Black, Kidnapped in the '60S, No Big Deal by McFerrel Jones

Author:McFerrel Jones [Jones, McFerrel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781414083094
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Published: 2004-04-06T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

THE MIRAGE

After getting back on the tracks, we talk about the fun we had with the tractor and how we should come back and do it again sometime. We cross Melrose Avenue, the last dirt railroad crossing, and expect to find blackberries in another 50 yards or so, where we can start filling our bags. However, to our surprise, we start seeing big berries right away on both sides of the tracks, but they are not thick clusters.

We start putting some in our sacks, but find ourselves eating more than we save, since this is not really the mother lode. We continue picking and eating as we make our way toward the good stuff further down the tracks. The closer we get to our favorite place, the more berries there are. And the more berries there are, the more we eat. Consequently, as if it had been planned, by the time we get to the mother lode—and that’s just what it is, a mother lode—our stomachs are full, and we are able to fill our sacks quickly without even considering putting any more in our mouths!

Berries are everywhere, on both sides of the tracks. Clusters of big berries are so thick that it takes us over ten minutes to work on one bush. As we are picking, my eyes catch a flash of light that’s coming from further on down the tracks. I stop picking berries and wait to see if it happens again. After a long moment, I move to the middle of the tracks looking intently at the point where the railroad tracks seem to disappear into the dark green shadows of the forest. The tracks are straight as far as the eye can see.

Tony and Tim don’t notice me because their backs are to me. Standing there looking to the vanishing point of the tracks, I can barely make out an object of some kind down there. It looks white or light gray, right in the middle of the tracks, and isn’t moving. “Why haven’t I noticed it before,” I think. Then, I say aloud, “What is that?”

“What is what?” Tony asks, looking up to see what I am talking about.

“What’s that white thing way down there?” I ask. Tim doesn’t look down the tracks. Instead, he looks at me. Maybe he is expecting me to say, “Just joking,” or something to that effect. But I don’t.

Now Tony is standing by my side staring down the tracks, too. “Yeah, I see it,” he says in a low puzzled voice, at which point Tim comes running to where we are standing.

After observing the object for exactly three seconds, Tim shouts, “It’s a mirage!”

“How come we never saw it before?” I question.

“It’s so small. We may have seen it and didn’t pay any attention to it,” Tony says.

Then Tim says, “Let’s go see what it is. It’s not that far.”

Looking at the object, it really doesn’t look that far away, so I ask Tony, “Do you want to?”

And Tony replies, “Yeah, why not? It can’t be that far.

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