The Fantastical Tales of Ben Phelan - Story 1 Read online

  The Fantastical Tales of Ben Phelan

  Story One

  Copyright: Jean Hopkins

  Published: 3/27/2012

  The right of Jean Hopkins to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please go to http://www.Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Find out more about the author and upcoming books online at http://www.jeanhopkins.com or @jeanhopkinsblog

  The Fantastical Tales of Ben Phelan - Story One

  The black-haired blue-eyed boy sat between a tiny, shivering girl and a tall, thin boy. They took up three of seven children, all arranged in a circle, all equally varied in appearance. The oldest of them was 14, while the youngest had barely turned nine the day before.

  "I swear it's true," the lad said, pulling a face at the kid directly across from him. "You take that back or Ben Phelan will come back to haunt you and you'll never be able to sleep again without worrying you'll die in your sleep." The last words were uttered in a whisper, the promise of retribution dripping into their young ears.

  "No way," the other child said, attempting to wipe the fear from his eyes. "My Grampa's ghost will keep me safe from him. He was a soldier and could kick any stupid ghost's butt!"

  "Let me tell you what happened to the last kid who said my great-great-great grandfather's life was a lie."

  The group of children collectively inhaled, the very air filling with their mixture of excitement and trepidation.

  "As you all know, Ben was my great-great-great grandfather. All of us firstborn were named after him. We all look like him, sound like him, talk like him. You could even say we were him," the kid started off, his blue eyes lighting up with some strange inner possession.

  "It was a night like this one. My great-grandfather was telling of his grandfather's life. A stupid girl insisted he was lying, that no-one was capable of those things. Her name was Mary Lee. Do you know where Mary Lee is now?"

  The circle of children shook their heads, leaning into to catch every word.

  "She's dead. Murdered."

  Smiling at the sound of their inhalations, Ben continued.

  "She foolishly disregarded the power. That night, she went to sleep in her big, warm bed. Her Mommy kissed her goodnight, promised her Daddy would kiss her goodnight when he came home from work. As soon as her Mommy left, she felt the air cool."

  "Did she leave the window open or something?"

  Ben turned his head to glare at the other child, his lips turning down in anger.

  "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."

  "Don't let it happen again."

  Mary Lee looked over at her window, wondering why the room was suddenly ice-box cold. Shivering, she pulled her blankets up to her chin. A light suddenly appeared at the end of her bed, growing in size right before her eyes. It changed between green and red, occasionally hinting at yellow. Her small frame pressed further and further back into her pillows as she tried to get away from whatever it was. Her blankets were nearly over her head by the time the light stopped growing. It pulsed for a few seconds before the spitting image of her friend Ben's father appeared.

  "Mary Lee, I have come to exact retribution for your disbelief," the light said. Where the eyes should have been, twin flames were instead. When he spoke, it was as though he were in her head. His mouth never moved from its angry slash, and the form's hands were filled with angry red balls of fire.

  "I…I believe," Mary Lee said hastily, her voice a hoarse approximation of its usual sound. "Don't hurt me!" she wailed, her face twisting into a mass of agonized fear.

  "Even now you lie, Mary Lee, in the face of your own death. You think only of yourself, assuming your dreams could hold even a candle to the truth that I am. Why is it so hard to believe there could be one such as me?"

  "I, I don't know," was the stammered reply. Mary Lee's frantic pinching at her arm interrupted the proceeding silence as the specter seemed to grow in size, in anger.

  "Every word my boy said was truth. I may be dead now, but still my power persists. It is in all of my children and theirs and on, through the centuries, a constant part of that which is mine. If my boy wanted, this could be his doing. He is still but a child and has not yet learned to let his anger loose as I have."

  Mary Lee could only stare from above her pink-flowered blanket, her legs trembling beneath the covers. The room was no longer filled with the icy chill of death. Ben's anger was rapidly filling the room with a roaring heat unlike any summer Mary Lee had ever experienced before. She watched as Ben moved a hand toward her, the ball of fire in it twice the size it had been before. He tilted his hand, dropping the ball onto her blanket.

  "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" screamed the stupid girl, still back-pedaling on her bed in her futile attempts to escape the roasting fire that had become her bed.

  "Mary Lee, what is it," called her mother, her fists pounding against the door. Furiously rattling the knob, her mother smashed her body over and over against it, trying to get to her daughter.

  "Mommy! Mommy! Save me!" she heard her daughter wail. Suddenly, her daughter let out a long, agonized scream, before finally dropping off into utter silence. Still smashing her body against the door, Mary Lee's mother fell into the room when the door was suddenly flung open.

  "Mary Lee!" her mother shouted, scrambling up and running over to her daughter's bed. Her daughter's body lay partially curled up, her back arched in apparent agony. Every single inch of her was charred, with ugly black and red burns marring what was left of the girl's skin. With a trembling hand, Mary Lee's mother reached to feel for a pulse. Feeling none, she fell to her knees on a wail, her tears quickly soaking into the front of her nightgown.

  Ben watched delightedly as the other children inched away from him, the look in their eyes a mixture of awed fear and a secret hope that even this story was a lie.

  "If you don't believe me, you can read the news story they did on it. Go check it out at the library tomorrow. Maybe you'll survive the night…maybe not."

  "What did the news story say?" one brave girl asked, her curious eyes narrowing at him.

  Ben leaned back, his arms crossing behind his head. The girl was either foolish or brave. She reminded him of his own mother, a lady who had no trouble believing and didn't let it scare her.

  "Story said spontaneous combustion. You know, the body suddenly bursting into flames. Funny thing about that story is they've had at least one like it every 20 years. But hey, if you want to believe it was just spontaneous combustion, that's cool."

  Ben stood up, stretching out. He leaned back for his backpack, swinging it over his shoulder before turning back to the circle.

  "I sure hope there aren't any spontaneous combustions tonight. You guys seem cool. See you at school tomorrow…or not."

  Upcoming Releases

  The Undragoning of Meryl Bennett

  Meryl finds herself chased out of her childhood cave by her Mother, of all dragons. After running for her life, she ends up in a cave on the edge of her Mother's land.

  Waking up to a strange man, Meryl begins her new life as a Human in her usual fashion: with a Dragon mentality.

  Coming in 2012

  About Jean Hopkins

  Jean Hopkins writes stories that range from Science Fiction to Romance. Occasionally some Mystery is thrown in just to confuse the whole mass of words floating through her head. Jean spends her spare time reading Science Fiction, Fantasy, Romance and the odd Mystery book. She loves playing Strategy and RPG video games, doodling with her Digitizer (what they called them before they called them Wacoms), and chasing her children everywhere. Jean Hopkins has a different name in the Real World. She goes by Jean Hopkins as a shout-out to her Great-Grandmother, one of the largest influences in her life despite their short time together. Jean says: Hey guys! I hope you all enjoy reading my stories as much as I enjoyed dissecting plot-lines, cursing dialog, and getting lost in the lives of my characters. Have fun!

  Visit Jean Hopkins online at http://www.jeanhopkins.com.

  Table of Contents

  The Fantastical Tales of Ben Phelan

  The Fantastical Tales of Ben Phelan - Story One

  Upcoming Releases

  About Jean Hopkins

  Table of Contents

  The Fantastical Tales of Ben Phelan

  The Fantastical Tales of Ben Phelan - Story One

  Upcoming Releases

  About Jean Hopkins

  Table of Contents

  The Fantastical Tales of Ben Phelan

  The Fantastical Tales of Ben Phelan - Story One

  Upcoming Releases

  About Jean Hopkins

 

 

  Jean Hopkins, The Fantastical Tales of Ben Phelan
- Story 1

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