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    Charlie and the Forgotten Indian
    Charlie and the Forgotten Indian
    Charlie and the Forgotten Indian
    Ebook126 pages2 hours

    Charlie and the Forgotten Indian

    By Michael D. Massaro

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    About this ebook

    It is the summer of 1959 in a small town in the Midwest. President Eisenhower is nearing the end of his second term, the Soviet Union is winning the space race and the Cleveland Indians are trying to recapture some of their lost glory. But ten-year-old Charlie Applegate is not concerned with those things. He only wants to be normal. Unfortunately, there are two things standing in his way: He has a paralyzing fear of heights and he has an annoying habit of seeing things that haven’t happened yet – especially in his dreams.

    Feeling isolated and alone, Charlie tries to fit in with the other kids in the neighborhood, but is failing miserably. Everyone except Charlie is obsessed with baseball, a game that Charlie finds boring and hard to play. The more he tries, the more he feels like a failure.

    Charlie’s life changes when he meets Mr. Turner, the elderly recluse who lives next door.
    Mr. Turner was once a star player for the Cleveland Indians when the team was in its infancy, but now he is alone and apparently forgotten. The unlikely pair forge a friendship and help each other with their respective problems.

    But in his greatest challenge, Charlie must overcome his fear of heights to save is brother’s life.

    Follow Charlie in this heartwarming tale of friendship, loyalty and the importance of facing your fears.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMichael D. Massaro
    Release dateMay 27, 2014
    ISBN9781311248343
    Charlie and the Forgotten Indian

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      Book preview

      Charlie and the Forgotten Indian - Michael D. Massaro

      Charlie

      and the

      Forgotten Indian

      Book One

      Michael D. Massaro

      Copyright © 2013 by Michael D. Massaro

      All rights reserved.

      Smashwords Edition

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

      Contents

      Introduction

      Preface

      Chapter One: Highland Square

      Chapter Two: Baseball Blues

      Chapter Three: The Forgotten Indian

      Chapter Four: The Teacher

      Chapter Five: The Game

      Chapter Six: The Woods

      Chapter Seven: The Lucky Penny

      Chapter Eight: Indian Invasion

      Chapter Nine: The Storm

      Epilogue

      Other Books by Michael D. Massaro

      Introduction

      I grew up in the Highland Square neighborhood of Akron, Ohio in the 1950’s. All the locations in the Charlie Applegate books are real and I did my best to describe them as they were at that time. Also, many of the characters in the books are based on actual people that I knew.

      Of course a lot has changed over the years. People have come and gone, the shops have changed hands several times and the Highland theater was gutted and remodeled to make it more viable in today’s economy. Even Portage Path School was torn down recently after more than a century of educating tens of thousands of students.

      However, I believe that people, places and things continue to exist as long as someone remembers them. So I hope these Charlie Applegate books will help keep memories of Highland Square alive in the minds of as many people as possible for as long as possible.

      And I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them!

      Michael D. Massaro – San Jose, California 2013

      Preface

      After the blinding flash of the lightning bolt, it took a few seconds for his eyes to re-adjust to the darkness. He was frozen in place on the train trestle high above the ravine, yet he knew that he had to act. He had to face the paralyzing fear that had haunted him for so long. But could he do it? Could he overcome his fear of heights to save his brother’s life?

      That’s when he realized his whole life had been leading up to this moment. The incident on the Ferris wheel, the lucky penny, the dreams. It all happened to prepare him for this – his greatest challenge.

      And then he heard it – the sound he dreaded even more than the thunder and lightning. He turned and looked behind him, but all he saw was the dark rain coming down in heavy sheets. Had he imagined it? Was his overstressed mind playing tricks on him? Had he really heard the lonely, far-off wail of a train whistle?

      He strained to see through the darkness, and then his insides turned to ice. There it was — the single headlight of a freight train, barreling toward him, still distant, but approaching fast. He knew he had only a few seconds to make a decision. A decision that would change his life forever.

      Or end it.

      — 1 —

      Highland Square

      June 1959

      By the light of the moon you probably wouldn’t notice the many imperfections in the old house on the tree-lined street. The peeling paint, the hole in the screen door, the loose shingle above the porch. Like a photographic filter, soft moonlight sometimes makes things look better than they really are.

      Looking at the peaceful house, you also wouldn’t think someone inside was writhing in agony.

      In an upstairs bedroom, two boys — brothers — were deep in sleep. Leo, who was older, slumbered peacefully in his bed by the door. But at the other end of the room, in his bed under the window, twisted up in his sheets, Charlie Applegate had the strong sensation of falling . . . .

      It started with a tingly feeling. Not unpleasant at first, but quickly growing stronger. And soon it became more prickly, as if hundreds of needles were poking him all over. Then he realized he was falling . . . falling through a black void. In his belly was the empty weightlessness that felt like all his insides were getting pushed up toward his mouth. And the needles kept poking him as he kept falling faster and faster.

      "I don’t like it. Make it stop. Someone, make it stop"

      But it didn’t stop. And the fear gripped him and overwhelmed him and he knew he was helpless and would keep falling forever . . . .

      Suddenly, he opened his eyes and sat up. In the moonlight he could see the cowboy scenes on the curtains, the wood-paneled walls, his desk . . . and he realized he wasn’t falling. He was safe in his bed in the room he shared with his older brother in their house on Grand Avenue. The prickly sensation was gone and his insides were back to normal. The sound of Leo snoring softly on the other side of the room calmed him. He felt relieved, but confused.

      Why did he have that dream? He wondered how long it had really lasted. In the dream it seemed like a long time, but he guessed it was probably only a few minutes. Still, it was very disturbing. He didn’t like high places. In fact, falling was his greatest fear. He never climbed trees like other ten-year-old boys and if he was riding in the car when his mother drove over a bridge, he had to close his eyes.

      He slid out of bed until his bare feet touched the cool floor. As quietly as he could, he pulled open the big drawer under his bed and reached all the way in back, behind the stacks of neatly folded clothes, until his hand found Teddy.

      Teddy was a lumpy, stuffed bear. For as long as he could remember, Teddy had always been there to comfort him whenever he needed a friend. But when Charlie turned eight, his mother wanted to throw Teddy away.

      His stuffing is coming out and he smells bad, she had said.

      He was offended that she would talk about him like that. That’s not how you talk about a friend! Finally, after making a fuss, she agreed to let him stay.

      Okay, she had said, but you have to put Teddy away somewhere. You’re too big to sleep with him, now.

      And for the last two years, he did as she asked. Most of the time.

      He climbed back into bed, turned toward the wall, and wrapped his arms around Teddy. He would have to remember to put him back in the drawer in the morning.

      He didn’t want to think about the dream, so he tried to think about something else. He remembered that the next morning would start the first day of summer vacation. Not counting Christmas, this was the best day of the whole year to Charlie. Better than Halloween or his birthday, which were also high on his list of great days. But those days were over quickly, while summer vacation lasted almost three months. And when you’re ten years old, three months seems like a very long time.

      With thoughts of a long, lazy summer ahead of him and his arms around his old friend, Charlie soon fell back to sleep and did not dream anymore that night.

      When he opened his eyes again, the room was filled with sunlight. Leo’s bed was empty. He put Teddy back in the drawer, and then took off his summer pajamas, folded them and put them away as his mother had shown him. He liked his new pajamas, which were the color of desert sand, and he liked the scenes of cowboys that were printed all over them — just like on his curtains.

      Saying Charlie liked cowboys was like saying dogs liked bones, or cats liked playing with string. He had seen many cowboy shows on TV, and he had read many books about cowboys, too. The West Hill Branch of the Akron Public Library was only two blocks away. He often walked there and wandered up and down the aisles looking at the many shelves of books, but he always ended up in the section with books about cowboys. He had read about Buffalo Bill, Kit Carson, Wild Bill Hickok and many others. He loved the cowboy life, riding horses, shooting guns, sleeping under the stars. It all seemed great and he knew someday he would grow up and be a cowboy, too.

      After putting away his pajamas he quickly got dressed. Blue jeans, a blue and red stripped T-shirt and black gym shoes. Then he remembered that he hadn’t fed Spot.

      Charlie had wanted a dog for as long as he could remember. When he was six years old, his parents said that he was too young to take care of a pet.

      Maybe when you’re a couple of years older, they told him.

      Before his eighth birthday, he spent weeks working out the best way to ask again. He planned to convince his parents using a combination of logic and reason, but his father’s heart attack ended that plan. Funerals have a way of changing things, he found.

      Charlie brought up the subject again when he turned ten. His mother still felt that he wasn’t mature enough for a dog, but agreed to let him have a starter pet to show that he could take care of one. So she took him to a pet store and bought him a fishbowl, some gravel, a plastic model of a castle and a small can of fish food.

      The man at the pet store showed Charlie a tank that held dozens of goldfish and asked him which one he wanted. Charlie took his time, looking over all the fish, until one caught his eye. Except for a small black spot on its tail fin, it looked just like all

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