I am here, but you don't see me'''

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Peter "Walkin' Tiger" Peterson. I am mute, (which means I cannot speak,) I identify as a strong opinionated character, but that does not hold me back from doing my job. My partner and I are on the neighborhood watch. We patrol the village streets of Port Evans, a small bedroom community located in Northwest Ohio. We walk the same "Beat" (route) at different times of the day, every day, like clockwork, Sure, it can be boring, but we never know when that unexpected "something" may occur, so we are ever alert, always keeping our eyes clear and our ears ready to notice anything unexpected. My partner is taller than I am, so you could say we are sort of like "Mutt and Jeff", (a cartoon pair of men from the early comic books days.) My partner's name is William Littlefeather, he is of Navaho descent and quite proud of that fact, so much so that he has a small feather in his long-braided hair. Let me tell you what happened today. About halfway through our 2nd "Beat" we were strolling past an abandoned seed mill, on the corner of Main and Mill Streets, when Bill, I like to call him Bill, heard something coming from a big three-story brick structure, that had long ago lost the glass from the windows that were there. I hear the noise about the same time and wanted to go investigate, but Bill said we had to be very careful, because we had no backup. We proceeded though the tall grass and approached the structure. There were rickety steps to the second floor and the air was dank, and cold. As we went in the temperature was 20 degrees colder than the outside cause the sun had no access to the interior. Our steps were calculated due to some of the flooring had disappeared, but still we inched forward.

" What was that", said Bill with a timid tone to his voice.

Very curious, I encouraged us to move forward, as I was just a tad bit braver than my counterpart, whose knees were shaking.

There was a motion in the corner, something fell to the floor and pierced its fragility and went through to the floor below.

'Whose there," said Bill.

For a long five minutes, there was no more sound. Bill, whose eyes had more become accustomed to the darkness of the building's interior, scanned the rooms, there were many boxes, some were in low piles, but there were many more that were five feet high. so, anybody or anything could be hiding.

Bill coughed, the dust was heavy, and his breathing was labored. I had a fit of repetitive sneezing and try as I might I could not stop.

Bill decided that we had better leave before the dust became overwhelming. We slowly retraced our steps in the effort to find an exit, when Bill knocked over one of the tall stacks of boxes unto himself and became pinned underneath it. Bill, unconscious and prone, was of no help in trying help free himself. I could not move the boxes off of him. Being of short stature I had no leverage to disentangled him from the massive pile.

My ears picked up the sound again, only this time it was closer, much closer. What a dilemma, I had to make a decision, stay and protect my partner from whatever was coming, or leave and go get back up not knowing what I would face upon my return

I bet you, as the reader, are wondering the same thing??????????

My partner would never leave me, so I did not leave him. There was someone else approaching, so I led the specter on a wild goose chase away from Bill.

We went from floor to floor, and because of my build I was able to navigate the holes in the floor by easy jumps. I heard Bill moan, which distracted my chaser away from me and back to Bill.

I thought Plan "B", Plan "B" . There was never a use for a Plan "B" but now one was needed. I stood on the precipice of one of the holes, it just so happens, I was looking down on Bill, and he tried to wave me off, and the specter noticed his actions and looked up and noticed me above on the floor above, that is when I jumped down and landed beside him, he tried to grab at me, but I ducked and swayed to avoid capture. I do not know what happened but due to my lack of attention I fell further down another flight of stairs that is when "the lights went out". I woke up feeling funny, and I was looking down on myself, my physical being was motionless, unalive, so to speak.

"Whoa, this is new", I never thought a Plan "B" could go so very wrong. there I was unable to help my partner in his time of need because of my death.

The assailant said "It's just I and you now , Bill", in improper English, "you cannot go anywhere with all that baggage on you", he was condescending in his manner.

I walked over to Bill to get his attention, but he did not notice me standing there, a ghost, a spirit of my former self, trying to get his attention, but, it was like he looked straight through me, at my body on the floor, and he started to weep.

"This was easier than I thought, and I didn't have to lift a finger, just a little minor misdirection and Viola, your partner is 86'ed and you cannot get up, at all. It seems that your walk has disastrous consequences.," our attacker declared with hatred in his words

"You really should have not been a creature of habit, cause knowing it, allowed me to pull off this day. I have waited a long time for this and now it is done, he said victoriously

"I never would", said Bill "have thought this of you"

Peter thought, it saddens my heart to know that someone so close to you could do this to you and your partner........................................................

...And so I must end this report from afar, standing steadfast with my partner in the basement of a three story brick building, on the corner of Main and Mill Street, in Port Evans, Ohio, as I watched the hunched over shadowy figure of someone who had felt cheated all his life, walk out of the building with absolutely no remorse...............................

I remain, Peter "Walkin' Tiger" Peterson, loyal friend and partner to the end. Boston Terrier Extraordinare,