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| Leo and Maya watch in terror as the "Static Man" attempts to escape the movie screen at the abandoned Starlight Drive-In. |
The sun was very hot on my neck. It felt like a warm blanket that was too heavy. I pedaled my bike hard. My legs hurt a little bit. The road was dusty and gray.
"Wait up," I yelled.
Maya did not wait up. She was fast. Her bike was red and it had cool stickers on the frame. She went over a big bump. Her hat almost fell off, but she caught it.
"Come on Leo," she yelled back at me. "Don't be slow."
We were going to the old movie place. It was called the Starlight. It was a drive-in. That means cars used to go there a long time ago. But no cars go there now. It is closed. My dad told me it closed before I was even born. He said it was bad luck. He said people got lost there.
I did not want to go. I wanted to stay home. I have good video games at home. My room is safe. But Maya is my best friend. She likes to explore. So I had to go too.
We rode past the big oak tree. We rode past the fence that is broken. Then we saw it.
The sign was huge. It was made of metal. It was covered in rust which is like red dust that tastes like a penny. The sign looked like a skeleton. It was scary.
"We are here," Maya said. She stopped her bike. Her tires made a skrrt noise in the dirt.
The grass was very tall. It went up to my waist. It was yellow and brown. It looked dead. The wind blew and the grass made a dry sound. Swish swish.
"I don't like it," I said. "Let's go back."
Maya laughed. She is brave. "You are funny Leo. It is just a field. There is nothing to be scared of."
She dropped her bike in the grass. I dropped my bike too. My bike is blue. I like it a lot. I hoped it would be okay in the tall grass.
We walked toward the big screen. The screen was white. It was giant. It looked like a big wall. The paint was falling off in little chips. It looked like a giant fingernail that was broken.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"To the little house," Maya pointed.
There was a small building in the middle of the field. It was made of gray blocks. It was the projection booth. That is where they used to play the movies.
We walked through the grass. There was bugs jumping everywhere. A grasshopper landed on my shoe. I shook it off.
The door to the building was open a little bit. It looked dark inside.
"Ladies first," I said.
Maya rolled her eyes. She pushed the door. It made a loud creeeeak sound. It sounded like a sad animal.
We went inside.
It was cooler in there. It smelled like old dust. It smelled like popcorn that was left out for a hundred years. There was cobwebs in the corners.
"Wow," Maya said.
In the middle of the room was a big machine. It was black and iron. It looked like a monster sleeping. It was the projector. This is the machine that shines the light to make the movie.
Maya loves machines. She likes to fix things. She walked up to it. She touched the cold metal.
"Look Leo," she said. "Look at the floor."
I looked down. There was a round metal box on the floor. It was a film canister. It looks like a big silver donut.
Maya picked it up. It was heavy. She blew the dust off the top. A cloud of gray dust went into the air. I coughed.
"What is it?" I asked.
There was a piece of tape on the box. Someone wrote on it with a red marker. The writing was messy. It said: THE MIDNIGHT REEL – DO NOT WATCH.
My tummy felt funny. It felt like I ate bad cheese.
"Put it back Maya," I said. "It says do not watch."
"That is just a joke," Maya said. "They write that to be scary. I bet it is a cool movie. I bet it is a cartoon."
"I don't think so," I said.
Maya did not listen. She put the silver donut on the big machine. She started to press buttons. She pulled a lever.
Click.
Clack.
Nothing happened.
"It is broken," I said. "Let's go."
"No," Maya said. "I can fix it."
She wiggled a wire. She hit the side of the machine with her hand. Bang.
Suddenly the machine made a noise. Hummmmm.
The floor shook a little bit. The noise got louder. It sounded like a bee that was very angry. A light came on. It was a bright white light. It shot out of the machine. It went out the window of the little house.
The light hit the big white screen outside. It was very bright. The sky was turning purple because it was almost night. The white light looked very strong.
The movie started.
There was no music. There was no words.
It showed a picture.
"Hey," I said. "I know that place."
It was a playground. It was the playground at our school. I saw the slide. I saw the monkey bars. The swings were moving. They went back and forth. But there was no kids. The playground was empty.
The picture changed.
Now it showed the ice cream shop on Main Street. The lights were off in the shop. But I could see inside. There was people sitting at the tables. But they were not moving. They were just shadows. They looked like black paper dolls. They all turned their heads at the same time. They looked right at the camera.
"Maya," I said. My voice was small. "Turn it off."
"I can't," Maya said. She was looking at the screen too. She looked scared now.
The picture changed again.
This time it was the library. I go there on Tuesdays. The library was dark. Books were falling off the shelves. Thump. Thump. One by one. But nobody was pushing them.
"This is not a movie," I said. "This is real."
The picture changed one more time.
I gasped. The air got stuck in my throat.
The screen showed tall yellow grass. It showed a rusty sign. It showed a small gray building.
"That is here," Maya whispered. "That is us."
The camera on the screen moved. It went closer to the building. We saw our bikes. My blue bike and her red bike were leaning on the wall. They looked small.
"It is filming us right now," Maya said. She stepped back. She bumped into the wall.
"Turn it off!" I yelled.
Leo reached for the plug. He pulled it. But the plug was stuck. A blue spark popped. Zap. It hurt my finger.
"Ow," I cried. "It won't stop!"
We looked at the big screen outside. The camera was getting closer to the door. It was like we were walking toward ourselves.
Then we saw him.
In the movie, there was a man. He was standing in the grass. He was close to the door.
He did not look like a normal man. You know when the TV has no channel? And it is just black and white fuzz? That is what he was made of. He was made of static. He was fuzzy and gray. He was buzzing like a broken radio.
He wore a suit like an old worker. But he had no face. Where his face should be, it was just bright white light.
I looked out the real window. I looked at the real grass.
"There is nobody there," I said. "He is not real."
"Look at the screen Leo!" Maya screamed.
I looked back at the movie. The Static Man was walking. He walked weird. His legs jerked. Step. Jerk. Step.
He was right at the door in the movie. He lifted his hand. His hand was fuzzy.
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
The sound was loud. But it did not come from the speakers.
The sound came from the door behind us. The real door.
We screamed. We jumped away from the door.
Something was outside. It wanted to come in.
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
The heavy metal door shook. Dust fell from the ceiling.
"He is trying to get out of the movie!" Maya yelled. She grabbed a wrench from the floor. It was rusty. She held it like a baseball bat.
"He wants to get us," I said. I was crying a little bit. I was so scared.
The machine got louder. Click-click-click-click. It was going too fast. The light was so bright it hurt my eyes. The air in the room got very cold. I could see my breath. It was like winter in there.
The door handle started to turn. Squeak. It moved slowly.
"We have to stop the film," Maya said. "If the movie ends, he comes out."
"How?" I asked.
"Break it!" she yelled. "Break the tape!"
I ran to the machine. The reels were spinning super fast. They were a blur. I was afraid to touch it. I did not want to lose a finger.
But the door was opening. I saw gray fuzz coming through the crack. I heard a buzzing sound. Bzzzzzzzt.
I closed my eyes. I grabbed the film strip.
It was hot. It burned my hand. It felt like holding a hot wire.
I pulled. I pulled very hard. I put my feet on the machine and pulled.
It was strong. It was like trying to break a metal chain.
"Help me!" I yelled.
Maya dropped the wrench. Clang. She ran to me. She grabbed the film too.
"Pull!" she screamed.
The door flew open.
A cold wind hit us. The buzzing was so loud my ears hurt. The Static Man was there. He was tall. He was bright. He reached for us.
"NOW!" Maya shouted.
We pulled with all our might. We pulled until our arms shook.
SNAP.
The sound was like a whip cracking. CRACK.
The film broke in half. The end of the reel flapped around. Thwack-thwack-thwack.
The light went out. The machine stopped roaring. It made a sad dying sound. Voooooop.
The room went dark.
The buzzing stopped.
It was totally silent. We could only hear our own breathing. Huff. Puff. Huff. Puff.
We stood there in the dark. We did not move. We were too scared to move.
Slowly, I looked at the door.
The door was open. But there was no Static Man. There was no fuzz. There was just the night air. I could hear crickets chirping outside. Chirp chirp.
"Is he gone?" I whispered.
"I think so," Maya said. Her voice was shaking.
"Let's go home," I said. "Right now."
"Yes," she said. "Fast."
We ran out of the booth. We did not look back. We grabbed our bikes from the grass. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped my bike.
We got on the seats. We pedaled.
We pedaled so fast. I think I went faster than a car. The wind hit my face. The dust flew up behind us.
We went past the rusty sign. We went past the fence. We went past the oak tree.
My legs burned. My chest hurt. But I did not stop. Maya did not stop either. We rode all the way to the paved road. We rode under the streetlights. The orange light felt safe.
We rode to my house. We threw our bikes on the grass in the front yard.
We ran inside my front door and locked it. Click.
My mom was in the kitchen. She was making tea.
"Hello boys and girls," she said. "Did you have fun?"
We couldn't talk. We were breathing too hard. We were sweaty and red.
"Yes," Maya lied. "We had fun. We just rode bikes."
"Okay," my mom said. "Go wash up for dinner."
We went to my room. We sat on the floor. We did not turn on the video games. We just sat there.
"We are never going back there," I said.
"Never," Maya said. "That place is bad."
"We broke the movie," I said. "So it is over."
"Yeah," Maya said. "It is over."
Later that night, Maya went home. I had to brush my teeth. I went to the bathroom.
I put toothpaste on my brush. It was mint flavor. I brushed my teeth. Brush brush brush.
I spit in the sink. I washed my face with water. I used a towel to dry my face.
Then I looked in the mirror.
For one second, I did not see me. I did not see Leo.
The mirror was black. Then white letters appeared on the glass. They looked like the letters on the movie screen.
They said: INTERMISSION.
I blinked my eyes.
The letters were gone. I saw my face again. I looked pale.
I ran out of the bathroom. I turned off the light. Click.
I ran to my bed and jumped in. I pulled the covers up over my head. I hugged my pillow tight.
Intermission means a break in the movie. It means the movie is only half done. It means the second part is coming soon.
I did not sleep that night. I kept my nightlight on. It is a little yellow duck. It is bright.
I watched the corners of my room. I listened for the buzzing sound.
I hope the second movie never starts.
