Old Alton Bridge
Chapter 3: William gets claustrophobia
The tornado caused debris to cover William, his dog, and his bed. The tornado pinned him and his dog under the bed for several days until the rescue team freed him.
William: I don’t like being pinned in like this.
William's dog: Woof, Woof…
William: I know you're a hungry boy. We are stuck here until someone comes to help. Us.
William: It seems like we have already been here for days. With no food or water. And not being able to move.
William’s dog seemed to understand what William had said.
William’s dog: RUF …
William and his fog resumed idly passing the duration as they waited for somebody or something to get them out of their makeshift crypt.
The longer William was immobilized, and had to wait idly in his makeshift tomb, the greater his anxiety got. William’s dog seemed to sense the increase in William’s anxiety, as good k-nines do.
Hour after hour ticked away, with the only thing changing was William’s level of anxiety. Suddenly, William and his dog heard a faint voice.
Faint voice: Is anyone in there?
William’s dog: Woof… Bark…
William: I heard it too, boy. Were here!
Louder voice: Keep yelling, so we can home in on your location.
William’s dog; RUF, Bark… Wow,
William: That's it, boy! Were here!!
First rescuer: Good job. I think I found your location.
The rescuers then cleared the debris that was pinning William and his dog under the bed. William emerged, gasping for air. William’s dog quickly scampered away from the makeshift crypt they had been buried in.
William: Gasp… Gasp… I’m glad you found us.
Second rescuer: Don’t get up too fast. We don’t want the blood rushing to your head too quickly.
The event caused William to be claustrophobic for the rest of his life.
Never again would William be able to be in a closed space without experiencing high anxiety,
William would fear closed spaces and cramped living spaces from here on out.
After several more years had passed, it was like some divine force brought together three descendants of the Klansmen that lynched Oscar. Strangely, the descendants bumped into each other at a North Texas diner located near the Old Alton Bridge.
Along with William, there were Fred and Sally, who shared similar bloodlines to the Klansmen who killed Oscar, nearly a century earlier. They became friends and started sharing the same North Texas apartment in an effort to save money.
The North Texas apartment they shared had a location close to the Old Alton Bridge.
They all had some leisure time coming up. Coincidently, their leisure time was scheduled at the same time the next weekend.
Fred: Do you want to take a small vacation this weekend, since we all have time off together?
Sally: That sounds like a good idea. Where could we go that's cheap and practical?
William: Hickory Creek and the Old Alton Bridge are close by. The Old Alton Bridge has been turned into a historic landmark, and there is plenty of space in the nearby woods for camping.
Fred: Yes… I like that idea.
The group all nodded in agreement as to the decision to spend their weekend at the Old Alton Bridge.
William: I’ve got camping gear and fishing equipment in our stage facility.
Fred: We can load everything in my pickup truck. The Old Alton Bridge is only a few miles from here.
Together they planned their overnight fishing trip at the “Old Alton” bridge” for the next weekend.
The night before their trip, they were all excited. Sally was very excited since she had never been on an overnight fishing trip before.
Sally: I’m so excited. This will be my first overnight fishing trip.
William; The best advice I can give you is to bring plenty of mosquito repellant.
Fred: I one hundred percent agree with that.
Sally: Sometimes I get a little squeamish baiting the hook.
William: That’s ok … I can bait your hooks for you.
Fred; That reminds me. We’ll need to a lot sometimes for collecting bait.
William: Yea… We will do that early in the morning or late at night. I find that worms make the best fish bait.
Sally: I heard you can use bread. I would be more comfortable baiting a fish hook with bread than with a worm.
William: Bread doesn’t work very well. If you use bread, you will fish all day and not catch a thing.
Fred: I don't know, if you cast your line right, you might be able to catch an old boot.
The friends continued to pack Fred’s truck with camping and fishing supplies from items found in their mutual storage area.
Their storage area was a garage located at the same parking area of their apartment. Other occupants in the same apartment complex used their storage area, which came with their renting of their apartment, as a place to store their car. Their storage area was located very close to their shared apartment.
Sally: Have we loaded most of the items we will need in Fred's trick.
William: Yes… I think that’s it.
Fred; Well, I think it’s time we all get dome sleep, We have a big day ahead of us.
William: I agree.
The friends had finished loading Fred’s truck. They returned to their apartment and prepared to get some sleep in anticipation for the following day.
Chapter 2: Oscar gets lynched and a tornado appears.
Chapter 4: Digging their own graves.