George Crabtree - Teenage Monster Hunter

1. The Players

Like many people, George believed in monsters when he was little. He loved reading comic books about monsters and watching their movies, as amazed by them as he was afraid, if not more so. Of course, most people reach a point in their lives at which they stop believing in monsters, or their belief grows to the point of them wearing tinfoil hats or living alone in the woods. George didn't necessarily go either way. He kept strong and argued his logic, hopeful and optimistic, always speaking of the supernatural like oxygen: we cannot see it, but it is there, and the world would be very different without it.

By high school, knowing about "faerie tale" creatures was no longer considered cool. Even the Reverend lost his patience with the no longer small boy's musings, calling beliefs in ghosts and other mysterious creatures ungodly and pagan. As a result, George found other interests, still reading comics, but talking less of the beings in them as if they were real.

Strangely, the boy who gave George the most trouble at school was Gus Jackson, known to the boys as Slugger. Slugger, obviously, loved baseball. It was his life. And, like many a sportsman, the boy had several obsessive superstitions. "What's the difference," George asked Slugger one day, "between believing that touching an old statue before a game gives you luck and believing that statue is a magic spirit or an alien, perhaps?"

The question had been answered with laughter from Slugger and the baseball team and a shove up against the wall. That, however, took place in baseball season and there was a lot of pressure on Slugger from the team. During the rest of the year, George and Slugger were friendly, if not friends. They would eat lunch together along with Henry, a boy that George had known since kindergarten.

Another person that liked to question George's beliefs was the boy's next-door neighbour, William Murdoch. William went to an all-boys catholic school, paying tuition with money from his own jobs, as his father was known by the public to be a drunk and William, his siblings, and his mother before she died, were often seen with bruises or even lash marks from a belt. William did his best to protect his siblings when his father came home late, he ended up with the worst of the thrashings.

William's objections to George's ramblings were mostly based in scientific evidence as, other than god, William didn't believe in anything that couldn't be proven to exist. The difference in opinion between the neighbours fueled friendly debate and interesting conversation, to the point that both boys wished the other went to their school.

George's closest friend was Henry Higgins, a slightly younger and much more naïve boy who excelled in shops classes and not much else. Henry liked girls and sweets and wanted to be allowed to smoke and drive a nice car like his father. Henry made a good sidekick for George, a good friend.

One autumn weekend, not long after the beginning of George's sophomore year, George got together with his friends to hang out in the park. At noon, George and William rode up on their bikes to meet with Henry, Slugger, and a girl George had never met, Julia Ogden. The boys hopped off of their bicycles as they neared the picnic bench, George leaning his on a tree and William taking the extra time to lock his bike to the fence. The five teenagers sat around the picnic bench and began to eat their packed lunches and enjoy each other's company. Before William could introduce Julia to George, she stuck out her hand to him.

"Hello, you must be George. Pleased to meet you, I'm Julia."

George smiled and shook the hand, then looked to William. "So this is the girl you can't stop talking about," he joked. In response, Julia smiled confidently and William blinked in silence. He didn't speak until Slugger asked how they met.

"She was approaching my scout troop, hoping to get in, but the scouter deemed it against the tradition. I wanted to know why she wanted to join, so I went over to talk to her before she left."

Julia cut in. "I was angry and disappointed at the time, especially seeing that Scouts Canada started accepting girls a decade ago, but I held it together for our conversation once I realized that he wasn't going to bully me. It turns out that we have a lot in common, so we've been keeping in touch."

"You have a lot in common with him? I'm not sure I need two of you." George smiled, as did the others, before Julia's response came.

"We merely both have interest in science and the world. We also both happen to be juniors in private schools, though I would go to public school if I had the choice." The girl's golden hair was hidden by a red cap and the knees of her blue and white pinstriped pants were grass-stained. In other words, she looked like she would fit in at public school. As for William, he always dressed so formally and kept so clean and proper. As great as George thought it would be to have another friend at his school, he knew that William's school was the perfect fit.

"How old are you, Julia," George asked.

"Sixteen," the girl answered, "you?"

"So am I, and Slugger, Henry is 15." George gestured to Henry and Slugger who were now racing to finish their lunches. "Guess that means you're still the oldest, Will, so you have to supervise us kids."

William shrugged. "I don't see it having to do with age at all. I would still be in charge if Henry were twenty."

Henry turned at the sound of his name. "Yessir," he smiled.

Julia laughed a clear and merry laugh, bringing a look of satisfaction and accomplishment to William's face. George nodded along, surprised by William's frankness that could come at the expense of his perfectly polite reputation. Where was the boy George was friends with? George questioned silently, but saw on his friend's face a small look of regret.

"Nothing, Henry, carry on."

"So, gentlemen," the girl hummed curiously, "what do we have planned for this afternoon?"

George shrugged and William gave a sympathetic nod before both boys looked down the table towards Henry. "You'll have to ask him."