Escape from the Gated Community

By Gord Elliston

A deli owner sailed away from his humdrum life and harsh winter weather to follow his dreams in the tropics. There he narrowly escaped with his life only to end up in another very bad situation. Filled with romance and swashbuckling sea adventure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Dec 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781312789906

Book preview

Escape from the Gated Community

ESCAPE FROM THE GATED COMMUNITY

Escape From The Gated Community

This story is fiction.  The characters are fictional. The events are purely fantasy. Any resemblance to anyone is coincidental. Any one claiming to be portrayed in this farce ought to be ashamed of them self for admitting any connection with such nonsense.

Copyright © by

Gord Elliston

All rights reserved.

Cover design by

Le Thanh Tung

ISBN 978-1-105-38518-6

Also by

Gord Elliston

Betsy’s Revenge

The Headless Coachman

The Necromancer

The Seagull Wore Glasses

The Treasure of the Haunted House

Artwork in Short Film

The Woodcarver and The Fiddler on YouTube by Microfilmco

Feature Documentary Film

Associate Producer

Eccentric Eclectic, 2014

ESCAPE FROM THE GATED COMMUNITY

AUTHOR

GORD ELLISTON

Large stone walls and wrought iron gates send out a message. They simply mean stay out, this means you.  They were built for people who are serious about their privacy and don't take too kindly to trespassers.  Once one enters illegally, the chances of escaping from this gated community are very slim..

Mike was a lonely thirty two year old man and getting a little bored of his everyday routine. He needed some romance and adventure in his life. Running a deli by himself that he inherited really was not his calling. The latest excitement was one Saturday afternoon when two large ladies were fighting over the last chocolate covered marzipan bar in his shop. There was more to life for Mike than standing behind a counter in a deli serving people corned beef on, Will that be light rye or dark, hot mustard, Dijon? That was his father’s life, not his and he had to escape.

A steady costumer named Heinrich came into the store with a blonde woman by his side and said, Hello Mike, how is your business going. Mike answered, Just another day, corned beef on rye coming right up, quarter pound of ham to go. You know, the same old thing, day in and day out. I got to get out of this business, it's eating me up. When Heinrich told him he wanted to sell his concrete sailboat the wheels started turning in Mike's head. He put a sign in the front window that read, 'Business Opportunity, see Mike.' He sold his deli to an Asian family and from then on it was, 'Captain Mike.' Mike bought Heinrich's sailboat and set out on an adventure of his life and death.

The journey took him along Lake Ontario to the St. Lawrence Seaway and then to the east coast. He then headed south to the Caribbean Island of Cuba where he met a hot tomali name Julia. Barely escaping with his life, he headed back across the Florida Straight to America with a wretched curse in hot pursuit.

In the town of Spongeville he met up with long legged Sally who was slinging tequilas in an oyster bar. She sent him on a one way trip to the gated community. Sally was in the pet food supply business and was eventually consumed by it.

One eyed Jack flew his motorized hang glider in and out of trouble one too many times until he met up with Lucifer the gigantic alligator.

Lovely Julia with the great Spanish hips inherited the boat and the voodoo curse that almost destroyed her. Her and her new friend unwittingly sailed into dangerous waters where they met up with a direct descended of the infamous pirate, Jean Laffite but were rescued by Hollywood Harry the actor.

A gang of waterlogged refugees in an overloaded home built leaky boat were trying desperately to escape oppression and poverty. A couple of vagabonds hightailed it in a, not too airworthy ultra-light aircraft they stole from the government. Being in kind of a hurry to escape, they miscalculated the amount of fuel it would take to fly them to freedom.

From a school of flying fish fleeing a hungry predator, to escaping murderous pirates, to ultra-lights carrying fleeing people to safety, this story is really all about escape.

Chapter 1

The Forty Ninth Parallel

Chapter 2

Heading South

Chapter 3

Beyond Those Gates

Chapter 4

The Concrete Boat

Chapter 5

Roy The Tour Guide

Chapter 6

Sea Turtles

Chapter 7

Captain Mike

Chapter 8

Havana

Chapter 9

Key West

Chapter 10

Spongeville

Chapter 11

The Guard House

Chapter 12

The Curse

Chapter 13

The Plane Ride

Chapter 14

On The Lam

Chapter 15

Crunching Bones

Chapter 16

Mike Meets Some New Friends

Chapter 17

The Big Iron Gate

Chapter 18

Flying Machines

Chapter 19

To The Rescue

Chapter 20

Whacked in the Head

Chapter 21

Off With His Head and Cut Out His Heart

Chapter 22

Escape

Chapter 23

Change of Plans

Chapter 24

Lazy Eyed Cop

Chapter 25

The Nightmare

Chapter 26

Will This Nightmare Ever End

Chapter 27

Afternoon at The Links

Chapter 28

Getting Far From Here

Chapter 29

Telling Old Stories

Chapter 30

In The Hospital

Chapter 31

Back at The Funny Farm

Chapter 32

A Daring Rescue

Chapter 33

Flight to Mobileville

Chapter 34

Julia

Chapter 35

The Return of One Eyed Jack

Chapter 36

Seven Hundred Kilometers to Key West

Chapter 37

Celebrations at The Gated Community

Chapter 38

Don't Mess With Me

Chapter 39

The Good Ship Julia

Chapter 40

Dr. Estelle

Chapter 41

Bob's On the Case

Chapter 42

Life on the Good Boat Julia

Chapter 43

Julia to the Rescue

Chapter 44

Harry's Proposal

Chapter 45

Refugees

Chapter 46

Terror of The Gulf

Chapter 47

Detective Dick

Chapter 48

Paid in Full

ESCAPE FROM THE GATED COMMUNITY

Chapter One

The Forty Ninth Parallel

The forty ninth parallel is a circle of latitude forty nine degrees above the equator. It is an ambiguous northerly dividing line separating two countries in North America. It is kind of a good neighbour fence between two formally opposing forces that were squabbling over hunting and fishing grounds. Taking pot shots at each other and the occasional raid was a little unproductive so jointly the two sides drew a border line along the forty ninth parallel and settled a long running dispute.

So biting cold it is up there during the winter months at that latitude, it makes you wonder why anyone in their right mind would want to live there in the first place.

The old furnace keeps on blasting, consuming energy like there is no tomorrow. There's really not much you can do but it but imagine your hard earned dollars burning up in the flames that are keeping you from freezing to death. You wonder if that fiery inferno will ever stop blasting. Then finally the sun kind of comes up on the horizon for about eight hours but it is so far south that the low angle of its rays will not give off too much heat at all. Maybe by noon it will warm your south exposure wall just enough that your furnace might shut off for five minute rest intervals.

The wind can blow so hard that it creates a partial vacuum on the leeward side of your house that forms such a negative pressure that it sucks the heat out of your house through tiny cracks or crevices no matter how well you weather stripped your doors and windows. On the windward side of your house it creates a high pressure that drives the frigid air through any porous surface. You can even see a lit match flicker if it is held close to an electrical outlet.

Maybe tonight the sky will cloud over and trap in some of the radiant heat that the sun offered today. A heavy cloud layer will actually prevent some of the heat beneath the cloud layer from escaping into space and you might get some relief from the bitter cold as your thinking, What am I doing here?

With a wind chill it can get so biting cold outside that your skin could actually freeze within minutes if you don't wear proper protective clothing. The only animal able to survive such negative temperatures is the wood frog which freezes solid then mysteriously comes back to life in the spring. Tiny particles of airborne water can freeze into a frozen mist that can cling to trees, automobiles, hydro lines etc... If you need your vehicle the next morning it may start if it has a heater installed into the engine block that will keep the oil from becoming so thick that the engine will not turn over.

So cold outside that all the wild life finds refuge in a cave, a hollow tree trunk or abandoned building or maybe your attic. Some animals freeze solid as a frozen juice stick. Frozen birds fall from the sky as bird-sickles. Dogs get frozen to fire hydrants when they lift their hind leg to pee.

Even some weather forecaster’s wimp out and don't stand outside to talk about their forecast in such extreme temperatures on a night like this. One weather forecaster thought it was funny to dare kids to lick the metal hand rails at school. Hey kids, here’s a science lesson for you tomorrow, to see how cold it really is try licking the handrail at school in the morning and see what happens. The next day the school handrails looked like sticky fly catchers with kids screaming as they were stuck fast by their tongues. He was dismissed the next day by the manager after an angry mob showed up on the door step of the television station that morning despite the bitter cold.

ESCAPE FROM THE GATED COMMUNITY

Chapter Two

Heading South

Tourists have been escaping the cold to head south to the warmer climates during the winter months in north America for the past two hundred years. Even Ponce de Leon, the Spanish explorer headed south in the winter months. He sailed through the Caribbean and explored the most southern peninsula of North America to search for rejuvenating waters during Pascua Florida (Festival of Flowers). He was unsuccessful in finding The Fountain of Youth and in the year fifteen hundred and twenty one, Ponce de Leon led another very unsuccessful mission. He lead a large colonizing expedition of two hundred settlers to the Gulf coast of this new land but was attacked by the now extinct fierce Calusa (shell Indians). He was wounded in his leg by a poison arrow and they made a hasty retreat to their ships. Ponce De Leon died an excruciatingly painful death a few days later in Havana Cuba.

In the nineteen twenties people with extra money, and time to spare, climbed on board south bound trains to escape the winter months until the south eastern peninsula got wiped out by hurricanes. Then the great depression hit in nineteen twenty nine and people stopped heading south for a few years.

It wasn't until the Second World War came and went, then aircraft and landing strips became available. Throughout North America soldiers came home and copulated, the baby boomers took over and money became available. The frugal old folks retired in the south, in alligator (el lagarto) country.

Alligators grew very large before humans settled into their feeding grounds. People slaughtered them by the thousands, gators were used for food, clothing and the very young were killed and stuffed for tourist to buy as souvenirs. Those prehistoric animals could reach lengths up to eighteen feet in and weigh as much as two thousand pounds. Their species have been around for millions of years. Now, when an alligator reaches about two meters they are shot or captured and moved to less human populated areas. The human population moved into the alligators stomp'n ground and either killed them off or moved them out of their natural habitat into areas of other wildlife. Alligators are carnivores and they look at every moving thing as food except for cars. Like it or not, if you move into alligator country, you and your family enter into their food chain and alligators are on the top of the list.

They particularly like small dogs, an easy meal. The unaware pet owner lets their pooch off its leash to poop on their neighbour's grass. When it's finished, the dumb mutt flings a bit of dirt on its stool then runs to the river to get a drink of water and in a flash it disappears. Killer, Killer, or whatever the gator's lunch was called, is now digesting in his belly. Where are you? Here boy, but no response. Death comes quick in the jaws of a hungry gator. They are fast, they can run up to sixty kilometers an hour in a short burst, that's over thirty five miles an hour which is a little too quick for  a human to outrun at meal time.

Heading south for the winter is a tradition for a lot of people when you live in the northern latitudes. As the earth's axis tilts to the north and the days get shorter and the nights get longer all the lakes rivers and streams freeze and snow starts falling. Even a short break to the south is enough to break up the long, long northern winters. Some of the luckier ones get to stay until the ice starts to melt and the days get longer as the earth's axis slowly tilt back to the south. Then the massive migration north begins as the birds start to work their way back, stopping only to feed and rest along the way. The tourists climb aboard the huge airliners or pack their vans or SUV's and head back north for another year.

ESCAPE FROM THE GATED COMMUNITY

Chapter Three

Beyond Those Gates

Many of the fine retired folks in this southern gated community did not have large retirement funds and unfortunately many of them did not save enough money for the golden years. They lived on a tight budget. They had money, they just didn't spend it on frivolous things like food. Unless it was half price at the cafeteria, it cut into their booze and drug money.

Every Wednesday was senior’s day and they came from miles around to have their bacon and sausages and eggs, two can dine for the price of one day. They would rather eat left overs from last Sunday's dinner than spend money on groceries. I have been told they ate cat food as pate but some say dog food taste better, because it was made from small ground up horses from the rock on the east coast.

They lived in communities surrounded by big stone fences and wrought iron gates and rivers filled with alligators and poisonous snakes. Behind those gates is paradise with golf courses, swimming pools, spas, pool tables, hot tubs, tennis courts and all the luxuries.

Blanche, a purple haired, leathery skinned lady who was laid out on a lounge, baking in the sun asked in her Bronx cadence, You’re from Torana aren't you? I can tell by your accent. North of the border, up there in the mountains where it never stops snowing. Are you still having trouble with the Indians? My brother Luis was up there in seventy six, he climbed all the way to the top of that big tower, what's it called? The National Tower? You can't even buy a beer in the grocery store, you have to buy it from the government. You’re a bunch of communist, she said. Blanche then slipped into the pool probably to moisten that dry old toughened leathery skin that no amount of moisturizer could ever tenderize. Her epidermis was all covered with moles and old age spots that have long ago joined forces to match her dark brown cowhide handbag.

Who really knows what goes on behind those walls? I heard from a reliable source that when March break is over, it would be about the time when the swamp got active. It started bubbling up gas from decomposing vegetation and dead animal carcasses mixed with a bit of underground sulphur that made the air ripe. It was stinky and