The Beyond

By Uncle Richard

Jim hears an eerie, giggling noise that no one else in his family does. The noise comes from a place where he is not allowed to go alone—"The Beyond."
Jim talks his Uncle Richard into going with him on a journey--a scary adventure to confront the mysterious giggler living in the dark and mysterious Beyond.
Along their journey, Jim must also face his own fears of the dark, the strange, and the unknown.
Once in its darkness, Jim is attacked by the mysterious giggler. Jim must then use his head to outwit the bullying thing in a three-part challenge to save both a baby and himself and to bring them all to safety.
This tale weaves the excitement of suspense and the delight of fright into a journey of discovery–for Jim and readers alike.

• Language: English
• Publisher: RLSpencer Communications
• Release date: Apr 4, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310434211

Uncle Richard

“Uncle” is an honorary title bestowed on a close, male friend embraced by a good Southern family. When my friends Ed and Janice so embraced me, I was lucky enough and honored to become “Uncle Richard” to their two children. When their daughter (now my niece Jenny) married, I became Uncle Richard to her husband and, eventually, to their two children. “Uncle Richard” became the perfect persona to write stories for all nephews and nieces everywhere.

Book preview

The Beyond:

Jim

Encounters

. . . . .

by

Uncle Richard

Editor William A. Kopke

Copyright 2015 RLSpencer Communications

J&B Adventures

Smashwords Edition

Dedication

To Roger Stevens for guiding me into The Beyond of Smashwords publishing.

Cover

by Bear

Original photo by badeendjuh. IMG_2931.jpg. www.morguefile.com

Special appreciation to

Edgar Allen Poe

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Smashwords Editions, License Notes

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. Please do not copy, transfer, resell, or given away this e-book to other people. See additional License Notes after this story.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1: The Tale Teller

Chapter 2: The Noise

Chapter 3: The Beyond

Chapter 4: Tit for Tat Upmanship

Chapter 5: Winnings

Chapter 6: Decisions Decisions Decisions

Chapter 7: Papahood 101

Chapter 8: Flying the Friendly Skies

Epilogue

Thanks and Reviews

About the Author

Prologue

(a short story before the main story begins)

Stop it! Stop it!! Stop it!!! Jim screamed. "Stop making that noise!" he wanted to scream as loudly as he could.

Jim quickly glanced around. No one was looking at him.

Good, he thought. He had wanted to scream out loud, but hadn’t.

Why is everyone acting as if they don't hear it?

Around the kitchen counter, Jim’s Mom and Dad were casually discussing things they needed to do after breakfast. His sister Catherine was calmly picking berries out of her cereal bowl and arranging them on her highchair tray.

Jim kept his head down, kept eating, but also kept glancing sideways at his family.

How can they not hear it? Are they all deaf? Are they just pretending not to hear it? Are they playing a joke on me?

"he-he, he-he, he," came the noise.

There it is again. To Jim, the eerie noise sounded a little like snorting or giggling.

Maybe it's a wild hog? Or sick dog? Or some kid from school . . . trying to scare me. Yes, it does kinda sound like a squeaky, little kid's voice. Only deeper. Maybe he's giggling inside a barrel to sound bigger. Maybe he's trying to make his voice bigger and scarier. But I’m not scared. I’m NOT!

What did scare Jim, however, was that no one else seemed to hear it.

He peeked at his Dad, who had turned his attention to reading the newspaper. He studied his Mom; she looked a bit puzzled about something, yet continued washing breakfast dishes.

Am I going crazy?

"he-he, he-he, he."

No. I can hear it coming from outside.

Jim turned slightly toward the double, glass doors at the far end of the living room. Sitting at the kitchen counter, Jim could still see through the glass doors. He could see over the deck, across the backyard and its carefully cut grass, out to . . .

A sudden thought, a terrifying thought, struck Jim. The eerie noise couldn't be coming from . . . there. Could it?

The noise did seem to be coming from . . . there, coming and growing louder and