Forty Dust Devils
In the sky life hovered over the earth, it was not from here and it dreamed of finding a home on earth. We learned from the history of the planet that humans called their planet earth. I live in a different environment. My world is a whimsical mist of dust and webs. I do not wrap life in cocoons of silk. A colorful grace of posture sweep down and back up, watching and making its mind up; it has traveled far, it’s resemblance is very touching, very close to earths human being.
In 1950 we came down at night and settled in the woods 40 miles away from Vitalis Township; in the sleepy little town no one noticed our flight. If we went to town all they would see is a few cobwebs in our hair and elbow.
**
In the sleepy village tucked away just forty miles from Vitalis Township. There was a 100-acre farm. The owner of the farm had passed away twenty years ago, and his nephew Charles had lived in the old homestead for the last 15 years. No one knew that Charles bought magazines and Newspapers. He just sat and read them on his really nice, treated pine wooden deck he took care of. Charles on the deck looked very nice reading his book. I have a picture of the deck but not with Charles; here look.
The landscape around the home was cleared 40 years ago by Nicholas Charles’s uncle. Charles’s dad Norman had inherited the land from his brother Nicholas. And when Norman had passed away Charles had inherited the land from his father. Charles was not a farmer. Charles leased 70 acres of it and ten acres around the home was kept mowed, it looked like a city park.
Norman had invented a clip that held string or rope tight which had eliminated the variety of knots around objects. Charles did not have to work because of both men.
This morning Charles sat out on the deck reading one of his magazines with his mug of coffee. The fog was lifting, and the sun was rising pink and green, it looked like a painting out there.
Something fell inside.
Charles was not too good at housekeeping. No one really knew how filthy it was inside his home. You could see the sticky webs on all visible furniture, wrappers, cans and stacks of debris. This type of web you see in damp crawl spaces. Charles did not know what lived in the house with him.
The rooms moved with activity.
Charles died and we are not sure what happened. He had gone to town to get some supplies and a paper and magazine, and he had a heart attack carrying his supplies to his car. The medical people that had arrived on the scene tried to revive him had no luck and the coroner pronounced him dead.
The White square building shuddered and our hundred acres shook beneath our feet.
Charles’s cousin Victor inherited the farm plus all of Charles’ assets. The authorities did not go out to the farm nor did the Lawyer that had most of Charles paper. The lawyer just asked Victor to come to his office to settle Charles’ estate. No one bothered to go out to the farm.
Charles always locked all the buildings locked up before he left for town. Victor was driving his jeep out to the farm. He had all of Charles keys sitting in the one of the cup holders. The acreage around the house was neat and tidy.
Victor felt the old irritable feeling when he turned onto the lane that led to the house. Something was not right. He wanted to turn around and go home. He kept going on until the feeling was too much for him. He stopped on the lane. Something was not right. He called the lawyer. The lawyer was not aware of anything not right near the home. Move closer, he moved closer. The feeling was bad, and he just stopped the jeep and sat.
He called the Sherriff.
Victor turned around and drove back to the entrance to the lane to wait on the Sherriff. Victor sat there for 15 minutes just wondering about what happened to him. This was a time when fear overwhelmed him. This was worse than his hitch of combat overseas. There overseas you just walked through it and you adjusted as best you could.
He was thinking and remembering about his hitch overseas when the Sheriff arrived. The Sheriff arrived a little puzzled as to why he had come out here, but then again, he was curious about the telephone conversation he had with Victor.
The alien was not aware of the sense of fear that their group had emitted after a death of their close friend Charles. They had no clue as to what happened to the area, they were in.
Then Sheriff Abbot motioned to Victor to get into the Sheriffs vehicle, Victor grabbed the ring of keys and got into the Sheriff vehicle. The Sheriff asked him if he was alright, and Victor said that he was OK. They drove down the lane and as sure as there is a moon, they both felt the fear and still moved forward. They went about a hundred feet farther than where Victor had turned around, when the fear just became too much for both men. They were about two hundred yards away from the two-story white house. They backed up to the entrance to the lane. The Sheriff wrote something in his logbook. Then called the local Detective. He explained the situation and Frank Holeman said it would be twenty minutes. He also said that he would bring two Robots, one a 200 lb. tank and a Drone which were both on a trailer.
The Sheriff and Victor were both wondering how Charles drove back there and lived in the White House. Did something change at the White House when Victor died or was it like this when Charles lived there?
Frank got there with his trailer and drove down the lane. He stopped about 600 feet from the home. The Sheriff and Victor both drove their vehicles out there and parked behind the Detective. They all felt uncomfortable, but their courage kept them there. Moving closer seemed to be out of the question, perhaps some Hazmat Suits would make this bearable.
While Frank was setting up a table for the computer which monitors the Drone and the Robot. Sherill Abbot called the office and asked Louise to load up the four Hazmat Suits into the panel truck and bring them out here and ask someone to follow you, so you have a ride back to town.
By the time Louise got out to the lane with the suits, the sheriff was there to meet her. She went back to town and the Sheriff drove the van out where the Detective was at. All three men put on the Hazmat suits, and they all felt comfortable inside them. Everything seemed normal with the suits on.
The Drone went airborne, and the camera showed everything around the house as normal. It looked like a regular farmhouse with 10 acres of green rolling hills for a view. They parked the Drone and the detective put on a portable viewer with two joy sticks harnessed in place comfortably for the robot. On the south side of the home there was a ramp which was built for Norman and rebuilt five years ago.
The detective started up the Robot and had it do its preliminary workout, forward, back, stop, grab, lift, etc. also It was taught to pick locks and defend itself. The Robot was sent to the ramp. All three men were waiting for something to happen but so far nothing was happening. One of its sensors was reading high levers of toxins and odors. The hard drive on the computer was recording data from the Robot. It reached the ramp and it started it’s climb up the ramp. When it reached the front door, it turned to face the door. It was asked to turn the doorknob. It sensed that the door was locked. The Robots finger were retracted, and it’s pick lock tools came forward. It delicately moved into the lock and worked to unlock the door. It sensed the click and the door moved free. It opened the door and the camera on the computer showed piles of debris. There was a narrow path in view on the monitor. The Robot rolled into the house, something closed the door, and the Robot moved into a mess. Debris was flying about, and the Robot was sensing something new. The Robot wanted to stop, and it just stopped in place, the screen went blank. The detective tried to restart the Robot. The robot could not be restarted.
Sparks and smoke
The men outside were not aware of the eight-legged creatures crawling into the Robot.
The detective had the computer readouts stored on his hard drive. He had information on what was inside the home, he just had to understand what the hard drive was saying before entering the home. He knew that the Hazmat suit took away the fear that was surrounding the home. They knew two things; one was the Hazmat suits took away the fear. How that worked they did not know but it did. Two that something inside the home stopped the metal and electronic robot in its tracks.
The robot’s information told them that there was a strong odor, the view told them there was a lot of trash in the home. Odor, debris and trash spelled rot, rodents and insects. So far, they had learned that the debris had to be removed, the insects and rodents had to be killed and removed.
Was there something else there? Yes, the cobwebs were a clue. Everyone assumed that the dust and cobweb were part of the environment. Our author thinks that they are Alien.
There were two things that could be done. One was to burn the house down but that would send the creature’s inside Fleeing for their lives. Two was to fumigate the home to kill the creatures inside. Then the folks in Hazmat suits could remove the debris by putting it into trash bags. It was far too dangerous to walk in there with jeans and “T” Shirts.
The Sheriff and the detective talked to Victor. They wanted his input as to how to clean the house.
**
They did have a problem. When folks inquired about the job cleaning the interior of the great home, they would somehow find out that it was very difficult to go near the home. Yes, they were curious and they did drive out the road and sure enough the fear was there like a tall hedge and folks took that as a warning and would not go near the home. Yes they were told that the Hazmat suit would eliminate the fear but had a hard time believing that.
Burn it,
Fumigate a trash bag then bag it and take it to the dump. Let them deal with it; not me”!
Or fumigate the whole house with a tarp over the home. Good Luck on that one!
**
Nicholas had no clue as to where they had come from. At that time there was just a couple that shared the home with Nicholas. Nicholas assumed that they had come from the Mountains of West Virginia. They had answered an ad that Nicholas had put in the paper. They had come to the farm in their Light Green Woody Station Wagon.
**
They could of used their powers to settle in these lands but compromise settled any thought of dispute. Now that we are many, it is difficult to give up the land. Fear did not keep them away. My family left the first night, I am here alone. The robot came in and I dusted it. The dust shorted it out. I am sure that I will have to leave and settle elsewhere.
In the background the Dire Straits. New Zealand Tour – 1986 was playing over their music system.
Kyle and Paula Lyn and the two kids drove into Eastlake, WA in their 51 ford Tan Woody. They left their parents’ home in Vitalis Township two weeks ago. Like their parents they are pioneers and strangers in this strange land.
We are of age, and we look after each other. Even if we are from beyond your skies we still look after each other.
What is left of me is looking down at the work being done at our home, yes, it is Victor’s home, and we left a mess, yes that was our world. The men in the hazmat suits feel a little squeamish, close to the point of vomiting. Our stomachs are tilting awkwardly. The pig sty was full of crap, Diseases of unknown origins, it seemed like a drunk alien had missed the toilet.
Should we torch the walls with hot steel wire brushes, polish the metals with chemicals and paper the walls of stains. Wind machines and vacuums will suck up black and squeamish pink beings.
Goo dust and paper are being pushed toward the colossal dustpan. The dustpan is being lifted by cables of steel. There is a large truck outside with the collection of books and things to make the home livable.
Victor has no clue as to what it will be like after the folks shovel the crap out of the home. Victor is not aware of anyone or thing sharing his home with him as far as we know this home is his. There is something there.
The tension and fear eased up, the home was livable. The alien had not made his presence known to Victor.
Now in our homes library there were books of all kinds including the homes history which were tucked away under the science fiction heading. Charles had read the books.
The book started three enteritis ago
**
Science Fiction by Thomas Diaz
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