Read Online The Elevator Ghost by Glen Huser - Free Book Online Page B

1947 — never forgot what she saw and heard one night…
    They lived on the edge of town, and their yard backed right out onto the desert. That night Bedelia’s dog ran out of the yard. Bedelia saw Muffin racing away, dodging cacti and jimson weed. Bedelia went after him, even though she’d been warned by her parents not to go out into the countryside by herself, especially at night.
    The last glitter of sunset sat on the horizon like a thin ribbon of dying radiance, and ­already Bedelia could see a full moon rising in the desert sky.
    â€œMuffin!” she called. “Muffin!”
    She heard him bark in the distance, but she couldn’t see where he was.
    Bedelia figured she must have walked for about half an hour when she finally stumbled into a small gully. Muffin was there at the bottom, crouched, whining at something half hidden by a stand of creosote bushes.
    There was a whitish glow to whatever it was that was hiding. Eerie, like captured moonlight.
    Oddly, Bedelia wasn’t frightened. But a strange feeling came over her. Something like sadness.
    â€œHere, Muffin,” she called softly, and the dog turned and looked at her as if he, too, were pained by what he saw.
    Slowly, Bedelia made her way down to him and gave him a reassuring pat.
    â€œWho’s there?” she said, her voice quaking just a little bit.
    As the evening darkened, the glow intensified slightly, and Bedelia became aware of a strange sound.
    Who…owooo. It was kind of a cross between an owl’s hoot and a baby crying .
    Who…owooo.
    Muffin’s whine blended in, making the sound even more melancholy.
    â€œI won’t hurt you,” Bedelia said.
    Slowly, a creature emerged from behind the creosote bushes. It was no bigger than Bedelia herself, and humanoid in shape. It had a very large head. The glow it emitted seemed to pulse like a light from a generator when it is running low on power.
    In one hand, it held a tubelike object.
    â€œWho…what are you?” Bedelia asked.
    The creature tilted its head a bit and gave her a puzzled look. At least it had stopped its mournful crying. It reached up and rubbed a finger against a panel on its chest. A small rectangle on the panel pulsed on and off. Then the creature spoke in a voice that sounded like it was being created by a machine.
    â€œI am Maroo,” it said.
    â€œWhere do you come from?” Bedelia asked.
    â€œFrom home,” the creature said in a strange artificial voice followed by a small sob that definitely didn’t sound like a machine. “I am lost.”
    â€œLost?”
    â€œOur ship was intercepted and we crashed. I was on it with my father.”
    Bedelia was so sorry for the creature that she reached out to give him a comforting pat. Before she could touch him, though, the tips of her fingers tingled as if they were zapped with a cold current. She drew her hand back quickly.
    â€œYou can come home with me and we can send for help,” she said.
    â€œI want to find my father.” Maroo’s head swiveled to the left and then to the right. ­Bedelia ­noticed moisture seeping from one of his large ­almond-shaped eyes. “Will you help me look?”
    â€œI’d like to help you but I don’t know where to begin.”
    â€œWould your companion know?” Maroo looked at Muffin, who was lying down on a patch of sandy soil by the creosote bush.
    â€œMuffin?” Bedelia gave a small laugh. “Muffin’s just a dog.”
    â€œI can ask him?”
    â€œI’m afraid dogs don’t speak.”
    But then Muffin surprised her by rising and wagging his tail and barking.
    Bedelia watched as Maroo’s finger scanned the panel on his chest and found another small rectangle that pulsed.
    â€œRroof, roofff, ruff ruff,” Maroo barked.
    â€œRrooff woof,” Muffin barked back. He headed away from them slowly, toward the west.
    â€œHe knows where to go,” Maroo