by G Oldman
The elder siblings looked at their younger brother in shock. "What?" they said simultaneously.
Edmund rolled his eyes, "Look, get out your phones. Open a browser and go to Google.com. Type in two headed dog. In the top ten search results you find Orthrus. It's the brother of Cerberus the three headed beast that was in that cartoon Hercules movie we saw when we were little. Are you both saying I am the only one to find out anything?"
Peter and Susan found things other than their little brother to stare at. Peter's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. Susan held hers a better but then again she was wearing makeup.
"OK, apparently, Orthrus was a two headed dog. He guarded some red cattle for some guy. Hercules was supposed to steal some of the cows and killed the animal and his master to get the livestock. Actually, it's a cool story. Hercules was an old west cattle rustler before his time. Who knew Hercules and Jesse James had something in common."
Peter recovered from his embarrassment when the food and shakes arrived.
"OK, so there was a two headed dog in Greek Mythology. How does that help us exactly?"
"It doesn't. But it's a lead. I got a monster manual from Josiah at school. He borrowed it from another kid and lent it to me. I can't read his version."
"Why not? Is it in Greek or something?"
"No, it's in braille. Josiah's blind. He was the first friend I made in school. He helped me meet other kids. Without him, this would be a really lonely place right now."
"I can see that. I really haven't made progress. Being a boy scout kills most social interactions that are positive with the cool kids."
Susan nodded, "I thought getting on the cheer leading team would help. I am still an outsider there too. Gary gave me some attention but not the kind I wanted."
Edmund pulled the well-worn book out of his backpack.
"Here is the Monster Manual."
He started flipping through the book when Peter stopped him, "Hey, why are all of these pages folded down? The listings for Oniguma and Hell Hound are marked. There are others too."
"No clue, they came that way. There are stats for a variant of a hell hound that include a two headed variety that seemed the best match for Orthrus. That entry was folded over when I got it. The Oniguma is interesting. It's some kind of Japanese bear creature that is hugely strong. The description is vague, mentioning multiple arms and more than two eyes by some sources. I read it because the page was folded down. Again, I have no clue why he marked it. It's probably monsters that Jerry was going to use in their campaign. I didn't ask as I didn't want to spoil the surprise. I was invited to join the game."
"Really," said Peter, "do you think Dad will let you play?"
Edmund shrugged in response.
"Edmund, did you ask your friends about these creatures?"
He waved his hand dismissively, "no, just said I wanted to look at the book to get a better feel for the game."
Once the fries and shakes were consumed, they packed up and left for home.
It was Susan's turn to cook supper. She decided to go for something easy and was fixing spaghetti when their father returned home. Edmund and Peter were in the living room watching TV. When they saw their Dad, they changed the channel to the news. They opted for the local station. They couldn't put their finger on it, but the local news always had a strange vibe to it.
The anchor was facing the camera, "And in other news, the Hemisphere Soccer League will begin its fifth season of play in the spring. While the site for a permanent stadium has yet to be selected, the fifth season takes place this upcoming spring at Hemisphere High School.
The anchor turned his head and appeared again looking straight on when they switched cameras. "A local woman was assaulted by a dog yesterday morning. She apparently was walking home in the early hours when the attack occurred. Police are asking for any information from the public on this incident as the victim couldn't provide much to the police."
Daniel shook his head, "that is my case. In Atlanta, if the news did that, we would get a million phone calls with everything from alien sightings to claims it was the neighbors miniature poodle dog that pees on their roses. This will be a waste of time."
Peter asked, "Dad, what did the victim say happened?"
Daniel laughed, "She said it was a two headed dog that attacked her. Of all the weird stories, right?"
He then noticed the Monster Manual open to the Hell Hound page sitting next to Edmund on the sofa.
"What is that?"
"Um, it's a book for a game."
"I know that. I used to play in college. Yeah, don't give me that look. It's been around for longer than you have. What is it open to?"
"It's the stats for the hell hound with a variant for a two headed one," answered Edmund in a sheepish voice.
"Well now, that is a peculiar coincidence."
"Yeah, go figure," said Peter.
Edmund went for the misdirection, "How did work go at your other job last night, Dad? Everything OK?"
Now it was Daniel's turn to fumble a response, "Well, we had a new shipment come in and I had to unload the truck. It isn't a glamorous job, but it pays."
Before anyone could bring something else up that was uncomfortable, Susan stepped in the room.
"Dinner's ready," exclaimed Susan over the top of their talking and the TV.
Just before pushing the off button on the remote, the anchor launched into his last story.
"Check your clocks out there. Many people have noticed a strange phenomenon with their clocks. The time seems to be moving just fine, but the date keeps rolling back. A confidential government informant assures us that this is due to unusual sunspot activity. Things should return to normal shortly."
Daniel checked his wrist watch, "Huh, that is strange."
He pulled the pin on the side and reset the date.
....
In Hemisphere, anything can happen, and something always does.
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The Hemisphere Series
By JJ Belding
The Ripple
By G. Oldman
The Corgan Family Chronicles:
Book 1: Peril In the Park
Book 2: The Rise of the Watchman
By Kit Nash
The Rectifier Series
Book 1: Some Assembly Required
By Billy Baltimore
Emma Spaulding Paranormal Detective
Sasquatch
Djinn
Soul Eater - (Coming January 2nd, 2018)
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