| General Fiction posted August 12, 2015 | Chapters: |
2 3 -4- 5... 
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The itsy bitsy spider
A chapter in the book Secrets In The Wind
Secrets In The Wind Part IV
by Delahay
Summary: Jim is a Viet Nam war vet who is suffering from PTSD with nightmares and memory loses. He calls his wife Patience, though that is not her name, because of her calm and patient manner. He has decided he should leave home because he is afraid his nightmares and erratic behavior may somehow harm his wife.
Since I had made the decision to leave, thinking it would be the best for everyone concerned, I thought I'd spend the next week fixing things up around the house. I guess I felt guilty about leaving and wanted to do what I could to help out before I disappeared.
I grabbed my tool box and headed up to the attic. I hadn't been up there in a few years, I'm ashamed to say. I climbed the stairs and turned the corner only to come face to face with the biggest spider I'd ever seen. I think it must have been a tarantula. Being a big, strong, manly type, I immediately jumped back and whacked my head on a low hanging rafter. After the stars cleared from my vision I picked up a loose 2x4 and crushed the spider.
When I looked down I noticed that by picking up the board I had exposed an open space in the floor and the objects hidden inside. After seeing the contents I wondered if I should call the cops, then realized that would be an insanely stupid thing to do considering it was my house. Law enforcement types have no sense of humor about these things.
I found an AR- 15, with several full magazines, a 1911 M1A with a silencer, an assortment of grenades, binoculars, a manila envelope filled with pictures of people I'd never seen before, several military I.Ds and four passports. The passports all had my picture but only one was in my name. One of them was for a Randolf M. Johnston. There was also an o.d. green mechanic's tool bag with over $150.000 U.S. and a log listing the numbers for several off shore bank accounts with a ledger showing fairly regular large deposits. I also found some keys. Some looked like they were for safety deposit boxes and others had labels listing storage facilities and locker numbers. There was also a note book with a list of names and phone numbers.
Finding this cache made me look around for other loose floorboards. After my first find It wasn't anywhere near as surprising to discover a claymore with all the parts, including a remote setup, and a three pound can of calcium carbide. Some fragments of memories and dreams now made a little more sense but also brought up some very interesting questions.
When I was in the service I had been a regular airman first class with three years of R.O.T.C. with an F.A.A. Airframe license and an avionics certificate. I had been in the Air Force, in country, for less than a year when I received a visit from a guy in a suit. A strange sight in the jungle. He wasted no time relaying his message. It seemed he had a proposition for me if I wanted to go home faster.
He told me he worked for Air America. A nice, friendly sounding name for a group of people working for a particular branch of the U.S. government. Some people call them "The Company". Some say spooks. Some just say C.I.A.
This guy said he was looking for someone who could keep large aircraft flying and knew how to use firearms, if necessary, and wasn't adverse to using them. If I took him up on his offer I could be stateside again in less than a year. You know the old saying about if something that sounds too good to be true. I was too young and stupid to have learned the lesson yet, and there was no one around I could ask for advice.
As I sat on the floor of the attic I could feel myself sliding down the rabbit hole, and about that time I felt as if I was beginning to understand what might be going on. I couldn't fight it any longer. I had the presence of mind to quickly put everything back where it had been before I was overcome by a dizzy, sickening feeling as the walls around me began spinning. Then everything faded to black. I don't know how long I was out when I heard a voice calling me. "Jim, Jimmy, are you up there? Are you o.k. I've been looking everywhere for you. What are you doing up here.?"
I wrapped my arms around Patience as if she was the only thing holding me in place and wondered what I could tell her.
Summary: Jim is a Viet Nam war vet who is suffering from PTSD with nightmares and memory loses. He calls his wife Patience, though that is not her name, because of her calm and patient manner. He has decided he should leave home because he is afraid his nightmares and erratic behavior may somehow harm his wife.
Since I had made the decision to leave, thinking it would be the best for everyone concerned, I thought I'd spend the next week fixing things up around the house. I guess I felt guilty about leaving and wanted to do what I could to help out before I disappeared.
I grabbed my tool box and headed up to the attic. I hadn't been up there in a few years, I'm ashamed to say. I climbed the stairs and turned the corner only to come face to face with the biggest spider I'd ever seen. I think it must have been a tarantula. Being a big, strong, manly type, I immediately jumped back and whacked my head on a low hanging rafter. After the stars cleared from my vision I picked up a loose 2x4 and crushed the spider.
When I looked down I noticed that by picking up the board I had exposed an open space in the floor and the objects hidden inside. After seeing the contents I wondered if I should call the cops, then realized that would be an insanely stupid thing to do considering it was my house. Law enforcement types have no sense of humor about these things.
I found an AR- 15, with several full magazines, a 1911 M1A with a silencer, an assortment of grenades, binoculars, a manila envelope filled with pictures of people I'd never seen before, several military I.Ds and four passports. The passports all had my picture but only one was in my name. One of them was for a Randolf M. Johnston. There was also an o.d. green mechanic's tool bag with over $150.000 U.S. and a log listing the numbers for several off shore bank accounts with a ledger showing fairly regular large deposits. I also found some keys. Some looked like they were for safety deposit boxes and others had labels listing storage facilities and locker numbers. There was also a note book with a list of names and phone numbers.
Finding this cache made me look around for other loose floorboards. After my first find It wasn't anywhere near as surprising to discover a claymore with all the parts, including a remote setup, and a three pound can of calcium carbide. Some fragments of memories and dreams now made a little more sense but also brought up some very interesting questions.
When I was in the service I had been a regular airman first class with three years of R.O.T.C. with an F.A.A. Airframe license and an avionics certificate. I had been in the Air Force, in country, for less than a year when I received a visit from a guy in a suit. A strange sight in the jungle. He wasted no time relaying his message. It seemed he had a proposition for me if I wanted to go home faster.
He told me he worked for Air America. A nice, friendly sounding name for a group of people working for a particular branch of the U.S. government. Some people call them "The Company". Some say spooks. Some just say C.I.A.
This guy said he was looking for someone who could keep large aircraft flying and knew how to use firearms, if necessary, and wasn't adverse to using them. If I took him up on his offer I could be stateside again in less than a year. You know the old saying about if something that sounds too good to be true. I was too young and stupid to have learned the lesson yet, and there was no one around I could ask for advice.
As I sat on the floor of the attic I could feel myself sliding down the rabbit hole, and about that time I felt as if I was beginning to understand what might be going on. I couldn't fight it any longer. I had the presence of mind to quickly put everything back where it had been before I was overcome by a dizzy, sickening feeling as the walls around me began spinning. Then everything faded to black. I don't know how long I was out when I heard a voice calling me. "Jim, Jimmy, are you up there? Are you o.k. I've been looking everywhere for you. What are you doing up here.?"
I wrapped my arms around Patience as if she was the only thing holding me in place and wondered what I could tell her.
Since I had made the decision to leave, thinking it would be the best for everyone concerned, I thought I'd spend the next week fixing things up around the house. I guess I felt guilty about leaving and wanted to do what I could to help out before I disappeared.
I grabbed my tool box and headed up to the attic. I hadn't been up there in a few years, I'm ashamed to say. I climbed the stairs and turned the corner only to come face to face with the biggest spider I'd ever seen. I think it must have been a tarantula. Being a big, strong, manly type, I immediately jumped back and whacked my head on a low hanging rafter. After the stars cleared from my vision I picked up a loose 2x4 and crushed the spider.
When I looked down I noticed that by picking up the board I had exposed an open space in the floor and the objects hidden inside. After seeing the contents I wondered if I should call the cops, then realized that would be an insanely stupid thing to do considering it was my house. Law enforcement types have no sense of humor about these things.
I found an AR- 15, with several full magazines, a 1911 M1A with a silencer, an assortment of grenades, binoculars, a manila envelope filled with pictures of people I'd never seen before, several military I.Ds and four passports. The passports all had my picture but only one was in my name. One of them was for a Randolf M. Johnston. There was also an o.d. green mechanic's tool bag with over $150.000 U.S. and a log listing the numbers for several off shore bank accounts with a ledger showing fairly regular large deposits. I also found some keys. Some looked like they were for safety deposit boxes and others had labels listing storage facilities and locker numbers. There was also a note book with a list of names and phone numbers.
Finding this cache made me look around for other loose floorboards. After my first find It wasn't anywhere near as surprising to discover a claymore with all the parts, including a remote setup, and a three pound can of calcium carbide. Some fragments of memories and dreams now made a little more sense but also brought up some very interesting questions.
When I was in the service I had been a regular airman first class with three years of R.O.T.C. with an F.A.A. Airframe license and an avionics certificate. I had been in the Air Force, in country, for less than a year when I received a visit from a guy in a suit. A strange sight in the jungle. He wasted no time relaying his message. It seemed he had a proposition for me if I wanted to go home faster.
He told me he worked for Air America. A nice, friendly sounding name for a group of people working for a particular branch of the U.S. government. Some people call them "The Company". Some say spooks. Some just say C.I.A.
This guy said he was looking for someone who could keep large aircraft flying and knew how to use firearms, if necessary, and wasn't adverse to using them. If I took him up on his offer I could be stateside again in less than a year. You know the old saying about if something that sounds too good to be true. I was too young and stupid to have learned the lesson yet, and there was no one around I could ask for advice.
As I sat on the floor of the attic I could feel myself sliding down the rabbit hole, and about that time I felt as if I was beginning to understand what might be going on. I couldn't fight it any longer. I had the presence of mind to quickly put everything back where it had been before I was overcome by a dizzy, sickening feeling as the walls around me began spinning. Then everything faded to black. I don't know how long I was out when I heard a voice calling me. "Jim, Jimmy, are you up there? Are you o.k. I've been looking everywhere for you. What are you doing up here.?"
I wrapped my arms around Patience as if she was the only thing holding me in place and wondered what I could tell her.
The part about being an airman in country in Viet Nam and being approached by a "representative of a government agency" is true. I was young and stupid enough to take the guy up on his offer.
"In country" was a phrase commonly used by military personnel during the Viet Nam war. It refers to the time spent physically in the country a person was posted to as opposed to time spent in the military anywhere else.
The AR-15 was the standard rifle issued to service personnel during the war in Viet Nam
A 1911 M1A is an automatic handgun and was also standard issue to military personnel.
O.d. green is olive drab green. A common color for items in the military.
A claymore is a commonly used anti personnel mine.
R.O.T.C. stands for Reserved Officers Training Corp. Students in high school and college in the U.S. can take this class then enter the military and be at a higher rating after basic training than those who did not go through it. If one finishes R.O.T.C. and has four years of college he/she can enter the military as an officer and have a higher rank than those who did not go through the course.
Calcium Carbide is a volatile chemical used in improvised explosives.
Airman first class is equivalent to private first class in other branches of the U.S. military.
Avionics has to do with the electrical and instrument systems on aircraft.
Air America was real . There was a movie called Air America set in Viet Nam. The movie was called a comedy. There was nothing funny about it in real life. This is what Wikipedea says about it.
Air America was an American passenger and cargo airline covertly owned by the United States Government as a dummy corporation for CIA intelligence operations. The CIA did not have enough work to keep the asset afloat and the National Security Council farmed the airline out to various government entities that included the USAF, U.S. Army, USAID and for a brief time the French Republic. Essentially, Air America was used by the U.S. Government covertly to conduct military operations, posing as a civilian air carrier, in areas the U.S. Armed forces could not go due to treaty restraints contained in the 1954 and 1962 Geneva Accords.
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. "In country" was a phrase commonly used by military personnel during the Viet Nam war. It refers to the time spent physically in the country a person was posted to as opposed to time spent in the military anywhere else.
The AR-15 was the standard rifle issued to service personnel during the war in Viet Nam
A 1911 M1A is an automatic handgun and was also standard issue to military personnel.
O.d. green is olive drab green. A common color for items in the military.
A claymore is a commonly used anti personnel mine.
R.O.T.C. stands for Reserved Officers Training Corp. Students in high school and college in the U.S. can take this class then enter the military and be at a higher rating after basic training than those who did not go through it. If one finishes R.O.T.C. and has four years of college he/she can enter the military as an officer and have a higher rank than those who did not go through the course.
Calcium Carbide is a volatile chemical used in improvised explosives.
Airman first class is equivalent to private first class in other branches of the U.S. military.
Avionics has to do with the electrical and instrument systems on aircraft.
Air America was real . There was a movie called Air America set in Viet Nam. The movie was called a comedy. There was nothing funny about it in real life. This is what Wikipedea says about it.
Air America was an American passenger and cargo airline covertly owned by the United States Government as a dummy corporation for CIA intelligence operations. The CIA did not have enough work to keep the asset afloat and the National Security Council farmed the airline out to various government entities that included the USAF, U.S. Army, USAID and for a brief time the French Republic. Essentially, Air America was used by the U.S. Government covertly to conduct military operations, posing as a civilian air carrier, in areas the U.S. Armed forces could not go due to treaty restraints contained in the 1954 and 1962 Geneva Accords.
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