The Kansas Rascal

The Kansas Rascal

© Copyright 1998 by Terry Aspinall

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means electronic, mechanical, photographic (photocopying) recording, or otherwise without prior permission in writing from the author.

ISBN: 9781301285242

Published by Terry Aspinall

www.terryaspinall.com

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Short Story

This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations and incidents are the product of the author's imagination, or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, locals or events is entirely coincidental.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Copyright

Chapter 1 - CONTACT

Chapter 2 - BRADLEY

Chapter 3 - MYSTERY

Chapter 4 - UNKNOWN

Chapter 5 - ARRIVAL

Chapter 6 - DISBELIEF

Chapter 7 - REALITY

Other books by this Author

Chapter1

1998

CONTACT

Hi would you like to chat were the words that suddenly appeared on the computer screen catching Brad by surprise. Nervously he hit the reply message button and slowly typed out the word Yes. He then hesitated with the cursor arrow hovering on the send button. Not knowing whether he should either send a reply or just ignore it completely. After all this was a whole new world for him, and he was worried that he might make a mistake or even stuff up the whole computer.

His son Steve had earlier downloaded the contact forum for him and he was still not quite sure how to even operate it correctly. For him it was like a game of chance, of hitting a button and watching what happened next. His brain was by now working over time, worrying what would be the consequences of his action the minute he hit the send button. One thing that was going through his head was what would people think if they knew he was talking to somebody on the Internet. Was he that lonely, was he a pervert or something, why could he not go out one evening and just find himself a girl friend at a club.

After a few seconds he slowly let his finger apply pressure to the cursor button. And before he knew it, it clicked making him jump a little. Almost immediately a little man started to revolve up on the screen. Brad who had been holding his breath let out a small sigh. Working out that it must be the sign that the reply was on its way to the mystery person at the other end, wherever that was. He suddenly realised that he had not taken any notice of the details from the mystery message. Maybe he should have typed in more, maybe he should have signed it with his name. What if it was from a man, or somebody living just down the road. Slowly a little bit of horror started nibbling at his imagination. What had he started, what was it going to lead to, or more to the point how was it all going to end up.

Tell me something about yourself suddenly appeared up on the screen. Brad fumbled with the keys in a hurry to answer, not realising that he could take his time. In his haste to answer Brad began making lots of mistakes, not wanting to look like a novice he kept correcting his spelling. He typed out that he was a musician and played in a local band and was also into magic specialising in card routines, and writing short stories. Then without a second thought and not wanting to take too long, he hit the send button. He then sat back feeling happy with himself, wow he had answered his second message. After a couple of seconds that seemed like minutes to him, he suddenly threw his arms up in the air realising that he had still not noticed anything about the sender. Brad had hit the reply button on the sender’s message, this meant that when he sent his answer, the sender’s message disappeared from his screen. As well and being the novice that he was, he was scared to hit to many buttons just in case he dropped out while talking to his first contact.

That sounds exciting was the reply. He was suddenly lost for words, what would he say next, after all this mystery writer had still not mention anything about them self. He also realised that he was writing long messages while he was only receiving very short answers that basically said nothing about the unseen writer. With this message he took the time to read the answer, it was from a person with a nicknamed of 'Rascal', but still no hint of whether they were male or a female. Maybe somebody was playing him along and having fun at his expense or maybe it was a group of them, all having a good laugh. Brad typed in What do you do, hoping to find out a little more and then hit the send button.

I'm a manager in customer service oh that's great I’m talking to a guy he thought, now how do I get out of these conversations.

When Steve had set the program up for him he had also explained that there were a lot of ignorant people out there on the net. Some would just stop talking to you without any explanation and leave you standing around awaiting an answer that would not be forthcoming. Brad made up his mind that he would not treat people like that, he had started the conversation, so now he would finish it. He slowly typed in asking where they lived and what was their weather like, realising that he was still sending very long messages. Maybe this time the answer would be a little longer and more informative, he hit the send button.

Kansas and it's been a very hot day, but it will soon be autumn. Brad sat up to read this one. That’s a better answer and America that sounds nice, he sat there for a few moments wondering what to say next, maybe I should tell them about Brisbane, yes that's it. He had just started to type in a message about Brisbane, when another message suddenly popped up on his screen.

I have to go now thanks for the chat, catch up with you again and suddenly they were gone. Brad was a little stunned it was all over so quickly and he had learnt very little about this mystery person. He had started the session by bringing up a random chat mode. This had brought up a list of different people on to his screen, not knowing what to do, the moment he saw 'Rascal' he just thought this is the one. I’ve got to start somewhere so here goes hitting the make contact button. And now here he was, after a short chat with a complete stranger, knowing nothing about them. He started to think that maybe he had talked too much, maybe he had scared them away, or maybe he shouldn’t have sent long answers. If there were to be a next time he would be a bit more careful. This whole first episode on the net left him feeling very deflated, he had no sense of having accomplished anything but it had left him a little excited.

Because of this first experience on the net, Brad did not bother to use the new chat program over the next couple of weeks. Instead he choose to use his time on the computer writing, and also getting used to searching the web. This was a whole new world for him and he had a lot to learn, plus he was in a hurry. He had always said that one day he would get on the web, but like a lot of other people his age it was always a case of one day. He had finally taken the plunge and here he was with a vast appetite to learn, and learn it fast. He would spend many hours just browsing looking at the wonders that this technology could bring into his living room. It soon became evident that there was not a subject that could not be looked up and tapped into in great detail.

Then one day while he was looking up some trivia and listening to some music that was playing on the computer. There came a noise that sounded like a door knocking. Down on the bottom right hand corner of the screen, on the tool bar appeared a symbol of a little yellow flashing envelope. Brad froze, for a moment wondering what was going on, this was new he’d not seem this before. He moved the cursor around not really knowing where to land it or what to do, finally letting it settle on the flashing envelope. After a little hesitation he clicked the button wondering what an earth was going to happen next.

Hi how are you today. In reading the message Brad’s eyes were scanning the whole message trying to take in as much of the information as possible. His heart skipped a beat as he saw that the message was from Rascal in the USA. He rushed off a reply acknowledging the message. Just a few seconds later Rascal was back asking what the weather was like and from where was he calling. Brad answered that he was from Brisbane in Australia and that it had been a fine sunny day, all so adding that he was interested in where Rascal came from.

Boy you have a short memory Kansas popped up on the screen. Brad was taken aback that’s right, now he remembered yes it was Kansas. He started to write a reply when another message flashed on his screen, this time it looked like a file symbol. So he clicked the button and up came a message saying that a file had been down loaded in his computer. Therefore he set about searching for it, still very nervous, he was in territory that was new to him. When finally