The Horror in Smithville[/caption].
Welcome back My Dear Readers to The Other Shoe. As well, welcome to the second part of ‘The Missing Chapters’! This is a very special series of additions to the mains story of ‘The Horror in Smithville’. Right about the time I penned episode twelve? I realized that I had totally missed the opportunity to add, and develop, several characters that would soon be very important to the main story line. Rather than try to just, like, jam them in? I decided to start this series of chapters… ‘The Missing Chapters’!
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Last week I introduced you, My Dear Readers, to Ralph Simner – father to Archer and husband to Becky Simner (Margie’s best friend). Until… well, about two weeks ago, Ralph had been nothing more than… a cutout. A simple cardboard cutout that was “Archer’s father” and little more. As I was flushing out the second half of this novel (funny how that happened… how a simple ‘Short Story’ back in May has turned into… my first full novel) I realized that I needed Archer’s father to be more than just a placeholder. Ralph Simner, Archer’s father, needed his own story. His own troubles and his own character development .
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I had to take, what initially was, a simple placeholder and turn him into somebody the reader would relate to and like! That was going to be no easy task, and if I limited myself to just jamming it into the story… where I was at the time was, like, episode 12 or 13, it would not feel ‘natural’. So, I strained my little head and thought about the task that lay ahead. I was sitting, one afternoon, and I was thinking and thinking about just how to introduce Ralph… how to get his story… his problems… his difficulties to overcome into the novel.
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Then, it dawned on me! This was not already in print! I had a unique opportunity, here, with you My Dear Readers. Unlike a book, already published, you were IN the process! You were ‘along for the ride’ so to speak. That gave me a unique opportunity to ‘roll back the clock’ and inject, into the already spun tale, an ‘all new’ character! It would be a unique opportunity for the BOTH OF US! For reader and writer alike, we would be a part of an experiment together!
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At that moment I was no longer confined by the normal limitations of writing a novel. No longer did I have to think in a linier fashion! Not only could I think ‘Out of the box’ my whole story could exsist ‘outside the box’! So, I grabbed you, My Dear Readers, and we took off on an adventure… together! I have to tell you… I have never felt so free! Not only could I do this with Ralph Simner… if you, My Dear Readers, went along with this radical experiment? I could do this very same thing with other characters! Suddenly? The sky was the limit!
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Suddenly I was free to take any turn or avenue my heart desired. So far, Ralph Simner has been well received by all of you, My Dear Readers. It does not appear that anyone was ‘so taken aback’ by this injection of another character, that they left the process and turned their backs on this work. If anything? It appears that my whole experiment has been a complete and total success!
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Ralph Simner has been adopted by you, My Dear Readers, just the same as he had been introduced at the beginning of the story. That is a “Good Thing’! It is a good thi8ng because Ralph is going to play a very important part… and integral role in the unfolding of my story. It is good because now Archer has a father that you, My Dear Readers, know about. That Archer comes from a full and complete family.
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So, here is a little ‘spoiler’ (if you don’t want to know? Just skip ahead to where there is a ‘Part 8 B’ and read from there ;) . This is not going to be the only time that I do this… I have been thinking and there just might be somebody else that missed the ‘boarding call’ when I started penning this novel. I am not going to tell you who… or when… Just be prepared. J
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My Dear Readers, this novel has been the most fun I have experienced, writing, in a long time. Since I was a boy of nine I have always wanted to write a horror story. YOU, My Dear Readers, have helped make that dream a reality! Just this week Allen, my roommate/caregiver/+ just started reading this story. I value his opinion of my work, my writing. Allen likes this story! He is already to chapter five, and he is really enjoying the story, the characters, the setting and… the suspense.
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I have to admit… this story… this tale, it is going much better than I had thought, or hoped. Each and every time I sit down to write? It is kind of strange… but it is like I have already written… it. Each time I sit down to write it all comes out… naturally. With so little effort and thought. I ‘see’ the characters in my mind’s eye. I see them talk... I see them interact... I see them run and fight. Out of everything I have ever written? This story is just happening to me, and I am just sharing it as it happens.
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Now, without further adieu I give you Part 8-B of ‘The Horror in Smithville’!
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Part Eight B
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The ‘janitor’ job at the Elementary (That is how it had turned out, when he finally got started at the job) There was little-to-no work doing ‘repairs’, or taking advantage of Ralph’s skills in construction and mechanical works. Most of his time was spent; taking out trash, cleaning up after the kitchen workers, emptying lockers at the end of the school year, and putting sawdust on puke. Kids puke lots and often! He had never realized just how much, nor how often, children throw-up, till he was the one in charge of cleaning it up.
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This went on for year after year, as Archer grew-up and out of the elementary school. Funny thing was? While Archer was attending the elementary school, where Ralph was ‘stationed’ and spent most of his day, he didn’t mind the disgusting and humiliating work. He was near his son. Everyday he got to ‘see’ Archer; going from class to class, eating lunch in the munch room, or out playing on the playground with Timmy and his other classmates. Yet, once Archer had graduated from elementary school, and moved over to the Middle School, life for Ralph took a turn for the worst.
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The hours of the day just seemed to drag by, he found himself looking at his watch more and the minutes felt like hours. To help to pass the time, Ralph had started… eating. It started the moment he got to the school, and being a school with its own kitchen, there was always food about. Ralph would offer to help out around the kitchen; taking out the spent cooking oil, working on racks in the ovens, and even sometimes helping out doing dishes. It helped keep the day moving, but his waistline suffered terribly. When Ralph came to Smithville, we sported a healthy 32” waistline on a six foot two frame.
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Since Archer had left the elementary school Ralph’s waistline had blossomed to 46” and was growing every week. Now, well over 200 lbs. Ralph’s health was declining nearly as fast as his self-esteem. Ralph knew that things between he and his wife, Becky, were not going well… either. A, once healthy, sex life had turned into uncomfortable encounters at his birthday and anniversaries. Even Archer had pulled away from Ralph, since he left the elementary school. Ralph understood that a good deal of that separation was that Archer was ‘becoming a man’ himself, and enjoyed spending more time with friends like Timmy. Ralph tried not to feel resentment, but time had taken its toll and Ralph was looking for a way to regain self-esteem.
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That was when the ‘new job’, literally, walked into his life. One day Ralph was out at the dumpsters, taking out the trash from the kitchen, and eating a little something the cook had shared. It, at first, struck Ralph as odd. This tall man walking up to him at the back of the elementary school. The man was dressed all in black, from his head to this toes, with a large tall hat sitting on his head. Under the hat the man wore a suit jacket over, what appeared to be, a hoodie. The man had pulled the hood, of the hoodie, up and around his face so that you could hardly make out any features of his face. Ralph was, still, about six foot two, and this man towered over Ralph, once he was standing next to him. A very tall dark man, dressed all in black, with a very soft spoken voice. Ralph had to strain to hear the man speak, but once he could hear Ralph has transfixed by his voice.
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`”Good afternoon Mr. Simner. You are Ralph Simner, janitor and general repairman for this elementary school, correct?”
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‘General Repairman’ Ralph liked the sound of that, nobody had ever called him that before. If this man was selling something, then Ralph thought, he certainly knew how to get people buying!
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“Yes, Mr. Simner, I am here to offer you some work. I am with the Carnival, that is coming to town shortly, and I am looking for experienced workmen and construction workers. There is much work to be done, in very little time. I am willing to pay you double what you earn, here, and I will be needing your assistance for one week. There will be several days where I will need your help long into the night. Is that a problem for you… for your family?”
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Standing there, honestly, Ralph wondered if his ‘family’ would even notice that he was gone. Yes, things at home were… well, more than strained. Ralph spent many a night wondering if Becky was going to come home, one day, only to pack her things and leave him. Take Archer and head to a better man. It hadn’t happened, yet. But the fear lived inside of Ralph every single day. He knew that Becky loved him, she always had and always would, but he knew that love just wasn’t enough. A good relationship had to have more. There was little affection left, in their relationship, and Ralph was at a loss as to how to rekindle that part of their relationship.
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This! Ralph thought to himself, this, could be that thing to help him get back his self-esteem and help him rekindle the love he so longed for. Double his currently hourly wage would mean that he could take home two weeks pay in just one week. He would give the principal some lame excuse and Becky would not even hear about it for some time. Now, Ralph was thinking fast and hard.
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“Will this be very physical work? Heavy lifting and the like?”
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Ralph’s mind was racing. With a solid week of back-breaking work, limiting what he ate and how often. Ralph thought that he could ‘kill two birds with one stone’. He could make lots of extra money and at the same time drop ten to twenty pounds of that extra weight! Heck, by the end of the week he could be well under 200 pounds, and have a bulging wallet instead of bulging belly! That would certainly get Becky’s attention!
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“Yessss (the man’s ‘s’s just seem to go on forever…) there will be much heavy lifting and “back breaking work” Mr. Simner. Is that a problem?”
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‘Problem?’ Ralph thought to himself. Not even! It is exactly what the (love) doctor ordered! Who would have known that the solution to all of Ralph’s problems would (literally) walk up to him, while he was eating donuts by the school’s dumpster!?! Ralph could double his pay and shed ten to twenty pounds in one week! This was going to turn his life around, Ralph just knew it! Yet, Ralph thought that he just might get more from this mysterious tall man. Ralph was going to, for one of the first times in his life, press his luck with this tall man. Ralph was going to see if he could get a promise of more than eight hours a day. Just one thirty or forty-hour week, at twice is rate of pay? He could earn nearly a month’s pay in just one week! Ralph was going to try and press his luck.
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“Look, Mister…. I didn’t catch your name…” (Ralph left that hanging in the air waiting for this tall man to answer)
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“Darken… Mr. Darken, you can call me Mr. Dark Mr. Simner. “
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“Look, Mr. Darken, I am not trying to look a gift-horse in the mouth, but what do you think about me working… extra hours each day? Hell, I’d be willing to put in thirty or forty hours in this here one week!”
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Ralph’s words hung, with his anticipation, in the air for what felt like forever. At one point Ralph could clearly hear his own breath… but nothing from this tall man. Except for one second when he could have sworn that he had heard him… laugh. Ralph discarded that thought, this was a serious negotiation there was no way that this man was laughing. Without speaking, first, the tall man stuck out his hand. Then spoke.
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“Mr. Simner, I will work you night and day as much as you can stand for the week. Shake on it?”
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Ralph stuck out his hand, top shake Mr. Darken’s, without thinking. However, just as soon as his hand met Mr. Darken’s… Ralph did think. He hand was so very thin… and his fingers freezing cold to the touch. Just as soon as their hands met, Ralph felt dizzy all over and woozy. For a moment Ralph thought that he would fall down in a dead faint, but he didn’t. Ralph shook Mr. Darken’s hand vigorously almost pumping it.
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“Thank you… Thank you! Mister, you have no idea just what this means to me and my family! I have been working myself to death, around here, and never really getting ahead. This one-week and I will finally get ahead! Thank you!”
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The tall man, Mr. Darken, pulled his hand away as quickly as he offered. Soon, Ralph was just standing there with his hand stuck out into the middle of the air. Quickly resolving the (visually) uncomfortable moment, Ralph pulled his hand back and shoved it into this pants pocket. Ralph was quite anxious to not mess things up now that he had a chance to turn his life around. Ralph was standing there, smiling from ear-to-ear, as the tall man turned and started walking away. Ralph realized that he had no idea just when or where this work was!
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“Excuse me, Mr. Darken? I need to know just when you are going to need me to work… and where!”
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Mr. Darken, the tall man, stopped walking and, without turning around, spoke to Ralph.
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“Your work, Mr. Simner, will begin Thursday night… This Thursday night. Mr. Simner, you do know where the old Marsch farm is, right? The work begins there, Thursday night. Be there at nightfall... and bring your own food. You will be there at least one day. Plan on not returning home… until sometime Friday. Is that acceptable?”
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Good grief! The first day and it sounds like he would get more than twenty hours! ‘is that acceptable’? That is FANTASTIC!
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“Yes sir, Mr. Darken! That is very acceptable! I know where the old Marsch farm is, and I will be there at disk, ready to work… and work hard!”
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The Tall man began walking away, again, when Ralph managed to get in one more thanks.
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“Oh… and Mr. Darken… THANK YOY! Thank you for me, thank you from my family… THANK YOU!”
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Mr. Darken just kept walking away… almost drifting as he moved away from Ralph. Ralph turned to throw the last of the donuts away, thinking there is not better time than now to start dieting. When he turned back, in the direction of Mr. Darken… the tall man was gone! Ralph looked to the left, and then to the right. There was no dign of him at all! Ralph hadn’t heard a car. Hadn’t head a car door open, or close. Hadn’t heard a engine start, or a car drive away. Ralph hadn’t heard a single sound since he turne4d away, but that darn tall man was gone!
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Well, Ralph thought, I could stand here and wonder where that tall man vanished too, or I can go back into the school and start making plans for all the money I am going to earn. A few seconds passed, and Ralph walked back into the school. Thinking of just how many roses he would buy for Becky! There was almost a skip to Ralph’s walk, as he entered the elementary school… for one of the last times, ever.
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The new job, out to the Carnival site, paid FOUR TIMES what the janitor job paid. Ralph could earn, in one week, what he used to get paid in one month! It was unfortunate that this job would only last a few scant weeks. Ralph enjoyed the work he was doing at the Carnival. There was putting the rides together, connecting lighting and setting up stages. It was good honest work, work he did with his hands! Ralph could feel the difference, and he could see the difference in the mirror in the morning. This work was making Ralph PROUD!
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For the first time, since they had arrived in Smithville, Ralph felt proud! It was Thursday afternoon, about 4:30PM, and every since he had left the school that day, Ralph had been unable to stop thinking about this new job… and the money! He had given the Principal, of the elementary school, some story about needing the week off because of Archer’s ‘failing health’. Everyone knew that Archer suffered with Asthma and, often, would miss school for days because of it. Ralph knew that he just had to make the story good enough to pass muster, when he asked. It was not like they would fire him for taking a week off to make a month’s pay!
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Once Ralph had the money in hand, all sins (and lies) would, certainly, be forgiven. Ralph had put together some bottled water, and some bread. He didn’t want any food around! He was determined to loose as many pounds as was humanly possible, in the week he would be working at the carnival site. Ralph had it all figured out. A whole week away form Becky would make her pine for him. The loss of ten to twenty pounds would make him desirable again. That, and the wad of cash he was going to earn, well that would give him his elf-esteem back!
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In just one week Ralph was going to take back his life, his wife and his son’s love and admiration. He was going to prove that Ralph Simner is worth their love and affection! Ralph had done a good job of avoiding Becky, since he had arrived home. He had, carefully, packed; extra clothes, an extra pair of work boots, a jacket, the bottled water and the bread all without being seen. Now he had all of these items in a box and was about to leave to put them in the car, when he heard Becky call his name.
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“Ralph? RALPH! Where are you? I am on the phone with Mrs. Marref, Timmy;s Mom, and she wants to know if Archer can spend the rest of the week over there, with them!?!”
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Ralph could tell by the tone of her voice that was not what she wanted. Becky hung on to Archer like a mother bear to a cub. Problem was? Archer was eleven going on twelve, and he needed his time with friends and away from the ‘Mother Bear’. Archer was already smaller than most of the boys in his class. All he needed was the impression that he was a ‘Mother’s Child’ to ruin his remaining years in Middle School and High School. As much as it pained Ralph, and he realized that without Archer there Becky would be more likely to notice his absence. He just had to take sides with his son!
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“Hon! I don’t think it is all that big a deal! It isn’t like he is going away too far. The Marref’s farm is just next door! Let Archer have this time with Timmy and his family. He have him all the time!”
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Just as Ralph was speaking the words, he saw Archer’s head peak around the corner. There was a big smile on Archer’s face, and he winked at his Dad as he spoke. Well, at least Ralph was well on his way to winning over his son, he knew that Becky would not like Archer away, all that time, but it was good for Archer.
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“Ralph?!? I KNOW where the Marref’s live! That’s not the point! What if Archer has an asthma attack? What is he needs me, Ralph? Ralph? Are YOU listening to me?”
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How could he not? Becky took drama and speech, in high school, and when she wanted? The whole town could hear every word she said! Ralph really needed to get the box of clothes and goodies into the truck, before Becky saw. He put the box down and headed to the bottom of the stairs, so Becky could hear that he was closer. Just as he put the box down, Archer came over to him and whispered in his ear; “Dad, you want me to put this in the truck for you?”
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Ralph smiled big and winked at Archer. Archer grabbed the box and headed out the back door to the truck. Ralph headed over to the stairs, making it to the bottom of the stairs just as Becky appeared at the top.
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“Now, Becky, you know that Margie is ‘like’ a second Mom to Archer. She has had all the same training you had about the asthma. She knows how to administer the injections, if he needs them, and what to not give him to eat… and all that stuff. Heck, Becky, she probably knows more than I do, about the medication and his asthma. Tom and Margie really care for Archer, and that Timmy’boy treats him like his younger brother!’
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At that, Becky smiled. Ralph stood there and he, honestly, could not remember the last time he had seen her smile. Now he hadn’t told her anything about the ‘extra money’ for him trying to loose weight. But, maybe… just maybe she could sense that Ralph was working to make some serious changes. Maybe.
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“OK. Ok, Ralph. Archer can go and spend the night at the Marref’s. But I want him home after school on Friday! Understood? You want to tell him? I know it would mean the world to Archer to hear it from you, Ralph.” (smile! There it is, again!)
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Maybe things can turn around, Ralph! Maybe there is a chance for your family to be whole, again. Ralph felt great! He went back into the kitchen, just as Archer was returning from the truck. There was a concerned look on Archer’s face, and Ralph just knew that he had looked into the box. Ralph had to put a stopper on Archer talking to his Mom, about the contents of the box. He walked right up to Archer, and explained…
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“Archer? I got the ‘OK’ from your Mom to spend TONIGHT with Timmy. Now, she wants you back just as soon as school is over tomorrow, k? Now, about what you saw in the box. First, everything is ‘ok’ between your Mom and I. There is nothing wrong. I am just going to go away,. For a few days, to work at and for the carnival. I got a great paying job… and I might be gone for a couple of days. I took the week off from the elementary school… and this tall man is going to give me twice what I usually earn. PLUS? He is going to let me work 12 to 16 hours each day! That means I will, likely, bring home a month’s pay in just one week!”
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Archer was a smart boy, and he knew what that would mean to the family. Without saying a word, Archer just reached up and gave his Dad… a hug! Now, Archer, being eleven going on twelve, hadn’t hugged his Dad in more than a year! That he just had, without somebody dying meant the world to Ralph!
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“I’ll do my best to keep Mom distracted while you are gone, Dad. Don’t work too hard, k? I hope that it works out for you really well, Dad.”
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Archer took off, at that point, up the stairs to get himself ready to go over to Timmy’s for his overnight stay. Becky was upstairs, likely grading papers, and Archer was getting ready to leave for his sleepover. The sun was going down, and it was time for Ralph to leave. Ralph left the house every day. Yet, this time when Ralph left… it felt different. It almost felt like it was the last time Ralph was leaving his house… and his previous life… behind.
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Ralph got behind the wheel of the truck, slowly pulled out of the driveway, and smiled… big as he pulled away. Looking at his house.. his home, in the rearview mirror, Ralph just smiled really big.
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End
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[youtube=http://youtu.be/7vKh0ReY620]
(The Horror in Smithville Animation with Sound!)
© 2010 – 2014 Hanning Web Wurx for The Other Shoe
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