Marvin Roth - Hanky and the Thousandsleeper

“Mister Kessler - waaake uuup - Hellooooooooo Mister Kessler - can you hear men? Mister Kessler - please open your eyes - Helloooooo Mister Kessler .....”

Walt knew the voice... he knew he’d heard it before. Who was calling out his name? He wished his eyes weren’t as heavy. The voice simply would not give up and he still felt the other man shaking his shoulders. With whatever force of will he could muster, Walt finally opened his eyes. At first everything looked fuzzy, but his vision soon cleared and he begins to recognize a face. Taken aback and confused he stared into Hanky’s round face.

Ray Bergson had set out for his son’s and daughter-in-law’s house. At first, his legs moved along stiffly, but they soon loosened up as he passed through the meadows in the direction of Prisco. It was still early and the cacophonic noises of human civilization were still barely audible at this hour. Instead, he heard the sounds of nature he was so very fond of. Hanky loved them, too. The low chirping of insects, the rustling of the wind through the bushes and grasses, the twittering birds at the edge of the forest. Ray’s plan was to first check whether Hanky was actually at home - maybe he had just had a crazy vision in a dream. But deep inside, Ray knew that Hanky would not be there.

Shortly thereafter he stepped into Hanky’s parents’ house, where everything was still whisper quiet. He sneaked in through the backdoor. He heard the sounds of people asleep from the bedroom. On tiptoes, Ray climbed the stairway and stood in front of Hanky’s door. He opened it and peered inside. No one was there. Hanky was gone. For an instant, Ray was clueless what to do and he thought hard. His eyes spotted the old cigar box at the end of the bed. It was Hanky’s treasure chest and now it stood wide open. Ray walked over to the bed, picked up the box and stared inside. Gone. All the money was gone. The other small treasures the boy had collected over time -glass marbles, a picture of a dog Hanky had once cut out of a magazine, a piece of strangely shaped wood Hanky had brought home from the forest - they were all spread out on the blanket. Yet the coins and bills Hanky had saved over the years, they were gone. It wasn’t much, and the boy had never needed any money and had no idea how to make a purchase. And now the money was gone. Something had to have happened to Hanky : a change. He was gone and he probably had taken the money with him. Where had he gone? Where was Hanky?

Finally, Walt Kessler had enough strength to sit up. Hanky supported his back. Walt still felt drowsy and terribly exhausted. He studied Hanky’s face and knew that the young man was no longer the same Hanky he had once known. He even looked different. Like a man. Attentive and eager eyes communicated with his from Hanky’s face. Hanky was no longer the childlike village idiot, Hanky was definitely a man.

“ How did you get here, Hanky ?,” Walt Kessler wanted to know.

“Take it easy, Mr. Kessler. I will first have to take you to a safe place - or at least somewhere where you can rest. You look rather worn out. ”

Having said that, Hanky grabbed Walt under the armpits and put him on his own two feet, albeit he still seemed quite shaky. Then he placed an arm around the other man’s hip and they walked toward the road together. Initially, Walt continued to have trouble to stay on his feet, but he gradually regained his strength. It was the exhaustion that kept him dragging, wanting to sleep. They marched along the country road for two hours, taking several breaks. Finally Hanky saw a small farm house sitting a ways back from the street. They didn’t waste any time to look for a path. Hanky and Walt took a shortcut across the meadow straight in the direction of the farm house. It was peaceful and quiet and they could not even hear the barking of a dog or the clucking of hens.

“This place looks quite deserted,” Walt observed.“As if no one lives here anymore."

Indeed, the house was not occupied by any residents. Hanky and Walt searched the farm for a sign of life, but to no avail. Everything was covered in dust and a few of the windows of the home had been broken in. With great caution, Hanky pushed open one of the windows and climbed inside. A few old pieces of furniture were still there, but it was certain that no one lived here. Hanky checked every room, even the basement. No, this was it - not a soul lived here. It was a good place for Walt to get some rest. In the living room, Hanky cleared the couch of as much dust as he could. Walt soon pushed him aside and sat down on the couch. It didn’t take but another minute and he had already dozed off. Hanky considered what he should do next. Actually, he should have been in hot pursuit of the creature by now, but he knew he could not just leave Walt in the lurch here. He decided to inspect the surroundings of the farm a little more thoroughly. When he stepped out of the living room, all he could hear was some grunting noises from Walt Kessler’s vantage point on the couch - the older man was snoring.

After Ray Bergson had snuck out of his son’s and daughter-in-law’s house, he hurried down the hill into Prisco. He wanted to ask around to find out if anyone had spotted Hanky this morning. He passed the school house and heard the voices of the children, cheerful sounds coming from one of the open classroom windows. Just a few cars were parked on the small school parking lot, including the one of Richard Miller, who was a reporter with the local paper. He’d probably chauffeured his wife to school. Ray decided to wait until he could ask Richard about Hanky. A few minutes later, Richard stepped out of the school house. He noticed Ray Bergson, waved and came over to the old man, smiling.

“Morning Ray,” he called from a few feet away.“Is your grandson doing any better today?”

Soon Ray Bergson knew in great detail what had happened the day before. Richard also shared the specifics of the frightful murder that had taken place alongside the country road overnight. Ray listened attentively and recalled the grizzly event that had taken place in the woods so many years ago. He could not understand why his mind would bring up this memory while he was listening to Richard Smith. Finally, he raised his hand to stop the endless stream of words that flooded out of the reporter’s mouth and simply said: “ Hank’s gone .”

Richard Miller smelled a good story. Even as the old man uttered the first few words, the newsman figured he’d made the connection. Ray confided in him about the premonitions he’d had in the morning after he first woke from his restless sleep. After some hesitation, Ray even disclosed the old secret of what had happened to his brother-in-law. All of these stories combined with the incident his wife had told him about were enough for the reporter to follow up on the lead. He quickly dismissed all of the chores he’d had on the list for today. No one would be interested in the corn harvest after they heard about all these fascinating tales.

The men decided to first talk to the doctor and subsequently head out to look for Hank. Richard ran back into the school house for an instant to tell his wife that he and Ray would be searching for the old man’s grandson. Minutes later, the twosome walked over to Doctor Ness’ practice.

It proved difficult for the creature to use its victim’s thoughts and memories for the purpose of navigation. Apparently Padre Frank Marcus was about to go insane. The host body seemed to work rather well and listened to its commands, but that was rather useless given that the thing had so much trouble getting to the information it needed.

“Where is your home?,” the being asked without making a sound.

“Oh God! There it is again! The Evil has taken a hold of me! I hear voices. It must be a demon. Is the Lord testing me? What can I do, what do I do?”