kids so hard that their shoes fly off.  This new kid makes them look small. I shiver at the thought.  What makes it worse is now knowing that this kid is moving in next door, is about their same size, and is probably itching to find some skinny kid like me to beat up just for the fun of it.

 “Are you ready to advance?” I ask.

“Is that even a question?” Alice parries back.

“Excellent, let’s move out.” I say in a hushed voice

Crashing to our stomachs we then crawl over the edge of the grass through the rocks, of nearly one hundred shades of tan, until we arrive underneath the rusted chain link fence that separates us from this haunted house.

The new family begins to open the truck to unpack when I hear an all--too--familiar voice. “Hello, you must be the new neighbors. I’m Ruth…”  Yep, my worst fears are answered.  It was the voice of my mother. 

“How can she dare fraternize with the enemy?  Doesn’t she know that they are probably monsters or bad guys?”  I mumble to myself.

Just then she turns her head and stares straight where we are.  Could it be? Could she see us?  We are practically invisible in our camo.  Did she dare reveal us to the world and by so doing condemn our spying operation to utter destruction?

“James, Alice, get off the ground back there and come say hi!”  Yells mom.

I know it, we’re dead, and how did she see us?  I thought with camo on you are invisible to anything and everything. I start to think maybe we should just crawl off to the side, and when we reach the edge of our property make a run for it through the boulder field hopefully reaching the security of our base. There we had all the essentials for life: drinks, snacks, and secrete treasures.

Before I can whisper my master plan of escape to Alice, she is on her feet walking over to my mom. The future looks gloomy, yet I walk with pride, my head held high as if I were a noble Frenchman being led to the guillotine. I must show that I’m not afraid of death.

After what seems more than an hour of shuffling to this unfamiliar, possibly evil bunch, I stop and look the kid square in the eye.  I can see his hunger, looking at me as if I’m his next meal.  I feel his eyes penetrating through me.  How I hate meeting new people.  I imagine myself as James Bond captured by the enemy.  I’ve got to be tough.  I have no other choice.

I reach my hand out to the kid, “The name's Rogers.” I say confidently, and then mirroring my secret agent hero I say, “James… Rogers.”

The kid reaches out his hand and grasped mine in a vice that feels as if he can break every bone in my hand and saying in a firm and mature voice, “My name's Samuel Spade.”

I know that name, but from where? When? How..? Then it comes to me. I remember my dad reading me a story of this detective police guy who was a tough, no nonsense, crime solver;  his name was Sam Spade.  I wonder if Samuel was anything like Sam.  Did his parents name him that for a reason?  I guess only time will tell.

After what could have possibly been an hour of listening to my mom and the Spades talk,  Alice and I are allowed to go and are told to show Samuel around.  He is after all our age,  just turning nine last month.  I have been the leader around these parts and now I am very untrusting of this Samuel Spade.

I turn to Samuel and say, “If you’re with us, you got to do what I say. We are top secret agents and we don’t mess around, understand?”

Samuel responds in his strong tone, with just a hint of confusion, “Yea, I understand, what do you guys spy on?”

“Oh the usual, top government leaders, neighbors, other kids.” I reply in a hushed voice, “Do you by chance have a pair of camos?”

“No not really, I have never been outside the city before.  I’m from New York and all that surrounds us are buildings that touch the sky!” exclaims Samuel.

I have heard about New York.  Our teacher had shown us pictures of its sky scrapers. They make our city hall look like a Chihuahua sitting next to a Great Dane.  We have one thing they don’t-- open land to explore, rocks, plateaus, and an endless chance to search for adventure.

We walk over the scorched earth, sliding across boulders bigger than dump trucks following a dusty trail only Alice and I know.  The only other company we have is soaring high above our heads.  You can see their jet black outlines.  They have the most ominous features, from their crooked beaks to their small black emotionless stare.  I feel as if they are always following us.

 Suddenly from aloft the claw-like branches of a Juniper came a deep croaking noise “Cr-r-ruck, Cr-r-ruck, Cr-r-ruck.”  The sound is so distinct I recognize it instantly… a raven, like the ones we had just seen above us.  They are absolutely terrifying.  It must have a nest in that tree.  This isn’t a good sign.  Then thinking about this evil omen, I hold up my hand signaling for my party to stop.

I turn slowly and say in a cautious tone,  “It’s a good five to ten minutes before we arrive at the base.”

My gaze goes from Alice then rests upon Samuel, “Only proceed if you feel you are strong enough to take on whatever evil awaits us. We will have to move quickly.”

“I don’t fear evil, evil fears me.” says Alice without hesitation. And with a simple nod from Samuel and a stare as if to say “bring it on” we take off on our journey.

I throw some chips as far away from us as I can so that the raven won’t see our flight but will be distracted by the chips allowing us peaceful passage.

Now we pick up our pace, and scampering up the last bolder the, Top Secret Agent Spy Base (T.S.A.S.B.) appears in all its grandeur. I am relieved to know everything is fine, peaceful, and we aren’t being followed.

Our T.S.A.S.B. is a cave large enough to fit an elephant.  It has two entrances, one which we can all fit through at once and the other that requires you to hug the ground and crawl like a lizard it is so small. That entrance in back was to be used only in emergencies. This is the ultimate hide out.  I feel as though I am in a cool forest lake with a raging forest fire surrounding me.

Here in the T.S.A.S.B. we keep a collection of all our sacred treasure.  We have everything we prize in our plastic cooler.  I easily flip the lid open.  In here we have the staples of life: Oreos, Goldfish, and Root Beer.  If things were to take a turn for the worst we have enough supplies to last at least 2, maybe 4 months.  I move the food to the side, and there hidden among the food we have stashed our most precious treasures.

The first item I grab is probably the most valuable.  I lift it from the cooler, “Here you have wire.  This very wire was most likely used by Butch Cassidy to set traps for the sheriff.”  I say, cradling each word with immense egotism.

“Now these are golden bullet shells used in defending our city from Indians.”  Next I pull out an ancient arrowhead from the time that caveman roamed these parts. There are also pictures of Alice and me, a cool stop watch, and other treasures.  I pull them out one by one and explain how precious each is.

“You could sell this for a fortune!  I bet we could make like two hundred dollars selling it all!”  Samuel says with excitement in his eyes.

Firing back I exclaim, almost yelling “WHAT?! First there is no WE! Just Alice and me. Where did you get the...”

BLAAMMM!!! The sound was absolutely deafening.  I looked to Alice.  Her face was white as if all the blood had left it.  I looked at Samuel.  He was shouting something but all I could hear was a continued rumbling and booming as if a bomb had just exploded above our head.  Within seconds I could here again.

“What was that?” Alice yells.

I step outside.  I know what it is.  Summer storms come quickly, usually within minutes it can turn a scalding summer day into a tropical hurricane.  The storm was right on top of us and would hit us with full force in just a minute or two.

“Run!” I say, “We need to get home now!”

We run back knowing our cave base will be safe but fearing for ourselves.  The rain pelts us with its icy fingers.  The solid dirt that was baked beneath our feet turns to mud.  I know this is trouble.

As my boots hit the mud it splatters around me.   I feel as though I am a G.I. fighting the Germans in World War II.  The rain around me stings like icy bullets.  I hear the thunder from the angry clouds.  My mind flips back to the battle.  We are under fire from cannons and tanks.  As the Captain I know I have to get my men back home safely.  We do all in our power to make it back in one piece.  As I get to the house I see my mom standing  with a towel and what looks to be hot chocolate.

___

The storm had lasted all night.  Now it takes me a good while to slosh my way through the drying mud which used to be a solid trail.   All our footprints from the previous day had been washed away in the torrential rains.  The dirt path now has a small little trickle of water running down its side.  I finally make it to the cave, glad that as I enter it, it is dry and was protected from yesterday’s storm.

“No!  What happened?  Where has it gone?” I yell in a scared nervous tone.

There on the floor of the cave is the cooler.  Almost everything is gone.  The pictures are scattered around the cave.  Most of the Oreos are eaten.  The plastic that protected the cookies is torn and scattered.   The box of Goldfish is broken with most of it scattered around the cave as if someone was using it as confetti.  The worst is that our treasures are gone.  I can't see the wire and golden bullet shells.  Where are they?  Even my watch is missing.  

I feel sick in side.  I sit pondering if I should call the cops.  What good would that do? They wouldn’t believe me.  Then I remember one of the books my dad had read to me. It was about Sherlock Holmes, one of the greatest detectives known to man. 

Just like Sherlock I am smart.  I know I can piece this crime together.  I take a quick look at everything and I review what I know.  It doesn't take me long.

I had suspected something like this was going to happen and now with the storm to cover it, there could be no doubt --it is Samuel.

I review  the clues.  It is all so clear.  First we have had this base for a couple of years. Nothing like this has ever happened even when big storms come in.  So the storm is ruled out.  

Second, last night when Samuel saw our riches and treasures, he said “we should sell it.”  Not only did he want to sell it, he said “we” giving him claim to our spoils.

As I sit thinking on this I ask, "Why then would he have eaten so much and spread the rest around?  Why make such a mess of everything instead of just taking our precious metals?  Why would he leave the arrow head and only take things that were metal?"

Then the thought comes to me, could it have been a wild animal?  I ponder up a list of animals that could do such a thing.  A cow?   No it wouldn’t be here in the boulder field and eat this.  A Mountain lion?   No, it doesn't eat cookies, it only eats meat.  A Coyote?   Maybe, but then it would have eaten everything, and most of all why would any of these animals have taken the wire and shells?

Now I know Samuel had taken it.

I sprint down the trail.  I see my earlier foot prints almost baked into the ground by the growing heat of the day.

There walking slowly up the trail is Samuel and Alice.  I slam into Samuel at full speed, knocking his feet clean off the ground.   It knocks the wind right out of him.  I yell,  “Alice get my dad now!”

Then with Samuel on the ground in pain and me on top, I have him pinned.  I could see my dad and Alice running over to us.

Before they could get here, I know I have to begin questioning him.

“So, did you have fun last night?” I ask.

“What do you mean?” he says in a pained voice.

“You know exactly what I mean.  Where did you take it?” I push him harder against the ground feeling that he is starting to struggle.

“Get off me! I don’t know what you are talking about!” he grunts and with that he flings me off of him with a swing of his arms.

Just then my Dad pulls us both to our feet without even a flinch.

“What do you think you two are doing?” Dad bellows.

“Our T.S.A.S.B. was robbed by Samuel!” I yell.

“Your what was robbed?” Dad asks.

“I did what?” blasts Samuel.

“We were robbed?” Alice pipes in, “How exciting!”

With everyone yelling something different no one can hear a thing.  Then my Dad yells in his deep voice, “Quiet!  I want an explanation right now!”

I explain about going up to the cave and all my findings and how Samuel is behind this evil plot.

“He wants our treasure, to sell it and make a fortune.  He probably snuck up during the storm last night, knowing we were at home and that his footprints would be washed away by the rain.  Then when he got there, he took the most valuable treasures: the wire from Butch Cassidy himself and the solid gold bullet casings, leaving the rest behind making it look like an animal got into the food.  He probably gorged himself with our Oreos and Goldfish and then threw the rest to mask his escape.”  I am finally out of breath and gasping for more because I am talking so fast.

“I didn’t do it!  I was at home the whole night!  You can ask my mom!” Samuel fights back.

“I believe you Samuel,” states my dad.  “Let’s go up to the base and see if we can solve this mystery together.”

I feel betrayed.  My dad is siding with this new kid and not his son.  Why would he believe him if it's so obvious that I am right?   I stay behind the group watching them and scanning the trail for any other clues that might prove Samuel’s guilt.

My dad looms above us.  He sees so much more from up there. Most boulders that are well above our heads only reach to his shoulders.  I can’t wait till I’m older.

With dad following us it doesn't feel much like an adventure.   Then my mind asks, "If Samuel didn't do it, who or what could it be?"  It doesn’t make sense.  Just then we reach the base.   A couple mice run out away from us into the bushes and rocks.  We look at the damage, there is even less evidence of the scattered food than this morning.

My dad is smiling as if he has figured it out, and then he turns to Samuel.

“Samuel Spade, right now my son has a strong case against you.  Now how can you prove that it wasn’t you?”

He looks and looks and looks.  The ground has tracks from the small footprints of the mice and from squirrels.  There are some other footprints there mixed in with our old foot prints.  The prints are those of a bird, probably there to catch mice or eat the left over remains of the food.

“I don’t know how to prove it wasn't me, but it wasn’t me.” Samuel pleads.

He isn’t much like Sam Spade the detective, who would have never given up that easy. Then a clue clicks in my head.  Just maybe it is that bird.

Remembering the other day when we stumbled across the raven building a nest I threw it food.  Maybe it wanted more.

I blurt, “Hey I have an idea, and take off running.”

My heart is pounding so hard I think I just might have a heart attack.  I am running as if I am the world’s fastest man about to win the gold medal.

I fly around the corner of the trail, my dad right on my heels.  I slam on the breaks planting my feet in loose dirt.  Losing control I slam to the ground.  My body aches but I don’t care, all that’s on my mind is that I can solve this crime.  Here is the Juniper tree from the day before, now only feet away.  High on its branches looms the dark creature. Its wings outstretched.  Its eyes fix on mine, I have to act now.

There is no time to act scared, they can sense fear.  I flip to my side, sweeping up a rock as big as my hand.  Leaping to my feet I brace myself from the imminent attack I know is coming.

To my shock and confusion, the giant raven takes flight as if in retreat.  “Why would it leave its nest?”  I realize that I’m not alone, to my side is my dad and behind him, Alice and Samuel.  Almost instantly I forget about the raven.

“Dad!  You’re tall.  Can you reach that nest?” I plead.

“Sure.  What for?” questions my dad.

“You will see.” I say calmly.

Sure enough as dad pulls down the nest I see the bullet shells and the wire interwoven in the nest.  The raven must have followed me thinking I had more food.  When it found our stash in the cooler it must have noticed the opportunity to take the wire and shells for its own to help build its nest.  They are known to steal from people.  Why didn’t I see this earlier?

“Well Samuel…” says my dad looking proudly at me, “It looks as if your accuser has proven your defense.”

___

That day, nearly forty years ago, was the start of my career.

-End-