"The Haunted Treeline : The Legend of Mr. Witticker"

 

Good Morning Everybody!  How are you this fine sunny wintery morning in April? I wish I knew what was up with this weather - it's like a great mystery thriller - you never know what is coming next. So in keeping with the crazy weather and the mystery of - "Who keeps stealing spring", I've come up with a story that actually was inspired by my husband while we were at a party with friends. Now remember, as you read this, it is based on true life events, so that I could embellish it and make it twistedly spooky, just like I like it, OK, and I just couldn't help myself. My husband always says to people – “Be careful what you say and do, my wife’s a writer.” Enjoy.

 

 

 

The Haunted Treeline

The Legend of Mr. Witticker

Original Story based on true life events and written by: Stacey L. Bolin

A warm Saturday afternoon early in the month of April steadily descended as the sun slowly began retreating from the sky.  For most of the day the Mercury inside a house thermometer was doing its best to grasp onto the line that said 81 degrees, while the temperatures outside were slipping into something a little cooler. It was days like this that were more than welcome after the horrendous winter that had captured the sleepy little town of Neewollah and continued to linger long after the first day of spring – winter just didn't seem to want to end.

Mindy and Evan Cooper had made most of their day, at a flea market trying to sell the needless things that in years past, they thought they had to have.  They knew that it wasn’t going to reap them the big bucks that everyone thinks their items are worth, but to them having more space in their little house and two and a half car garage, meant more to them than any amount of money.  Mindy, a stay-at-home mother of two and an aspiring novelist had worked all winter going through old boxes stored high in the attic and all the closets that appeared to be bulging at the hinges. Her new look on life and the future that lay ahead for her family, had her instill a new mind set – she could only keep what would fit in the largest sized U-Haul truck when they planned on moving in the fall of 2015 – everything else had to go.

The flea market ended by two o’clock and Mindy had done just what she set out to do – she got rid of it all and was going home with nothing. Evan was ecstatic, as in years past when they had attempted to sell their wares before, they always somehow ended up with what seemed like more than what they had brought in the first place.  It was a great feeling to be on their way before the seventy-five other vendors did their best to get off the grounds before a long line of cars begun to form. Their plans were to go home, watch some movies, take a shower and then go out for the evening. Both of their children had plans to be out of the house, that same night, to hang with friends, and so Mindy and Evan decided to accept an invitation to a "Kicking Spring into Gear" bonfire with new friends they had met a few weeks earlier.

As Mindy finished the final touches to her eye-shadow and lipstick, her mind suddenly plagued her with a question that offered her no answer, but she knew who to ask to get one.  

"Evan, do you think I should bring a coat or a light jacket?" Said Mindy, while on her hands and knees, as she spoke through the upstairs floor vent that was directly over the couch where Evan sat, while watching TV, as he waited for a pair of his dark jeans to finishing drying. She was never good at deciding on things when it came to the right thing to wear. Some days she’d wear too much and be hot, other times she’d be cold and there wouldn’t be a sweat-shirt or jacket to be found. Eventually she learned to keep things like this in her car for those, just-in-case-I-need-it moments.

"You might want to, with the crazy weather lately, you never know." He replied, never taking his eyes off the movie that he was watching. As Mindy came down the stairs about ten minutes later the sound of buzzer on the dryer immediately triggered Evan to shout out, "They're finally done! Waa Whooo! HOT JEANS FOR ME!"

"You’re funny." Mindy said with a smile. "What are we going to do for dinner? We don't really need to be there until 7 o'clock."

"You read my mind," Evan replied with a chuckle to his voice, "I was just thinking the very same thing. What do you think about Subway?"

"Sounds great, babe, I could go for a great tasting sub right about now."

“Then Subway it is. Let’s grab what we need and get-ta going.”

They got themselves together and filled a small Coleman cooler with a six pack of Bud Light packed in plenty of ice, and then headed out the door. It was strange for the both of them to be off alone for an evening out together.  For years it seemed that everywhere they went it was always with their children or their plans would end up being cancelled because they couldn't find a babysitter, but now that both their boys were teenagers and both had a license and their own vehicles – Mindy and Evan had the freedom like they once had when they first married.

As they sat in the Subway eating their sandwiches the sounds of a baseball game being broad casted from a local AM radio station filled the quiet moments when their mouths were filled with food. It was obvious to the employees of the establishment that they enjoyed each other’s company as they talked about the notion that this summer was going to be quite the test, as both of their kids would be out west. Their oldest son had scored an employment opportunity while the youngest was going to be spending time with relatives and this would be his last free summer before graduating high school. Mindy and Evan would get their first crack at being Empty-Nester's. It wasn’t something they feared, but it would shake up the daily routines that they  had followed for the past twenty years. They laughed and joked with one another and clearly lost all track of time until Mindy looked up at the clock on the wall.

"Its 7:16, I think we’re going to be late Evan."

"Oh well, it happens. I'm ready to go if you are?"

"Yep, I'm done. I was having so much fun talking about our summer that I forgot we were supposed to be somewhere." she said in a compassionate voice.

"Me too. With the time change, I'm all messed up when the sun is still in the sky after six at night."

They cleaned their table and pushed in their chairs and headed out to their truck. The air outside was just right, not to hot, not to cold. It couldn't get any more perfect than it was at that very moment.  The entire drive they rode with the windows down and the sunroof open. Mindy loved to let her hand surf the wind just over the backup mirrors. It was something she had loved to do ever since she was a small child.

"You know Evan, this is excellent driving weather. Wanna keep going?" she said jokingly.

"I wish." He said with a big smile, "But we have a party to get to. We'll have plenty of time to do big drives this summer."

"I can't wait." Then she took a deep breathe in, sighed and said, “I love this kind of evening air it's so relaxing, but I'm also glad we are getting out of the house to do something together and I really hope this party is as much fun as the last one.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Evan questioned rather puzzled she’d say such a thing.

“It’s a full moon and if anything is going to go wrong, it would be on a night of a full moon.” She said in her mysterious reader voice and then started to laugh in her best witches cackle.

“You’re a nut” Evan chuckled again.  He clearly loved those witty ways about her, he couldn’t explain them, but he loved them just the same.

“Evan, do you think they know the story about Mr. Witticker?” a chill raced up her back. Just saying the name still haunted her and the memories of what she was told when she was a young child.

Evan shook his head in disbelief that Mindy would go as far as bringing up such a horrific story that still has never been proven. “For their sake, I hope not,” he said rather tensely, “Let’s just have a good time and not make this a ghost story telling bonfire. Can you promise me that much?”

“I guess so, but they live so close to where it all happened…”

(To be continued…April 17, 2015)