Do You Have the Guts to Join?

All Josh wanted was to be part of a club. He was friendless and figured that by joining a club he'd get some. There was only one problem: no one wanted him in their association. From the football to the cheerleading (He was desperate.) no club would take him. Not even the Geography Club. So Josh remained friendless. Until, that is, Jared Fore came along.

Jared had been a friend of Josh's brother, until he had moved away last summer after a four-wheeler accident; he'd needed care that their small county couldn't provide. Over the summer, Jared and Josh's brother had lost contact.

But yesterday, out of the blue, Jared had called Josh and asked to meet him at Mortus Hill. And so, the latter, more jovial than a kid on Christmas, had agreed to come. He came but was not greeted with the sight he'd expected. Jared, along with four other boys, was waiting for him at the crest of Mortus Hill. One of them, tall and lanky, was holding an old fashioned runner sled, as if he was actually going to sled down the hill!

A word about Mortus Hill: it's steep. Really steep; its slope is forty degrees. At the bottom, about twenty feet back, there's an abandoned farm-house. Old farmer Tesla used to keep cows, so, naturally, barbed wire encircles some of the property. This property includes the bottom of Mortus Hill.

Josh, made his way towards the group. "Hey, Jared! It's nice to see you! Thanks for inviting me! But…why am I here?" Jared smiled and answered, "Nice to see you to. I'm glad you're excited! As for why you're here? Well, myself and some of my friends," he gestured towards the other boys. "are starting a club."

"A club?"

"Yeah. An exclusive one. One that's….how should I put it? Deathly hard to get into!" At this remark all his guffawed boisterously. Josh just shuffled his feet nervously. Deathly hard to get into? He didn't stand a chance.

But, as if to prove him wrong, Jared strode over and grabbed the sled from the boy and handed it to Josh. "Here. Initiation."

"What? You can't expect me to…? You've got to be kidding!" Glancing, down the slope, Josh let out a nervous chuckle. "I mean this is Mortus Hill!"

Shaking his head as if he couldn't believe the boy, Jared walked over to him, bent down (He was about five inches taller.) and whispered. "Look, Josh, I'm doing you a real favor by giving you this chance. A lot of the guys," he jerked his thumb towards the four boys. "feel that you don't deserve this honor. I've had to promise an arm and a leg, and if you back out, its gonna make me look foolish. So, are you in?" He looked the younger boy straight in the eyes as he said this. Josh gulped and replied, "Yes."

"That's my man! I knew I could count on you!" Jared slapped Josh on the back. The latter winced; the hand was rock hard, not like a hand should feel like at all. As the senior escorted the younger to where he would take off, Josh took the opportunity to observe Jared's glove. There wasn't much to see; his companion's glove pretty much covered his entire hand. Except for one part. One part that was bone white.

Josh didn't have time to study it any further because at that moment they arrived from where he would take off. Under they boys' watchful gaze, he set the sled on the ground and laid down on his stomach. Just before Jared pushed him off he yelled, "Wait! What about the barbed wire!?" But his companion just chuckled. "Don't worry about it! You do want to be in this club right?" Josh weakly nodded but didn't have time to do anything else because Jared gave him a solid, strong push.

Josh hit the barbed wire dead on.

Pot Roast, Anyone?

Jenny had a brother. His name was Jack and he was four years old. One day Jack got into their mother's jewelry and ended up flushing her ring down the toilet. Needless to say, Jenny's mom wasn't too pleased. In fact, she sent Jack to his room for the rest of the day. (It was noon when her ring went bye-bye.)

Soon it was dinnertime, and as Jenny was helping her mom set the table, she asked, "When's Jack comin' out? He's gonna miss dinner!" But her mom assured her that Jack was fine; after all they hadn't heard a peep out of him all afternoon. He must've been sleeping.

And so, Jenny, her mother, and her father sat down to eat pot roast a few minutes later. About halfway through the meal, Jenny let out a squeal of disgust. "Ewwwww! There's a hair in here!" Gingerly, and obviously repulsed, she plucked the offending curl out of her roast and held it up for all to see.

Furtively and fleeting, her parents shot a glance at one another before the mother stood up and took the hair away from her daughter. Once she had thrown it in the trash and Jenny had inspected her meal for further locks, then, and only then, did the meal proceed.

But two minutes later, Jenny couldn't take it anymore. She asked if she could go to the bathroom. But once she was out of sight of her parents, instead of heading left towards the water closet, she took a right. She paused outside her brother's door, but told herself she was being silly. Why should she be worried? After all, he was probably just taking a nap, just like her mother had said. That's right he was taking a nap. A nap.

So, Jenny squared her shoulders and opened the door. There was no Jack. She stepped across the threshold and gingerly lifted up his blanket, expecting him to jump out and yell, "BOO!" at any second. He never did. As Jenny numbly set the Toy Story LGM blanket down she heard her mother call, "Jenny! Come eat your pot roast! I don't want there to be any leftovers!"

Nihilistic

My mother always told me not to talk to strangers. I should have listened. But I didn't. And now I'm gone, scattered all over the forest. I hope they find me.