Free The Forgotten Eden by Aiden James Page B

he’d found me standing next to it, clutching the mysterious object in the rain.
    “ A dark cloud of sadness settled on him as he heard these words. For a moment, he stood near the back door as if reconsidering his reaction to the situation at hand. He started to say something, but suddenly the rage returned to his face in full force. He threw open the kitchen door and stormed out onto the back porch. The screened door slammed behind him, the sharp crack of wood on wood piercing the air around us. Before either Jeremy or I could react, we heard his heavy footsteps going down the porch steps and out into the backyard. Alarmed, we ran outside in pursuit, the old screened door slamming again—twice this time—to announce our intentions.
    “‘ Stay right where you are, boys!! ’ he yelled back at us.
    “ He’d already reached the trunk of the majestic oak and was about to disappear from our view. He motioned angrily for us to go back inside, yet without waiting to see if we obeyed him he continued on over to the sphere.
    “ Jeremy and I ignored his orders and followed him out into the backyard, where we pursued him from a safe distance. Moving quietly as possible, we closed the gap between our agitated grandfather and us. We came around the base of the oak in time to see him stoop down in the mud before the sphere.
    “ He stood back up and turned toward the farmhouse. The fading sunset formed a weird silhouette I’ll never forget, with the sphere and the glowing object before it. He started to come back toward us, but then stopped. In one fluid movement, he went back and scooped the object up out of the mud, hurling the damned thing over the stone wall toward the woods. We heard him shout something like ‘Stay the hell away from here!’
    “ Neither Jeremy nor I wished to face any more of his wrath, so before he turned around again we bolted back to the porch. We didn’t stop running until safely inside the house.
    “ The kitchen’s stifling heat had cooled considerably during our short absence. Jeremy moved over to the window above the sink and peered through it in order to gauge Grandpa’s progress. I stood on the tip of my toes to get a clearer look over his shoulder just as Grandpa climbed the last step up to the back porch. He swung open the screened door, the door swinging back with another loud ‘snap’ against the door frame. Still quite upset about the situation, tears streamed down his face.
    “‘ What’s wrong??’
    “ Alarmed, I tried to broach the subject as tenderly as possible. Shocked and saddened to see him cry, I could tell by the appalled look on Jeremy’s face that he was just as surprised to see this. I couldn’t recall a time when I’d seen anything like this, though I imagine he privately shed tears from time to time when no one else was around.
    “ Grandpa shook his head and continued weeping. He closed the storm door for the first time that day, turning the latch and deadbolt until they clicked into place. He glanced through the door’s window to the backyard, and seemed apprehensive, as if expecting something to happen outside. I wondered if he’d seen the lizard or one like it previously.
    “ Motionless next to my brother, we watched him peer out the storm door window again, wiping his face and eyes with his shirt’s sleeve. After several agonizing minutes, he finally backed away from the door and looked over at us.
    “‘ Jeremy, go get the Winchester from the living room,’ he instructed. ‘I’ll get the shotgun from my bedroom. We’ll need to bring them both out here in the kitchen.’
    “‘ What in the hell for, Grandpa?’ Jeremy asked.
    “ He eyed us both tenderly, shaking his head. For the moment, he refused to answer Jeremy.
    “‘ Well?? ’ my brother persisted. ‘Grandpa, you’re starting to freak me out with this shit!’
    “‘ Go upstairs, Jack, and close all the windows. Oh, and turn on the a.c. on your way back here,’ Grandpa told me,