The Wheelchair in the Swamp

A shocking discovery made by two kids on bikes

Melissa was one year and two months older than her brother Tommy. They had always been very close siblings who spent their formative years playing together. Now that they were both in elementary school they had less time together…

… Except, of course, for summer vacation. During their summer off from school bike riding became a daily occurrence — and not just once a day. Melissa and Tommy went on bike rides between two and five times every day.

Being the oldest, Melissa usually decided where they would bike off to and she was usually in the lead with Tommy riding just behind her. For hours each day they rode their bikes through the neighborhood as well as on the dirt paths leading out to the forest.

The forest just outside of the suburban neighborhood was crisscrossed with foot paths and bike paths. And at a secret, undisclosed location deep in that forest was a fort that had been built by all the kids of the neighborhood. Melissa and Tommy had helped build it. It was a place where kids could go to be immersed in their own worlds.

It was in mid-August when the incident happened. As Melissa and Tommy were putting on their helmets, elbow pads and knee pads, Melissa spoke up, “Hey let’s go to the fort.”

Tommy bounced on the balls of his feet, “Yeah! But it rained yesterday. We might not be able to get through The Swamp.”

The path that led to the fort crossed a small low-lying area that Melissa and Tommy called, The Swamp. It was not a real swamp but rather a very small floodplain. The only times when it was under water was after a drenching rain.

“I guess we’ll never know if we can get through The Swamp unless we go there. Come on, hurry up. Why does it take you half an hour to put on elbow pads?”

“Cuz sometimes I get robot arms and they don’t work right.”

“Whatever.”

It was a blistering hot summer afternoon. And it was not just hot but very humid. As Melissa and Tommy biked to the fort they were quickly drenched in sweat.

When they made it to The Swamp they stopped riding, standing with their bikes between their legs. The Swamp was flooded.

Melissa pointed, “That water’s gotta be six inches deep at least. I’m not riding my bike through that. I guess we can’t go to the fort today.”

“And you just know there are snakes in that water.”

Melissa took a step back, “Uh… Oh Tommy. I doubt there are any snakes in the water.”

“There’s only one way to find out.”

“Yeah, I can throw you in the water to see if they bite.”

“No way, Lissa. You know I hate to get my feet wet when I’m wearing shoes. I’m not goin’ in The Swamp. Maybe we should just ride over to the park and go swinging.”

“Oh my God!” shrieked Melissa. She was now pointing in a different direction.

Tommy spotted something in the distance, “What is that?”

Melissa and Tommy lowered their kick-stands and got off their bikes. They both walked around a large tree to get a better view.

“Is that a wheelchair?” asked Tommy.

“Yeah. Look how it’s sitting there right at the edge of the water with its front wheels submerged. It’s like some person in a wheelchair rolled right up to the edge of the water but went too far and they fell forward into the water. Oh my God! There could be a dead body in the water in front of that wheelchair!”

“Well, I figure the snakes have probably eaten them by now.”

“Tommy, shut up about the snakes! What if the person fell in the water a little while ago? Maybe they’re still alive and need help? What do we do? Oh my God! What if someone in a wheelchair just got murdered?”

“So what do we do?”

“We’ve got to go see if there’s a dead body.”

“Lissa, are you nuts? You know what will happen? You’ll trudge through that water as snakes bite your feet and then you’ll get to the dead body and then as you pull the dead body out of the water you know what will happen? It will turn into a zombie and it will kill both of us in order to eat our brains.”

Melissa lowered her head disapprovingly, “Tommy!”

“What?”

Melissa tapped her bicycle helmet, “Tommy, what did I tell you about these? They’re not just bike helmets; they’re zombie helmets. They keep zombies from getting to our brains.”

Tommy let out a snort of derision, “Are you really stupid enough to think these silly bike helmets can protect us from zombies?”

Melissa let out a deep sigh of exasperation. She took a few steps toward Tommy. Being a couple of inches taller than him, she bent down a little so that her eyes were directly level with his. With both hands she grabbed his cheeks and shook his face, “Tommy!”

She then held his face still as she looked deeply into his eyes, “I want to talk to the grownup Tommy now. I want to talk to Thomas. I need to talk to Thomas! Bring him out so that I can talk to him. Let him out.”

Melissa let go of Tommy’s face and took a step back.

Tommy looked up and around at the trees and forest. Then he looked at Melissa, saying nothing.

“Thomas? Is that you?”

“Yeah.”

“I need your help. I don’t know what to do. There’s a dead body over there and it could have been a murder. I don’t know if I should go over there and see.”

Thomas scratched his chin, “I would suggest not doing that.”

“Is it because of the snakes?”

“No.”

“The zombies?”

Thomas let out a snort of derision, “Melissa, you and I both know that there is no such thing as zombies. All we really know right now is that there is a wheelchair sitting abandoned in a flooded out part of the forest. We don’t know if there was a murder or if there’s a dead body. A crime may very well have been committed, though, because I think it’s illegal to dispose of an old wheelchair in the middle of the forest. There could be a fine for that.”

“But what if it’s a murder? What if we’re being watched right now by the killer?” Melissa looked around in all directions.

Thomas put his hand on her shoulder, “Melissa, your imagination is the one thing I’ve always loved about you but right now it is getting the best of you.” He dropped his hand, “What I suggest you do is go home and call the police. They are much better equipped to deal with the situation.”

Melissa looked down at the ground. Slowly, she started nodding, “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks. I guess we should go.”

They walked back over to their bikes. Melissa got on her bike and was about to set off when she looked at her brother who was just standing there, “Come on, let’s go. Let’s go home and tell Mommy so she can call the police.”

“But…”

“What?”

“Melissa, you know I don’t ride bicycles.”

“Oh yeah?! So you don’t ride bikes, huh? Well then TOMMY! I guess you’ll just have to stay here with the snakes and dead bodies and zombies.”

With this Melissa took off on her bike back towards home.

It was not long at all before she heard, “Lissa! Wait up! Wait for me.”

She turned her head to see Tommy furiously pedaling his bike as he tried to catch up to her. Slowing a little to let him catch up, Melissa smiled. It was nice having a brother.

Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. This is a work of fiction. More Stories Here