Harry, 56 or so, no one knew for sure, could be seen any day riding his old Schwin bicycle down Main street in Battle Ground. He collected pop cans to cash in for change and often stopped to talk to anyone who would listen. He spoke of the war and the good old days when Battle Ground was a haven for farmers and loggers. A new street in town. Onsdorf! What a strange name. Harry claimed to have known Mr. Onsdorf, but how could he? After all, wasn't Onsdorf a pioneer? And Harry was only 56 or so, no one knew for sure.
This spring Harry disappeared. Something drew him away from Main street. He was last seen pedaling his bike east on Onsdorf. He stopped, saw a reflection, and was never seen again. Where did he go. Did he really exist. We all saw him...or did we. Can you find him or was he merely an image in a mirror of time. |
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Determined to solve Harry's mystery, you head down the same street, senses alert for any clue. Suddenly, you feel a power surge drawing you to a large green box. This must have been where Harry was last seen. You cautiously move close to box and peer over it at the fence beyond. A reflector on the fence once revealed a clue but vandals have obscured it with spray paint. Frustrated, you write down all the numbers that are on the yellow signs, hoping they will help. FB....FB... Must be some kind of code. "Find Barry?" That sounds like "Find Harry." Maybe its a typo. Maybe the "B" really mean "P". That could be "Florence Playground." The numbers seem to indicate another location, maybe a portal to another dimension or a gateway to time itself. Lucky for you that you have in your possession a device that can interpret the numbers. Cursing the vandals who spray painted the actual coordinates, you substitute the "FB" numbers for the last three numbers of each coordinate. Strangely, whenever you try to enter the West coordinate, the number doubles in value. After several tries, you just leave the west coordinate doubled and hurry off to the unknown adventure that lies ahead. Hopefully this will be close enough.
Cruising to the area indicated by the mysterious numbers, you discover an alien contraption sitting in what appears to be a park. Perhaps it is the twisted remains of a space ship that crashed here in eons past. The clever people of Battle Ground have made it into something useful, but its unmistakable shape shouts of travel through time and space. Something compels you to stand arms length in front of the large reflector. Distracted, you spin the roller to the far right and notice that it contains the letters H and T. Hmmm... could this mean Harry Thurman? Could these other letters represent other people who have mysteriously disappeared? Elvis? Michael Jackson? Makes you wonder. Staring straight into the center of the reflector dome, you try to view the distorted world that it reveals. Twisted shapes. Its hopelessly blurred so in desperation, you turn around and try to imagine what you would see in the reflector. More clues. You can see _______ benches, _______ trash cans, and _______ little mermaids..... put together, they form a three digit number. Suddenly you hear voices. "Fire one, Fire two!" "Torpedoes running hot, straight and normal!" Splashes! Frustration! Tormented, you feel the presence of others who were searching in times past in other quests. Moving to the right, around the alien ship, you discover the remains of the ship's calculator. Part of it looks like a large abacus with 3 rows of large black beads. You reset the calculator by sliding all the beads to the right. When you touch it, an inner urging moves you to slide 6 beads to the left, then 4 to the left and then 4 to the left, working from top to bottom. This leaves a number on the right. You write it down _______ and then add it to the number you obtained from the big reflector resulting in ________. This new number looks very important and you decide to use it as part of the North coordinate. Anticipation tingles your spine. Once again you reset and work the calculator sliding 10 left, 2 left, and 5 left. Eagerly you write down the number revealed on the right _______ and add it to the number obtained from the big reflector resulting in _________. This has got to mean something. These two new numbers seem to indicate another location nearby. Should you go? Its hard to imagine that Harry, such a simple old man, could have followed this path but maybe he was not so simple as he seemed. Destiny beckons. But wait.... numbers pulsate through your mind. 46, 47, 46, 47...why am I so confused? There's a cow pasture to north... that can't be right....but...You decide and then plug in the numbers.
A short drive brings you South to a recently remodeled building with ample parking. You head down the sidewalk wondering what this building must have been before. There used to be a large rotting stump right here next to the sidewalk, a habitation for ants and spiders. Standing on the sidewalk next to the large sign, the lighting for the sign seems strangely old. On an impulse, you walk up to the sign and gaze up into the light. There! In the light! Something is scrawled. Thinking, puzzling, sensing. What is it? A clue, a number, maybe two, but they look funny. Perhaps a mirror image? They are faded and impossible to read. They have been the final coordinates. Your senses tell you that the end of your quest is very near and that you are about to solve the mystery. You look around in every direction but only the view to the North looks promising. Walking in that direction, you suddenly spy a box that looks out of place. You think, "That doesn't belong there!" "Or does it??" It looks forbidden but you can't resist taking a closer look. Will it be a portal leading to another world, or to the ancient past? Will you discover what happened to Harry Thurman or was he merely a reflection, an image of what we all could be.
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