The Shortcut


“Matheson, looks over to Garver; here’s the windup, the pitch, and that one’s—ffffffffffffffff.”
“Oh jeepers, what a time for a dead tube! Hey pop, I’ll be back in about 20 minutes, I’m
gunna go get a tube for the radio, maybe I can catch the rest of the game when I get back.”
Jeremy looked in the back of the radio and grabbed two tubes he was certain of which, one of
them was dead; he’d just have to test them and find out. Using the sleeve of his sweater to
keep from burning himself on the hot tubes, he could still feel the heat radiating quickly
through.

“Okay Sparky, but don’t take that shortcut of yours; the Army has it cordoned off now with
barbed wire and guards! Oh, and bring a jacket, it looks like it might rain any minute.”

“Oh swell, now it’s going to take an hour, and by then the game’s going to be over.” He
mumbled to himself.

He swung the screen-door open and could feel the drizzle starting to come down already. A
warm gust of wind came and nearly took his baseball cap off; he decided it might be easier to
wear it backward during the ride. He picked up his pace as he walked over to the barn where
he kept his bike. “Geewiz, this is going to take forever in the rain.”

Jeremy pumped hard as he road down the hill, hoping that the momentum would give him the speed
he needed to make it up the coming grade. The drizzle stung his cheeks and nearly blinded him
at his rate of speed, but still he pushed on. After two miles, it still hadn’t let up, so he
decided to take his shortcut, “After all,’ he thought, ‘I know this place better than any old
soldier does!”

His shortcut was to go around Peppertree Lake, instead of taking the old highway. His father
was right, there was lots of barbed wire, but he had yet to see a guard. He walked along the
fence until he found an area with bushes that he could throw his bike into. He hoisted the
bike over his head, and prepared to thrust it over the fence; he never realized that a 40-pound
bike was so heavy! He put the bike down for a minute to gather his strength again. With a
burst of energy, he once again lifted the bike over his head and tossed it over the six-foot
wire fence; now he had to get himself over in one piece.

Carefully he started to climb the fence, making certain not to catch himself on any of the barbs.
The first few strands were quite taught, but the higher he got, his footing would begin to
vacillate wildly with even the slightest movement. At the top, he started to panic, but
rationalized that he was far beyond the point of turning around; his bike was on the other side.
If he came home without a bike his parents would be furious, and he’d be in even more trouble that
he disobeyed his father by taking the shortcut that he said he wouldn’t. He knew he could do
it, but he sure hated being in this type of situation.

He grabbed onto the post; first hoisting one leg, then the other over the top strand of wire.
Jeremy thought it was funny that there was nothing at the top of this fence to keep someone like
himself out, but why ask questions to something when you could take advantage of them so freely?

Slowly working his way down, he noticed that his jacket was caught; he couldn’t have anything that
would prove that he’d been where he wasn’t supposed to be. Wrapping his arm around one of the
small areas without any of the sharp tangs to steady himself, he nervously worked the jacket free.
Just as he freed himself, he felt one of his feet slip off the rain soaked wires; he swore he
could hear his own heart pounding! He took a few seconds to gather his wits, then inched his way
down to the ground.

After riding a few yards, he stopped his bike and took a good look around; it sure looked the same
as when he was free to come and go as he wanted? The lake was still exactly as it was months
earlier; what’s here that’s so all fired important. Just then, he heard a car coming; he’d better
high-tail-it outta there, and fast. There was no real time to do so, so he flung himself under the
first batch of bushes he could find, and without a moment to spare. Just then a jeep drove by with
two men in it, the man in back was straddling a twin 50-caliber machinegun mount. Jeremy’s throat
got a giant lump in it, “What have I done? Oh no, oh no, oh no; they’re going to kill me!”

When the jeep drove off, he decided to wait a few minutes to make sure the coast was clear. He was
now in a bind; he had to get out of the lake area, and get the vacuum tubes. If he came home empty
handed his folks would know something was up. He also realized that he would have to ride in an
area where his tire tracks wouldn’t show, if he didn’t, they could find him just by following the
grooves in the mud. Fortunately it was autumn and the leaves were beginning to fall; he’d just ride
in the leaves!

He had been riding for about five minutes when he heard a rumble coming over the hills; he had to
hide again. Just as he got behind a tree, he saw two silver blurs flash by, fast and low: he’d never
seen anything move that fast! He had to cover his ears as to keep his head from splitting.

“Golly!” Those must be the new Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star’s he’d heard so much about; they were
beautiful. Dumbfounded he watched them skim across the lake then peel off; one going north, the other
south. Whatever it was that was here, he now decided he didn’t want anything to do with; he just had
to get out.

Shaking almost uncontrollably, he got back on his bike and began to ride like there was no tomorrow.
Once again he heard a jeep in the distance; he had to get out. Taking a chance, he thought he would
risk it by staying on the bike and getting as much distance between himself and his new found hell as
he could. The jeep was gaining on him, but he knew he was still far enough away that they wouldn’t
see him; he hoped! Then he heard the engine pick up speed, had they seen him. He pushed faster and
faster; he could barely keep his feet on the pedals. He realized he couldn’t keep this up for much
longer; he thought his heart was going to explode.


Tears began to fill his eyes when he decided to hide yet again; he was in real trouble now. It wasn’t
like getting caught steeling at the general store; this was for keeps! He crawled under a bush and
hugged the ground. As the jeep drove by, he now was painfully aware of his very loud breathing; could
they hear him? Was he imagining that the vehicle slowed down now that it was so close; the man behind
the guns was looking right where he was. It kept on moving; it was his fear that made the moment seem
so painfully long.

It was so hard to get up now, every muscle in his body felt as if it couldn’t move. As he started to
get up, he heard the two jet fighters approaching, yet again. They flew by and peeled away, this time
going east and west. To his amazement, two more of the same silver jets flew by going in the direction
the first two had gone only minutes ago. He could feel the rumble of the engines in his teeth; at this
point he thought, is baseball really worth it?

Now it had became apparent that he had only a few seconds to get back on his bike and start riding again.
Looking around, Jeremy saw the barbed wire fence only a few hundred yards off, but it was up on the side
of a hill; he’d have to walk his bike up it. He would have to be very stealthy; darting in and out from
behind the trees and bushes. He slowly made his way up, being careful not to be seen.

With only a few more yards to go, a two seat, propeller driven aircraft flew slowly overhead. All of
the sudden, the water in the lake started to froth and boil; “What now?” He asked himself. A great disk
slowly and silently started to rise out of the water. The boy’s mouth dropped open; his eyes fixed on
the shape he’d never seen before. Sheets of water were pouring off from it as it rose out from the lake.
Jeremy realized now why they had chosen to do it this way; if you have a secret, put it in a place where
no one can look, and that was under 75 feet of water!

The disk was now starting to turn on its side, then suddenly with more speed than even the jets, it sped
away; it was gone in an instant.

“Run, run, gotta run!” He panted as he pushed his bike up the steep embankment. Selecting an area
covered by only enough trees to barely hide him, he gathered his strength and chucked his bike over the
fence. Then the jets came again, followed by the machinegun jeep; he sighed as he hit the deck.

He took off his jacket and threw it on the topmost wires; if he was careful, he could use it to keep his
hands from getting ripped up. He also realized he need to be extra careful in removing it from the barbs,
he couldn’t have it get caught and rip. He took a deep breath, and with as much confidence as he could
muster, he began to climb the fence. As he cleared one side, he started the arduous task of removing his
jacket from the fence.

The jets were coming again, he could hear them in the distance; he needed to hurry! Throwing caution to
the wind, he whipped the jacket away and jumped backward from the fence. Landing so hard it knocked the
wind out of him, he could only lay there and gasp while his solar plexus once again filled with air. He
thought nothing but a sense of lightheadedness as the jets shot past, was he going to pass out? A wash
of purple started to fill everything in his vision, his ears started to ring loudly; “Where am I?” He
thought to himself.

Then, as his brain started being fed the nourishing oxygen it needed, he slowly became aware of what had
transpired in the last fifteen minutes. He had to get up, but his body wasn’t willing to comply with his
wishes. Exhausted, he made his way to the bike and mounted the saddle. Looking at the steep grade that
lay before him, he decided to coast down, and with luck he thought, he could make it.

Trees and rocks blurred passed him while he fought to keep the bike in control. As he swerved to miss a
low branch, he now found himself in the path of a rock that was sticking out almost horizontally from the
leaves. He hit the rock with such force that it put him in a trajectory that shot him some six feet into
space. Up on landing, the big balloon tires held, even the rims stayed true, but he couldn’t keep the bike
on a straight course. Jeremy hit his coaster brakes and skidded to a stop; the rear end of the bike came
skidding around while leaves and mud made a big rooster-tail in the air. Again he noticed how much he was
trembling, “I gotta make it to the highway!” After another ten minutes of alternately walking and riding,
he made it to the highway.

Making his way down the road he thought about what had happened, would anyone actually believe what he’d
seen, could he tell anyone? A million what ifs went through his brain, perhaps he thought, it would be
best just to pretend it never happened. Just as his jangled nerves began to calm, he heard the scream of
jet engines again. He was all alone on the highway.

The plane was flying straight at him, not more than 50 feet off the ground! As it shot past him, he jumped
off the bike and lay flat on the pavement covering his head with his hands. They knew he was there, and
now they would teach him that he shouldn’t be snooping around where he shouldn’t. The fighter then made a
quick turn and headed back for him. “This is it’, he thought, ‘I’m done for!” This time instead, the jet
wasn’t even over the road; it flew past the boy and dipped its wing toward him. “I’ll be damned!” He said
out loud with a big sigh.
Jeremy walked through the doors of Pete’s General Store. “Hey Sparky, didya see those fancy jetplanes flyin’
around?”
“No sir, but do you know who won the baseball game?”