really.”
“ Last time I saw anything like that was in a town called Glowers Hook.”
“ My parents lived there.”
“ You want to talk about a poisoned town . . . That town is infested with the dead. It’s like every living person has a dead one strapped to his front and back. Ghosts, devils, demons, vampires, werewolves, zombies . . . I never believed any of that shit until I spent a few days in Glowers Hook.”
“ I grew up there. Never noticed anything too weird.”
“ Anyway, it’s strange for Gethsemane. It felt so good the last couple times I was here.”
“ So the feeling’s so strong you want to leave?”
“ Pretty much. This might be the first time I leave on my own before the pork runs me out. I’d always thought if I decided to settle down and buy a house it might just be right here but . . .” He exhaled sharply, “Not anymore.”
Ken took another drink of coffee along with a final drag of his cigarette before pitching it out onto the grass. He put his cup down on the bench and Connor topped it off. He had already finished his and now thought he desperately wanted a second cup. He didn’t really know what to say. How was he supposed to respond to any of that?
The silence came back.
Ken was the first to break it. “Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking the town or anything. The poison might only be temporary but I’m certain something has poisoned it.”
Connor pointed at the water tower and said, “And you think it comes from right there?”
“ Now I didn’t say that.”
“ You said that’s where the ghosts went.”
“ Yeah, but I didn’t say the dead, the ghosts or whatever, was part of the poison. I only said the last time I saw anything like that the town seemed to be evil. No, usually, I would say the concentration of ghosts would point to some problem on a spiritual realm.”
Connor was slightly taken aback. This was a side of Ken he had certainly never seen before.
“ A spiritual realm?”
“ Yeah . . . like beyond the veil.”
“ Beyond the veil. You sound like that TV psychic.”
“ No, that’s all bullshit. And you know I’m not the most religious type of person but you have to believe there’s some kind of unseen world.”
“ No, I don’t know that I really do.” But even as he said that, he knew it wasn’t entirely true.
“ You don’t think there’s anything beyond our concept of reality? What we see right in front of our noses?”
“ Well, I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about that kind of thing in a long time.” He hadn’t thought about it because it was the type of thinking that led to insanity.
“ Yeah, me either. Until the other night. And then it kind of brought it all back. You become so used to one idea of the world, one way of seein things, you tend to forget something else might exist.”
“ Yeah, I understand what you’re saying.”
“ But you still don’t believe me.”
“ Is it really a matter of believing you? Of course I believe you. You’re not my son. You have no reason to lie to me. I believe you saw something .”
“ But you don’t think I saw ghosts?”
“ Maybe you did. I don’t know. I wasn’t there.”
“ Hell, I don’t really know if they was ghosts either. I’ve been tryin pretty hard to talk myself out of that thought ever since I saw ’em. But I just can’t. The easiest explanation is also the craziest. That’s somewhat of a catch-22 for my old brain.”
“ I understand that. We become so conditioned by what we’re trained to see that maybe . . . everything else just bleeds into the background.”
“ How is that son of yours, anyway?”
Connor laughed a bit, happy Ken changed the direction of the conversation, lifting the heaviness with such a mundane question. Not only had Connor begun to feel a little spooked, he doubted what Ken said. It made him feel guilty but Ken was getting older and his vision or whatever it was seemed a little too
“ Last time I saw anything like that was in a town called Glowers Hook.”
“ My parents lived there.”
“ You want to talk about a poisoned town . . . That town is infested with the dead. It’s like every living person has a dead one strapped to his front and back. Ghosts, devils, demons, vampires, werewolves, zombies . . . I never believed any of that shit until I spent a few days in Glowers Hook.”
“ I grew up there. Never noticed anything too weird.”
“ Anyway, it’s strange for Gethsemane. It felt so good the last couple times I was here.”
“ So the feeling’s so strong you want to leave?”
“ Pretty much. This might be the first time I leave on my own before the pork runs me out. I’d always thought if I decided to settle down and buy a house it might just be right here but . . .” He exhaled sharply, “Not anymore.”
Ken took another drink of coffee along with a final drag of his cigarette before pitching it out onto the grass. He put his cup down on the bench and Connor topped it off. He had already finished his and now thought he desperately wanted a second cup. He didn’t really know what to say. How was he supposed to respond to any of that?
The silence came back.
Ken was the first to break it. “Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking the town or anything. The poison might only be temporary but I’m certain something has poisoned it.”
Connor pointed at the water tower and said, “And you think it comes from right there?”
“ Now I didn’t say that.”
“ You said that’s where the ghosts went.”
“ Yeah, but I didn’t say the dead, the ghosts or whatever, was part of the poison. I only said the last time I saw anything like that the town seemed to be evil. No, usually, I would say the concentration of ghosts would point to some problem on a spiritual realm.”
Connor was slightly taken aback. This was a side of Ken he had certainly never seen before.
“ A spiritual realm?”
“ Yeah . . . like beyond the veil.”
“ Beyond the veil. You sound like that TV psychic.”
“ No, that’s all bullshit. And you know I’m not the most religious type of person but you have to believe there’s some kind of unseen world.”
“ No, I don’t know that I really do.” But even as he said that, he knew it wasn’t entirely true.
“ You don’t think there’s anything beyond our concept of reality? What we see right in front of our noses?”
“ Well, I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about that kind of thing in a long time.” He hadn’t thought about it because it was the type of thinking that led to insanity.
“ Yeah, me either. Until the other night. And then it kind of brought it all back. You become so used to one idea of the world, one way of seein things, you tend to forget something else might exist.”
“ Yeah, I understand what you’re saying.”
“ But you still don’t believe me.”
“ Is it really a matter of believing you? Of course I believe you. You’re not my son. You have no reason to lie to me. I believe you saw something .”
“ But you don’t think I saw ghosts?”
“ Maybe you did. I don’t know. I wasn’t there.”
“ Hell, I don’t really know if they was ghosts either. I’ve been tryin pretty hard to talk myself out of that thought ever since I saw ’em. But I just can’t. The easiest explanation is also the craziest. That’s somewhat of a catch-22 for my old brain.”
“ I understand that. We become so conditioned by what we’re trained to see that maybe . . . everything else just bleeds into the background.”
“ How is that son of yours, anyway?”
Connor laughed a bit, happy Ken changed the direction of the conversation, lifting the heaviness with such a mundane question. Not only had Connor begun to feel a little spooked, he doubted what Ken said. It made him feel guilty but Ken was getting older and his vision or whatever it was seemed a little too
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