Cicada Summer: The Arrival

By Dallas Releford

In a small southern community, an old man, Matthew Riley attempts to warn people that “they” are coming. While they ignore his warning words, millions of cicadas emerge from the warm earth singing their eerie song, alerting the populace that they’ve arrived. Unknown to people in the area, another species is about to appear, and they’re much more deadly, aggressive, and horrifying than anyone can imagine.
Can the old man, who appears to be feeble, bewildered, and maybe even mad, prevent the worst disaster to ever befall the human race?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dallas Releford
• Release date: Apr 3, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458191656

Book preview

CICADA SUMMER

The Arrival

By:

DALLAS RELEFORD

Published by

Dallas Releford at Smashwords.com

CICADA SUMMER

The Arrival

Copyright (C) 2011 Dallas Releford

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This book is a work of fiction. References to real people, places, events, organizations, areas, or locations are intended to provide a feeling of authenticity and are used in a fictitious manner. All other characters, dialogue and incidents are drawn from the author’s imagination and shouldn’t be accepted as real.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without explicit permission from the author or publisher except in brief quotations used in an article or in a similar way.

Smashwords Edition, License notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. The ebook may not be re-sold or given to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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Dedication

I would like to thank my wife Sharon for her understanding while I was writing this book. She passed away on August 18, 2010. She is dearly missed.

I would also like to thank my agent and typist, Harriet Smith and Martin Smith, my advisor and typist. Their hard work and dedication has made this book much better than it would have been without them.

Credit is also due to my lawyer, Daniel C. Atwood and my financial advisor Ova Helton, Jr. for their sound advice.

I am also grateful to many other people who kept me going through tough times I have faced in the last seven months.

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A FEW COMMENTS ABOUT

CICADA SUMMER

Cicada Summer was written as a short story in 1963 called The Banshee Raiders and later as Summer of the Cicadas. In the early nineties, I revised the story and wrote it as a novel. A small publishing company in Arizona eventually published it. Later, I decided to rewrite it again and the result was Cicada Summer – The Arrival. I hope you enjoy it. This book became my wife's favorite book. She read it several times before she passed on. In 2008 I decided to rewrite the book and Cicada Summer - The Arrival is the result of that effort. Of course, this book is dedicated to my wife, Sharon whom I miss beyond anyone's understanding.

Dallas Releford

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CICADA SUMMER

The Arrival

CHAPTER 1

Old Man Riley, seventy-three years old with wrinkles abundantly displayed on his face and forehead, plodded slowly down the street toward Van Hook’s General Store as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Disregarding the unusually hot June afternoon, totally immersed in his thoughts, he poked his cane in front of him, stopped occasionally to rest or seek out another old-timer to talk to. They’re coming, he mumbled to nobody in particular, spitting tobacco juice on the street. Amber spittle clung to his graying beard. They’re coming, just as they did seventeen years ago. By golly, it’s going to be one humdinger of a party, too.

Hot for June, isn’t it? he asked as the Naylor kid walked by him chewing bubble gum and bounc-ing a basketball on the sidewalk. Was the Naylor kid named Jake, or was it Jimmy? He couldn’t remember anymore. The Naylor clan had many kids, and it’d been a long time since he had seen the boy that was indolently walking toward him.

Surely is, the kid said hurrying up the street past him. It might be colder next week, though. You know how the weather is around here.

Trouble with kids these days, Riley said, and started walking, precariously poking the sidewalk with his cane. Nobody even has time to talk about the weather. Kids are always in a hurry to get somewhere.

He didn’t care. Things had changed since he was a kid. Yes sir, he’d been taught respect for his elders. Most certainly, he’d known better than to disobey them. Everything had changed in his lifetime including people, places and particularly, insects. Species became extinct to make way for new ones. Personally, he’d always believed he’d live to see the demise of man and the rise of another more powerful species. He had always thought that either insects or bacterium would someday replace humans. Why, it was as clear as the writing the Lord gave Moses on the tablets. It was predictable if you knew what signs to look for. He knew just as his parents had known. Yes, there were signs. The dinosaurs probably saw signs before they were annihilated from the planet, too. Their only handicap was they couldn’t do anything about it, nothing at all. They just observed and died.

Erratically, he hobbled on down the street spreading his words of wisdom to nobody but himself in the little town of Hustonville, Kentucky on that warm, sunny June day. Everyone else had business to tend to. That business didn’t include talking to some old man that seemed to talk to himself most of the time.

Well that’s okay, he thought to himself, I have a little surprise for them. Maybe they’ll sit up and take notice then. They’re coming, and it’s going to be a hell of a homecoming, he muttered, frustrated because his arthritis was bothering him again. "Species. They come, and they go. His lips widened in an eerie, roguish grin that would have caused Jack the Ripper fear. A few golden teeth glittered in the hot, summer sunlight. Mumbling, moving his lips repeatedly, he sauntered on down the street without as much as a care in the world. Any bystander that noticed the old man with the trembling hands, the old worn cane, the gray flopped down Elliot Ness" hat, and the stubby white drab beard would probably figure he wasn’t someone with very many worries, someone of any importance, however, the opposite was quite true. Riley had the burden of the world on his old, aching shoulders as he walked down the street that day. He possessed troublesome secrets only a few special people knew about.

* * *

Mom, I’m going over to Jan’s house, Meredith yelled to her mother in the kitchen, pausing momentarily at the front door, waiting to hear any negative response her mother might yell back to her. We’re going to watch the kids play baseball over at the park. We might even play a game with them.

A silence as dreaded as midnight in a country cemetery greeted her, its stillness as ominous as the pounding of her heart and its affect as sobering as a midsummer political rally. The message was as clear as an early Sunday morning church bell.

Her mother didn’t answer. MOM. Did you hear me?

Yes, her mother yelled. Don’t stay out late. Get home before dark.

Of course, Mom, she answered as she walked off the porch. You know you can depend on me.

Meredith Evans was already halfway down the street before her mother finished talking. She knew, even though her mother didn’t have a clue, that baseball wasn’t what she was interested in. Surliness swept across her young face as she realized her purpose had much more meaning to her than to her mother. Indignant when she realized her mother would not approve of her purpose if she found out, she quickly put as much distance between her mother and herself as she could before her mother changed her mind. Having an interest in a particular boy was her business, she thought. Her mother didn’t need to know everything she did.

Jan was home when she arrived at her house on College Street. She was sitting on a swing on the front porch, waiting for her. Hi, Jan, she yelled, Are you ready to go?

Of course, Jan Peters yelled running down the sidewalk to meet her. Are we still going to the park?

Yes, Meredith replied. Do you think Danny Myers will be there?

I don’t think he’d miss a baseball game. Do you?

Nope.

C’mon Meredith, you aren’t really interested in him, are you? I mean he’s okay I guess. I just can’t see why you’re so wild about him.

He’s mature.

Is that the only reason?

Maybe not. He has dreamy blue eyes, uh, the rest of him isn’t so bad either.

You’re so docile, Meredith. All you see is the tight jeans and what’s in them. I think you ought to think it over. He runs with some of the meanest boys in school. Sometimes he’s a jerk.

Maybe I’ll change all that.

Yeah, like the sun changes direction.

Be patient, Meredith told her. You’ll see miracles.

Uh-huh. I can’t wait.

They both laughed not knowing quite what they were laughing about. The important thing was they both agreed Meredith was in love, and at a tender young age. Maybe she was too young, Jan had thought several times since Meredith first shared her secret with her. Dismissing the thought that Meredith was in love, she figured that it was none of her business. They would still be friends, no matter what happened.

They were best friends and classmates since they were kids. Jan was sixteen and Meredith was fifteen. They’d both gone to the same school since kindergarten. They’d just discovered boys and Meredith found one particular boy quite interesting. As they walked down the sidewalk toward the park, Meredith pushed her shoulder length blonde hair back out of her sky blue eyes. They talked excitedly about Danny Myers. He had sandy red hair, freckles, and sparkling blue eyes. His masculine broad shoulders made him the hunk they both adored. Meredith laid claim to him so Jan could only become an interested admirer. Disclosing her interest in Danny Myers to Meredith would ensure the demise of their friendship Jan knew, so she kept her mouth shut. Occasionally, she cautioned Meredith about moving too fast or about having too much of an interest in him. As far as Meredith knew, Jan wasn’t interested in Danny at all. It was a secret between Jan Peters and her heart. Many times when Meredith was talking to Danny and Jan was present, her heart nearly always gave her away. When Meredith kissed Danny, Jan felt as if it should be her kissing him. For the sake of their friendship, Jan ardently opened doors inviting others into her realm of loneliness. The only thing that would cure her broken heart, and save her friendship with Meredith, was another boy who could make her forget about Danny Myers. He belonged to someone else now. As far as Jan was concerned, he was as far out of reach as the moon was to a mouse.

We’ll cut through the woods, Meredith suggested not wanting to waste any time getting to the ballfield. It’ll save us a little time.

Great, Jan replied, smiling. She was small for her age and was beautiful. Her dark brown hair complemented her deep brown eyes, tanned skin and soft pink lips. Jan had one of the most attractive figures in school, and knew it. Maybe we can beat everyone there and get a good spot?

Meredith looked inquiringly at her friend as they walked toward the forest in the distance. Are you afraid of the woods, Jan? Sometimes at night, she could hear strange sounds coming from the woods and imagined some of the things she’d heard about monsters and ghosts dwelling there might just be true. Her mother had told her that people told their younger children things like that to keep them out of the woods. Meredith wondered if her mother had heard the same stories when she was a kid. She probably had. Witches toiled over their big, black pots with boiling concoctions in them and waited for an unwary kid to wander into their domain. Dwarfs and imps dwelled under every rotting log, while fairies flew high in the trees. Meredith had been told all the stories. Now, she wondered if there wasn’t a grain of truth in what she had heard. She wasn’t afraid of the forest as long as she didn’t have to go there in the dark, or alone.

Jan glanced at her friend wondering about her concern. She had never expressed fear of the woods before. Why was she concerned now? Nah. Why should I be? I go there all the time, and to the river, too. Are you afraid something might pop up out of a rotten stump and get you?

They both laughed. Meredith was still apprehensive. I don’t think so. It’s really cool there when it’s so hot everywhere else. I hate the worms and bugs, though. Danny says there are plenty of snakes in the woods. She looked at Jan wondering if she hated the slimy creatures as much as she did. Jan didn’t show any sign of fear. She rarely did.

No rattlers, Jan assured her. They stay in the hills to the east of us. There’s nothing to be afraid of unless you’re scared of a few ghosts.

Ghosts? Where did you hear that story?

During the Civil War a major battle was fought at Perryville, only a few miles from here. Stragglers, mostly Confederate, met union soldiers in those woods and a bloody battle erupted. Many men died in those woods. Dad says there are still graves there. I’ve never seen them, though. They both remained silent for a while as they crossed a field covered with tall grass and weeds. There’s nothing to be afraid of, Jan added.

Meredith followed her down a narrow dirt path that led them through the weeds and toward the beckoning woods. Can you still see them, the ghosts, I mean?

Sure, on hot, humid summer nights they come out to scare kids like us, Jan teased. Of course, who is going to be in the woods after dark to see them. Not me, that’s for sure.

Taking her friend seriously, Meredith walked closer behind her as they approached the portentous woods. You’re remarkable, she told Jan. I’ve always thought you were something of a tomboy. Now I know it.

Why? I love baseball. Is it because I like to ride horses and swim in the river?

Probably, Meredith said. I guess those are reasons enough to label you as a tomboy.

I’m remarkably grown-up for my age, Jan proclaimed, happily. I love to cook and do other things, too. It’s just that baseball appeals to me. I don’t see anything wrong with it. Mom says I should enjoy my youth while I can. She said kids grow up too fast these days.

Maybe it’s because we have to grow up fast, Meredith said. We have more to do today than our parents did. They just grew up, got married and had kids back then.

Neither of them said anything for a long time as they thought about their futures and the baseball game on the other side of the woods.

Rain had fallen for several days saturating the ground and flooding many basements. The rain had caused small streams to overflow before the sun finally commanded the early June skies. As they treaded through the dense woods near the park, they wished they’d taken the long way around. Before they realized it, they were sloshing through mud above their ankles. Nearing exhaustion, Jan stopped and looked down at the bare ground beneath the trees. What are those things, those holes in the ground?

Meredith stooped over and examined dozens of small holes in the earth around them. Crawdad holes, she speculated. I’ve seen them near creeks, but never in the woods.

Are you sure?

Almost. Come on. Let’s get out of here. I hate those things. Their beady little eyes and those big, threatening pincers make me sick.

The ground wasn’t as muddy now as it had been and they were able to make better time. They continued on helping each other as much as possible. It took more than an hour to make their way through the forest. The trip normally took fifteen minutes. There are thousands of those darn holes, Jan said, despondent. But I don’t see one crawfish. Where are they?

Maybe they crawled away to the creeks, Meredith suggested. The nearest one is about a mile over that way, Hanging Fork.

Oh, yeah. You’re probably right, Jan Peters replied, dismissing the subject as they saw light in the forest ahead. We’re almost there.

I saw you and Todd Milburn talking the other day, Meredith said. Do you like him?

Where did you see us?

Up on Main Street by Hafley’s General Store. I don’t think you saw me, I was in my mother’s car.

Oh? That must have been Thursday. I went to the store for my mother, Jan said trying to sound like an adult, as they stepped out of the darkness of the forest. Bright sunlight and small mosquitoes by the hundreds greeted them. He’s a nice guy. I like to talk to him. He is quite shy, though.

Boogers Milburn? Jan Peters likes Boogers Milburn. I can see it all now. Boogers loses another kiss from the most beautiful girl at Hustonville High School because he had to stop and pick his nose. Meredith threw her head back and laughed playing the joke for as much fun as she could get out of it.

Stop. Stop it, Meredith, Jan pleaded although she didn’t really know why Meredith wanted to make such a big deal out of something so trivial. She’d only talked to him once or twice. He was nice, and he didn’t pretend to be something he wasn’t, like some people she knew. Danny Myers thought he was Gods gift to every woman in the world. That was the only thing she didn’t like about him, his aloofness, the way he was so self-centered.

So, we have possibilities here. Do you like him or not? Meredith asked. C’mon Jan, you can tell me. I won’t tell anyone. Does he really pick his nose all the time.

Meredith, he doesn’t do that anymore. His mother said it was because he had a sinus infection, and that happened when he was younger. His mother told my mother all about it. He almost had to have an operation.

I guess that was when the kids gave him the nickname, Meredith said.

People are cruel sometimes, Jan surmised. "He’s really into sports and doesn’t bother anybody. He likes me just a little.’

Did he tell you that?

No, we didn’t discuss it. We were too busy talking about baseball.

Baseball? Jan, you’re sixteen years old. It’s time you started to think about men, at least a little. Admit it, Jan. You like Todd Milburn. I can see it in your eyes when you talk about him.

Maybe a little, Jan admitted. Maybe it’s more than just a little, she thought, as they approached the crowd that was gathering in the ballpark.

As difficult as it was for her to believe, she’d never thought of Todd Milburn as a possible boyfriend. She’d talked to him a couple of times. However, she’d liked being with him for those few fleeting moments they were together. The comfort of knowing Meredith thought she was interested in him helped her to relax. If Meredith knew she wasn’t interested in Danny Myers, then their friendship would not be jeopardized.

Just a little? Jan, I think you two were made for each other since his mother weaned him from picking his nose.

You just don’t know when to quit. Do you, Meredith? That might not be as bad as sneaking out behind the gym and smoking cigarettes. You didn’t think of that, did you Meredith?

Meredith acted like she was deeply surprised. Jan, are you telling me Danny smokes?

Can’t you smell it on him? I mean, I can smell the odor every time I get near him.

Meredith ignored her damning statement. I guess I have. I just didn’t pay any attention to it. I was interested in other things. So, he smokes, huh?

I’ve seen him.

We’ll have to have a little talk, Meredith told her. Nothing more was said as they walked sorely toward the other kids. Nothing more needed to be said, the cat was out of the bag and a wedge had been unceremoniously and unintentionally driven between Meredith and Danny Myers.

* * *

Where have you guys been? Wanda Owens watched as the two mud-covered girls struggled from the forest, pausing to catch their breath. Most of the kids on the field and around it were watching them. They looked like a couple of swamp creatures.

We got trapped in the woods, Jan said, embarrassed. There were all these darn crawdad holes that hampered our progress.

Oh, you mean those things, Thelma Kidd replied. She pointed at several mounds of dried clay that resembled miniature volcanoes in the nearby field. They’re all over the place, even on the ballfield. Her auburn hair blazed in the bright sunlight and her deep blue eyes sparkled.

Yeah, we mean those things, Jan replied.

Todd Milburn walked up to them with a baseball in one hand and a worn leather glove in the other playfully pitching the ball into the glove as he did so. Dropping the ball, he cursed the worn glove as he bent over to pick it up. His dad had promised him a new glove for his birthday. He’d gotten a new bat instead. Todd wanted to be a pitcher for the Reds when he grew up, and he couldn’t wait. In a small town of four hundred, there wasn’t much to look forward to, except your dreams. That was his dream: to become a major-league pitcher. When he reached down to pick up the baseball, his finger touched a small mound of earth with a dark hole in the center of it. The mud was gray, damp and the hole looked deep. Jeepers, he whispered as he stood up. What kind of thing made that hole?

I don’t know, Jan said, and I don’t think I want to know. There are thousands of them in the woods and you can’t walk for them. It’s almost like a swamp out there. We thought crawdads made them except we haven’t seen any of the creatures.

Todd looked at Jan for a moment, mesmerized by her slim body, her beautiful complexion and her glittering brown eyes. There was always a sparkle in them. Todd liked her even though he knew she didn’t even know he existed. Just being close to her, smelling her perfume, watching her smile when she was happy, listening to her talk, gave him such great pleasure. Goose pimples invaded his very skin like raindrops peppering a tin roof on a warm spring day every time he got near her. An arcane twang in her voice injected a sexiness in it that reminded him of what the voice of an angel might sound like. He missed her when she wasn’t there. Todd wanted to say something to her and to let her know he liked her. He wanted to ask her to be his friend and engage her in a conversation so she wouldn’t walk away from him. Every time he got up enough courage to say something to the girl, something in his stomach growled causing him to feel awful. Of course, they’d talked a couple of times, however, all he could think of talking about was baseball. She hadn’t seemed to mind though. Even though his legs could run a mile without any trouble at all and his arms could toss a ball easily to the end of the ballfield, he seemed to get the same disease, the same weakness, every time he encountered Jan. His arms and legs lost their strength and he just felt puny when she was near him.

Todd Milburn was just beginning to become aware of his changing body and the strange emotions he felt sometimes. It truly perturbed him because he couldn’t understand what he felt and what it all meant. His priorities had changed. Girls now got his attention more often than baseball or a large, cold Pepsi on a hot summer day. It began last spring when he discovered he was more interested in Jan Peters than he was baseball and that concerned him immensely. It had been a pleasant feeling, almost heaven in fact, and he wanted more of it. An urge to entangle his body with hers almost became an obsession before he realized it. Todd simply wanted to be part of her and share his feelings and thoughts with her. He wasn’t quite sure how that was supposed to happen if he didn’t have the emotional stimulus to talk to her. Nonetheless, his best friend Glen Foster volunteered to explain it to him when Todd was over at his house last week.

Dauntingly, he had sat quietly while Glen talked about things he’d read about or had heard from others, mostly adults. He was an avid reader and a great listener. However, when he got started talking, it was difficult to interrupt him. Glen had told him everything that every young boy needed to know about women and sex. He explained about love and romance as if he were a wise old professor with years of experience in the subject. Now those things Glen had told him about seemed real, not just something he’d seen in a men’s magazine or something one of the gang told him. All that had happened a few weeks ago. Now he straightened up and looked around. Nearly all the kids were gathered around Meredith and Jan wondering about their recent tribulation. They were extremely muddy and looked like they’d been dragged through a sewer, clothes and all.

What are we going to do, Meredith? Jan asked, puzzled. The last thing she wanted to do was to go home in her present condition. Her mother would surely ask questions. She might even go as far as to suggest she not go to the park anymore. Jan could not permit that to happen. Every kid in town met in the park. The park was the place where they hung out, exchanged stories, swapped rumors, and got acquainted with the opposite sex.

Maybe we can sneak down to the creek and wash our clothes?

What if someone sees us?

Meredith thought for a while as the other kids stood around looking at them, wondering what the solution to such a problem could be. I know, Meredith finally declared. One of the girls can keep watch for us. We’ll bathe and cool off a little. While we’re at it we can wash our clothes. It shouldn’t take long for them to dry.

We’d be happy to help you, Wanda Owens replied. Several of the other girls nodded their heads in agreement. Realizing several boys were present, they stared at them with facial expressions that were demeaning. If you follow us, look at our naked bodies, or even attempt to sneak a peek, we’ll kill you, slowly, Wanda Owens promised coolly.

The boys stood glaring at them attempting to figure out a way to get a peek. Nobody said anything. Nobody needed to say anything because they each knew what the other person was thinking.

And you boys had better stay here, Thelma Kidd warned, if you know what’s good for you. She was tall for her age and towered over most of the boys. They weren’t about to argue with her.

But we’ll have to go through those terrible woods, Pam Asbury complained. We’ll face all sorts of creatures in those woods, and those holes you were talking about.

Quit your worrying, Thelma told her. I know a shortcut, a beaten path that leads to the creek. You won’t even have to touch a bush.

That seemed to allay their fears. Thelma continued to give them instructions as to how they’d make their way to the creek, and how they’d avoid any unpleasant circumstances. Todd thought she reminded him of a marine drill instructor.

Let’s get the game started, Matt Turner yelled. Are you going to stand around here gawking all day, or are we going to play ball?

Most of the boys followed him to the ballfield. After all, that’s why they’d come here in the first place. Not to look at girls or squander their time trying to figure out what small holes in the ground meant. They probably would argue about who was going to bat first. A flip of a quarter would decide the outcome of the argument. Unfortunately, the squabble was already in progress as Todd wandered toward home plate.

As he walked farther away from Jan, he felt a sudden emptiness, a void develop within his mind, and something told him he might never see her again. It was a warm, sunny day and the shade under the massive oak tree near home plate felt soothing to him. He stopped to feel a fresh, cool breeze flow across his body. He didn’t want to look back, to see her go. However, he did so anyway and saw the girls shoving the bushes aside as they entered the forest and headed for the creek. The last glimpse he had of Jan was when she walked into the cool darkness of the woods. He glanced at her to see if she would look back at him. He prayed she might do so. As the girls disappeared into the forest, his heart sunk. She was gone and he was alone again.

Todd’s mind raced as he tried to figure out how to get away from the others, out of the game, and completely away from them. It wouldn’t be easy. His team, the Hi-Hitters were up first. He’d be expected to pitch for at least half the game. Todd was the best pitcher on the team. That was a lot of time to spend away from Jan Peters, and he wasn’t sure he could stand it, not even for the sake of baseball.

His mind raced faster now, almost as fast as his heart as he thought of Jan, naked in the water, her beautiful little body on display for only him. As he mulled around in the shade of the tree waiting to be called to pitch, he looked at his slender arms, bulging belly and thought about himself. When he complained about his weight, his mother always insisted he wasn’t fat. He was just a little chunky for his age, a little plump. What were his chances