the light

by nick nelson

kenneth got a job on the graveyard shift at a gas station and 24 hour store in abbotstown. he had to drive through waterville to get to it. he had been told that waterville was a ghost town, completely deserted, and so it seemed to be. he drove through waterville night after night without seeing a single light. granted, it was pretty late, but even so, if there was anybody there he thought somebody might be up once in a while. then one night he had almost gone through waterville and was about to cross the town line, when he saw a light. it was in a wooded area, and he was not sure if the light was in the woods or in a house just off the road. it was a warm night, and he had his window rolled down. as he went past the light, he thought he heard a cry. it sounded like a cat, but it could have been a child, kenneth thought.. or a woman… or i could just be imagining things… two nights later, he was again driving through, faster this time because he was a little late, and he saw the light, and he thought he heard the cry, a little fainter than before… as he stood at his post behind the counter of the 24 hour store, dispensing mountain dew and beef jerky and tortilla chips , kenneth could not help wondering about the light, and the cry. maybe some sicko had a woman or a child held captive in the little house. kenneth had seen things like that in the movies, and he knew that they really happened. then another thought occurred to him. suppose there was a sicko in there with a captive and it came out later that he, kenneth, had driven past night after night and never reported it or done anything about it! he remembered reading a story about people in an apartment building in new york and there was a woman screaming for help right outside their windows and she was killed and they did not help her or even call the police. after that everybody hated on those people and they lived in infamy forever. kenneth decided if he saw the light a third time, he would stop and investigate. it had been a clear night and it was summer, and getting light early, and as kenneth drove back that morning, he could see the little house where the light had come from. he had never really noticed it before. it was just a shack, and hidden by the trees. he made a decision to stop and check it out right then and there. he pulled over and got out of his car and started walking toward the shack. i am probably just going to just make an ass of myself, he thought, but he just wanted to do it get it over with for his own peace of mind. kenneth knocked on the door of the shack. he thought he heard something inside - someone telling him to come in? he waited a few seconds to see if someone would open the door and then he pushed it and it opened. he saw a man sitting at a little table with a laptop open in front of him. there was no sign of a victim or anybody else. the man turned and looked at kenneth, and kenneth thought he looked like kevin, his twin brother whom he had not seen in years. “what are you doing?” kenneth asked the man who looked like kevin. the man pointed to the laptop. “what does it look like i am doing? i am writing the story.” “the story? is there only one?” “of course.” “and what might that be?” kenneth asked. “the story of st george snd the dragon. everybody is either st george or the dragon. which are you?” kenneth started to say st george, because he did not think of himself as a dragon, but then he thought it might be a trick question, so he said, “can i think about it and come back tomorrow?” “of course. we have time. nothing but time.”