Brother Lucas
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                                                        Part I

        Lucas wandered aimlessly through the aisles as the golden rays of 
the sunset filtered through the dusty windows of the toy store.  He wished 
he could afford more on his meager paper-route earnings, but it was enough 
to buy him bubblegum, baseball cards, and the occasional piece of rock 
candy.  He'd gotten lucky and gotten a Mickey Mantle in one of his packs of 
cards the other day; it had promptly become one of his favorite cards in his 
collection.
        He paused briefly, gazing longingly at the Yo-Yos.  Their wooden 
splendor gazed out at him from the bin they were haphazzardly piled into.  
He could clearly see the word 'Duncan' peering out at him, almost calling 
his name.  Yet, as he started to reach out for the Yo-Yo, something else 
caught the corner of his eye from the store window.
        Standing in the display window was a dingy red bicycle, with a 
battered leather ball glove hanging from one of the handle bars.  Neither 
was much to look at, yet both were strangely appealing.  And they were both 
exactly what he wanted.
        He withdrew his hand from the bin of Yo-Yos, and decided right then 
what he was going to do.  He was going to save his extra earnings; skimp on 
the rock candy and keep the baseball cards to a minimum.  By the end of the 
year he should be able to afford them both, with a little help from his 
parents.  They wouldn't buy them right out, of course, but if he saved his 
money he might manage to convince them just the same.
        He smiled wanly, and headed out towards the door, starting his walk 
back home.  A familiar voice called out to him from the counter at the side 
of the store as he came out of the aisle with the Yo-Yos in it.  "What can I 
getcha today, Lucas?  Cards?  Candy?"
        "Oh, I don't think so, mister Jones... just keep the bike and glove 
for a while, ok?"
        The store owner laughed heartily, his warm voice seeming to coat the 
room in his own cheerful aura.  "Well, I can't make you any promises, 
Lucas..." he smiled warmly, "but I'll see what I can do.  Saving our 
pennies for a while, are we?"
        Lucas couldn't help but smile back.  "Yessir Mister Jones.  But 
you'll still see me every so often..."
        "I imagine I will.  Now you better hurry home, Lucas.  Be gettin' 
dark soon, and I don't want your mother worrying 'bout where you've been and 
coming after me for keeping you here!"
        Lucas hurried out the door, calling out after him "Thanks Mister 
Jones!  See you later!"

        Lucas hurried down the dusty dirt road back towards home.  Mister 
Jones had been right; it was getting dark fast.  It was proving to be a 
gorgeous sunset, though, and he was glad to have the chance to watch as the 
horizon sparkled and shone with the brilliant crimson, violet, and azure 
shades of a sunset on the Plains.
        When he was nearly halfway home, he noticed a trio of figures coming 
down the road towards him.  He couldn't tell much about them due to the 
sunlight coming from behind them, but they all looked to be about his own size 
and build.  All the same, he didn't recognize them, which was unusual for a 
town this size.  Something didn't seem quite right about them, though; 
something he couldn't quite put his finger on.  As such, he deemed it 
appropriate to stay on the opposite side of the road from them, just in case.
        As the trio got nearer to him, he could see that there was 
definitely something wrong with them.  They were all misshappen, grotesque
creatures, and all truly frightening to behold.  He tried not to look at 
them, to avoid picking out further details from their wretched forms and 
reviled, hoping that they wouldn't approach him.  His hopes were in vain, 
though, for they came meandering towards him.
        "Greetingsssss Lucassss..." hissed one of them, freezing Lucas in 
his tracks.
        "You would like a bicycle and glove, yes?" asked a second, fixing 
him with its odd yellow-green eyes.
        "We can get you brand new ones, nicer than all the other kidssss!" 
coaxed the third.
        Something in the voice of the third was soothing... calming.  Almost 
hypnotic.  Lucas' earlier unease began to fade, the horror of their shapes 
to fade from his mind.  Now they were just 3 other kids, talking to him as 
if they'd known him forever.
        "What do I have to do?  This sounds almost too good to be true."
        "All you gotta do is come with us.  We have a friend who takes real 
good care of us and gets us all sorts of cool stuff."
        "Sounds..." Lucas' mind ceased mid-thought and went off the deep 
end, "like fun."
        "LUCAS!" called a powerful voice from his side.  "Don't listen to 
them!  Look at them again!"
        Lucas turned to face the voice.  Approaching from his right side was 
a lone figure in robes the same gravelly-brown color of the road, walking 
along with the aid of a very long wooden staff, though somehow clearly 
strong enough so as not to really need it.
        "Look at them again!  Remember what they are!"
        Lucas turned his eyes back to the 3 creatures before him, and 
suddenly reviled at the fact that he had only moments ago been talking with 
them as if they were friends of his.
        "WE are your FRIENDssss!" hissed the first one again, struggling to 
regain control of its prey.
        "NO!" screamed Lucas, as he hunched over and ran to the other side 
of the road to relieve himself of the gorge that had suddenly risen with his 
revulsion.
        As he did so, the 3 creatures started towards him, only to have the 
robed figure sweep between them and their quarry in a flurry of swirling 
robes.
        "Sssstep Assside!" hissed the second of them.
        "We have no interesssssst in you!" continued the third.
        "Maybe not, but I have an interest in this child.  You shall not 
take him so long as I am here!" challenged the defender.
        The three again swept towards the young boy, and quickly found 
themselves in a fray with the defender, who was wielding his onetime crutch 
now as a vicious weapon.  A side-swing caught one upside the head, toppling 
it sideways and sending it flailing across the road.  Another swing blocked 
a vicious claw-swipe from the second before it pivoted rapidly around its 
midpoint, sending the opposite end of the staff into the bottom of its 
toothy jaw, crushing it with brutal accuracy and force.  The creature 
toppled backwards, and started to slither away.  The first came in for its 
own attack and had the staff shoved towards its midsection.  A clawed paw 
grasped the end as tightly as possible, only to be flung headlong into the 
beast just rising from where it had been toppled sideways.  The two tumbled 
in a tangled mess of limbs into a pile with the other, still attempting 
to slither away.
        Lucas, having relieved the pressure in his gut, could only stare in 
awe as the robed figure tossed the creatures about like his cousin's rag 
dolls.
        "Hisssssssss!  You ssssshall Pay for your interferenssssse!"
        "I seriously doubt it."  answered the figure, then uttered a few 
words inaudible to the rest.  A murky liquid blast flew from the sleeves of 
his robe and splashed onto the pile of daemons.  The daemons writhed and 
hissed as the liquid hit them, and began to melt into a puddle in the road 
as if they had been hit with the most potent acid ever made.  In a matter of 
seconds, they were gone.
        Lucas' eyes bulged out of his head.  "How... what were..."
        "Nevermind what just happened, my son.  The important thing is that 
you are safe now.  They shall not bother you again, nor shall any others 
like them, for you are under my protection."
        "Umm, thanks... I think..."
        "You need not thank me.  Simply remember what has transpired this 
evening.  One day, my son, your time will come."
        With that, the figure turned and walked down into the roadside 
ditch, tall grass swishing and swirling around his robes.
        Lucas ran towards the ditch on the other side of the road where the 
figure had disappeared, his illness completely forgotten.  "Wait!  Wait!  
what do you..." his voice trailed off as he looked down into the ditch.

        It was completely empty.

        Lucas shuddered a bit, and tried to shrug off what he had just 
seen.  He shivvered slightly looking at the darker splotch in the road where 
the creatures had melted away into nothingness, then continued his journey 
home, thoughts of the bike and glove forcing the events out of his mind...

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To Be Continued in Brother Lucas Part II

"Brother Lucas"
Copyright 1996
David R. Hibbs


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"In the end there will be only one OS, The Mind.. Ponder that for a while..."
        --unknown
"But if the mind is an OS, then there will be infinite OS's, and a vast
        majority of them will still suck."  --me
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