Distant warning.



It has almost reached the point to where it has become an expectation for him. Every time that he closes his eyes and drifts off to sleep, familiar images begin to take shape in the world of Daniel Vickers dreams. Each time taking a different tone. Now there is no sound, there are no voices to answer his questions, this time it is almost as if he is there in the heart of Pleasantville. Even though he knows that he has never been. The images that he sees this time are very different, they are outlined with the faint remnants of a white haze, as though he were looking at a faded picture. It is almost dark here as he sees the black truck with the broken side mirror, pull into the alley behind Tanners drug store off of Main street in Pleasantville. It slowly rolls to a stop and he sees the arm of what appears to be a male extend itself from the drivers side window. The hand beckons to someone that he doesn’t immediately see, until the form of young Jennifer Watson appears at the side of the vehicle. She seems to recognize the unseen occupant of the truck and smiles as she walks around to the passenger door and slowly opens it. Almost as if on cue, she looks back in the direction of Daniel Vickers and offers him a smile as well. He feels his entire body freeze in place as he tries in vain to move towards her, to prevent her from getting into the vehicle. He tries to call out to her but he cannot. “Jennifer dear god No!! don’t get into the truck!” he tries to muster the words, but in vain, his voice falls silent. And Daniel Vickers now finds himself in an all too familiar posture. He is on his hands and knees on the cold wet surface of the alleyway, in the pouring rain, sobbing uncontrollably.. For he knows that he has just witnessed the final moments of Jennifer Watson’s life.

The Road Of Crows.



He slowly pulls the cigarette to his lips as he ponders Sharon Milner’s question. “And throughout the dreams.. She never mentioned a name of who may have possibly killed her?” He exhales the smoke and slowly shakes his head no.
“She only got close enough to speak to me a couple of times in the dreams.”
“And you don’t recall her ever mentioning a name”
“No.. she never does.. The first time I heard her speak, it was like she was playing some kind of child’s game and she kept repeating ‘White hats are a lie, don’t ever believe them’ she kept saying it. Over and over again. Then the last time she spoke of Justice.”
She pulls over the Chevy just twenty five yards from the turn onto Crow’s Crossing Road, it is the only way for them to reach Pleasantville from there. But Sharon Milner has heard many a strange tale of the road of crows, and its Daniels turn to drive so she would rather sleep through the experience. They both get out to stretch their legs, the rain has momentarily stopped, they both slowly walk over to the road sign and stare silently down at the lonely two lane black top. It almost seems deserted, there are no vehicles coming or going, and the horizon seems dark to Sharon Milner, dark and ominous. She turns to face Daniel Vickers.
“It’s your turn to drive Danny.. I ain’t tackling C.C.R.”
She pauses to light her own cigarette and jerks her thumb at the green and white road sign.
“Do you suppose that Cherry Creek could be somewhere on C.C.R.?”
He Shrugs his shoulders.
“I dunno Shar.. its just a road to me. Get in.. I’ll take it from here.”
They switch places after he assures her that he is now very much awake and capable of taking the wheel. She slowly eases into a restful position and he pulls onto the turn as she drifts off to sleep. Daniel himself has heard the stories of this magical stretch of road as well, and as his thoughts return to Jennifer Watson, her wonders to himself how her story will someday fit into the lore of the haunted stretch of highway called Crows Crossing Road. It almost seems too peaceful to him here, as the rolling hills and the seemingly endless miles upon miles of woodlands slowly roll by as he takes them closer to Pleasantville. In the back of his thoughts he returns to the words of the beautiful young girl he has come to know as Jennifer Watson, he once again can almost feel her cold crisp breath roll across his warm skin in a soft whisper.
“Tell me Please.. What do you want from me?”
“Justice Daniel.. Give me… Justice..”

Pleasantville.



He is surprised to find that Pleasantville looks very much like it did in his last dream. It has a slightly southern picturesque quality, and yet has that unmistakable underlying creepiness to it that keeps tugging at one’s subconscious. He doesn’t take them directly into the city limits right away, he instead decides to try his hand at getting them both rooms on the out skirts of town. It is a place called “The No Tell Motel” he smirks to himself at the obviousness of the title and softly nudge’s Sharon Milner on the shoulder. She sits up slowly and stretches her muscles. She smiles at Daniel Vickers.
“Honey… We’re home.” He says jokingly.
She winks at him.
“Well.. You picked one hell of a place for us to spend our honeymoon.”
They enter the motel office and are almost immediately greeted an older gray haired gentleman named ‘Stanly.’
“What can I do for you Kids?”
He offers them a less than friendly smile through tar and nicotine stained teeth. Daniel steps forward.
“We’ll be needing a couple of rooms if you have any vacancies.”
Sharon Milner offers the conversation little in the way of interest as her eyes slowly scan over the view of the town from the motel office’s doorway.
There is a church steeple that looms atop the middle of the small gathering of buildings that form the general downtown area of Pleasantville. A mixture of fog and clouds loom just above the rooftops, the whole scene casts a disturbingly dark shadow over the entire image, that makes her want to crawl into a deep pit and hide.
He steps up beside of her and dangles her room key in front of her face.
“Well there isn’t much to it is there kitten?”
She rolls her eyes at him.
“Lets just hope they have a decent place to eat Dan. I would hate to have to choke you to death before our wedding night.”
He smiles.
“Now that’s the Sharon Milner that I know and love.”
He helps her with her bags before retrieving his own from the trunk. They lock everything into the rooms and return to the Chevy. Where Sharon drives them to the first diner that they find. Pleasantville is as dark and dreary up close as it is from a distance she thinks as they enter The Main Street Diner where a short pudgy middle aged waitress almost immediately ushers them into a booth. They both settle in as she brings them hot coffee. And Sharon irritably begins a soft low rant about the creepiness of the whole situation until she notices that Daniel Vickers either isn’t listening or is no longer capable of hearing her. A familiar stare crosses over his face as he slowly rises to his feet, and when the black pickup truck with the broken side mirror slowly rolls past the front window of the Main Street Diner, Daniel Vickers face looks as if he’s seen a ghost.

~Scratch… A.B.T. Copyright © 2007.