S A M - June 17, 1962
"All right, Ham. This is my heater. I dare you to hit it." The pitcher challenged while Sam took her spot on the fence. Yes, they were talking that loud. More like they were yelling.
The red head of the sandlot team with freckles moved his lips, but Sam didn't hear what he said. The pitcher pitched the ball and the red head swung.
The ball flew and it went spiraling towards Sam. Out of reflex, she jumped down and landed on her feet. Crashes of broken bottles were heard behind her meaning that the ball had hit them.
Scott went running towards Sam again to catch the baseball but when it was long gone, he stopped. The boys started to complain and chase the red head when he started to run on the bases.
"Stupid!"
"Idiot!"
"Wait a sec. I'll get it." Scott said before running to the fence. He started to climb it, going up when he reached it.
"NO!" Someone screeched.
"NO!" The other boys chorused, then they ran towards Scott.
"Smalls!"
"Smalls, wait!"
Benny was the first one to get to reach him and he placed his hands on Scott's hips before placing him down on the dusty ground.
"Holy crap, you could've been killed." A boy with big black square glasses stated. Sam crossed her arms over her chest and walked to Scott before standing next to him.
"Yeah, yeah, truly. What are ya doin'?" Another boy who was tan and taller than Big Glasses, asked.
"You guys were leaving, so I just thought I'd hop the fence-"
"If you were thinking, you wouldn't have thought that." Big Glasses interrupted.
"You can't go back there, Smalls." Benny said.
"Then how do we get the ball back?" Scott asked.
"We don't." A blonde boy said.
"We don't." A similar smaller boy, repeated.
"It's history."
"It's history."
"Kiss it goodbye."
"Kiss it— "
"Shut up, Tommy."
"It's gone, man. Gone." A tall boy with small round glasses stated.
"Game's over, man. We'll just get another ball tomorrow. We'll never see it again." Benny shook his head.
"Why not?" Scott asked and Sam raised an eyebrow; he wanted to know too.
"The beast." All the boys chorused.
"What is that?" Sam thought out loud.
B E N N Y
Benny's jaw dropped as the words left her mouth. Her voice was so soft and heavenly.
"Wow." He mouthed. At that moment, a warm breeze passed and made her shiny blonde hair flow behind her. She turned her head and the sun hit her face making her skin illuminate and her blue eyes shine. To him, she looked like an angel.
"Smalls, and whoever you are," Squints said. "Go to that fence, real slow and quiet, and look through that hole."
Yeah-Yeah nudged his ribs with his elbow. "That's Mystery Chick, you idiot."
Mystery Girl's eyebrows furrowed and Benny knew she heard Yeah-Yeah. She slowly turned around and headed to the hole on the fence. Smalls followed.
They looked through the hole. Loud growling was heard and Smalls jumped up and ran to the boys.
"Something got the ball." Smalls exclaimed.
Mystery Girl got up and walked to the group with Scott right behind her.
"What was that thing?" She asked.
Benny closed his mouth when he heard snickering next to him. He knew the boys caught him staring again. They all looked at each other, then at Smalls and Mystery Girl.
"Camp out." They chorused.
S A M - 8:00 P.M.
Sam jumped up and her hands gripped the tree branch. She then placed her feet against the tree and reached up so grab another branch. She repeated the same steps, starting to climb up the tree. Then she lifted herself up and sat herself down on a branch just below a treehouse window. There were no more branches low enough for her to keep climbing.
The boys said they were having a camp out, but Sam didn't know where. But she found a treehouse that faced The Sandlot and decided to check it out.
Sam crouched on the branch carefully before she stood. She jumped up and her hands caught the inside of the window. She was hanging from it but she placed her feet against the wood wall.
"Okay. Quiet, you guys." A voice hushed from inside. It sounded like Big Glasses from earlier. So maybe the boys were having the camp out in there.
"Quiet! Are you trying to wake it up? It just went to bed." Big Glasses kept going.
"What just went to bed?" Scott asked loudly.
"Shh!" The boys shushed. "The Beast."
"Oh, yeah!"
"SHH!"
Sam rolled her eyes.
"Now quiet. The legend of The Beast goes back a long time," Big Glasses started. "Before any of us could even pick up a baseball. Back to a place called Mertle's Acres. It all started about, mmm, twenty years ago, when thieves kept stealing junk from Mertle's Acres junkyard. So Mr.Mertle, the guys who used to own the place, got him this new pup from the dog pound. He fed him while sides of beef and turned the pup loose in the junkyard. And the pup was grateful. And so, in a few weeks, the pup grew into The Beast." Oh no, Sam thought, This story again.
"And he grew big, and he grew mean so that he could protect the junkyard with only one thing on his mind: to kill everyone that broke in. And he did, and he liked it a lot! The Beast was the most perfect junkyard dog that ever lived. A true killing machine.But after a while, the cops started getting phone calls from people reporting all the missing thieves, the ones The Beast had killed. It added up to about a hundred and twenty, one hundred seventy three guys. It's true." Sam rolled her eyes, that was anything but true.
"The never found a single body. Not one. Some people say they all got away. But we all know what really happened. The Beast ate them. He ate them bone and all. The Beast was too good at his guard dog job, so the police said he had to be retired. My grandpa, Squidman Palledorous, was police chief back then. He ordered Mr.Mertle to turn his backyard into a fortress and chain up The Beast and put him under the house where he can never get out to eat children and stuff. That's where he's been for twenty years. And that's where he'll be for the rest of his life. Because Mr.Mertle asked the cops how long he had to The Beast chained up like a slave, the said until forever. Forever. Forever. Forever."
"And so, The Beast sits there under that lean-to, dreaming of the time when he can break the chain and get out, dreaming of the time he can chase and kill again." Big Glasses finished his story.
"See, man? That's why you can't go over there. Nobody ever has. Nobody ever will."
Sam used her legs and arms to push herself up before poking her head in.
"FAKE!" She shouted.
"AHH!" Everyone screamed and Big Glasses fell off from his seat.
"Sam?" Scott asked.
B E N N Y
"FAKE!" A head poked in and shouted, making the boys scream.
"AHH!"
"Sam?" Smalls asked. So that was her name, Benny thought. Mystery Girl widened her eyes and flicked them towards everyone trying to send him some kind of signal. "Oops, sorry."
"It's alright." She sighed then climbed though the window. She was wearing the same thing as always, but she had the flannel on. It was too big for her but she still looked as beautiful as always in Benny's eyes.
"Um, what are you doing here?" Bertram asked.
"Well you guys were talking about a camp out, and since I was there, I-I thought I was invited. But if you want me to go-" She stuck her thumb behind her, pointing at the window.
"NO!" Benny blurted out. Everyone turned to him. "I-I mean, you were the one that asked who was The Beast and so did Smalls. So of course you were invited..."
"Okay..."
"You heard the whole story? From out there?" Ham asked.
"Yup."
"How?" Squints asked.
"I climbed up here and hung around, listening."
"From the window?" Benny asked. She nodded. "Let me see your hands."
She walked to me and extended her arms. Benny grabbed her hands and examined them; they were flushed with an angry red and covered with scratch marks.
"Didn't it-doesn't it hurt?" Benny asked.
"No, I'm used to it." She shrugged.
Benny used his thumbs to rub her hands. To Benny, her palms felt silky smooth even though it was covered with rough marks. All of a sudden, someone cleared their throat. Benny let go, his face heating up and a red flushed onto Sam's cheeks. The sight made Benny's heart swell.
S A M
"Anyways, how do you know that The Beast is fake?" Big Glasses asked.
"Yeah, yeah, you have no proof." The Yeah kid defended.
Sam have heard him say yeah so many times, she lost count so in her mind, she called him 'The Yeah Kid'.
"Well you said that the thing happened twenty years ago right? I'm fourteen, so that happened six years before I was born. When I was three, that fence was put up. I remember because I saw it with my own eyes." Sam explained.
"And? That means nothing! Didn't you see anything in that hole in the fence?" Big Glasses said.
"Yeah, but it's probably a little dog being possessive. Not a beast! You guys are sissies. You don't even know what it feels like to live a rough life, and you're afraid of a little dog?" Sam snapped.
"Like if you lived a rough life!" Red-Head yelled.
They had no idea.