Tales from the Wrong Side of my Brain

By Daniel Cashman

Four short stories dabbling in fantasy, whimsey and just a touch of science fiction.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Daniel Cashman
• Release date: Sep 17, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463410912

Daniel Cashman

The Author is a Viet Nam veteran. Currently residing in Saratoga Springs, NY.

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Tales from the Wrong Side of my Brain

By

Daniel J. Cashman

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 1995, Daniel J. Cashman

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TEARS OF THE LENAPE

The hiking path leading to the top of Indian Ridge is a barely visible deer track. Its course is steep, winding back and forth across the face of the ridge as it meanders through a warren of fallen trees, thick underbrush and brambles till near the top, it levels out, changes direction and gently leads the unsuspecting hiker past and away from the circle.

At the top Indian Ridge overlooking the Perkiomen River Valley in eastern Pennsylvania, there is a circle made up of small stones, most of which are no larger than five inches across. Pebbles that have stood silent witness to the passage of many seasons. Stones that have been set with a deliberate purpose. A small part of that design becomes apparent on the morning of the spring equinox, when the sun rises through a notch in the neighboring ridge line and touches upon the stone marking the east.

The circle measures 33 feet in radius and is marked at the north, south, east and west by standing stones that are only slightly larger than those used to ascribe its perimeter. Located at the geographic center of this nearly perfect circle is an upright stone, about 12 inches tall, and a second, flat rock placed about three feet south of it. These stones were not set in position lightly, nor were they set recently.

Paul Tobacco has been walking the forest trails of the Perkiomen valley for the past ten years, since he and his family left the fast pace and high pressure of the big city for a less hectic rural life style. While hiking the woodland trails, the formations of set stones that could only have been the product of intelligent placement slowly became apparent to him. Since the dawning of that recognition, he has devoted his spare time to studying and mapping what he believes to be the ancient ruins of the capital city of the Lenape nation: Lenapihoking.

The forest growth told him that the age of the walls and tumbled down structures he found were ancient. Tax and land use documents from the local Assessors office showed that the current forest has grown undisturbed since 1935, when the area was last clear cut. Before that, the valley was uninhabited back to the time of the American Revolution. The mute testimony of the forest declared emphatically that the walls and circles he found were at least that old and perhaps centuries older.

The circle atop Indian Ridge is Paul’s favorite place for contemplation and he regularly spends time there meditating and mapping the astronomical phenomena pointed out by the alignment of the marker stones. It is also a place of mysteries that he is attempting to unravel. The precise alignment of the solstice and equinox sun rise and sun set confirmed his suspicions and set him on an archeological journey. Five paces from the circle, due west, is a square of stones. But unlike its circular companion, the builders had dug a pit and filled it with stone. The top layer was probably smooth when it was first laid out but today is rough and gapped, with large spaces marring the ragged surface. There were a few gnarled shrubs growing out of the square when he first found it. These he removed and swept the surface clear of dead leaves. The nature of its deliberate construction is painfully obvious, but its purpose has been lost in the mists of time.

A few paces further, to the south west is a series of large flat stones strewn in a pattern which suggests they have fallen over. The purpose of their position and alignment can only be surmised since the stones have long ago slid down the hillside from their original positions. Tobacco’s observations have confirmed