Xavier Hawkens Short Story Collection
By
Xavier Hawkens
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Xavier Hawkens Short Story Collection
Copyright © 2013 by Xavier Hawkens
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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
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I hope you enjoy the stories as much as I enjoyed writing them.
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Title: The Last Wild Siberian Tiger
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I have been alone for most of my life now wandering the lands of Asia. So many of my kind have been wiped out or taken away. Man has already tried to take my life for killing his dog; however I got away with barely a scratch. The humans have been closing in on our lands, building and cutting down trees. As they do this, food becomes more and more scarce. What can I do? Nothing!
My first memory was maybe 3 winters ago. My mother was teaching me how to hunt. We came upon this herd of sheep. We started out low, and slow, stalking our prey with my sisters close behind. Once mother gave the signal to jump I heard a loud BOOM! I, along with my sisters, scattered in all different directions. After what seemed like eternity I went back to look for mother. All I found was red pools of blood and marks in the ground as if something large was dragged away. I searched for my sisters but they to were no where to be seen. It was then that I had to fend for myself, I was alone!
I taught myself how to hunt, watching other tigers and other animals from a distance and trying to copy what I saw. Then I saw her, a wonderful visual of a female of my species. We roamed the land together for awhile, then a short time later the litter came, all females. I vowed to do everything in my power to protect my family and to keep history from repeating itself.
I taught my daughters how to find food and water, hunt and bring down their prey quickly. I taught them about hiding from hunters and to never back down from other animals, for our species was considered to be king in Asia. I taught them how to climb, tho a little clumsy at first, they finally got the hang of it.
Once when we were in the trees, we saw a bear. I saw this as a opportunity to bring down food for the up coming winter and to teach my family to take down animals more than twice their size. I climbed out over a low hanging branch and waited. I waited until the bear was almost underneath me then i jumped. Right onto the back of the bear and immediately sunk my teeth into his neck, however he flung me off. I could see that my family was bothered by not having the big feast that was almost there, but I motioned for them to follow me. As we zigged and zagged threw the woods, they didn't know it but I was sniffing out blood, the blood of the bear, for when I bit into him I know I cut the main lifeline because much blood gushed into my mouth and down my chin. Finally we saw him still breathing but barely alive. I saw this as a great time to teach my daughters to go for the throat. They are quick learners.
Just as I thought nothing could go wrong. We were walking close by our territory when I heard a noise from the past BOOM! I turned just in time to see smoke and where it was coming from. I looked again and my family had already scattered. BOOM! this time closer followed by a loud ROAR! They were in some kind of moving object on wheels. So much for outrunning them. I dived into a cave and immediately saw my family, thank goodness they were OK, or so I thought. Red spots stained the floor of the cave, as my girls moved aside I saw their mother laying down barely moving. She had been hit and I didn't know how long she had, if any, to live. I was determined to find out. I went back to the enterence of the cave and looked out. I could hear the machine but couldn't see it. All of a sudden I felt as if I was being watched. I saw the hunter looking at me threw his scope. To the left I also saw something else that I had never seen before. Flashing lights with a loud wailing noise coming from it. I looked back at the hunter and he had taken cover behind a fallen tree. Then I remembered my family I went back to the girl's mother she was awake and getting up. I heard yelling and more gun shots. I jumped back to the opening of the cave and saw the hunter laying down on his back in a pool of blood and another human ducking behind a tree. She sees me and goes back to her machine and pulls out a different weapon. Takes aim and fires. I'm hit! I start feeling very tired trying not to fall asleep for the sake of my family. Just as i lay down next to my queen I hear footsteps and a voice that says "don't worry I'm going to take good care of you and your family. Last thing I remember I see this human setting down a bag beside my queen, then I was out.
I awoke in a completely different area, very dizzy and very hungry. I didn't realize I was in some kind of hard metal cage until I tried to attack one of my captors. That's when I saw them, my queen and my daughters the front of the cage opens and I hear that same voice from before say "Welcome to Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge, you'll be safe here."
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Title: Pretty Bad Day
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My wife and I had just moved to this town of New Haven yesterday. I had gotten a job as a teacher here and with bills and everything, newly married, we could not afford to be picky. We settled in and started unpacking. Around noon that day she got a call for an interview. "I can leave right now if you want." said my wife talking to the person on the other end of the phone. She told me what was going on, gave me a kiss and left. I continued to unpack for a few more minutes until I laid down and took a nap on the couch.
I was awaken maybe three hours later by the cell phone laying on the TV. It was the hospital, my wife was in an accident and was taken to the hospital. I rushed there praying for the best and trying not to think of the inevitable. As soon as I got to her room I saw that she was unconscious. The doctor pulled me aside. "She goes in and out of consciousness and we cannot stop the bleeding." he said, "She has maybe an hour at best.
Stunned by the news I went back into her room. I grabbed her hand and told her" Babe if you can hear me I will always love you."
"I love you to." I heard the voice coming from her mouth, however she was not awake. She lived longer than what the doctor had said but not long enough for me.
The next day I did not know what to do. I knew I had to make funeral arrangements but tried to avoid it at all cost. On my way to the car I saw a note on my driver side window. The note read:
LEAVE NOW BEFORE THE SAME HAPPENS TO YOU!
I was furious. So many thoughts were going threw my head. What kind of sick, twisted, individual does this. I got in the car and immediately drove to the police station. Talking with one officer I forced myself to ask about the accident. I asked him if the individual was arrested. "No the other driver's vehicle was on the scene but the driver was gone." he said. I showed him the note and he said, "Some of the citizens in town do not welcome new faces easily."
"There was a witness however, he gave us a description and we are trying to locate him as we speak."
I left
the police station with a copy of the report, read over it and could not believe what I saw. The witness was the high school Principle of the school I am supposed to be teaching at next month and his handwriting on the report seemed very familiar. I was supposed to call him when I got settled in so I could start setting up my classroom. My call must of caught him by surprise because he answered the phone as if he was right in the middle of something.
"Hi Jim this is Brian the new history teacher." I said
"Wow that was quick I was not expecting for another week or so!" he said when I heard someone else talking on the other end of the phone.
"You kind of caught me at a bad time my son showed up a week ago I have been trying to get him a job here in town but it seems with the economy being the way it is it's getting harder and harder to find jobs."
He asked me about the news he had heard and I told him everything. He never mentioned anything about being at the scene the other day and I really did not feel like bringing it up at the moment like I thought I did.
"So would it be OK if I went to go check out my classroom tomorrow."
"Sure, hows one PM sound."
"Great see you then, bye"
We hung up and I went to the funeral home in town to do what I never wanted to do but had to get it done anyway. On my way there I had just taken my final turn when I heard a loud pop and a "zing". Being prior service in the army I immediately knew what was going on, I was getting shot at!
I sped up but was going no where fast. The gunmen must of shot out my front right side tire. I heard another and smoke started pouring from my hood. He wanted to make sure I was not going anywhere. I jumped out my door and immediately took cover on the side of my vehicle, reached for my cell phone and called 911. Just as I was about to press the send button I heard a familiar voice behind me say drop it and felt cold steel in the back of my neck.
"Stand up and turn around slowly." said the familiar voice. IT WAS HIS SON! The Principles SON. Just then I saw a second person holding a rifle with a high powered scope wearing dark clothing and a hot pulled down past his eyes.
"I see you do not listen very well Brian."
"NO IT CAN'T BE!" I thought to myself.
Jim was standing ten feet from me holding the rifle to my face.
"I'm sorry it had to be this way killing your wife really was an accident, we just meant to rough her up a bit, leave a note and hopefully scare you all away.
"What is going on here?" I asked
"Well you see I feel obligated to take care of my family no matter what the outcome is. I was trying to get my son hired on as the new teacher, but with a Ph. D. in history hes over qualified. And then YOU had to show up and take that away from him.
Little did they know I kept a 45 under my seat always, AND ITS WITHIN REACH! Revenge was going to be mine or die trying.
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Title: Independence Day
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The air was full of dust and the ground littered with the dead. Every time I tried to walk I was either stepping on someone or my boots would sink into the bloody ground. As my enemies tried to kill me, I tried to kill them. For what? Was freedom really worth all this. Seeing so many of my friends die for a cause they will never know the outcome.
As we made it back to camp on the 16 of August, 1781, I was preparing to relax by the fire when my sergeant came to me.
"Get ready, were leaving in a few days, cannot tell you where, but it's not going to be easy from the way it sounds."
Everyone started out in good spirits until after a week people started to seem to just die as they were walking. I knew that it was close to the end of June 1781, but I could not tell you the specific day. We have been marching for weeks. Many of my friends have fallen out and died right there on the side of the road. This whole campaign has been just one big pain in the ass unless you were an officer. Perfect uniforms, boots, socks, and all the food and drinks you wanted. We were planning to attack New York but I am guessing a higher up sees another plan to win this war and were all stuck in the middle of it.
"Where the hell are we?" I ask the man next to me.
"Virginia." he says in a weary voice.
"What are we doing here?"
"I overheard some of the officers talking. They think that General Cornwallis is in Yorktown and were going to box him in."
"THEY THINK!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, " We have been marching from New York to Virginia and they THINK he's there?"
"QUIET DOWN were getting close!" said one officer on horseback.
We walked maybe another ten miles until we set up camp. I was preparing a place to sleep tonight when I could of sworn I heard a cannon.
THE FRENCH ARE FIRING ON THE BRITISH SHIPS IN THE BAY!" someone yelled from the distance.
What a beautiful sight, the flashes of light from the cannons on the boat reflecting off the water, and the thought that I may actually be able to go home when this is all over and see my wife and kids again.
The mourning came quickly. I was not able to sleep much with all the noises last night. A couple of the guys in my company told me the French had taken control of the Chesapeake Bay and set up a blockade. Now it was our turn. Since Cornwallis was expecting supplies from England he backed himself into the Bay and surrounded the Bay with ships. All we had to do was block his escape route by land and gradually move in to set up artillery. Obviously the French had already taken care of the enemy ships at sea.
That afternoon our company commander was going to give us an update of what has been going on so far.
"Men, we have the British blocked in and there is no where for them to run or hide." "Only problem is I want to go home." "Orders have come down that we need to set up groups to attack the fortifications on the outskirts of the city." "The sooner we take Yorktown, the sooner we all go home." "Who's in?"
All a sudden a sudden rush of pride swept over me. I finally understood this fight for freedom for what it was. It was not about me or the man next to me. This is our land, this is where I was born and this is where I will die. I was fighting for my home and my family. Immediately I jumped up and volunteered. Whether I mad it home alive or not I knew we had the British right were we wanted them and there was nothing they could do. This was going to be our Independence Day!
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Title: The Clues Were All Right There
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Mozart was blaring loudly threw the house
"Turn that damn thing down!" I screamed at my roommate Claire.
"It soothes me, I just need to stay calm, or I don't know what I may do." said Claire.
Whatever that meant made no sense to me.
"It is bad enough you play it so early in the morning that it wakes me up at the crack of dawn."
It had been a long week at the office. A new serial killer was on the loose and there were no leads and no witnesses, hell everyone that was within hearing distance of the crime says they didn't hear anything unusual except for loud classical music. All victims were shot the same way with the same gun.
"Turn it down!" I yelled again, "I'm trying to call Kim!"
Kim was my new girl that I just met last week at a concert downtown. I picked up the phone, and walked into the bedroom to make the call for some privacy.
"Is Kim there, hey what are you doing, are you ready." "Yeah I'll be here and ready to go in 15 minutes." "Yeah she still just sits there in the corner listening to Mozart all day long." "I don't know but ever since her best friend died last month she's been acting really strange." "I thought about asking her if she would like to tag along but I doubt it."
I hung up the phone and went back into the living room.
"Claire. Kim wants to know if you would like to come with us to the concert
and maybe afterwards we can go get some food at that Italian restaurant you like?"
"I'll think about it." Claire says glum fully looking down at her lap and twiddling her thumbs.
"Okay if you do just be ready in an hour."
I jumped in the shower, washed up, and then went to my bedroom to change into something nice for the evening. As I walked into the kitchen to grab a snack I noticed a phone number written on a note stuck to the fridge. It was the address to one of the victims that was murdered just last night and discovered this morning.
"Claire how did you get this address"
"Oh that's Bill I met him a day or two ago he's suppose to be taking me out tomorrow."
I did not want to tell her right at that minute for all she has been thru. I did not want to make her feel any worse than what she already did because of Johnny her best friend that died last month in bar down town. The gunman was never caught and no witnesses which was strange because the bar was full of people I was even there.