Read Online Spider Lake by Gregg Hangebrauck - Free Book Online
Authors: Gregg Hangebrauck
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reviews whenever it rode Bo my dog. Week after week with the arrival of new guests it was the same thing. The predictable burst of laughter from the cocktail parties. The “Oh isn’t it cute” comments. The monkey was on it’s best behavior around the adults, but with the kids, when there were no adults watching, the frigging monkey was different. He was psycho. There was a real dark side to Morris the monkey.”
Doctor Levine looked up above his glasses at Ben. “A dark side?”
“Well, for starters, the little fur-ball was insanely jealous of my dog Bo. When I was near the house with my parents or other adults nearby, I could pet Bo freely. The monkey would only sit on the roof, or on an overhead wire and watch. Again, when the grown-ups were around he would behave. But if you were to try and pet the dog when there were no adults around, watch out. The monkey would attack you. Kids my age were scared to go out when the adults were nowhere to be seen.”
“Didn’t you tell your parents about the monkey’s attacks?”
“I tried telling them. They only thought I was exaggerating. You see, the monkey didn’t attack in such a way as to cause physical harm such as bite marks. It was too smart for that. A bite mark would be evidence enough to support my story. It would attack in ways such as jump from a cabin roof onto your back and pull your hair while biting your ears. It would jump on your head and take a dump in your hair. I had to go around the cabins when the new guests arrived, just to warn the kids not to go near the dog when adults weren’t around. Sometimes they would follow my directions and leave the dog be, and sometimes they would learn the hard way.”
“Didn’t the other kids tell their own parents?”
“I am sure they did. The adults would just tell their kids to stay away from the monkey. You know how people are doctor, seeing is believing. As I said, the monkey was charming around adults. It would just run around smiling and acting cute, riding the dog, and many of the adult guests thought that their kids were exaggerating. Maybe they thought that their kids were scared of it because it had a tiny human face and they were not used to seeing a monkey up that close.”
“Are you saying that during all this time, not one adult guest took their child at their word and raised the issue with your parents?”
“Every now and then someone would complain, but not very often. The monkey was far too enchanting around the adults for any complaint to be taken seriously. I lived with that schizophrenic monkey for three years, and I am telling you doctor, he ruined our family business. I am sure that when the resort guests were making new plans the following year, their kids would be adamant about not returning to Spider Lake Resort. Our so called return business pretty much dried up, and it took my parents a few years to learn their lesson.”
“Would you say that it might be possible that something other than the monkey may have caused the family business to fail? Could it be that you may be inflating the monkey’s influence, good or bad on the collapse of the resort?”
“It may seem that a monkey being cute and fuzzy to adults and nasty to children might not be enough to ruin a resorts business, but there is more. Things started disappearing.”
“Disappearing?”
“Yes, disappearing. Someone would leave a watch on a picnic table and it would vanish. Someone would leave a wedding ring on a bedside table and it would be lost forever. Any coins left in plain sight would evaporate into thin air. I know it was the monkey that was stealing the objects, because the old man had shown Matt and I the trick with the coins when we first met.”
“What trick Ben?”
“The old guy had a trick where the monkey would grab change from his hand, and the funny thing is that it always grabbed the largest coin. No pennies, nickels or dimes if there was a quarter in hand. If there was a half dollar, it
Doctor Levine looked up above his glasses at Ben. “A dark side?”
“Well, for starters, the little fur-ball was insanely jealous of my dog Bo. When I was near the house with my parents or other adults nearby, I could pet Bo freely. The monkey would only sit on the roof, or on an overhead wire and watch. Again, when the grown-ups were around he would behave. But if you were to try and pet the dog when there were no adults around, watch out. The monkey would attack you. Kids my age were scared to go out when the adults were nowhere to be seen.”
“Didn’t you tell your parents about the monkey’s attacks?”
“I tried telling them. They only thought I was exaggerating. You see, the monkey didn’t attack in such a way as to cause physical harm such as bite marks. It was too smart for that. A bite mark would be evidence enough to support my story. It would attack in ways such as jump from a cabin roof onto your back and pull your hair while biting your ears. It would jump on your head and take a dump in your hair. I had to go around the cabins when the new guests arrived, just to warn the kids not to go near the dog when adults weren’t around. Sometimes they would follow my directions and leave the dog be, and sometimes they would learn the hard way.”
“Didn’t the other kids tell their own parents?”
“I am sure they did. The adults would just tell their kids to stay away from the monkey. You know how people are doctor, seeing is believing. As I said, the monkey was charming around adults. It would just run around smiling and acting cute, riding the dog, and many of the adult guests thought that their kids were exaggerating. Maybe they thought that their kids were scared of it because it had a tiny human face and they were not used to seeing a monkey up that close.”
“Are you saying that during all this time, not one adult guest took their child at their word and raised the issue with your parents?”
“Every now and then someone would complain, but not very often. The monkey was far too enchanting around the adults for any complaint to be taken seriously. I lived with that schizophrenic monkey for three years, and I am telling you doctor, he ruined our family business. I am sure that when the resort guests were making new plans the following year, their kids would be adamant about not returning to Spider Lake Resort. Our so called return business pretty much dried up, and it took my parents a few years to learn their lesson.”
“Would you say that it might be possible that something other than the monkey may have caused the family business to fail? Could it be that you may be inflating the monkey’s influence, good or bad on the collapse of the resort?”
“It may seem that a monkey being cute and fuzzy to adults and nasty to children might not be enough to ruin a resorts business, but there is more. Things started disappearing.”
“Disappearing?”
“Yes, disappearing. Someone would leave a watch on a picnic table and it would vanish. Someone would leave a wedding ring on a bedside table and it would be lost forever. Any coins left in plain sight would evaporate into thin air. I know it was the monkey that was stealing the objects, because the old man had shown Matt and I the trick with the coins when we first met.”
“What trick Ben?”
“The old guy had a trick where the monkey would grab change from his hand, and the funny thing is that it always grabbed the largest coin. No pennies, nickels or dimes if there was a quarter in hand. If there was a half dollar, it