The Kansas Rascal
© Copyright 1998 by Terry Aspinall
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means electronic, mechanical, photographic (photocopying) recording, or otherwise without prior permission in writing from the author.
ISBN: 9781301285242
Published by Terry Aspinall
www.terryaspinall.com
This book is available in E-book format at most online retailers.
Short Story
This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations and incidents are the product of the author's imagination, or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, locals or events is entirely coincidental.
TABLE OF CONTENT
Copyright
Chapter 1 - CONTACT
Chapter 2 - BRADLEY
Chapter 3 - MYSTERY
Chapter 4 - UNKNOWN
Chapter 5 - ARRIVAL
Chapter 6 - DISBELIEF
Chapter 7 - REALITY
Other books by this Author
Chapter1
1998
CONTACT
"Hi would you like to chat" were the words that suddenly appeared on the computer screen catching Brad by surprise. Nervously he hit the reply message button and slowly typed out the word "Yes". He then hesitated with the cursor arrow hovering on the send button. Not knowing whether he should either send a reply or just ignore it completely. After all this was a whole new world for him, and he was worried that he might make a mistake or even stuff up the whole computer.
His son Steve had earlier downloaded the contact forum for him and he was still not quite sure how to even operate it correctly. For him it was like a game of chance, of hitting a button and watching what happened next. His brain was by now working over time, worrying what would be the consequences of his action the minute he hit the send button. One thing that was going through his head was what would people think if they knew he was talking to somebody on the Internet. Was he that lonely, was he a pervert or something, why could he not go out one evening and just find himself a girl friend at a club.
After a few seconds he slowly let his finger apply pressure to the cursor button. And before he knew it, it clicked making him jump a little. Almost immediately a little man started to revolve up on the screen. Brad who had been holding his breath let out a small sigh. Working out that it must be the sign that the reply was on its way to the mystery person at the other end, wherever that was. He suddenly realised that he had not taken any notice of the details from the mystery message. Maybe he should have typed in more, maybe he should have signed it with his name. What if it was from a man, or somebody living just down the road. Slowly a little bit of horror started nibbling at his imagination. What had he started, what was it going to lead to, or more to the point how was it all going to end up.
"Tell me something about yourself" suddenly appeared up on the screen. Brad fumbled with the keys in a hurry to answer, not realising that he could take his time. In his haste to answer Brad began making lots of mistakes, not wanting to look like a novice he kept correcting his spelling. He typed out that he was a musician and played in a local band and was also into magic specialising in card routines, and writing short stories. Then without a second thought and not wanting to take too long, he hit the send button. He then sat back feeling happy with himself, wow he had answered his second message. After a couple of seconds that seemed like minutes to him, he suddenly threw his arms up in the air realising that he had still not noticed anything about the sender. Brad had hit the reply button on the sender’s message, this meant that when he sent his answer, the sender’s message disappeared from his screen. As well and being the novice that he was, he was scared to hit to many buttons just in case he dropped out while talking to his first contact.
"That sounds exciting" was the reply. He was suddenly lost for words, what would he say next, after all this mystery writer had still not mention anything about them self. He also realised that he was writing long messages while he was only receiving very short answers that basically said nothing about the unseen writer. With this message he took the time to read the answer, it was from a person with a nicknamed of 'Rascal', but still no hint of whether they were male or a female. Maybe somebody was playing him along and having fun at his expense or maybe it was a group of them, all having a good laugh. Brad typed in "What do you do", hoping to find out a little more and then hit the send button.
"I'm a manager in customer service" oh that's great I’m talking to a guy he thought, now how do I get out of these conversations.
When Steve had set the program up for him he had also explained that there were a lot of ignorant people out there on the net. Some would just stop talking to you without any explanation and leave you standing around awaiting an answer that would not be forthcoming. Brad made up his mind that he would not treat people like that, he had started the conversation, so now he would finish it. He slowly typed in asking where they lived and what was their weather like, realising that he was still sending very long messages. Maybe this time the answer would be a little longer and more informative, he hit the send button.
"Kansas and it's been a very hot day, but it will soon be autumn". Brad sat up to read this one. That’s a better answer and America that sounds nice, he sat there for a few moments wondering what to say next, maybe I should tell them about Brisbane, yes that's it. He had just started to type in a message about Brisbane, when another message suddenly popped up on his screen.
"I have to go now thanks for the chat, catch up with you again" and suddenly they were gone. Brad was a little stunned it was all over so quickly and he had learnt very little about this mystery person. He had started the session by bringing up a random chat mode. This had brought up a list of different people on to his screen, not knowing what to do, the moment he saw 'Rascal' he just thought this is the one. I’ve got to start somewhere so here goes hitting the make contact button. And now here he was, after a short chat with a complete stranger, knowing nothing about them. He started to think that maybe he had talked too much, maybe he had scared them away, or maybe he shouldn’t have sent long answers. If there were to be a next time he would be a bit more careful. This whole first episode on the net left him feeling very deflated, he had no sense of having accomplished anything but it had left him a little excited.
Because of this first experience on the net, Brad did not bother to use the new chat program over the next couple of weeks. Instead he choose to use his time on the computer writing, and also getting used to searching the web. This was a whole new world for him and he had a lot to learn, plus he was in a hurry. He had always said that one day he would get on the web, but like a lot of other people his age it was always a case of one day. He had finally taken the plunge and here he was with a vast appetite to learn, and learn it fast. He would spend many hours just browsing looking at the wonders that this technology could bring into his living room. It soon became evident that there was not a subject that could not be looked up and tapped into in great detail.
Then one day while he was looking up some trivia and listening to some music that was playing on the computer. There came a noise that sounded like a door knocking. Down on the bottom right hand corner of the screen, on the tool bar appeared a symbol of a little yellow flashing envelope. Brad froze, for a moment wondering what was going on, this was new he’d not seem this before. He moved the cursor around not really knowing where to land it or what to do, finally letting it settle on the flashing envelope. After a little hesitation he clicked the button wondering what an earth was going to happen next.
"Hi how are you today". In reading the message Brad’s e
yes were scanning the whole message trying to take in as much of the information as possible. His heart skipped a beat as he saw that the message was from Rascal in the USA. He rushed off a reply acknowledging the message. Just a few seconds later Rascal was back asking what the weather was like and from where was he calling. Brad answered that he was from Brisbane in Australia and that it had been a fine sunny day, all so adding that he was interested in where Rascal came from.
"Boy you have a short memory Kansas" popped up on the screen. Brad was taken aback that’s right, now he remembered yes it was Kansas. He started to write a reply when another message flashed on his screen, this time it looked like a file symbol. So he clicked the button and up came a message saying that a file had been down loaded in his computer. Therefore he set about searching for it, still very nervous, he was in territory that was new to him. When finally he clicked on the file it informed him that a message was attached. Brad was stopped in his tracks, his first thoughts were of a virus. He did not know this person and he had not requested this extra information so why were they sending it to him. He was scared not really wanting to open the file and look at it. All he could think about was a virus, had somebody lured him in and now they were going to wipe out all of his computer files. The whole thing did not make sense to him, so he sent a message back, asking what it was and how could he open it. Rascal was very obliging, telling him that it was a photo and then went on to explain how he could open it. Brad was still not convinced, but knowing that a photo was waiting, well it intrigued him. Like with most people it would be enough for their curiosity to open it up. However with Brad in his anti-virus worrying mode it did not seem like a good idea. Finally the whole mystery got the better of him, like it would have done to most people. He clicked on the file and up on the screen suddenly appeared a photo of a girl. At the same time a message explained that it was Rascal, and that it had been taken the previous Christmas.
Brad’s eyes lit up, well at least I’ve been talking to a girl he thought and not a guy, and he felt a little light relief at the sight of the photo. Rascal went on to tell Brad that she had two grown up sons, Next it was Brad’s turn to be grilled, about where he lived and what he got up to, his likes and his dislike’s. He then plucked up the courage to ask her name. As Brad was reading the answer from the screen he imagined he could actually hear her say "Amy". She then went on to add that he should always remember that she was a Rascal. Brad had to read this two or three times trying to work out what she meant. He finally gave up, thinking that maybe it was some sort of code. Brad definitely wanted to chat with her again so he asked how he went about this. She spelled out to Brad how to put her name up on his task bar and add it his contact list. Amy then added Brad’s name to her list. Now he would be able to see whenever she came on line. Because her name would change colour, from a red meaning she is off line, to a blue. Indicating that she is now on line, plus he would be able to hear that door knocking sound again, He would then be able to click on her name and they would be able to contact each other immediately. She asked if this was his regular time that he came on line. He hurriedly replied, "Yes if he was not working, but usually it was in the early evening when he got home from a job", "But that would be the early hours of the morning for her".
Without realising it Brad had chatted to Amy for over two hours and the information had flowed freely between them. In fact Brad felt very disappointed when it became time for her to sign off. The time had slipped bye, it was now almost midnight in Kansas, and she had to go to work the next day. Amy sent a farewell to him and was gone. Brad looked at the clock on his computer it was 3 pm Australian time. Grabbing his calculator he hastily worked out the time difference. Amy was 15 hours behind Brisbane time, this was going to be awkward trying to chat on a regular basis. However, she was infectious, coupled with the air of mystery he desperately wanted to be able to keep in contact.
The next few days were a worry for Brad he was working away from home. So it meant that he would not be able to chat with Amy. He got to thinking that maybe she would think he was not interested and was bored with talking to her, which was far from the truth. During the quiet times of the day he found himself thinking of her and all the questions that he was dying to ask. One lunch hour he went to the local library and looked up Kansas. He was eager to find out anything he could on the area where she lived. Kansas is a big place and he was not sure where to start looking. Amy had mentioned at one time that she lived about a 350 miles round trip from Wichita, so that narrowed down the search area to a mere one million square miles. Kansas was right in the middle of the Country and his finger soon stopped on Wichita. Next he moved his finger what he thought was 175 miles away from the city and steadily drew an imaginary circle around the city. He had not a clue what he was looking for, but he did take in a lot of the town and river names. This area was like a Cowboy’s who’s who of the Wild West. Brad had always been very interested in the Wild West, the true Wild West that is. He had read lots of true factual stories on the times of the Gunfighters and Lawmakers.
On arrival back home he just couldn’t wait to get on to the computer and make contact with Amy. The usual time that they had chatted was around 1 pm, but he could not wait. So at midday he hit Rascals name on the task bar and sent a message to her. After about half an hour he was feeling very disappointed that he had not received a reply. To relieve the boredom he dialled in to the net and proceeded to look up Kansas once again still eager to pick up any more information that might be available. It was while he was doodling with the keys that he suddenly remembered that Amy had mentioned the area of Ellis County in fact she had even given him a site address. Brad clicked onto Rascal to look up their chat history. Somewhere within would be the site address. Sure enough there it was, and within a couple of minutes he was browsing the Ellis County web pages. What he was looking for now was where she had mentioned that she was an assistant manager and worked for a farm supplier general store. A place like that in Australia would be called a service town. Somewhere where the farmers could stock up on all the goods that they required to run their farm.
No it was another brick wall, so just as a guess he settled on Ellis Town. Although he really did not have a clue if this was the right place or not. He would just have to wait and add it to the long list of questions that he had prepared to ask when next he chatted with her on line. However, it was now a week since they had last chatted, maybe she was not interested with keeping in contact with him. He spent the rest of the day just mopeing around. At one time he convinced himself that he would not be talking to her anymore and felt a little sad at the prospect.
Because of the photo that Amy had sent he had realised that he was handicapped and was not able to return the gesture, he had nothing on file that he could send. So he set about scanning some photos of himself and stored them in an easy accessible place. So when required he would be able to lay his hands on them quickly. There was the poster photo that he used for his magic act, the one that had his hair blackened up, hiding the little flecks of grey that were starting to appear. Along with a couple of the bands he played in.
He got up to make a cup of coffee, suddenly as he was topping up the kettle with water, there came the sound of somebody knocking on the door. Who could that be he thought, his eyes lit up as he realised that it was coming from the computer. He glanced across and sure enough somebody had come on line. He perked right up when he realised it was Rascal, her name on the task bar had changed to blue and there was a yellow flashing letter beside her name. He dropped the kettle in his haste to return to the computer, a cup of coffee at this moment in time was the furthest thing from his mind. He clicked on the yellow flashing letter, it seemed like an eternity, but in fact it was only a few seconds. The next moment he was reading, "Hi want a chat", once again he thought that he could hear her saying the words. She had returned and still wanted to chat with him. He wrote back saying "Hi, I’ve been working away for a few days and missed having a chat with you
". "So did I" she replied, a sigh of relief fell over him, he had not been forgotten after all.
Brad went on to tell Amy that he had used some of his spare time to look up Kansas on the net. "Do you come from Ellis", "No" she said "Hays the town of Hays on the 170 Interstate Highway". He had been wrong again but at least now he had managed to get the name of the town from her.
Brad asked what the town of Hays was like. "Oh it’s a small country town, very hot at the moment and with no trees". No trees he thought that was strange, but then he had seen that few years earlier in a book he had read about Dartmoor in England. Brad flashed off a quick message, that he had noticed all the Cowboy names of the places around her. Amy replied "Not Cowboy, but Indian names". "Yes I know I saw them all on the map". "Gee you live amongst the history of the Old West don’t you". "No need for you to go to the museums. It's all on your door step".
The excitement started to build inside him as he pre-warned Amy that he was sending through a picture of himself taken while with one of the bands that he had played in. One click of the mouse and the attachment was gone. This was more new ground for him, and he hoped that it all worked out. Amy received it with no problems, so Brad launched into a flurry of activity by sending all of what he had stored up for this occasion. By the time he’d finished sending everything that he had, he suddenly realised that maybe Amy did not want a complete photograph album coming through her computer. He was relieved when she acknowledged that she had received them and thought they were good. In return she sent Brad one of her two boys with their girlfriends.
Brad had a lot of questions that he wanted to ask Amy, but he was scared in case they seemed too personal or at least she would take them personal. This might put her off having these conversations and could lead to her not wanting to chat in the future. Therefore it was with this in mind that he was careful in what he asked. He was also still aware that he was writing very long messages and at times he would send two messages to Amy’s one just like a person cutting into somebody while they were talking. This he knew was not good, after all in a real conversation, he would not do this so why was he doing it now. He put it down to the excitement that he felt as they chatted, he was racing ahead of himself.
Without realising it Brad was becoming infatuated with the mysterious Rascal, he based his whole day on being able to chat with her. If a job came up so that he could not talk to her he became very depressed. Strange how somebody can have feelings for a person they have never met, maybe it’s that air of mystery when the imagination just runs away with you. You can imagine the most perfect scenario and person in the world. In other words it’s like a dream where it all works out fine in the end, only in real life it's not always like that.
Maybe he was wrong letting his feelings run away from him over a person he had never met. More to the point he might never meet in the future. The photo he had received could be false it could still be a guy who was just playing him along just the thought made a chill run down his spine. He had to admit that he was falling in love with somebody he could not see. In this state of mind he was even more vulnerable, he would take anything she said as true and never ever think that it could all be just one big joke on him. He was falling in love with a person he could not see, but at times he would swear that he could hear her voice as he read her messages.
The one thing that kept nagging in the back of his mind was what he had read in one of the first messages that Amy had sent him. "My name is Amy, but remember I’m a Rascal". Would these words come back to haunt him one day?
Of course not, he was just like any other guy who thought he was in love, these sorts of things never happen in real life, it only happened in books or films not to the guy in the street.
During their next chat Brad asked if she remember what they had talked about in earlier conversations, because he was having problems? Easy she replied I keep a notebook beside me and add all the details of the guys I speak to around the world. That way I don’t make a fool of myself getting people mixed up.
Brad froze other guys! Oh no! Just like I thought I’m just a name on a list, knowing my luck I would think that I’m also on the bottom. Once he had gained his composure he started thinking that if he was on the bottom of the list. What was the point in keeping up the chat meetings that they were having. He was feeling very sorry for himself so on the spur of the moment he thought of an excuse, so that he could sign off for the day. He bade her good night and it was all over for that day at least. Now he would have to think what he was to do or say the next time they chatted, if indeed there was to be a next time.
One sleepless night later and Brad was dialling up Amy once again. It had not taken him long to realise that he still wanted to chat with her. He had feelings but had become slightly jealous being told that she chatted with other guys. Although she had every right to do so. After all Brad had only been chatting with her for a few short weeks and it was supposed to be a pen friend sort of relationship. They weren’t exactly lovers, it was Brad who had been looking for a partner, and Amy had only just dialled him up for a random chat. The whole situation was made worse by Brad’s inability to be honest and come right out and ask Amy if she was looking for a partner. Somehow he just could not find the words and even if he could he was worried that it would scare her off. Anyway they lived two worlds apart, nothing would ever come of this sort of distant communication.
Once again he could not wait until 1 pm, so he dialled in at noon, but just as he was about to send the message, there came the sound he most wanted to hear. It was the knock-knock from the computer and Rascals name on the task bar was changing from red to blue. He became very excited and this convinced him that she was still eager to talk to him as he was to her.
He clicked on to the yellow envelope that was flashing by her name, "Hi Brad how are you today", "I’m fine" he replied. "What sort of weekend did you have". Brad went on to explain that he had had an enjoyable time playing with the band on Friday night at a local football club. Where everybody had been in party mode and enjoying themselves, some a little more worse for wear than others, with the alcohol taking them over the top. Then on Saturday night he had demonstrated his magic ability to a large crowd at a bowls club.
Magic was his main love and pass time, something that he did well and the audience appreciated witnessing his expert skills with a deck of cards. He was not in to general magic even though he could perform it well. No his forte was with a simple deck of playing cards. In fact on the club circuit of Brisbane, he had picked up the nickname of "Ace". A title that he did not mind and at times he relished it. In a way it was recognition for those long laborious hours and years of constant practising at home and it showed during his performances.
However, that’s enough about my weekend what sort of weekend did you have, he asked. "Oh just a lazy one took my dog out for a long walk and we played together, you know I love my dog, Caught up on some paperwork and some woman’s work around the house that I had been constantly putting off for that rainy day". "Why did it rain then", "No silly it’s just a saying, in fact it was nice and sunny over the whole weekend with no clouds or wind". "What time of year is it then" Brad asked, "We are almost at the end of our summer, so it will be cooling off soon but until then it’s very nice, not to hot and not to cold, what time of year is it in Brisbane then". "We are just coming into our spring, I think it’s the best time of the year here, and like you just said, for us also, this time of year is not to hot and not to cold, just about right". "January and February can be to hot and also very humid, that’s the time to take a holiday overseas, if you can afford it that is".
With this Brad had an E-mail message come in, that his services were urgently required to repair some machinery, for the company that he contracted to. So he reluctantly and hastily sent a message to explain this to Amy. For her it was almost midnight anyway and she desperately needed a good night's sleep before her return to work after the weekend. So they passed on their farewells with sleep t
ight messages, with Brad always looking for those little tell tale secret hidden messages that he always hope were there. Sadly no, same as before he could not read anything into it, maybe next time he thought, yes maybe next time. Suddenly she was gone and it was the end of another meeting.
He was now spending a great deal of his time just thinking of his mystery girl from Kansas. He was always dreaming up things to say to her, knowing that at the time he would either forget or just not have the courage to say it. He realised that he was falling in love with a person he had never seen and for all he knew might not exist. Be based this assumption on the type of conversations that they were having. Nobody would keep this sort of thing up day in day out for a couple of months. Wondering if she felt the same way as him was hard to work out. He did not seem to be able to work it out by her answers to his questions. Soon he would have to find a way of addressing the problem if he wanted to progress with the relationship.
"Hi Brad" was the message that came up on his screen later that week, they went in to the usually asking of questions and answers. While they were chatting Amy asked "Tell me about Brisbane". Brad sent several messages describing the city and the southeast corner of Queensland. His favourite description of the area was to use a local saying "Beautiful one day and perfect the next". Amy liked that and went on to explained that where she worked there used to be a guy from Australia and that he had gone into depth to her about the country. She then went on to say that she would love to visit, and have a look for herself. Brad saw his chance to see how she responded and replied, "You would be most welcome to come and stay with me". "Thank you very much I would love to, but I never seem to get the time. My job ties me down, then there’s my family and my dog not to mention the cost". This was not the sort of answer he’d wanted to hear. Brad had wanted to hear that she would want to come at all costs, in fact he wanted her to be on the next flight to Australia. By giving him those excuses was she trying to edge away from the situation that she might find herself in later? It went through Brad’s head that maybe she was married. After all, up to this point neither of them had asked each other if this was the case.
Brad explained that she must be positive in her thinking. "She must have a vision or goal sometime in her life and by thinking positive she could accomplish most things. If you have something to strike out for, then you can make it real, you can make it happen, you will be able to fill that void in your life.
Before they knew it their precious two hours had passed and Amy was telling Brad that she had to go. She had a hard day ahead of her tomorrow and needed a good night's sleep. So they sent each other goodnight messages with the usual sleep tight, sweet dreams and see you tomorrow that went on for a few more minutes.
Then she was gone, now Brad had another full day ahead of him in which to think about all they had chatted about, and to plan what he would be saying to her tomorrow, or the next time that they chatted. However, her early words still haunted him, "But Remember I’m a Rascal". What had she meant, sleep was hard to come by that night.