Stories to Inspire and Tales that Terrify (Volume Two): Stories to Inspire and Tales that Terrify, #2

By Kevin Densmore

More Stories that will either inspire or Terrify await you with in. Meet a police officer who discovers that magic does exist.Witness A young cowboy play the poker game of his life and A man having a meltdown behind a meat slicer. Or cheer for a young girl and her favorite stuffed animal and even discover the perils of getting a cup of coffee. So come along on a journey. Are you ready?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kevin Densmore
• Release date: Jun 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393015055

Kevin Densmore

Kevin began writing short stories when he was an awkward teenager living in a small town in Alabama. Now as an awkward adult, Kevin now lives in a small town in Illinois and still writes short stories. Only this time he is releasing his madness into the world.

Book preview

A Happy Thought

Detective Stevens hated these cases. He hated any crime involving children, but a missing child was the most atrocious. The pressure was on and there was nothing worse than dealing with the panic that ensued during the first forty-eight hours. After that time had passed, your were regrettably, searching for a corpse. But, he was going to do what he does best. He was going to find this child, a fact he reiterated to Mr. and Mrs. Williams.

When it came to finding missing children, Detective Stevens was the person you called upon. There were times when it ended in tragedy, and while he was never happy to find the lifeless body of a missing child, he knew it would bring the parents closure. Being the best in his field did not change the fact that he hated doing this job, but do it he did, and he never showed disdain for his work. Having a professional mannerism always yielded the best results. Especially when it came to dealing with distraught parents, or even the guilty ones.

The parents were always the first suspects, and he was not going to look at Mr. and Mrs. Williams any differently until he was absolutely certain they were not involved. He needed to tread lightly, earn their trust, and keep them talking.

When was the last time you saw your son? he asked aloud, but not directly addressing either parent.

Mr. Williams spoke up, We put him in  bed around eight o’clock, trying to hold back the tears. When Mandy went upstairs to check on him around nine or so, she realized he wasn’t there.

Mrs. Williams was sobbing uncontrollably into her husband's chest as he held her tightly, but she did lift her head to say, My b-aa-bb-y wasn’t there! That was all she could manage, before once again retreating into her husband’s arms.

Detective Stevens had seen many parents who rehearsed and forced out episodes of pretend sobbing, but that was not the case here. These two were obviously under genuine distress.

Okay, do I have permission to look around your son’s room? Detective Stevens asked, and Mr. Williams nodded. With that he stood up before adding, alright, I need you to give this officer here any all details about your son, anything we can relay to the other people we have looking for him. With that, he nodded to the uniformed officer in the room, and headed upstairs to the boy’s bedroom.

It was your typical eight year old boy’s bedroom, small toys left on the floor, posters of popular video game and comic book characters adorning the walls. In the middle of the room was a twin sized bed on a generic bed frame. Next to the bed was Detective McKee. She had arrived thirty minutes prior and was already in the process of asking the parents questions, when she saw him arrive. Knowing full well that Detective Stevens was going to be taking the lead, she figured she would help him out by surveying the child’s room first. She was shocked to see him come in so soon after interviewing Mr. and Mrs. Williams.

So you don’t think the parents are involved? she asked Detective Stevens.

That’s obvious, he responded, no, they had nothing to do with this, that is genuine fear and despair down there.

Yeah, I thought so too. she said as she turned to the child’s bed, look at this! she exclaimed.

Detective Stevens looked at the child’s bed and what he saw chilled him to the bone. The blanket was tossed aside neatly, not at all like what would have happened during a struggle, but rather how a child would toss a blanket off of themselves when getting out of bed willingly. Which means the child either knew his abductor, or walked over to his window, purposefully.

Lowering himself onto one knee to get a better look, he shone a flashlight under the bed. A long shot but, just in case. That’s when he noticed the glitter. Bright gold glitter that reflected the beam from his flashlight brilliantly. Glitter in a boys room was not strange, but it was trailing away from where the boy got out of bed and ended in a neat little pile by the open window.

Did you notice this? he asked Detective McKee.

Yes, she answered, but it’s just glitter, didn’t think it was important.

Everything is important Detective McKee. he replied sternly.

But, what was the boy doing? posited Detective McKee.

Clearly, this was where the boy was taken from. Detective Stevens replied.

Detective McKee, paused, looked around and asked, he was doing something with gold glitter, in bed, and walked to the window leaving a trail behind him?

Perhaps he opened the window for some fresh night air and fell out, answered Detective Stevens as he followed the trail of glitter to the window.

The boy’s room was on the second floor, it was possible he climbed out the window intentionally. Detective Stevens observed a metal garden trellis that went right up to the window. It was possible that he climbed out and might be wandering the woods behind the house. Best case scenario, this was something the boy had been doing for awhile. Worst case scenario, he walked over to the window for some air and someone was on the trellis, waiting to pounce.

Detective Stevens knew the glitter was important, because glitter literally gets everywhere, and if it trailed to the window, perhaps it would lead right to the missing boy. He immediately pulled his walkie from his hip and called out an order to the officers in the yard. Someone come under the kid’s window and shine your flashlight on the ground, he commanded. The boy was doing something with glitter up here and he could have left a trail

He watched as an officer came around from the side of the house and shone his light on the ground below the window. The officer almost immediately reached up to the radio on his shoulder and said, that's an affirmative sir, I’ve got a trail leading towards the corner of the house.

Don’t move! Detective Stevens directed, we’ll be right down. With that he and Detective McKee bolted from the boy’s room and raced down the stairs.

This prompted both parents to stand up, startled Mrs Williams inquired, what's going on, did they find him?! Without a word, Detective Stevens pointed towards Mrs. Williams while looking at Detective McKee. Understanding what his gesture meant, she went over to the parents and began to explain to them what was going on, as Detective Stevens ran outside and met with the officer under the boy’s window.

When he was finally able to catch his breath, his eyes were instantly drawn to the focal point of the officer’s flashlight beam. The glitter was there, reflecting back brilliantly, and there was a lot of it. Detective Stevens clicked on his light and focused it just ahead of where the officer had steadied his beam and discovered a trail. He knew he had to follow it. The trail of glitter led him to a corner of the house. It continued on through the back yard, towards the small wooded area behind the Williams’ home, and ended a few feet from a small path that led into the woods.

Detective Stevens barked orders into his walkie, get the dogs out here, now!

K.9. unit is still ten minutes out sir, another officer informed him.

10-4, Detective Stevens replied, I found a path that goes into the woods back here, look for my light. Then he stepped into the woods and started down the small path. He was no more than ten feet in when he found something that could only belong to a little boy. A small makeshift wooden sword.

The hilt and blade were made of the same type of wood, carved with great detail, and fastened together with an old piece of rope. Someone took great care in making this and that someone couldn’t be far. Knowing full well it belonged to the boy, who would certainly be wanting it back, Detective Stevens slipped it into a belt loop. The parents would no doubt identify it, but the boy couldn’t be far now. He had to be just a little further in the woods. With a bit more urgency, he pressed on, until he saw something that stopped him dead in his tracks.

A small ball of light was floating about three feet away from him. It turned out to be an aggressive creature because it flew straight at him. It quickly darted to the left, moving at blinding speed. Detective Stevens turned to follow, but it had already circled around behind him. He caught a glimpse of it again in his peripheral vision but when he turned towards it, the light had darted lower and vanished, off to his right. Finally he spun quickly enough to see it hovering just a few feet away. Then without warning, it charged again, only this time, it flew low and to his left. He tried to spin to follow it, but the light was too quick and he spun so fast that the wooden sword slipped out of his belt loop and skidded across the ground. The light seemed to notice this, because it went straight to the sword, and began to lift it up.

Detective Stevens, not knowing what he was seeing, stood there in shock. He watched as the ball of light began to fly upward into the trees, with the sword. He watched it soar, higher and higher, until it was no longer in sight. It wasn’t until he heard the unmistakable sound of someone trying to imitate a rooster that he finally snapped out of his stupor. It wasn’t just someone, it was a young boy.

COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO! came the cry from a distance.

No way! Detective Stevens said aloud. Then he heard the rooster crow once more. Then... nothing. A calm and unnerving silence surrounded him. He turned on his heel and began a full sprint back to the house.

He passed the K.9. unit, that watched him run by, in confusion. As he rounded the corner he nearly plowed through another officer who was closely monitoring the trail of glitter on the ground. He then burst into the house causing the parents to jump up and startle Detective McKee. He knew they shouted something, but he just could not hear them. He was focused on a mission. If he was going to catch up to that little boy, he had to hurry. He burst into the boy’s room and made a beeline straight for the small pile of gold glitter. Scooping up the glitter in one hand, he immediately dumped it over his head, closed his eyes and visualized the day his daughter was born.

It was the happiest day of his life. Watching as his daughter came into the world made his heart swell with happiness and joy he had never felt before. He thought of the first time he held his little girl in his arms. He would never be happier than he was at that very moment. Still keeping that thought fresh, he opened his eyes. When he did, he noticed that Mr. and Mrs. Williams along with Detective McKee, had followed him upstairs, and they were now staring at him with wide eyes and dropped jaws.

Detective Stevens was now floating three feet off the ground. A fact that Detective McKee called out loudly, Sir... You... You’re floating!

No, he said with a smile on his face, I’m flying!

Slowly he turned himself until he was facing the window. It was odd how easy this was to control. Effortlessly, he ducked out of the open window and began to fly up into the open sky. He was vaguely aware of the multiple lights that shone on him, as every officer on the ground turned their heads and flashlights upward to see their lead detective fly away from them.

He shouted back to Detective McKee who was now looking out the opened window, I’m going to get that little boy, he cheered, he will be home soon!

With that he took off, searching for the second star on the right. From there he knew it was just straight on, until morning.

A Ghost On The Track

March 24th was a dark day in racing history. That was the day Adam Stevens crashed on the final lap of the opening race of the season. He was on the second turn when he lost control and slammed into the wall. His car burst into flames and no one was able to get to him in time. The Variance Raceway had even placed a statue outside it’s entrance to honor him.

Most people blamed Eddie Chase for the crash. Even the racing committee accused Eddie of being too aggressive, and driving recklessly. Multiple camera angles showed Eddie clip Adam’s rear bumper as he tried to pass him on the outside, causing Adam to lose control, which lead to the crash. Eddie was fined $100,000 and ordered to cover all of Adam’s funeral expenses. He was then suspended for the rest of the season. Most people thought Eddie had gotten off easy and his penalty was not severe enough, given that a beloved racing legend lost his life, but the committee deemed that even though Eddie was being reckless, it was still just an accident.

Eddie though, would never admit that he intentionally caused Adam to