LEGACY (eBook)

DJ Egarian (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024 | 1. Auflage
164 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-5886-7 (ISBN)

Infos

'LEGACY' is a heartwarming collection of 10 short stories for young adults. Some of the stories are based on the author's impromptu, on-demand storytelling to his young children. Instead of reading a story, he would make one up - his kids would cry 'tell me a story from your mouth!', so he would. A few of the stories are based on the author's real experiences; some thrilling, some funny, some heart stopping. All in all, the reader will find the stories unusual, somewhat unexpected, and humorous.

David Egarian is a professional engineer and author with a successful civil engineering practice in Fairfield, NJ. His first novel 'The Shar Dynasty,' a story of international, supernatural intrigue, has been well received by his clients and general readership.

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"e;LEGACY"e; is a heartwarming collection of 10 short stories for young adults. Some of the stories are based on the author's impromptu, on-demand storytelling to his young children. Instead of reading a story, he would make one up - his kids would cry "e;tell me a story from your mouth!"e;, so he would. A few of the stories are based on the author's real experiences; some thrilling, some funny, some heart stopping. All in all, the reader will find the stories unusual, somewhat unexpected, and humorous. 1. Photo Number 12 is a story about an old Brownie camera whose film holds a mysterious surprise. 2. The Remote tells a tale of a TV remote transformed into a portal to another dimension. 3. Tommy Bolt is a heartwarming story of a boy genius at Princeton University who makes an earth-shattering discovery. 4. The Little Men in the Woods are just that - a race of small people living deep within a forest primeval. 5. Over the Horizon takes place on a remote tropical island that holds a big surprise for a young adventurer. 6. Kaboom! Follows a fourth of July celebration gone bad. 7. Dave and Charlie's Tuckerman Adventure is a true story of skiing at the treacherous Tuckerman ravine. 8. The Mystery of Dunbar Island (The Piseco Triangle) tells a story of colonial heroism and lost treasure. 9. Dennis Blackburn, Boy Detective The Mystery of the Stolen Bicycles follows the hero of "e;The Shar Dynasty"e; in his return as a boy detective. 10. The Opening follows a young lad as he faces a Russian chess master in the match of the century.

Textauszug

THE REMOTE

It was a rainy November day in Springfield, Illinois. The day suited Tommy Jones’ mood perfectly. The 2:30 bell rang, signaling the end of another school day. Moments later the exit doors burst open and a horde of screaming kids spilled onto the sidewalk. They were from a broad spectrum of diverse backgrounds and interests – ethnicity, income level, sports, and academics. Some were gregarious and some were loners. Tommy belonged to the latter group. But not by choice, by necessity.

Tommy emerged through the double doors, a bespectacled 8th grader, pimpled and freckled, short and spindly, red hair, unsure of his place in the 2024 world of a 14 year old. It could be a terrifying place. He stole furtive glances left and right as he stepped onto the large front stoop. And there they were, the usual group of boys waiting to taunt him.

“Hey Tommy, how about a game of tackle football, huh?” They all laughed. “C’mon, let’s see what you have!”

“N-N-No, I have to get home now,” he stuttered.

“Yeah, ‘you have to get home now’. You always ‘go home’. You can’t hang out with the guys? Do you know what Carol Fleming said about you yesterday?”

“No! What did she say?” Immediately he turned red faced and began perspiring. He had a crush on her, but he hoped it didn’t show. “What would she say about me?”

“You don’t want to know!” they all laughed.

He couldn’t take the peer pressure and constant ribbing. That was why he loved his books. He could dive into them, escape from reality. Someday his body will catch up to his mind. These hooligans would end up on the wrong end of the economic scale and the shoe would be on the other foot. He would be the one doing the dictating. They would be the ones running like scared rabbits. In this he was confident. He would be on top far longer than this brief childhood. His mother had reinforced that as well. “Stay the course, Tommy. Learn as much as you can. One day you will be the leader of the pack.” He believed her. He believed his mom. But in the meantime, he was still 14 years old. He couldn’t wait to get home, flip on the TV, watch a documentary and get back into the book he was reading. This one was a sci fi thriller about a manned mission to Europa, Jupiter’s moon, which is most likely to support life.

He had a strong interest in science fiction and the occult. Although unusual for an 8th grader, he had already read books on flying saucers, alien visitors, and just weird phenomena no one could explain. He loved to just let his mind go. His grades were mediocre, B’s and C’s mostly, although he tested fairly high in IQ tests. He just wasn’t interested in regular school stuff. They were not complex, not deep, not challenging. His mother had urged him to go get dirty and play with the rest of the boys, to balance his life a bit, but he steadfastly refused. His father had passed away some years ago, so he was not there for guidance, a role model, to catch a ball with, or to go camping. Tommy found his role models and inspiration in his books and movies. And, most important, his imagination.

He bounded up the steps to the colonial blue Victorian home on 34th Street, slipped out his latch key, turned the knob and entered the house. The home was large and roomy. There was a grand entry foyer with an equally grand spiral stairway to the second floor. The room to the right, off the foyer, was the music room, featuring a grand piano. He was 5 years into his lessons. Off to the left was the dining room. The kitchen was in the rear, and the main living room was off the kitchen, also in the rear. Upstairs were 4 roomy bedrooms. The back yard was deep and wide. It was a large house for just the two of them, but he loved it. It was his sanctuary.

He dumped his books on the utility table next to the door and headed to the kitchen. After pouring himself a glass of milk and mounded cookies on a plate, he settled into several sci fi magazines and comics. This was his favorite time of day. His mother would not be home until 4:30, when she would begin preparing dinner. So, he really had from 3:00 – 5:00 all to himself. Just he and his cat, Top Cat. With the windows and doors locked, he was secure, secure with his books, magazines, and television. Once in awhile he would turn on his laptop and play some games, but they really did not interest him the way his books did. Although his chess and scrabble aps were challenging.

He read at the kitchen table until 3:20 when he remembered that one of his favorite shows was coming onto the air. He walked into the living room, picked up the channel changer and flopped down into his father’s favorite old chair. He liked sitting in his dad’s chair. He pointed the channel changer at the TV and pressed the power button. Nothing happened. He shook it, held it up to his ear, pressed power again, but again, no power. Rolling the unit over in his hands, he opened the battery compartment, and took out the yellow rechargeable battery pack.

Hmm, he thought, the batteries must be dead. They must be recharged. He took out the pack and walked to the kitchen where the charger was located. Wait a sec, he thought again, by the time I recharge the batteries, the show will be over.

He could have just flipped on the TV with the TV power button but didn’t think of it. Instead, his mind raced as to how he could quickly recharge the batteries. There was a way, he thought, remembering an article in Popular Electronics. The one called: ‘Supercharging Your Rechargeable Batteries.’ He ran upstairs to his bedroom and grabbed the magazine. Setting himself up in the kitchen, he poured though the article. So, this is how it’s done, huh? I wonder if it is dangerous. The article read as follows:

1. Place the batteries in your rechargeable battery pack as usual.
2. Place 2 copper pennies between the terminals and the pack.
3. Shut off all power in the house by opening the main circuit breaker.
4. Turn off every electrical device but leave the battery pack plugged in and in the on position.
5. Flip the main circuit breaker back on. The power surge will be directed through the battery pack, giving the batteries enough juice in one shot for one super recharge.

Like bringing Frankenstein to life, thought Tommy.

All of this sounded good. Besides, it was 3:28 and the show was coming on. He carefully followed the instructions, ending with the disconnecting of all of the appliances in the house. After inserting the copper pennies and turning the battery pack to the “on” position, he went downstairs to the breaker panel. Well, here goes, thought the inventor. He closed the main 200 amp circuit breaker, and immediately heard a popping sound from upstairs in the kitchen. Racing upstairs, he entered a kitchen full of smoke. A great arc of lightning was burning across the battery terminals. The light was blinding. Black smoke filled the air. He grabbed his head in horror and yelled “NO!” He couldn’t get close enough to the battery pack to turn it off. Just as he was about to run downstairs to open the breaker, the arcing subsided, leaving a gray smoldering hunk of plastic on the scorched formica table. Quickly he turned on the kitchen exhaust fan and opened the windows.

Mom is gonna kill me! He thought. This is gonna stink like heck. And she’ll be home in an hour!

What excuse was he going to offer? Maybe he could say that he tried to light a fire and the flue was closed, causing all of the smoke to come into the house. Nah, that wouldn’t work. How about the furnace acted up and he had to shut it down because it was smoking. But after he re-started it, it worked fine. No, that wouldn’t work either. Someone would check the unit and find nothing amiss. Best to air out the house and hope the smell will go away.

After a few minutes of fanning the smoke, he went to the table to check out the battery pack. To his surprise, it looked perfectly intact. The pennies were gone and the batteries were in their proper place. But a strange transformation had taken place. The batteries were no longer yellow. They were completely clear. Translucent. He picked them up and held them in the palm of his hand. They were heavy! Much heavier than before. He could hold them up to the kitchen light, and although distorted, he could see light through the battery.

Very strange, he thought. He put the batteries in his pocket and returned the charger to its place on the kitchen shelf. The scorch marks on the table wiped off easily with a spray cleaner. Whew! He went outside to the backyard, and briefly sucked in some fresh air. Feeling better, he returned to the kitchen. The smell of smoke was faint. Great.

He thought he should leave the windows open until 4:30, just to make sure the odor was gone. Having done so, he ventured into the living room to turn on the TV. It was 3:40, and he had missed the first 10 minutes of his show. He flopped into the chair, jammed the batteries back into the remote pressed the power button, and the television came to life.

The scene of an alien landscape appeared before him. This is going to be great, he thought. But the scene didn’t change. Nothing or no one appeared. This is strange, he thought. What kind of plot is this? The scene was desert...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 15.7.2024
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Kinder- / Jugendbuch
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3509-5886-7 / 9798350958867