The Summer Fort

Jeffry Castillo sat at the back of class day dreaming of summer, his eyes already looking passed his teacher, her last lesson already white noise, the only thought in his mind was his summer fort. This was nothing new of course, and quite expected for an 11 year old boy on the cusp of summer break. Especially one who had been working on the same fort since he was five. But now, now it was in reach, the summer breeze and the cool dirt almost palpable.

This is the year, he thought, this is the year I finish my lifes work.

Jeffry had been obsessing over the final installment to his summer fort for the last nine months. He had been so focused on planing his latest addition that his grades had slipped in the first half of his last year in elementary school. This of course was a short lived, as soon as summer school came into the conversation Jeffry had vowed to do all the make up assignments he was allowed to do, pay attention every day and participate. Since the near fun-fatal incident Jeffry had turned around his grades and was passing with easy. But in the last two weeks of school he relaxed and allowed him self to slip again, little by little he sauntered off into his imagination, planing and building his masterpiece. He nearly had everything he needed, all but-

RING

Jeffry snapped up from his daze and looked around.

Summer was here.

“Hold it” the teacher said in all to familiar tone. “The bell doesn’t excuse you, I do”

The students had cleaned out their desks the days prior, all that was left to do was leave. Jeffry reached down and grabbed the straps of his dark blue canvas backpack.

For a single moment there was stillness on the campus. Eric, the old janitor had just finished mopping up the restrooms when he checked his watch. It was 2:00 pm.

Any second now, Eric thought to himself as he laid his hands on the end of the handle of mop.

SLAM

Doors flew open as kids poured out. The calm was broken by the storm. The students forgot something they were taught with every footstep, and by the they had reached the front gate, as a collective, they had forgotten the hole year.

It was just past 3:00pm by the time Jeffery had gotten home. He panted and caught his breath as he reached his front lawn. In an attempt to make up for lost time caused by the elongated goodbye’s his friends insisted on giving him, even though he was going to see them through out the summer, Jeffery had run all the way home.

As Jeffry looked up, he smiled. There it was, sitting on the porch under the clear blue sky, his last package. The final piece of the puzzle.

The packages came every day through out summer, for the last five summers. The first package startled Jeffery, and why wouldn’t it. Who sends a six year old a package. He had just put his back pack down and placed his lunch pale in the sink, then bolted the the door.

“Hey!” Jeffery’s mom called out. “Change your clothes”

Jeffery grunted as he rolled his eyes and closed the door.

“I saw that!” His mom called impossibly from the kitchen.

Jeffery quickly changed out of his blue collared shirt and khaki pants and into his normal clothes. This time he bolted even faster towards the freedom only summer bestowed. He swung the door open and took his normal jump from the porch to the grass.

BOOM

Jeffery landed hard on the grass. As he slowly rose holding his left elbow he noticed what happened. In the time he had first left to the time he came back some one had dropped off a package in a brown paper box. The first paper box had only simple instructions but as the he thumbed the pages the pages became more and more dense with words, harder words and complex drawings. This was neat, Jeffery thought, but alas he could not understand more than the first two pages.

Sandra, Jefferies mother was washing the dishes from the night before, staring off out into the sky.

“Mommy” Jeffery called out but he got no response. He tried again, “Mommy”, nothing. Finally he pulled on her dress, “Mommy!”

Sandra jumped and dropped the plate she was washing, she heard it crack.

“Jeffry, Honey, you startled me.”

“Im sorry mom” his face dropped anticipating a scolding.

Sandra pick up his chin and smiled, “Its okay sweat heart” she noticed the stack of papers in Jeffery’s hands. “What do you have there Honey”

“I don’t know that’s what I wanted to show you” Jeffery said

Sandra took the large stack of papers out of his hand and began flipping through them.

“I think its secret spy plans or a map to build a space station.”

“Ohh is that what this is?” Sandra played along looking at the stack of black white pages. “Okay well you better go out there, your could be saving the human race”

“Really!? You think so?” Jeffery’s eyes lit up as his mother handed back his secret plans. “Oh know”

“What Honey?”

“I wasn’t supposed to show you” Jeffery said as he pointed to the first sentence in big bold writing: DON’T SHOW ANYONE! TOP SECRET! Sandra looked at the random spot her son pointed at and smiled.

“Its okay your secret is safe with me”

“Okay Mommy!” Jeffery said as he ran off out side

That was five years ago, since then Jeffery spent countless hours over the last few summers reading and following the instructions printed on the pages. The instructions started simple enough, go here, go home, come back tomorrow. Then as the days went on the instructions became exponentially complex. By mid summer of his third year Jeffery had learned two things; a package would arrive precisely when and where the paper said it would, and follow the instructions exactly. At the age of nine Jeffery had slowly learned to weld and use tools from a time that didn’t exist in the current minds of men. After the first two years he had stopped asking where the packages came from. Jeffery realized the information was only a one way road. Questions asked out loud or scribbled on the paper never received answers. By year three he had solidified a foundation, erected 8 walls, and built a roof. Now after five arduous years the fort was near completion, and the last instruction read: Wait for package, June 17th, 3:00 PM, 34.0480870,-118.1221193(front porch). Jeffery had read that on the last day of summer, last year, he had waited as long as he could.

Jeffry took in a deep breath and ran towards it. His heart raced and he was out of breath by the time he sprinted the finale 20 feet. The end was in sight, the final piece to the five year puzzle was in his hands, this was the moment he was wai-

“What do you got there son” the deep tone of his father rang out. Jeffery looked up, his father loomed over him casting a shadow ten feet long.

“Hey pop” Jeffery said squinting into the sun. “Its just a package”

Jeffery’s father leaned down and picked up the package.

“Wait!” Jeffery yelped.

“Excuse me?”

“Its mine, the package is mine dad”

Jeffery’s father chuckled “Oh is that so? And whom may I ask is sending my son a mysterious package?”

“I don’t know” Jeffery confessed.

A puzzled and yet concerned look washed over Jeffery’s Father’s face.

Jeffery followed his father through the house pleading with every step.

“Wait” he called out but his father ignored his crys. The two finally made it to his fathers study, this was often where jeffery was disciplined, Jeffery began to tense up, his father grabbed a pair of scissors from the desk and began to open the package. Tears began to well up on the edges of Jeffery’s eyes, he was so close to finishing his life long project and now it could all be undone.

“Please dad, its top secret.” Jeffery said with the last of his waining strength.

Jeffery’s Father tore the unmarked package open, no one sends my son packages, what kind of sick creeps have moved into the area now? His father thought.

But there was nothing there, it was just an empty box. Jeffery’s father looked down at his defeated son, he wiped a tear from Jeffery’s face and nealed down.

“Oh, its top secret, I’m sorry son.” Jeffery’s Father hugged him long and deep. “I’ll tell you what, I will reseal the box, and forget everything I saw” Jeffery smiled. “But first” his Father continued, “you have to let me make it up to you, what do you say I take you out for Ice cream and then we go to the park so we can play some catch?”

Jeffery looked at the opened box in his fathers hands then at his father, “Okay, but just for a little bit.”

“Okay” His father laughed, “just for a little bit”

The two went to the ice cream shop and then to the park like his father had promised, and soon after the first catch and trow of the ball Jeffery had forgotten all about the box.

They came home just as the sun was setting and Jeffery’s mother already had dinner waiting, Jeffery ate dinner then dessert then stayed up a little past his bed time watching TV with his father, all while the box sat waiting for him in his fathers office. Jeffery was asleep by 9:30

Jeffery gasped for air when he woke up in the middle of the night. The box! I forgot about the BOX!

Jeffery slowly exited his room and creeped towards his fathers office, the wood creeked and moaned under foot. Jeffery stopped in his tracks, there it was still on his fathers desk the box. Jeffery hurried over to it.

As he opened the box the room filled with a dull green light, it beat like a heart as it emanated from a small orb. The orb was the size of a bowling ball, but as light as the apples his mother would send him to school with. It was quite late but Jeffry couldn’t wait until morning. Jeffery quietly creeped back to his room and grabbed his back pack, he unzipped it and dumped the contents out on his bed.

CRACK

A heavy hard back school book slammed on the floor after vaulting off of Jeffery’s bed. Jeffery stiffened up and held his breath as he listened for the sound of his parents waking up.

Nothing, no sound at all, even the night had grown silent. Jeffery breathed out a sigh of relife. He walked back to his fathers study and placed the orb in his back pack.

The night was moon less, still, and dry. Jeffery petaled as fast and hard as he could, his breath hung in the air like the smoke of a locomotive.

The fort was almost 2 miles from his house in a large abandoned field. As Jeffery approached the entrance a sensor scanned him and the fort doors opened.

The interior of the fort was metallic, nearly seamless, and bereft of light. The walls came together in eight small rectangles, forming an octagon.

The ceiling of the fort was laden with wires snaking out of the ceiling line and converging on a metal half frame that hung lifeless in the center of the room.

The floor was pristine and made up of eight identical triangles each with a concave apex, so that when they met they created a small opening in the center of the room, an opening just big enough to fit a sphere, the size of a bowling ball.

CLICK.