The Road to Round Mountain: The Betrayal by

by C. G. Roberts

  knew that you were being restrained, and your mind went into self-defense mode”. I couldn’t understand how it happened, but the video don’t lie. “So I really did this without thinking about it”? “Not exactly, you see even when you sleep your mind is still in charge, as it shows here on the video”. Interpreter please, I knew what she was saying, but the translation filtered back through in a foreign language. “I’m really confused, you mean if I was asleep behind the wheel of a car my mind would tell me what to do to drive it”. “No, what I mean is your body will and can defend itself, sometimes without you being aware of it”.

  She thought she was explaining this well, and she probably was and for whatever reason, I wasn’t getting it. She stared at the screen of the laptop for a moment, then looked back in my direction. “Out of all the people we have seen, worked with, or help treated when they were hit by lightning, all had the same type of energy going through their body just like you do but….no one has ever been able to move things and or people with their mind, after being hit”

  She trailed off for a moment. “Look, what you are doing did not come from being hit by lightning, which is an impossibility. This is something you were born with, and more than likely you didn’t know it”. Great, now some sleeping giant from within has decided greet the masses with pain and destruction. I don’t see how I already had this, power,

  59

  ability, or whatever it is. All I know is my mind is cluttered with confusion. I thought about this for a moment and was not quite sure what I was going to ask her. We stared at each other for a moment as if we were reading each other’s mind, but that’s another problem I could do without.

  I broke the silence, “you mean to say that I already had this thing floating around my head all these years and didn’t know it”? I’m sure that you have, and that’s what’s kind of confusing because somewhere along the way there should have been some sort of episode, or an inkling that you or your parents knew about this. Do you remember getting angry a lot when you were young”? Now that I think of it, no, I was never overly mad or angry as far back as I could remember. “I’ve always been pretty laid back, never really got angry except for once, when I first got my Grand Theft Auto game”. Nurse Mattie sat down in the chair next to my bed, she seemed a little tired.

  “If you could tell me all you can remember about that, and what was it that happened”? It wasn’t that long ago but I think I’m going to have to jog my memory a bit. “I do remember my parents going out to a movie, and I stayed home to play my game. I really sucked at it in the beginning, but started to get the hang of things, or so I thought. I don’t recall exactly what I was trying to accomplish, but I remember getting progressively pissed”. I looked towards the window to try and help my recollection of events for that evening, not sure why I chose the window, the commode would have been equal to the task I’m sure, then it hit me. All excited I hollered, “I told the game to fuck off, and the TV blew up”.

  Did I just say I blew up our TV, I didn’t think that I did,

  60

  my parents and I came to the conclusion that the TV just died of old age, after all it was a 27 year old Zenith, that’s almost 105 in Samsung years. My dad took it hard, for him TV was a way to relax after work, for hours at a time. For him, yeah he knew he had a family, but the Seahawks game was on so shut up! My Dad actually gave the TV a funeral. Buried it in the backyard in a spot next to where we buried my 3 legged dog- Tippy. His name was Sport, but after his leg got run over by some car he was chasing down the road, my Dad then christened him-Tippy. I inherited his strange sense of humor; I wanted to call him tripod.

  Nurse Mattie quickly gave me the, be quiet sign by putting her finger over her mouth. I couldn’t help it, I was excited. Quietly she continued, “You yelled at the TV and it quit working, or exploded”? Looking towards the window again for guidance, I mulled that one over. “No it didn’t exactly explode, but as soon as I yelled at it, the screen cracked and everything on the inside popped along with a lot of smoke, then kind of a muffled pop, and then nothing, except for the smoke”. “My parents resigned to the fact that it was old and left it at that, I don’t recall any other event or instance like you’re talking about”. Her smile returned, “Well Billy Speer that is just what I’m looking for. You obviously had this in you and it took a bit of anger to get some of it to come out”. Nurse Mattie got up from the chair and paced about the room. “What it looks like is you’ve always had the ability knocking on the door to come out, and I believe after you got hit by lightning, it opened that door ready to gush out. This is where I come in to help with managing or to help harness your power, so you can learn how to use it, and remain safe,

  61

  as well as others around you”.

  I felt I was handed a Triton and told to be careful and try not to kill anybody. Watch out, touch me and die, or make me angry and die, what a horrific cast of options I have at my disposal. My headache was coming back and I doubted if it was going to go away anytime soon.

  62

  11

  nurse mAttIe stArted taking objects out of her smock as she walked over to where the mobile tray was and places them on top. Directly above the tray Criminal Minds continued on TV though my interest waned. On the tray was a glass, a ping pong ball, and a bag of nacho cheese Doritos. Needless to say I was unsure what to make of these items, and what Nurse Mattie’s intention for them was. She turned

  from the tray and made her way along the wall as if not to get too close to me. Reaching in her smock pocket she pulled out her smart phone. That made sense, she didn’t want her phone to fry. Tapping what sounded like Morse code on her phone she looked up at me.

  “I noticed you were able to maneuver the TV when I came in here, is this the channel that was on”? She was on to me, or maybe I’m just paranoid, but about what I wasn’t sure. “You got me, I did change the channel, mainly to get rid of the News, and I knew what channel Criminal Minds was on. It took me a couple of tries, but I got it to change”. “Oh, I also got the overhead lights to go off and on”. Her smile widened with pleasure. “I see that you’ve been busy, but…..” she looked down at her phone for a second, “Do you like The HellRaiser Movies”?

  Being a dark soul I perked up for this one. “Definitely, is it the first one”? Even us gore aficionados have our standards for the originals. “It most certainly is and is just now starting

  63

  on channel 49. Remember to focus your attention on the task at hand, the TV, try to imagine what would make you angry and channel that energy towards the TV. Remember you must control the anger”. I replied, “And don’t be seduced by the dark side”. Nurse Mattie gave me a sneer of disapproval, “I’m not sure what you’re referring to”. “Sorry I try to throw a Star Wars reference her and there when I can”.

  That answer did not remove the sneer. Some people just are not Star Wars fans, oh well. I was able to change the channel on the TV, but it took a couple of tries so maybe I should try it her way. “Remember to focus all of your at-tention on the TV and nothing else. Block out everything else around you, it’s just you and the TV”. Okay, I got this, focus, focus, channel my anger. It would be tough to think of things that make me angry. Then it came to me, think of Dr. Bangors face that ought to do it. Here we go, concentrate, focus on the TV, picture the DR’s face in my mind……. TV turn to channel 49 now! And there it was, the opening credits

  for Hellraiser, cool.

  I was somewhat concerned about what Nurse Mattie was

  expecting from me with those items on the mobile tray. It didn’t seem to make any sense to me about how I could possibly be useful to the Government and what on earth they would expect me to do, and to what or even worse, whom. “Looks like you’re going to be a quick study, and I must say that was quite impressive Billy Speer”. I could argue the quick study part for I seem to recall it taking me almost two months before I could take off the training wheels on my bike. “I don’t know abou
t quick and I did have a question if you don’t mind”. “You go right ahead, I’m sure you’ll have a

  64

  lot of questions”.

  “About this stuff you’re having me do, is it like a test, does it continue, does it end, do I even have a say in the manner”? Her smile was replaced with I guess would be a look of disappointment. “You sure did bundle up those questions all together didn’t you”? “Well to start there is a lot of testing, and you need to know that we won’t put you through anything you can’t handle. By the way, for a beginner, you show immense potential. This could be the start of something big Billy Speer”. I was still uncomfortable with the something big part, which was a bit vague. “As long as your abilities keep expanding, the more testing will be needed, so you need not worry about that, you’ll be taken care of quite nicely”. Again with a vague synopsis, did that mean I would get feed on a regular basis, would they compensate me, or pay me in bananas since I will be kind of a test rat.

  “What do you mean by, I’ll be taken care of nicely, I don’t mean to be a smartass, but that sounded rather political? Her smile came back for a return engagement. There’s no denying that it was a great smile. “Are you asking if you will be paid while in testing and afterwards, let me just say in a few years of service, you could retire before you’re 25 if you so wish”.

  Retire, are you kidding me, I haven’t even joined the work force yet and she has me retiring. On the other hand some spending money would be nice to have. I suppose this little bit of testing won’t hurt any, plus I’ll need to keep busy anyway, if I’m to survive the old Coast Guard housing situation over the next six weeks. So be it I’m game, let’s do this.

  “Okay, I’m all your’s, what did you want me to do first”?

  65

  A look of relief came over her, as she let out a sizable breath. “That’s wonderful Billy Speer, so I guess we can start with that glass on the end of the tray under the TV”. I gave Nurse Mattie kind of a puzzled look. “Don’t worry it’s a plas-tic glass”. Nodding my approval, I started to concentrate. Gathering my focus on the glass, then I stopped. “This may sound stupid, but what was it exactly that you wanted me to do with the glass”? “Whoops, a little bit of instruction might be in order. Now hold your hand out like you’re already hold-ing the glass, and make it come to your hand okay”.

  Let’s try this again, concentrate, focus, maintain a bit of anger, not much but enough to be forceful. Glass in my hand,nothing, Glass get in my hand, Nothing. “Are you attempting the glass yet”? I didn’t know what was wrong. “I’m sorry I’m trying”. She snapped back, “Do, or do not, there is no try”. I started to get angry when, “Hey wait a minute, that’s from Star Wars”. “I too like to throw out a good Star wars refer-ence myself, Billy Speer. “I guess it must feel a bit like Yoda training young Luke”, I replied. “Somewhat, but I don’t need a cane, at least not yet”

  Looks like we just might make a good team after all. “Was your focus on the glass, and the glass only”? “Yeah, I just don’t know what happened this time. The TV came on nice and easy, and the channel changed just fine, so I can’t really say”. Nurse Mattie was silent for a moment then said, “What do you think the difference was between the glass and the TV”? I mulled it over for a second and replied, “The only thing I can think of was I really wanted to watch Criminal Minds, and Hellraiser, but the glass, not so much”. That’s all I could come up with knowing that I really didn’t want the

  66

  glass, but the other two things I did.

  “I think there may be a pattern here, of things that interest you and those that don’t, so try and remember Billy Speer, that everything we try is for your growth, so let’s focus the thought of everything that I ask you to do is something that you really want okay”. Sounded a little corny, but alright. “So you want me to fake it”? “Basically yes, now let’s try again, and focus around the thought that you really want the glass”.

  This is starting to become a lot like school, excel in classes I like, and flounder in classes that bore the hell out of me. Enough of that, time to focus, concentrate, okay hold my hand out, and focus on the glass, nothing but the glass. So far so good, I want that glass to get in my hand now! Wow, the glass jetted towards my hand as if someone had thrown it at me. It went right in my hand, but I was so startled, I dropped it before I could get a grip around it.

  “Not bad”, Nurse Mattie said giving me the thumbs up sign. She picked the glass up from the side of the bed where it landed, and walked it back over to the mobile tray. “Now this time do the same thing, except don’t become startled”. Once again I nodded as if mute, but here we go, focus, concentrate, hand out, ready, I want that glass in my hand now! Once again it flew across the room, but this time I was ready for it. As it made its way to my hand, I waited for the glass to hit the palm of my hand, then I successfully clamped my hand around it, almost like a catcher reeling in a fastball, my Dad would have been proud.

  A quiet round of applause from Nurse Mattie was her way of showing she was pleased with my results, as was I. “Very nice, very nice indeed”, she held her hand out for the

  67

  glass, I obliged her request and she took the glass and put it back on the tray. As she turn back towards me, “this time put the ping pong ball in the glass”. I was going to ask why, but I’m sure the answer would make my head hurt again, so onward we go.

  “This time put all of your efforts into the ball going into the cup, be firm, forceful, and focused”. She came back over by the bed and pulled a pair of rubber gloves out of her smock. I was beginning to think that her smock was magic for every time she put her hand into one of the pockets, she always managed to pull something out. She managed a phone, two cans of Dr. Pepper, countless pairs of gloves, and of course the glass, ping pong ball, and the bag of nacho cheese Doritos. The depth of these pockets seemed endless.

  Nurse Mattie handed me the gloves to put on which I did. I wasn’t quite sure who this was supposed to protect, me or the ball. After snapping the gloves on Nurse Mattie began, “Just to satisfy my own curiosity, if you’re having trouble with the ball, see if guiding it with your hands will help”. I must have given her a puzzled look. “Just humor me okay”.

  This one might prove to be a bit tricky, but here goes. Focus, concentrate, Pin Pong ball go into the glass, the ball rolled back and forth for a second and then nothing. Ping Pong ball go into the glass now! The ball flew right on the side of the glass, and bounced around the room for a bit. This was getting frustrating. “Billy, if you would, use your hand as if it were a guide to place it in the glass”. Nodding in agreement as she put the ball back on the tray, I watched the ball the entire time, trying to get my focus. I wanted that damn ball in the glass so bad I could taste it.

  68

  Raising my arm and pointing at the ball I tried again. Ping Pong ball rise when my finger rises, it was air born just a couple of inches. I lifted my hand a little higher, the ball followed suit. It was almost at the top of the glass, come on you can do it. I moved my hand slightly higher and the ball was a good two inches above the glass. Stay focused, I moved my arm just a little to the left until the ball was directly over the glass. There, dead center, I lowered my finger aiming at the bottom of the glass, Ping Pong ball release! Plinkety plink, the sound of it bouncing around the glass was almost as awe-some as to how it got in there. A little more practice and I could start doing Jedi mind tricks, it was just a thought.

  Nurse Mattie brought both hands up to her mouth, as if to stifle the delight of my accomplishment. It didn’t work to well, she got loud. “Oh Billy Speer, that was just amazing. The short amount of time you’ve been trying this, and to get these results so quickly, well I’m just so, so, pleased for you”. I had to put up a finger to my mouth to give her a hint that she was a little too loud. That’s okay, I was excited too.

  Just as quick as she got excited, she turned for the corner of the room and got on her phone, making
sure of course that she was far enough away from me. Was she calling her boss about my progress, or was she expediting a paycheck for yours truly. Whatever she was doing, she did it quickly, and quietly. That left me with one more question, “Now what did you want me to do with the Doritos”? Nurse Mattie turned back towards me, “Why eat them of course, they should tide you over until the pizza arrives that I just ordered”. She looked at me and then at the Doritos sitting on the mobile tray across the room, and then back at me. “Don’t expect me

  69

  Thank you for evaluating PDF to ePub Converter.

  To get full version, you need to purchase the software from: http://www.pdf-epub-converter.com/convert-to-epub-purchase.html

  to get those for you”, as she pulled another Dr. Pepper out of her smock pocket, handed it to me, and smiled as she was leaving the room. As she was walking out of the room she finished, “I’ll bring in the pizza when it gets here, and then I have one more test to conduct, after we’re done eating”.

  The way she was pulling stuff out of that pocket of hers, I was half expecting her to pull out the pizza she just ordered. Well Doritos, it’s just you and me. I put my focus on the Doritos, which should be easy since I really do want them. Staring at them for a second, I motioned the bag to come to me with my arm. The Doritos immediately flew off the tray and landed on my lap, not too fast this time plus I forgot to hold out my hand. The end result pleased me immensely, as I ripped open the bag and munched away.

  The Doritos were delicious and salty which made me a bit thirsty, but I wanted to save my Dr. Pepper for the Pizza. Now is the time to actually get up from bed and get myself a glass of water. I would have to test my foot out at some point anyway. I pulled the covers back swung my legs over to the side and stopped. Okay, I had no crutches, or anything else that would aid my trip to the bathroom. After a quick second I decided to just walk on the heel of my semi-toeless foot.