Polaris (8 page)

After squeezing between two stacks of boxes, the path led directly into a wall, or so he thought, covered by a large white drape. He pulled back the curtain just enough to see what was behind it. He felt a gust of wind come from the darkness. He took a step back to see how high up the covering went, before giving it a good tug. As it made its way toward the ground, Aaron covered his face with the sleeve of his shirt to prevent the old dust from getting into his eyes.

After a few moments, he slowly opened his eyes. Behind the sheet was a large oval opening. He stood on the cobblestone for a moment before going through. The light on the other side was barely visible. Aaron had to make his way through a wired mesh fence and scoot beneath the lumber that was propped up against a gate.

“Why would the library have a hole in the wall that leads outside?” Aaron used his body weight to push a large piece of plywood out of the way. Some shrubs were behind the wood, but it was easier to get through. As he emerged, he fully expected to find himself outside the library, and he was. However, it wasn’t Bixie as he knew it. It appeared as if he had gone through a time warp.

Aaron stopped and stooped down behind a tree to allow his eyes to adjust to his new surroundings. He saw Parker’s truck still parked where he’d left it, except it was brand new. He eased closer to it and peered inside. The leather was clean and void of tears. The outside shone with a vibrant red paint job. The front chrome grill was brilliant, and there wasn’t a speck of rust anywhere.

He glanced down the street at the main billboard, which had a life-sized poster of a celebrity from back in the fifties. His grandparents referred to him as the King of Rock and Roll, still listened to his music, and watched his movies on the Classics channels whenever they were on. The poster promoted a concert tour. Scores of cars and trucks lined the streets, all heading to the park. Aaron made his way in that direction, trying his best not to be noticed.

“What in the world is going on in Bixie?” Aaron whispered to himself.

He made his way to the park and was surprised to see a huge coliseum. Aaron vividly remembered hearing his grandparents talk about attending concerts at the coliseum, but he also remembered them saying it had burned down during the seventies and the park had been built in its place.

Aaron quickly ducked behind a tree as hundreds of screaming girls ran past. Some of them were waving posters of the late rock star. Others held homemade signs declaring their love for the King of Rock and Roll. A large poster was nailed to the tree that Aaron had thought was his hiding place, but he soon realized that no one was paying much attention to him. He gazed up at the full-color picture of the icon and read the date beneath it.

Fri Dec 16, 1956

Aaron slumped down beside the tree to get his bearings. He watched in silence as cars parked along the grassy areas. Girls were dressed in brightly colored party dresses with full skirts. He noticed that there weren’t as many guys attending the concert. They mostly stood outside, dressed in jeans with the cuffs rolled up, white socks, and loafers. Aaron’s long scruffy hair was a stark contrast next to their slicked down duckbill hairstyles.

“What a bunch of dorks,” Aaron said with a chuckle.Another swarm of screaming girls went past him, and this time he followed them up to the gate. He was able to slip past the ticket counter because of the number of girls running through the gate. They threw their tickets at the young man who’d pretty much given up trying to get them to enter single file.

Aaron found himself being practically carried by the mob of girls directly to the stage. The band members had big grins on their faces as they warmed up, seemingly enjoying themselves as the announcer tried to get the screaming girls to quiet down.

“Is this your first time seeing him?” a girl yelled into Aaron’s ear as she smacked on a huge wad of bubblegum.

Aaron nodded. “Yeah. What about you?”

“Yes, and I’m so excited. I saved my babysitting money to get a ticket.” She grinned then stopped to clear a piece of bubblegum from her front tooth. “I’m Cindy.”

“My name’s Aaron.”

The band played louder, and just when Aaron thought the girls could scream no louder, they took it up another decibel when the icon’s shadow silhouetted behind the curtain.

Aaron’s eyes widened in disbelief. “No. Way.”

Cindy jumped up and down, while screaming and yanking on Aaron’s arm. “I know! Ain’t he the coolest cat around? I’m going to marry him!”

“How old are you?”

Cindy fluttered her eyelashes at Aaron. “Fourteen and a half,” she purred.

The announcer grabbed the microphone once more. “Welcome to the stage. Mr. Dynamite himself … ” The crowd erupted in screams, drowning out the introduction.

The singer stood center stage with his guitar slung across his back. He was dressed in all black—blazer, button-up shirt, shiny shoes—except for his white socks. Aaron could hardly believe his eyes. There stood, the King of Rock and Roll, in living color. This was not a documentary on the History Channel, or a movie being watched at his grandparents’ house. Aaron was actually watching the legend live in concert.

“How you all doing this evening?” The musician sauntered across the stage. He stood directly in front of Aaron, made eye contact with him, and then winked.

Cindy screamed and fell over. “Oh, he just winked at me.”

He spun around, cued up his band, swung his guitar around, and began to sing about a special pair of shoes.

Aaron noticed his left foot had a faint glow to it. He tried to move closer to the stage but was being pummeled, kicked, and elbowed by the screaming mass of girls. He kept his eye on the shoe as the glowing increased as if a beacon of light shone on it.

Aaron felt a gust of breeze across the back of his neck, and that weird odor came near. He felt someone staring at him and turned to see Nakal standing on one of the chairs, smiling at him. Oddly he blended in with the other local boys Aaron had seen earlier. Nakal was dressed in blue jeans with upturned cuffs and sporting a duckbill hairstyle. When Aaron looked at the boys, their eyes began to glow amber.

Aaron slowly began easing his way toward the other side of the stage, through the crying, yelling girls who were reaching out to try to touch the singer, as he taunted and teased them by coming within inches of touching and then gyrating away.

Just as Aaron was able to put some space between himself and Nakal, pure pandemonium broke out when the man wiped his face on a towel and prepared to throw it into the audience. One of the girls grabbed it while it was still in his hand and caused him to fall on stage. The police and firefighters did their best to reach the superstar when the girls began tugging on his clothes.

Aaron watched as Cindy pulled off the singer’s left shoe and lifted it up in the air in victory. But another girl knocked it from her hands, and it fell into the mosh pit of teen girls gone wild. Aaron quickly tried to weave himself in between the girls, the police, and the firefighters. He looked up to see Nakal and his goons coming toward him. Aaron dropped down to the ground and crawled to the area where he’d last seen the shoe.

Chaos ensued.

Aaron located the shoe then crawled, wiggled, and pushed himself through the web of legs. He reached out, and as his fingertips brushed against the heel,
poof
, it was gone, scooped up by Nakal. Aaron scrambled to his feet just in time to see Nakal toss the shoe to one of the band mates, who was then escorted off the stage along with the singer.

“Now what?” Aaron mumbled to himself. “Of all the shoes they could’ve picked for me to grab, it had to be one that belonged to one of the most popular performers of all time. He slumped into one of the chairs and watched the crowds slowly exit the arena.

Aaron looked up just as Nakal approached.

Nakal laughed.

“What are you so happy about? You’ve not won yet,” Aaron said.

“Oh, but I will.” Nakal crossed his arms and leaned back on his heels. “And this victory will be oh, so sweet.”

Aaron rose to his feet and looked Nakal directly in his eyes. “Why did you pull me into this stupid game? Why did you pick me?”

“Easy,” Nakal replied. “I liked your family.”

“But you never knew my family until
after
you came to the house.”

Nakal shook his head. “That’s not true. I have been watching you and your family for a year.”

“What?” Aaron yelled. “So, the whole story about your family driving here from New Mexico was a lie?” His throat suddenly felt dry. “Where are you really from?”

Nakal looked up at the sky. “Somewhere up there, but that’s not important right now.” Amber sparks swirled around in his eyes.

Aaron sprang to his feet and grabbed Nakal by his arm. “Turn around and talk to me. Why have you been watching my family, you creep?”

Nakal pushed him away. “Aren’t you curious what I will gain if I win?” An evil grin spread across his face.

Aaron swallowed as he tried to control his trembling mouth. “What will you win?”

“Your family.”

“And what will happen to me?” Aaron asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

“The nothingness.” Amber sparks once again swirled around Nakal’s pupils as he turned and walked away.

Aaron watched Nakal until he seemingly disappeared into thin air. A flicker of light caught his attention. Directly in front of him a board appeared. On it, were his name and Nakal’s. A checkmark appeared under Nakal’s name. Nakal—1 Aaron—0. The board disappeared.

As Aaron slowly left the arena and headed back to the library, he tried to wrap his head around Nakal’s words.
How could he just make me disappear, and how does he think he can just take my place? My parents would never go for that.

He made his way around to the side of the library, retracing his steps to the opening in the wall. When he got there, the wall was sealed shut. Aaron headed to the front of the library, but he noticed the truck and walked over to it. The truck was once again beat-up and rusted. He glanced around, and just as a scroll unfolds, the landscape and the people returned to the modern time. He headed back into the library, hoping to find the librarian who had helped him with the first clue.

“Hello there,” a voice yelled from off in the distance.

Aaron turned and saw the shop owner he and Parker had spoken to earlier that day. He jogged over to him.

“
Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream
,” the shop owner sang. “
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, Life is but a dream
…
”

“Say, uh … ” The shopkeeper leaned in and whispered, “Did you ever find that old man you were looking for?”

Aaron’s face crumpled, and eeriness surrounded him. “You mean the old man you swore was never there?”

The shopkeeper wiped his face with his hand and looked puzzled. “What do you mean? I told you which direction he went in.”

“No, you didn’t,” replied Aaron, slowly backing away from the man.

The shopkeeper moved toward him, smiled, and continued singing. “
Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream
,” he sang. “
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, Life is but a dream
…
” He continued as he turned away. “
Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream
… ”

Aaron started to run, but changed his mind and continued to listen to the shopkeeper. “
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, Life is but a dream
…
”

“Is this a clue?” Aaron thought out loud as he watched the shopkeeper go back inside his store. “What sorta clue could it be?”

Aaron headed back to the library and decided to go around to the side of the building just to make sure the opening was gone. Once he saw that it was, he turned and headed back to the front of the building when someone near the building next door, caught his attention.

He watched an elderly woman, who walked with a distinct limp, try to balance several shopping bags, a box, and a rug as she approached a busy intersection. She stopped before she reached the crosswalk and dropped the box and shopping bags. The woman then draped the rolled-up carpet across her left shoulder, around the back of her neck, and down her right shoulder. The thick carpet rose up high around her until Aaron could only see the top of her hat sticking out the top. She readjusted the bags on her arm, picked up the box, and walked toward the street, squeezing between two parked cars before stepping directly into oncoming traffic from the right.

“Hey!” Aaron screamed. He ran as fast as he could toward her as he noticed an approaching semi-truck.

The truck driver blew his horn several times as he approached the woman. She did not stop. The truck driver slammed on his brakes and laid on his horn, causing the woman to jump and drop the items in her arms. The driver stopped the truck mere inches from the woman.

By the time Aaron had reached the woman, the truck driver had gotten out of the cab and was kneeling down beside her.

“Lady, are you okay?” the trucker driver asked.

“Oh, yes. I’m quite all right,” she said. “Run along now, and finish what you were doing. I’m a little tougher than the average grandma.”