Champions of Atlanta

This story was written not long after I started playing the character. It involves two major events in Stephen Wolfberg's (Shadow Wolf's) childhood.

The Early Days

July, 1967

"Ok, who wants to play left field?"

"Tommy, you do it. I mean, it's your house anyway."

"But, why do I haveta do it? I did it last time! Stephen should do it! It's his turn!"

"Shut up, Tommy! I'm the captain and I say you do it!"

"But..."

"But nothin'! You're..."

"Hey! Ease off, Jack. I'll do it.", says Stephen as he turns towards Tommy. "Tommy, I'll do it this time but you gotta promise me that you'll do it next time, okay?"

"Oh, okay. But, I hate guarding the house!"

"You'll live. And, maybe a window or two will too!", says Stephen as he heads out into left field.

Stephen cups his hands to his face and yells to the batter, "Come on! I dare ya to put it out here ya nerd!"

Jack pitches the ball. The batter swings and misses.

"Nya, nya, nya! Ya missed!", says Tommy. "Come on, Stephen! Get 'em messed up in the head!"

"Hey, four eyes!", says Stephen, "I bet you couldn't hit an elephant with that bat!"

Jack pitches the ball again, expecting the batter to swing and miss.

"Crack!" The ball falls between shortstop and left field and starts rolling fast along the bumpy ground. Just as it reaches Stephen it hits a bump and jumps over his glove and rolls under the house.

"Aw, geeze!", Stephen curses as he hears the cheers of the opposing team and the wails of his own.

Running to the house he quickly drops his glove and looks under the house for the ball. He sees it up against one of the cinderblock supports and starts to crawl towards it.

"Stephen, get the ball!", yells Jack. "He's headed for third!"

"Ah! I see it! Got it!", yells Stephen.

Suddenly, a rattling sound fills the air. A dark shape coils up in the darkness under the house. Eyes lock on Stephen's face in an uneven staring match. Stephen freezes. "Rattlesnake!", his thoughts scream.

The snake's tongue darts out seeking the second source of disturbance to its burrow today.

Stephen risks a glance over at the ball, noting that there are two marks on it that look like fang marks.

He blinks his eyes as the world seems to slow down. By now, he is terrified. The snake strikes at his face and...passes through.

The snake recoils itself, strikes, and again passes through. To Stephen, it's as if the snake struck and missed. Also, the ball has mysteriously gotten loose. He tries to grab it while simultaneously backwards crawling in a panicky state to get away from the snake but his hand passes through the ball.

By now, the snake is infuriated. It does not like being toyed with. It starts to recoil once again.

Stephen makes one last attempt at the ball just as his right foot emerges into sunlight. This time he succeeds in grabbing the ball, not really wondering at this time why his had passed through the ball earlier.

The snake's tongue darts in and out, getting a bearing on its intended target but, by now, Stephen is out from under the house and running as fast as he can onto the field.

"Snake!", he screams at the top of his lungs. "There's a goddam rattlesnake under the house!"

"Really?", screams Jack. "Quick! Let's go take a look!"

* * * * * *

"But, I swear, Dad. The snake struck and passed right through me! And, when I tried to grab the ball my hand passed right through it!"

"Son, many things seem to happen when we are scared and facing frightening things. Our minds try to cope with the strange things and sometimes we think we do one thing when, in fact, we have done something else. You probably were just out of the snake's range."

"But, Dad..."

"No, no, Son. You've had a long day, a close call, and besides your team won the game."

"Yeah, you should have seen Tommy, he..."

"Son, go to sleep. You'll have all day tomorrow to tell me about it.", his father says with a wink and a smile.

"Ok, Dad. See you tomorrow."

Stephen's father turns out the light and closes the door. Walking to the kitchen he shudders. That snake had been eight feet long and was one mean son-of-a-bitch. It took nine men over an hour to flush the thing out. It took less than a second to cut its head off. Biggest snake anyone could recall in recent memory this close to town. And, to think it had been under Tommy's house and his son had almost been bitten. The sheriff said that Stephen was alive by some miracle.

He looks down at the palm of his hand. "Miracle", he thinks. "I had one of those many years ago and my Pop didn't believe me either." Shrugging his shoulders he turns out the hallway light and goes into the living room.

* * * * * *

October, 1968

The dream was always the same. The sand is gritty under his shoes. Nearby, a road leads off into the distance. Not far away a railroad track crosses the road. The wind blows, a hot desert breeze devoid of moisture. A car speeds along the road. The couple inside are singing along with a song on the radio. Stephen smiles. He can hear the notes of the song but he cannot seem to recognize it. It sounds pretty.

He watches the car get closer to the tracks. Suddenly, a speeding train materializes out of thin air on a collision course with the car. The train blows its whistle but the people in the car cannot hear it. He recognizes his mother and father as the people in the car.

Stephen starts running towards the car and it's as if he's moving in slow motion. He yells, trying to warn them, but it is too late. His mother brings her hands to her face and screams.

At that moment he jolts awake and find himself between the bedroom and the living room. Each room is superimposed over the other. He screams but no sound leaves his lips. Then, the living room image fades and he is back in his bed, bathed in sweat and crying.