The Storm

returned here in 1970. I buried my dad in '71 and I became a huntin' and fishin' guide. The interstate highway system came in South of here. Hardly anyone travels these old back roads anymore, and my business, as well as the business in Ruby, came to a grindin' halt. The town ran down and all the young uns moved out to greener pastures. So here I am. I just hang out, take a few guide jobs, live on my social security, and fish." Henry had rushed through the whole story, and then smiled and said, “That’s the long and short of it. You happy now?” “Yes sir, I am. And thank you!” I said. “No problem. Now after all this runnin' around, what’s your plan?” Henry asked. “I’m going back home, give my report, and do a little research about that building out there. I want to check it out, use Google Earth, and see how long it’s been there," I said. “Google what?” Henry responded. “Google Earth! It’s a program that lets you get satellite images of anywhere on the globe, and I can go back and possibly see when that structure was built," I said. “I thought that only the government could do stuff like that," Henry responded. “They can do it in real time. We can get time-lapse photos, however, and information about things like that,” I said. “Interesting. Big brother is watching I suppose,” he said. “You can count on that!” I responded. “So you aren’t gonna give that old buildin' a rest are you, Son?” Henry scolde d me. “Nope, I can’t," I responded. “Well, do what you gotta do, Son, but don’t waste too much thought on it, 'cause I think it’s a waste of valuable time. Let’s hit the sack, Son. It’s late and these old bones of mine are tired,” he said. “Mine to,” I responded, and I headed down the darkened hall to my bed.

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