Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2012 09:57:54 -0700 (PDT)
From: rtbrno65@yahoo.com
Subject: Quincy And That Unusual Friend Of His Chapter 3

All the usual disclaimers. caveats apply.


		  "Quincy And That Unusual Friend Of His"

				 Chapter 3



Quincy sat trembling in a culvert near a residential area. What he had just
experienced was almost too horrible for him to bear. He also felt terrible
that he had made Erik leave the house like he did, and he was worried about
how Erik would react to him when he came back. He also couldn't shake the
ghastly images of the accident that had flooded his mind. He now understood
that Erik had died right in front of the house there, but for some reason
had refused to let himself pass completely away. Part of him wanted to try
to help Erik, to be there and be his friend, but another equally strong
part wanted him to be exorcised from the house forever. He didn't know what
to do.

He eventually realized that the sun was starting to set, and that he was in
an unfamiliar area some distance from his home. The old dirt road had
turned into this residential street where he now was, so he simply walked
back home the way he came. He emerged from the dirt road onto his street
about an hour later. He had meandered and tarried his way down the road,
trying to put off his arrival at his house as much as he could. He now
stood in front of his house in the dusky light. He could see flashes of
lightning from a distant thunderstorm over the trees. He took a deep breath
and walked up the hill to the front door. He then took another deep breath,
twisted the door knob, and walked into the foyer.

"Quincy!" He heard his mom say from the den as she came rushing into the
foyer, "Are you alright?" She grabbed his face and started checking him for
cuts or bruises. His father came into the foyer from the kitchen, looking
concerned.

"Yeah I'm fine, I was just checking out the dirt road and I lost track of
time."

"Are you sure you're alright?" Steve asked. "One of the neighbors across
the street called and said that you were acting strangely in front of the
house, and then you ran off like you were being chased."

"I was just pretending I was an explorer and that I was fighting off some
bears or something." Quincy mumbled.

"Well you better go upstairs and get yourself cleaned up. I left your
dinner in the microwave." Carol said.

"OK, thanks Mom." Quincy said. He then went up the stairs while his mom
returned to the den. His dad watched him go up the stairs with a worried
look on his face, and then retreated back into the kitchen.

Quincy walked into his room and plunged down onto the bed. He lay on his
stomach and closed his eyes.

"Hey Quincy." He heard from the desk. He looked over and Erik was sitting
on the chair indian style, looking sad and embarrassed.

Quincy got up and sat on the bed across from Erik.

"Hey." Quincy said.

"I'm really sorry about happened earlier."

"I'm sorry too. I guess I shouldn't have made you leave the house."

"It's not your fault. You didn't know." Erik said. They sat in silence for
a minute or so, both of them staring at the floor in front of them.

"So, am I...am I still your friend?" Asked Erik pathetically. He sounded
like he was on the verge of bursting into tears.

Quincy didn't answer right away. He just continued to stare at the
floor. He finally looked up at Erik's sad face.

"I guess, but...if we're going to be friends, then we have to be honest
with each other. You have to let me know what's up with you."

"I'm just a kid, like you are." Erik said.

"I think we can put that line of bullshit to rest after what happened
today! Don't you?" Quincy said angrily.

"So what else am I supposed to say?" Snapped Erik.

Quincy sighed and stared down at the floor. "I saw the accident." He said
softly.

"What?!"

Quincy looked up. " I saw the accident today, when you went into the
street. I saw it in my mind. You were hit by a car right on that spot,
weren't you?"

Erik put his head down and squeezed his eyes shut. Tears came squirting out
and rolled down his cheeks.

"You're lying!" Erik hissed through his tears.

"I saw it!"

"YOU'RE LYING!" Erik yelled right before he vanished. Right after he
vanished, all of the light bulbs that were on in the room exploded and
plunged the room into darkness.

"Shit!" Quincy muttered as he got up to go to the linen closet to get two
replacement bulbs. He returned to the room with the bulbs, expecting to see
Erik, or some sign of Erik, but there was no trace. After he replaced the
bulbs, he went downstairs to eat his dinner, returned to his room to mess
around on his computer, say his prayers, and eventually drift off to sleep.

Quincy didn't see Erik for two days after that. He kept expecting him to
pop up somewhere, but he never did. Quincy was starting to think that he
might have left the house for good. Finally, on the morning of the third
day, Quincy awakened and saw Erik sitting in the swivel chair and watching
him.

"Oh hey!" Quincy said groggily. "Where have you been?"

"Quincy, I want to try going outside again with you. I want to go exploring
like we were going to do the other day."

Quincy sat up in his bed. "Really? Are you sure? What about what happened?"

"We'll try avoiding that spot and see if that works. As a matter of fact,
there's a hidden path behind the shed in the Williams back yard, or at
least there used to be. If it's still there it'll take us right down to the
creek." Erik said. The Williams were Quincy's next door neighbors to the
left.

After breakfast, Quincy told his parents that he was going exploring for a
while. He and Erik then went out the garage into the driveway. Quincy
turned around and saw Erik hesitating near the entrance.

"We can go back inside if you want."

Erik then took a deep breath, and stepped out into the sunshine. Quincy
smiled at him and they walked towards the gate on the side of the Williams
house.

"Careful." Erik said right before they got to the gate. "Mr. Williams is
out here sneaking cigarettes pretty often."

"Really?" Quincy grinned.

"Yeah. I watch him from your parents bedroom quite a lot." Erik smiled.

"Well maybe we shouldn't go this way, then." Quincy said.

"Don't worry, I'll check and see what he's doing." Erik said. He then
vanished, and then reappeared after a few seconds. "Coast is clear, he's
sitting on the john and Mrs. Williams is doing something in the kitchen."

"Wow, you should go to work for the FBI!" Quincy laughed.

"No, I'd rather use my powers for good!" Erik grinned. Quincy burst into
laughter at that.

Erik led Quincy to the fence gate and went right through it. Quincy bumped
into the closed gate door. Both of the boys laughed as Quincy sheepishly
opened the gate and entered the yard. The boys then sprinted across the
yard and ducked behind the shed on the far, opposite end. A wall of
vegetation covered whatever path might have once been there.

"Shit, it looks like the path is gone now." Quincy said.

"Wow, this is really overgrown. It didn't used to be like this." Erik said
while he pushed around the vegetation trying to see into the thick growth.

"Oh well, I guess we can look for another way."

"Hold on a minute." Erik said right before he vanished again. Quincy then
heard an approaching sound from deep within the thick growth. It sounded
like plants being pushed aside and cut. It got louder and louder until the
vegetation right in front of him all burst aside, revealing a small dirt
path. Erik then emerged and stood there grinning.

"Wow!" Quincy laughed. "You're amazing, Erik!" Erik bowed and the boys both
laughed and plunged into the pathway that Erik had cleared.

Quincy followed Erik as they walked down the path. The path meandered
through trees, behind houses and along the gentle slopes that lead down to
the creek valley.

"I don't know where we are. Please don't disappear again!" Said Quincy half
jokingly.

"I won't. This is fun. I haven't done anything like this in years. A lot of
years." Said Erik with a grin.

As Quincy followed he looked down at Erik's bare butt. Without really
thinking, he reached down with his left hand, placed it on Erik's left butt
cheek, and gave it a little squeeze. He thought it felt really smooth but
firm at the same time.

"Hey! Why are you doing that, Quincy?" Erik turned around and said with an
annoyed, quizzical look on his face.

"Oh...sorry." Quincy said with embarrassment as he withdrew his hand. "I
guess that was kind of gay."

Erik gave Quincy another strange look and then they kept going. A short
time later, they came into a clearing, and a wide, gurgling stream flowed
right through a sun dappled, forested scene. Quincy could hardly believe
what he was seeing.

"Whoa! Wow! I didn't know any of this was back here!" Quincy exclaimed.

"This is Pimmit Run, we used to come down here all the time. We used to
have a lot of fun here." Erik said dreamily.

"This is SO amazing." Quincy said.

Erik and Quincy stepped through the undergrowth and wound up on a sandy,
pebbly bank by the creek. Power lines ran along wooden pylons in a cut
clearing along the opposite bank. Quincy picked up some stones and started
throwing them into the gurgling water.

"There used to be a rope swing here, but that's gone now. It was tied up to
a big branch on that tree. There also used to be a big fallen branch that
went across the creek. That's not here anymore either." Erik said.

"I guess floods took all that out." Quincy said as he skipped a pebble
across the water.

"It was a long time ago." Erik said.

"You keep saying how long ago all this stuff happened. How long ago are you
talking about?" Quincy asked as he threw another pebble.

"I don't even know. I can't tell. It might have been months, or years, or
decades. I can't tell how long something is or isn't anymore."

Quincy looked over at Erik and saw him staring blankly at the water. Erik
then turned and looked at him and smiled.

"Come on, let me show you something." Erik said. He then waded into the
water and Quincy followed. They waded up the stream, trying to avoid the
rocks as best as they could. Erik was almost gliding through the water,
leaving delicate, ripples in his wake. Quincy on the other hand was
sloshing and stumbling through the water clumsily, making a loud, splashy
racket. After a few yards, Erik suddenly turned into the woods, with Quincy
trying his best to follow. After making their way up a steep bank and
through a screen of dense vegetation, they emerged into what was sort of a
clearing, although it was still knotted with thorns, weeds, and
briers. Erik led Quincy to a round, stone structure, about three feet high
and covered in vines and moss. It looked like an old well.

"There used to be a house here, years ago. I never saw it, it was long
gone, but I remember seeing this old well here." Erik said. Quincy looked
down into the well, and it disappeared into yawning blackness. He picked a
large stick up and threw it in. He could hear it crashing and scraping it's
way into an increasingly faint echo, until he heard it land at the bottom
far below.

"Wow, that's deep.." Quincy said.

"It's very deep. One day, back in the 1930's, when the house was abandoned
but still here, a group of teenagers who were skipping school came back
here to have a picnic. They had a dog with them. The dog saw a rabbit and
chased it towards this well. One of the teenagers chased after the dog. The
dog jumped after the rabbit and landed on the edge of the well. The
teenager tried to grab the dog before it fell in, but he tripped over the
side, and he and the dog both fell in and were killed. Their bones are
still down there." Erik said.

Quincy gazed wide eyes at the well. "Wow. How do you know that ?"

"Because the teenager and the dog are both sitting right over there." Erik
then pointed to a group of rocks, all covered in undergrowth.

"I don't see anybody."

"Of course you don't, I can hardly see them either, but they're there. They
can both see you. In fact, they're watching you right now."

Quincy shuddered. "Really...?"

"The other kids never said anything, they just said that he and the dog
wandered off. No one ever found out what happened to them. The county still
has him officially as missing. But he's not missing. He's right here. Here
with his dog. Right where he's been this whole time."

"There was a movie that was out years ago called "The Sixth Sense", it was
about a kid who could see dead people, he said they're everywhere, all
around us." Quincy said.

Erik laughed. "That's not true. They're not everywhere. They're around, but
not everywhere. Most people die and they're gone. Sometimes they die and
they're not gone. The ones that stay around almost never get noticed,
unless they want to be noticed."

"Why would they want to be noticed ?"

"Because they're bored, or lonely, or they're trying to get someone to
leave. They're still people, even though they're dead." Erik said.

"So...what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Why are you still here?"

Erik gave Quincy a brief, angry look. "Come on, let's go back. I've been
away from the house long enough." He said as he started back towards the
stream.

"Erik, I'm sorry...please don't be mad." Quincy said before he started
following Erik.

Erik and Quincy both pushed their way through the vegetation until they
finally reached the stream. They climbed down the bank, waded back to where
the path was, and started walking back.

"Erik, you're not mad at me, are you?"

"No, but you ask too many questions that I can't answer sometimes."

"Well, can you blame me? I mean...I've never met anyone like you, you
know?"

Erik said nothing and they walked on in silence until they returned to
behind the Williams shed. To their unpleasant surprise, Mr. Williams was
sneaking a cigarette behind the house, directly facing the
shed. Mr. Williams would have clearly seen Quincy if they had kept
going. They wound up having to wait over five minutes for him to finish the
smoke and slip back into the house through the basement entrance. As soon
as he was in the house, the boys both sprinted full speed to the
gate. Quincy quickly opened it, and they both slipped through. Quincy
sprinted into the house and up the stairs with Erik in tow. Quincy pulled
off his clothes and took an immediate shower to rinse off any poison ivy
that he might have gotten exposed to.

After his shower, Quincy came back into the room. He had put on a fresh
pair of boxers and a red t-shirt. Erik was sitting on the bed. Quincy sat
next to him.

"Thanks for taking me out exploring, Quincy. That was a lot of fun. I can't
remember the last time I had that much fun." Erik said with a grateful
smile.

"Thanks for showing me around. That place is so cool. I would never have
found it if you hadn't shown me. I'm sorry if I got you mad with all my
questions and stuff."

"It's OK, I understand. You're a real good friend, Quincy." To Quincy's
surprise, Erik leaned over and gave him a little peck on the cheek. Quincy
looked at Erik who then turned away in embarrasement.

"I'm sorry, I guess it's my turn to apologize for doing something gay."
Erik said. He then looked at Quincy and Quincy smiled. The boys both burst
into a flurry of quiet giggles. Just then there was a brief knock on the
door and Quincy's dad poked his head in.

"Hey Quincy, can I come in?"

"Sure, Dad."

Steve came in and sat on the bed. Erik vanished and then materialized on
the desk chair.

"So what did you do today?" Steve said as he patted Quincy on the back.

"I was exploring down at the creek."

"That sounds like it was fun."

"It was."

"So do you like living here?"

"Sure. I guess it's OK."

"Well, I have to let you know that your Mother and I are both worried about
you, Son. You haven't been yourself since we moved in here."

"I haven't been myself...?"

"No. You've been very withdrawn and secretive. We've heard you talking to
yourself and you haven't even tried to make any friends yet."

"There's no kids in this neighborhood. They're all old people. How am I
supposed to make any friends?"

"Actually I was going to get to that. You still have a week until school
starts. There's a really nice community center here in McLean that has a
youth day camp program for kids your age. We also start going to our new
church tomorrow. You should be able to meet some other kids there as
well. I'm thinking after the service that you should try to introduce
yourself to some of the kids your age in the congregation, and for the last
week of summer we'll enroll you in that day camp. We want you to be happy
while we live here."

Quincy glanced over at Erik, who was staring at the floor with his hands
folded in his lap. He then turned to his dad.

"But I don't want to go to any day camp. I can meet all those kids in
school when it starts. I'll have the whole school year to make friends!"
Quincy objected.

"If you don't want to go to day camp, that's perfectly fine, although I
think it'll be a lot more fun for you than staying in the house and putzing
around in the neighborhood by yourself, don't you think?"

Quincy sighed. "I guess I'll think about it."

"Sure. Give it some thought. If you decide you want to do it, we'll enroll
you in there on Monday."

"OK. I'll think about it., Dad."

Steve smiled and gave Quincy another pat on his back. "Dinner will be ready
in ten minutes or so." He said as he got up and exited the room.

"So, are you going to that day camp thing?" Erik said a little sadly.

"Probably. When one of them tells me about something and asks me if I want
to do it like that, it usually means they already signed me up for it."

"Oh." Erik said as he looked back down at the floor." Well, you should have
a lot of fun. I did that day camp too. It was pretty cool. There's a lot of
sports and arts and crafts and such. We weren't at any community center
though, we were at the elementary school when I went."

"What year was that?"

"Huh?"

"What year did you go to that camp?"

Erik laughed. "Well, 1978 of course!"

Quincy's eys widened slightly. Just then he heard his mother calling him to
dinner from the base of the stairs.

"OK, well, I have to go to dinner. I guess I'll see you back up here when
I'm done."

"Cool! See you soon, Quincy!"

Quincy smiled and shuffled slowly out of the room, trying to digest what he
had just discovered. Erik, his new best friend and confidant, the little
blond kid who showed him the path to the creek, was at least five years
older than both of his parents.


			     End of chapter 3