The Visitor and Other Short Stories

By Nelson Word

This book is a compilation of short stories, essays, and commentaries meant to entertain and provoke thoughts. It is an eclectic mix of touching on various subjectssome serious and some whimsical. Almost all the short stories have a twist at the end. It is the authors hope that the entries are found to be enjoyable and insightful.


Enjoy!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Jul 17, 2012
• ISBN: 9781466939431

Nelson Word

Nelson Word, married to Elizabeth (from the Philippines), resides in San Angelo, Texas. He graduated from Lakeview High School in 1960. He graduated from San Angelo Jr. College in 1962. He then graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, Texas, in 1965. Nelson began his working career as a teacher and coach. He went to work for State Farm Insurance in 1968 and retired in 2004.

Book preview

The Visitor and

Other Short Stories

NELSON WORD

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© Copyright 2012 Nelson Word.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-4669-3944-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4669-3945-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4669-3943-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012909814

Trafford rev. 06/29/2012

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Contents

The Stranger

Old Tom

Sleepless

The Hill

The Death of the Last Hard Man

Strangers Passing in the Night

Smokey

Old Griz

9.999

The Pact

666, The Devil Horse

The White Flag

The Room

The Boots

The Black Hole

The Beach Party

The Day that

Hell Came to Breakfast

The Wall

It Was a Small Affair

The Phone Call

Cookie

The Doorknob

The Big Bang

S.O.S.

The Rock

The Renewal

The Secret

The Box

The Message

The Visitor

CHARACTERS:

AL – short for Alpha (the beginning); an alien boy who survives a crash on earth. His family/parents are killed. His appearance is 3 feet tall, extremely thin with grayish-green skin that is slightly dimpled. He has an oval-shaped head, large green eyes, no eyebrows or eyelashes, a small nose, thing lips and his ears are slits. His voice is high-pitched, almost a clicking sound.

SAM ELLIOTT – 60 YEARS OLD. He is tall, slim built and a typical westerner, quiet and thoughtful. He is a graduate of the school of hard knocks who grew up on the family farm and learned early how to work. He spent four years in the Air Force after high school and then went to work on ranches. He married Carol at the age of 25 and they raised two children. He took over Carol’s family ranch upon the death of her parents, and has lived and worked at the ranch for thirty years.

CAROL ELLIOTT – 55 years old. She is married to Sam. She obtains a B.S. degree in Biology from Arizona State University and married Sam after college. She was school teacher, is now retired, and raised two children with Sam.

KEVIN ELLIOTT – He is the son of Sam and Carol Elliott, age 30 and married with two children. He is a real estate attorney in Phoenix.

MELODY ELLIOTT – She is Kevin’s wife, age 27 and a bank supervisor in Phoenix, also mother of two children.

WILL ELLIOTT – He is the son of Kevin and Melody Elliott, age 7.

PENNEY ELLIOTT – She is the daughter of Kevin and Melody Elliott, age 5.

ELAINE ELLIOTT – She is the daughter of Sam and Carol Elliott, age 28, single and a restaurant manager in San Diego, California.

SHERIFF ADAN SABATA – He is the sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona.

ED MONTROSE – He is the deputy sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona.

HAWG – He is Sam’s black and white cow dog, so-named Hawg because he eats so much. He is active, smart, and loyal. He bonds with Al.

LOCATION:

It is a typical western landscape, a remote ranch near Prescott, Arizona with mountains and valley; typical cattle country.

ACT 1

It was a perfect western evening, cool with a light breeze. The moon was full and bright and the stars were dazzling in their appearance. Sam and Carol were sitting on their front porch, enjoying the quietness and their time together. They had worked hard together for many year, building the ranch and raising their family; yet they were young enough to be appreciative of what they had accomplished. Life was good.

There was a thunderstorm in the distance toward Signal Mountain. Flashes of lightning were visible and the low rumble of thunder could be heard several seconds after the streaks of lightning raced downward. Suddenly an arc of light stretched across the low horizon. There was a flash of light and a bit later the sound of an explosion near the base of the mountain.

Carol commented that the sequence did not appear normal for a thunderstorm. Sam agreed, commenting that the shaft of light traveling in a horizontal arc was strange looking. He mentioned that since he was heading in that direction tomorrow to check on the cattle, he would take a little look-see. Neither realized that their lives were about to change dramatically. They were going to have a visitor!

ACT 2

The next day, Sam and Hawg wound their way through the mountain trail on their way to Signal Mountain. Sam was pulling his horse in the trailer and it was slow going as the road was bumpy and rough. Part of Sam’s herd of cattle had wandered toward Signal Mountain in search of green forage to eat. Hawg was excited; he would always get excited when he went with Sam in the truck. He knew that he would get to work the cattle!

With Sam on his horse and Hawg following, they started on the flats at the base of the mountain and worked their way upwards, finding a few of the cattle but not many. As they reached the south side of the mountain where the cliffs were, Sam saw something peculiar, something that was out of place for this area. It glinted in the sun and Sam rode over to investigate the unusual object.

What he found really startled him. It was a round, cigar-shaped object or craft that was embedded into the face of the cliff. It appeared to be about 15 feet in circumference and about 50 feet in length. Sam thought that it must be a craft of some kind. The outer hull was silver-colored and there were light ports along the side. The front of this object was embedded into the cliff and appeared severely damaged.

As Sam approached this object, he could see that there was a large porthole or door that was ajar on the side of the craft. He dismounted from his horse and cautiously moved toward this strange object. Hawg went off away from the craft, barking loudly.

When Sam reached the opening in the craft, he saw an inert body lying on the ground just outside the door of the craft. It appeared to be some type of a figure, dressed in a dark brown one-piece garment. When Sam examined the