off in a squalling flock.
“ Loud enough to pull Grandpa from his recliner’s comfort and out to the back porch, I searched in haste around the swing for my watch. It wasn’t there either. Hearing the backdoor open, I stumbled over to the side of the oak’s trunk facing the woods. I peeked around the corner, thankful he hadn’t stepped outside. A moment later the door shut, and the porch remained empty.
“ Relieved he hadn’t ventured outside I turned my attention to the birds, watching their noisy progress as they hurried to the west. Once they passed over the woods, they veered north as if they’d hit an invisible wall. Fascinated, I listened to their shriller cries to one another as they changed direction in mid-flight.
“ I soon resumed the search for my watch, groping through weeds and grass near the tree’s base, and around Banjo’s food and water bowls. No sign of it. Ready to give up altogether, I heard an animal whimpering in pain near the sphere. Thinking I’d just take a moment to investigate and leave, I hadn’t even turned to fully face the sphere when I suddenly froze in my footsteps. It’d been rolled away from the old iron gate, and Banjo was now stuck between the rusted rails! He was crying and kicking his legs frantically in the air. My worry for him easily overrode the part of me that was surprised and frightened by what I saw. Once he recognized me, he calmed down some.
“ I pulled on his legs. Wedged in tight, I started pushing on his butt. He finally slid to freedom on the other side of the gate, leaving a small cloud of black paint and rust flakes spiraling toward the ground. He stared back at me through the gate’s rails. A large rusted and bent steel padlock held the gate securely shut. I needed to get Banjo back inside the backyard before he ran away, but the gate was too damned tall and awkward to climb over. Desperate, I dropped to the ground and squeezed my body through a space beneath it, just big enough to crawl through.
“ Banjo stuck his nose in my face and began licking me. I stood up, wiping his slobber onto my shirt. Undeterred, he jumped up on my chest to lick me some more. I noticed the golden object from the night before, secured to his neck by several thin strips of leather. The torn and frayed remnants of my watch’s wristband.
“ When I removed the object from his neck, I found my watch resting beneath it, unharmed. The object started glowing like it did the night before. Same markings and all, and as I held it in my hands I soon felt dizzy again.
“ It took Banjo trotting away to shake me from the trance. My heart pounding like a sledgehammer inside my chest, I watched him push through the tall grass and weeds on his way to the woods.
“ I shoved my watch into the right pocket of my shorts while I considered the strange object’s fate. It shimmered as if alive in my hands, which made me tempted to throw it deep into the woods where hopefully no one would ever find it again. But Grandpa already tried to do that, so I decided to hold onto it until I knew for sure what to do.
“ I had a hell of a time keeping it from bouncing out of my other pocket while I ran after Banjo. The grass and weeds rose above my waist, and by the looks of things, no one had been in this area for quite some time. Only a weather-beaten washboard along with an exposed edge from its rusted tub was visible in the untamed field. This, along with the absence of any previous footprints in the rain-softened earth, made me wonder even more as to who had moved the immense sphere aside.
“ Banjo hesitated just before disappearing into the woods. I ran as hard as I could to catch up to him, following the trail of broken weeds and grass he’d created. I tried not to think about the poisonous snakes and whatever else might be lurking about. By the time I reached the woods, Banjo was moving farther away from me, scaling the tree-covered hillside with ease. I wasn’t sure if he was really
“ Loud enough to pull Grandpa from his recliner’s comfort and out to the back porch, I searched in haste around the swing for my watch. It wasn’t there either. Hearing the backdoor open, I stumbled over to the side of the oak’s trunk facing the woods. I peeked around the corner, thankful he hadn’t stepped outside. A moment later the door shut, and the porch remained empty.
“ Relieved he hadn’t ventured outside I turned my attention to the birds, watching their noisy progress as they hurried to the west. Once they passed over the woods, they veered north as if they’d hit an invisible wall. Fascinated, I listened to their shriller cries to one another as they changed direction in mid-flight.
“ I soon resumed the search for my watch, groping through weeds and grass near the tree’s base, and around Banjo’s food and water bowls. No sign of it. Ready to give up altogether, I heard an animal whimpering in pain near the sphere. Thinking I’d just take a moment to investigate and leave, I hadn’t even turned to fully face the sphere when I suddenly froze in my footsteps. It’d been rolled away from the old iron gate, and Banjo was now stuck between the rusted rails! He was crying and kicking his legs frantically in the air. My worry for him easily overrode the part of me that was surprised and frightened by what I saw. Once he recognized me, he calmed down some.
“ I pulled on his legs. Wedged in tight, I started pushing on his butt. He finally slid to freedom on the other side of the gate, leaving a small cloud of black paint and rust flakes spiraling toward the ground. He stared back at me through the gate’s rails. A large rusted and bent steel padlock held the gate securely shut. I needed to get Banjo back inside the backyard before he ran away, but the gate was too damned tall and awkward to climb over. Desperate, I dropped to the ground and squeezed my body through a space beneath it, just big enough to crawl through.
“ Banjo stuck his nose in my face and began licking me. I stood up, wiping his slobber onto my shirt. Undeterred, he jumped up on my chest to lick me some more. I noticed the golden object from the night before, secured to his neck by several thin strips of leather. The torn and frayed remnants of my watch’s wristband.
“ When I removed the object from his neck, I found my watch resting beneath it, unharmed. The object started glowing like it did the night before. Same markings and all, and as I held it in my hands I soon felt dizzy again.
“ It took Banjo trotting away to shake me from the trance. My heart pounding like a sledgehammer inside my chest, I watched him push through the tall grass and weeds on his way to the woods.
“ I shoved my watch into the right pocket of my shorts while I considered the strange object’s fate. It shimmered as if alive in my hands, which made me tempted to throw it deep into the woods where hopefully no one would ever find it again. But Grandpa already tried to do that, so I decided to hold onto it until I knew for sure what to do.
“ I had a hell of a time keeping it from bouncing out of my other pocket while I ran after Banjo. The grass and weeds rose above my waist, and by the looks of things, no one had been in this area for quite some time. Only a weather-beaten washboard along with an exposed edge from its rusted tub was visible in the untamed field. This, along with the absence of any previous footprints in the rain-softened earth, made me wonder even more as to who had moved the immense sphere aside.
“ Banjo hesitated just before disappearing into the woods. I ran as hard as I could to catch up to him, following the trail of broken weeds and grass he’d created. I tried not to think about the poisonous snakes and whatever else might be lurking about. By the time I reached the woods, Banjo was moving farther away from me, scaling the tree-covered hillside with ease. I wasn’t sure if he was really
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