The Adventures of Billy Wonder Teenage Hero

By James Fallrainer

This young adult sci-fi page-turner follows the adventures of Billy, a young boy who mistakenly ingests a secret government serum that was created to enhance the mental and physical capabilities of soldiers. After taking it, Billy develops enormously powerful mental and physical abilities that enable him to astral project and travel the infinite

• Language: English
• Publisher: Palmetto Publishing
• Release date: Jun 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781638372776

Book preview

One

I

t's a hot summer day in the town of Washington, North Carolina—or Little Washington, as it's commonly referred to in this area. Washington is a small industrial town with a beautiful waterfront area located on the Pamlico River. It's mid-July, so the temperature is hovering around ninety­-eight degrees, and the kids from the Hope and Love orphanage are involved in an intense baseball game with a group of local school kids. Big John Caldwell, the local bully, is up to bat, and he's known for hitting long, towering home runs, and the score is tied. The game is being played in a large open field near an old house at the edge of town; the kids chose this location because the local baseball field is in such disrepair.

Big John grips the bat tightly and points toward Billy. I'm coming to see you, jerk. Billy smiles and says, I'll be waiting big boy.

Pitching on this day is Ben Cherry, and he's sweating like he just ran a twenty-mile marathon, and Big John can see the fear in his eyes. Ben winds up to throw the best pitch he's ever thrown; he lets the ball fly as if it were shot out of a cannon. Big John locks on to the ball with his eyes; he steadies the bat as if he has the skills of a major league pro. All the kids freeze in place, with their eyes locked on the shiny metal bat, which looks as if it's about to just punish this poor baseball speeding toward home plate. Big John swings with the precision and power of a giant robot, and the ball flies off the bat as if powered by a rocket from the space shuttle. Billy looks up.

This is going to be bad, he says in a nervous voice.

The ball is hit to such a height that it momentarily disappears in the bright July sunlight; it reappears at the edge of the field and is on a collision course with an old house located just at the edge of the field. The ball crashes through the window on the front side of the house, and Big John looks at the damage as he runs the bases and yells, That's what I'm talking about!

All the kids look at each other in nervous amazement. The front door of the old house slowly opens, and what appears to be an old man steps out onto the porch. The kids all look at the old man with a look of shock on their faces. Big John yells at the top of his lungs, Let's get out of here! And the kids scatter like ants at a picnic, all but one. Billy walks up and looks into the man's eyes. I'm so sorry.

The man smiles and looks back at Billy. Thanks. You seem like a good kid.

The man invites Billy inside to discuss the damages, and so our story begins.

Billy sits quietly, looking around the extremely neatly kept room, and the man returns with two large glasses of lemonade and sits down in a large chair across from Billy.

How does two weeks of yard work sound?

Billy looks at the man with a great sigh of relief. That will be fine. By the way, what's your name, sir?

The man pauses for a second as if to give a calculated answer. Peter. Peter Stewart, he finally replies. Peter takes a large gulp of his lemonade and looks at Billy. So, kid, tell me about yourself. Do you live around here? And tell me about your parents.

A sad look comes over Billy's face. I live in an orphanage about a mile from here. My parents died when I was very young, and I don't have any brothers or sisters. Billy sits back in his chair. I love baseball, and I'm a big fan of Bruce Lee. He's my hero, and I love going to school because I have a lot of friends there.

Peter takes a sip of lemonaide and relaxes his arms on the side of his chair. I'm sorry. Am I asking to many questions? I have not had any company in a long time.

Billy smiles. That's okay. I love to talk.

Into the room walks a small-in-stature dog; the little fella appears to have a smirk on his face and looks directly at Billy. Peter looks at the stunned look on Billy's face.

That's my dog, Albert; I named him after Albert Einstein because he's such a smart little fellow.

Billy gazes up at the clock. Oh, wow. It's getting late, so I need to start my bike ride back to the orphanage.

Peter stands to his feet. Ok, buddy. Have a safe ride home and I will see you tomorrow afternoon.

Two

I

t's another hot July day in Washington, and the kids are in the back yard of the orphanage, playing around and having a good time. Billy is busy explaining to Miss Greene, the director of the orphanage, why he must go and do yard work at some stranger's house. After taking a very deep breath, Miss Greene stares into the beautiful blue Carolina sky.

Ok, Billy, you can go, but tomorrow I'm going with you to meet this man.

Billy hops onto his bike and starts his mile-long ride to Peter's house. Traffic on the outskirts of town is little to none, so he has time to just cruise along and do a lot of thinking about his future. It takes Billy about fifteen minutes to ride to Peter's house; Peter is sitting on the front porch with his trusty sidekick, Albert, at his side. From a distance it almost looks as if they are engaged in a heated conversation. Billy pulls up to the front porch, a light layer of sweat covering his forehead.

Well, where do you want me to start, sir?

Peter looks around his yard that is overrun with leaves.

Are you handy with a rake, my friend?

Billy stares at the leaf-covered yard and smiles. I better be with all these leaves.

Billy starts on the yard and thinks, What have I gotten myself into? This yard looks like it's never been raked. After about two hours of intense raking, Billy yells up to Peter, May I have a bottle of water, sir?

Peter rises to his feet and walks into his extremely clean kitchen, reaches into his scarcely stocked fridge, and grabs a bottle of water. He's followed by his trusty sidekick, Albert, who appears to need a drink himself. Billy's now sweating like a runner at a track-meet, but the yard is now starting to show some promise. Peter stares out onto his property.

Wow, you're doing an awesome job, Billy. You must have some experience with yard work.

Billy stops and takes a seat at the edge of the porch. Yes, I do yard work around town to earn money for my school cloths and things like that. And I help out around the orphanage, doing chores, which usually involves yard work.

Two hours fly by with lots of conversations about life and a lot of sweaty yard work. The hot July sun beats down relentlessly. Billy wipes his forehead and looks at Peter.

I think I'm going to call it a day, sir.

Enough of this sir stuff, Billy. Call me Peter.

Billy hops on his bike and looks back at Peter. Are you sure? I don't want to be disrespectful.

With a wide grin on his face, Peter says, Yes. I'm sure, buddy.

Billy arrives back at the orphanage and walks the hall in the direction of his room. As he walks past Miss Greene's office, he hears sobbing. He stops and debates if he should enter the office to see why she is crying. After a few moments of thought, he gently knocks on the door and asks if he can come in. Miss Greene quickly wipes her tears and tells him to enter.

Billy walks in. Hi, Miss Greene. I could hear you crying. Is everything ok?

Miss Greene looks at Billy with watering eyes. I'm behind on the payments for this building, and I'm trying to figure out what to do. Please keep this between us. The other kids don't need to hear this right now.

A sad look comes over Billy's face. May I ask you a personal question, Miss Greene? Why would you take ten kids that are not your own and care for them?

Miss Greene's eyes begin to water a little more. Billy, I was a schoolteacher for thirty years. I just love to teach and inspire young people, so this was a natural move for me because I have no kids of my own. Now I have ten. The lady that ran the orphanage before me was getting a little old, so I had just retired, so I was happy to step in.

Billy smiles as he leaves the office and hits the shower. He plans to do some reading before hitting the hay.

* * *

It's a beautiful Carolina morning. The birds are singing, and the sun is not as relentless as days past. Billy awakes at around nine; he is thinking he should get an early start at Peter's house before the sun decides to turn up the heat. Billy walks to Miss Greene's office to let her know he is about to head out. He hits the road. Traffic is a little heavier than normal, so he rides with a greater awareness of his surroundings, and he arrives at Peter's house in record time. He puts his bike up against the porch and notices Peters not in his usual spot. He notices the door is slightly open, so he walks in without knocking. As he's walking toward the kitchen, he hears two people talking in the back yard. Before he heads to the back door, he decides to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. The bike ride has him a little thirsty.

Only one bottle left. Oh well, he's probably going to the supermarket today anyways. He guzzles the water, and as he is swallowing each gulp, he thinks to himself, This is some nasty water, but he is thirsty, so he slurps