RETURNING TO RURAL ROOTS: THE THIRD ADVENTURE OF THE CYANOCUBE BEARER

RETURNING  TO  RURAL  ROOTS:

THE  THIRD  ADVENTURE  OF  THE  CYANOCUBE  BEARER

By  Forrest  Wayne  Schultz

1.     Returns  Of  The  Three

     What a great way to start a day!!  I finally persuaded my supervisor to permit me to do my work at home on the computer.  AND I decided to move back into my spacious boyhood bedroom in our spacious ancestral home:  I am really sick of urban/suburban living – I yearn to return to the rural community where I grew up.

     I had no sooner finished packing my stuff into my car when I received a phone call from our family’s lawyer informing me that my father had died and that the house and farm had been put into my name after my mother died so that I now own it:  all I need to do is sign a few legal papers.  AND my father has donated his body to medical research and wishes no funeral or memorial service for which I am also grateful.  AND my father had, wisely, because of his declining health, leased out all of the pastures and fields to the adjacent farmer, so that all I will need to do is to tend to the garden and yards surrounding the house.

     When I arrived at the lawyer’s office I was pleasantly surprised to see that his son Dale, a friend from my high school years, had also decided to return to our rural community and was now working at his father’s law firm:  he had hated working at the high-pressure law firm in the city where he was treated as little better than a slave.  AND, to top it all off, Dale told me that our highly cherished school classmate Jenna, had also decided to come home to work in her family’s business and will be arriving tomorrow.

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2.     A Most Unusual Murder Mystery

     After I signed the legal papers and finished my getting-up-to-date chat with Dale I went to move into my inherited house.  I had no sooner arrived when I received a visit from yet another friend, this one from my college days.  He works for some kind of super-secret FBI-like group that has uncovered a plot to assassinate a woman at a house in the woods about a mile north of my house.  He has just finished installing into that house a super-advanced electronic surveillance system.  He is very short-handed now so he wants to install the reception devices into my house with me the monitor.  After his terse plea to me to do this, he plunked down a HUGE amount of cash to pay me.  This plus his friendship plus my sense of duty caused me to accept.  He quickly installed the equipment, instructed me in its use and then departed.  This equipment provides both an audio and video coverage of the house and the area outside the house plus a telephone tap.

     After he left and I finished moving in I contacted via the Cyanocube my supernatural friend Michael and the following conversation ensued:

“Oh, Michael, are you there?”

“Yes, I am, Cyanocube Bearer, and I have been awaiting your call!”

“Aha!  I assume then that you know about this criminal gang and their plans and that I have returned to my ancestral home and have been asked to play a role in the prevention of their crime.”

“Indeed, I do, and I have important info to convey to you.  First, your friend and his team have been brutally slain by the criminals. Second,   The entire criminal gang was killed a few minutes ago when their house sank into a sinkhole.  And, third, the woman targeted for assassination has vanished.”                              

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     I was so dumbfounded I have forgotten exactly how we concluded the conversation, except that we agreed to keep in touch.  Then I finished straightening up my bedroom and getting it stocked with food,  most of it in my minifridge so I would be near the surveillance equipment.

     The next morning an alarm went off and I heard the sound of a car coming up the driveway, followed by a video screen showing me the back of a woman getting out of this car.  I was stunned when I saw the back of her head – this woman had RED hair, not BLOND hair, as the mystery woman did!  Then she turned around and I saw her face and was thoroughly astonished when I saw that it was JENNA!! 

     Then, suddenly the answer came to me.  I remember that when we were in high school one time she told me she wanted to travel around

incognito as a blond-haired woman!  Then, after a bit of thought I decided not to say anything to anybody about this since I am now the only one alive which knows about this.

3.     A New Mystery

     As I was pondering what to do now, her phone rang and the tap showed the call was from Dale.  I immediately shut off the surveillance equipment.  To use it any more would be snooping.  In re Dale and Jenna, well, I am going to keep that as my mystery.

April 7, 2015

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Where Is Carrie ???

Where   Is   Carrie???

     For me Carrie is, figuratively speaking, “the girl next door”.  (Literally, she is the girl in the next block.)  Or was.  Until today.  When she disappeared.  Which I discovered when I saw that her car was not in her driveway – where it should have been!  A large sheet of paper affixed to her refrigerator told me to go to “you know where” – that secret place in her study – where I found her brief good-bye note:  she had made her decision to go to the mission field, something she had long spoken of as a possibility.  Details, she said, would be supplied to me by Martha, who would stop by this evening for that purpose.

     Indeed, I had no sooner read her note when I saw Martha’s car pulling into the driveway, and when she got out of her car – WOW !!  Another shocker!  Unlike her usual quiet demeanor and appearance, Martha was clad in a gorgeous dress and was bubbling over with excitement as she filled in the details of Carrie’s great fortune in finding exactly the kind of work she was hoping to do:  work to which she now will be devoting the rest of her life!    Martha was very aggressive in forbidding me to feel sorry that Carrie is now gone from here and in exhorting me to rejoice that she had found her vocation.  AND, before I knew it, I began to rejoice with ever more gusto; AND before I realized what was happening I had fallen MADLY in love with Martha.  To cut to the chase – we will be married tomorrow – she already has the license!  Whew!  As the Bible says, “you never know what a day may bring forth!”.     

Forrest W. Schultz

February 13, 2015

Last year I wrote my fortieth short story.  So, this is my 41^st.  The numbers in 2015 add up to 8, the number of new beginnings.  So, this is my new beginning! Oh, yeah, and, guess what – tomorrow is Valentine’s Day – go figure!  F.

    

THE SHORT STORIES OF FORREST W. SCHULTZ (COMPLETE LIST)

THE   SHORT   STORIES   OF   FORREST   W.   SCHULTZ

1. June 4, 1986   The Autobiography of a Lateral Time Traveller

2. Feb. 6, 1987   A Different Kind of Magic

3. Feb. 16, 1987   The Triumph of an Old Theory

4. Feb. 17, 1987   The Cyanocube of Kalothor 

5. Feb. 18, 1987   An Unlikely Weapon

6. Dec. 12, 1987   The Secret Hero

7. June 1988   The Murder of Dr. Scharf and The Defeat of the Klingon Armada

8. Feb. 12, 1989   The Box Which Could Not Be Opened

9. Sept. 30, 1989   The Defeat of the Poneru

10. August 19, 1991   Soap

11. December 2003   Drexel

12. Feb. 29, 2004   Lady Irene and The Final Cyanocube

13. May 2008   The Baffled Heir

14. May 30, 2008   The Cyanoring

15. May 30, 2008   Cyanoring 2

16. June 1, 2008   The Cyanodisk

17. June 1, 2008   The Strange Old Man and The Purple Ring

18. June 2, 2008   The Great Prize

19. Dec. 16, 2008   Identity

20. Dec. 28, 2008   The Jaguar Lady

21. July 1, 2010   Two Rings – Two Purposes

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22. July 1, 2010   My Meta–Mission

23. July 27, 2010   D. Boone Rescued by a “Bar”

24. August 2010   A Post-Mortem Apology By Proxy

25. Sept. 10, 2010   Would You Like To Be Clint Eastwood For A Few Minutes??

26. Oct. 10, 2010   The Cyanorod

27. Feb. 21, 2011   Avengers:  Old and New

28. Oct. 14 2011   Cyanoring 3

29. November 2011   Cyanoring 4

30. June 6, 2012   Cyanorod 2

31. June 19, 2012   Cyanoring 5

32. Jan. 2, 2013   The Fate of Doctor Fell

33. Jan. 15, 2013   Acres of Diamonds LIVES !!!

34. Jan. 31, 2013   A Most Unusual Story About A Magic Ring

35. Feb. 8, 2013   Place Of Interest

36. Oct. 14, 2013   The Garnet Rings

37. Oct. 17, 2013   Five Years Of ------------

38. Oct. 28, 2013   Jim Knew!!

39. April 12, 2014   The Second Adventure of the Cyanocube Bearer:  The Woman In White

40. Sept. 29, 2014   The Strange Skotonians and The Vanishing of The Wicked

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41.  Feb. 13, 2015    Where Is Carrie??

42.  April 7, 2015    Returning to Rural Roots: 
                                   The Third Adventure of the Cyanocube Bearer

43.  April 18, 2015    The Gold Watch

44.  May 28, 2015    Where Is Ed Hubble?

45.  July 6, 2015    The Water Hose Snake

46.  July 8, 2015    My Identity At Stake ??

47.  Oct. 23, 2015    The Kitten and The Crickets

48.  Nov. 13, 2015    Killer Obits

49.  Dec. 17, 2015   YAHWEH  IS  THE  FORCE  WHO  IS  A  PERSON

50. Feb. 22, 2016   The Adventures of Cara On Planet Earth

51. April 18, 2016  A Most Unusual Task And A Most Unusual Secret

52. June 14, 2017  A Murder Prevented:  Fourth Adventure of The Cyanocube Bearer

53. July 3, 2017  The Quest For Jane Smith

54. July 14, 2017  DO  NOT  GET  ON  THAT  PLANE  !!!

55. July 27, 2017  I Saw A Fantasy In My Woods !!  

56. Oct. 28, 2017  Cyanorod - 3

57. Jan 8, 2018  Cyanoring 6

58. Jan. 29, 2018  Super-Weird:  Fifth Adventure of the Cyanocube Bearer

59. June 19, 2018  A-BOMB-IN-A-BULL:  The Sixth Adventure of the Cyanocube Bearer

60. Aug. 10, 2018  THE DEEP FATE OF THE DEEP STATE  The Seventh Adventure of                                                                                              The Cyanocube Bearer

NOTE:  Not All Of  My Stories  Are  On  This Blog.  Eventually they will all be shown.  F.S.

The Strange Skotonians And The Vanishing Of The Wicked

The   Strange   Skotonians   And   The   Vanishing   Of   The   Wicked

By   Forrest   Wayne   Schultz

 

[This is my fortieth short story.  It is probably my most unusual one.  I guess that is appropriate because forty is supposed to be some kind of special number.]

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     We now have irrefutable evidence that, incredible as it seems, Skotonian agents are causing the wicked to vanish from the Earth.  There is nothing strange concerning the Skotonians’ ability to do this – their computers know almost everything about all inhabitants of the Earth, and their engineers a long time ago developed very powerful teleportation devices.  What is strange is why the Skotonians, who are notorious for their evil deeds and whose very name means “darkness”, would want the wicked to vanish from the Earth

     I am one of the Photonian agents monitoring these Skotonian activities and trying to interpret their significance.  We know what they are doing but have no idea why they are doing it.  One of the members of our team is studying newly developed demonological and vampirological conceptions by Terrans to see if this may be a factor.  Among these new ideas are vampires who are good, vampires who wish to be delivered from vampirism, and demons who wish to end their rebellion and get back into a right relationship with God.  Another idea may be the desire of the Skotonians to confuse those Christians waiting for the Rapture of the Church.  The motive here would be to befuddle these people by causing a “rapture” of the wicked instead of a rapture of the righteous!

     The only thing we do know for sure is that long ago the Skotonians succeeded in their efforts to give Terrans the idea that the Devil is more interesting than God.  As a result, no systematic theologies include the fact that God is interesting, and that the Devil is boring.  But how this is related to the latest Skotonian project, we do not know.

     But we are going to keep trying to understand this.  Not just because it is our job, but because this is one of the most interesting tasks we Photonians agents have ever been given!

 

September 29, 2014

 

The Woman In White: The Second Adventure of the Cyanocube Bearer

THE  WOMAN  IN  WHITE:

THE  SECOND  ADVENTURE  OF  THE  CYANOCUBE  BEARER

“Oh, Michael, are you there??”

“Yes, I am here, Cyanocube Bearer, and, once again, I am so glad you called!”

“I assume this is because of the two loathsome beings planning to attack The Woman In White.”

“Indeed!  And, once again, we are “on the same wavelength”, as you Americans say!  I wish to “terminate” those two “unmen”, and I await your request for me to do so.”

“Once again, we think alike.  I hereby humbly petition you to exterminate them ASAP in whatever manner you choose to be most expeditious.”

“I shall do so at once for the unman now approaching the summit of yonder mountain, which you shall now see on the screen in front of you.  You can thereby watch his truck careen off the road and into the deep lake at its base.   Do you see it?”

“Indeed, I do!  His demise made quite a splash!”

“Yes, I abhor these iniquitous men but I do get a bit of enjoyment out of removing them from the scene.  Now, Cyanocube Bearer, I shall show you the second one, who is approaching a dismal swamp he had hoped to use for his nefarious purposes, which is now, as you see, slowly swallowing him in its quicksand.”

“Yes, I do see him and I sense his wicked hatred for the Woman In White, which has been dehumanizing him ever more, and I too rejoice in witnessing his removal from Earth into Gehenna.”

“OK, now that this is over, I shall recharge your Cube from its Magenta (low charged) state into its Cyano- (fully charged) state so that you will find it easier to contact me and for me to communicate with you.  I believe that there will be future assaults upon the Woman In White, and I wish for you to contact me immediately if you sense any kind of danger whatever.  Will you please do so?”

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“Yes, I will do so with pleasure.  And thanks for the restoration of the Cyanocube.  To use another American colloquialism, I got a charge out of that!!”

“You are quite welcome.  Now I sense that you have a question about our first adventure together.  Please ask away!”

“Indeed I do – you are quite perceptive.  Please give me an update on Lady Irene, and please tell me what happened to those ornery mages.”

“I will be glad to do so.  I thank you very much for the suggestion you made.  I was pleasantly surprised that the mages repented and are now very enjoyable people, and now Lady Irene greatly enjoys being with them and they now respect her highly and give her tasks worthy of her ability.  AND, she now drives up and down the mountain in a convertible, as she did with you that time a decade ago!  And her parents have now read Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings”.  They and the other mages now have lots of fun doing their work, just as you and I do.”



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     The Woman In White cognomen has a double referent – her sterling character and the white clothing she wears.  The name is also quite appropriate for this tale, which narrates an insidious plot against her by the forces of darkness whose leader calls himself Darth Vader and who dresses like Darth Vader.  It was “Vader” who sent forth the two assassins whose ignominious failures were reported above. 

     Since then an astounding thing has happened:  he has been converted from Darkness unto Light.  He has disposed of his Darth Vader apparel and no longer calls himself “Darth Vader”.  The righteous life lived by the Woman In White was a strong factor in his conversion.  Therefore, it is not surprising that he now wears white clothing and that he now calls himself the “Man In White”.  AND he also wears white hats, because, of course, the good guys wear white hats!

Forrest Wayne Schultz

Grantville, GA

April 12, 2014

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Jim KNEW !!!

JIM   KNEW   !!!

     Suddenly Jim KNEW that he would die a few years hence and that he only had one chance to accomplish anything in life, namely by saying YES to the job offer a friend would give him in two minutes.  He KNEW this was from God, so he immediately repented of his foolishness, said YES to God and then said YES to his friend when the phone call came as predicted.  Jim immediately called me to ask me to help him get ready to leave, and I immediately said YES, and went to his cottage to assist him in cleaning it up and disposing of his drugs and porn and other junk, just in time to get it into the trash can for the trash truck, and just in time for him to leave.  The car dealer immediately brought his new car over, having changed the name of the owner to ME, one of several super-generous gifts Jim gave me for my help, the other being his stocks in a modest size company in which several members of his family has sizable investments.

     My next job was to drive him to the airport using my new car, which did an excellent job and got him there just in time for him to leave on his flight to Iceland, where he will join a team of hastily assembled geologists which will be studying an impending volcanic activity.  Jim will finally get to use his geology degree and is very excited about it!

     My final job was to drive to his sister’s house to deliver to her his family memorabilia.   (He knows he will NOT be returning home, so I am doing it as his proxy.)  Erika is a successful businesswoman and a very serious person.  She was angry at Jim for foolishly wasting his life these past several years, and she was very surprised by his sudden change, and she questioned me about this to discern if it was genuine.

     I answered her questions about Jim to her satisfaction, and then I asked her about the stocks Jim had given me, because I knew nothing about this company.   She appreciated my interest and spent several hours providing me with very helpful information.  She is very knowledgeable about it even though she herself has no stocks in it because the family is quite misogynistic so that only the male descendants were given stocks!

     I was very impressed with Erika!  WOW – what a woman!  I am now having my own earth-shaking experience with Erika while Jim is having his earth-shaking geological experience in Iceland!  I am having a hard time thinking straight now, but I am able to think coherently enough to believe that Jim probably foresaw this also!!   Jim KNEW this would happen!

Forrest Wayne Schultz

October 28, 2013

FIVE YEARS OF ...........

FIVE YEARS OF ……………….

By Forrest Wayne Schultz

 

Five years ago I met an unusual lady in our public library. I had an urgent email to send and all the computers were in use. As I was about to panic I noticed that this lady was finishing up. I quickly went over and implored her not to log off. She graciously agreed to my request. As she stood up she held my hand and asked me to please come and talk with her after I was through. She would be waiting for me on one of the benches outside the library. I agreed to do so. It took me less than five minutes to compose and send my email. I quickly logged off, exited the library, and headed toward the benches outside.

When this lady had held my hand in the library, I had felt a jolt of delight which gave me a desire to be with her. As I approached her bench, she stood and this time took my hand in both of her hands and said, “Let’s take a walk!”. Her hand-holding this time was even more delightful. I wished so much to please her that I immediately acceded to her suggestion. We walked through the park and then onto the footpath that led into the forest behind the library.

As soon as we entered the forest she opened her heart to me. She said she wanted me to marry her and to administer the computer operations of her charity. We would work together by day and have fun together by night. I immediately agreed, and there are no words adequate to express the joy we had together for the next five years. Then she died. She foreknew her death and planned in advance for her niece to take her place, both as my wife and as head of the charity. She had prepared her niece for both well in advance but she did not disclose her plan to me until the day of her death. AND – believe it or not – her niece is even better than she was both as my wife and as head of the charity. Incredible!

October 17, 2013