Spider Lake by Gregg Hangebrauck Page A

You boys have any change in yer pockets? You see, some coins are needed as part of the equation which calls the exotics, that is the exotic critters from the woods. It never works on everyday animals such as raccoons, or porcupines or possums. Without the coins though, the call would not work.”
    The boys reached into their pockets and produced seventy-eight cents between the two of them, and handed the change over to the man. He looked at the change in his hand, and did some figuring in his head, and decided that it would be enough to make the animal call happen.
    “Okay boys, you stand here, and you stand— here.” He positioned the boys in a precise way by nudging them this way and that with his free hand.
    “You must stay perfectly still or you will break the charm. And this is very important, do not fuss about or run when the exotic comes out of the woods. Calling the critters can sometimes make them a little edgy, or nervous, and if you run or make any sudden moves, the incanted critter may make a move for you in it’s hypnotized state.”
    The boys stood rigid as two statues where the man had placed them. They were excited, and maybe a little afraid of what was to come next, and neither of them wanted to break the charm.
    The man began playing a bluesy version of   “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” on his harp. The boys watched in amazement as a monkey came flying out of the woods at full bore and leaped into the air landing on the man’s left shoulder, and upon doing so, grabbing a quarter out of the opened palm of the man’s left hand. It happened so quickly the boys just stood there stunned as the monkey eyed the two of them from the man’s shoulder.
    The man stopped playing on his harmonica and said; “Well what about that! I called a white-headed capuchin monkey right out of the woods of Wisconsin! What are the odds! Why, I am glad I didn’t play “Nellie the Elephant” or we mighta caused a stampede.”
    The boys knew that they had been had, and the man really had the monkey as a pet, but it didn’t matter to them. The seventy-eight cents that they had given the man was well worth the show. The monkey kept eyeing each boy in turn, and it seemed to them that the animal was not overly friendly even though it had an almost human-like smile on it’s tiny face.
    “Say boys, I was not being totally up and up with you about this here monkey. His name is Morris the third and he is my travelin partner. I started out organ grindin from town to town with Morris’ grand-pap. With each new town it would be okay for awhile, but afterwards, the townsfolk would get annoyed at my playing and run me out. Then, when I returned the next year they would make me go around town, or keep to the outskirts because they said a was disturbin the peace. I had a run with the big tent circuses with Morris’s pap for a stretch, but in the end, they said I was a little too advanced in years to be in the big shows and I should work the carnivals. I had to trade in my barrel organ for this here harp, but we still get by okay playing carnivals and such. Say boys, my bones are tired and my dogs are barkin. You wouldn’t know where a man might rent a place that takes exotics would you?”
    Ben told the organ-grinder about his family resort, a thing that he would regret for many years to come. The stay for the old man in cabin number six would last little more than a week, ending with the old man dying of natural causes in his sleep. The stay for Morris, however would be a few years, resulting in the loss of business and ultimately, the loss of the family resort.

CHAPTER SIX
Therapy Part Two ( Present Day )

    octor Levine continued with his questioning: “Ben, let’s examine the segment in which the old man hugs you at the coctail party. Why do you think that the old man is hugging you in the dream?”
    “I don’t have a clue. I only knew the old guy for about a week. Maybe he is trying to apologize for having put me through hell